Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

Read Luke 12:32–48

A particular teacher would start each school term by giving every student, in the class, an A. Only when students were not working to the best of their ability or their attitude toward learning was not positive would their grades begin to change. The students would lose the A grade at the beginning of the term, and it would be moved downwards.

This was a great system for those students who had never been able to achieve an A grade in school before because they could know what it felt like to have it all given freely without earning it. It also challenged those who were used to achieving an A grade on their own merits.

In Jesus Christ, we have it all. We have been bought with Jesus’ blood shed on the cross at Calvary, and by faith, we are forgiven and have eternal life. God has given you the kingdom – his kingdom – in Jesus’ name. God has given you an A, the highest grade you can get, and you don’t have to earn it. Instead, you have already received it by faith in Jesus. The only difference with God compared to the school teacher is that when you mess up, fail or sin, God doesn’t take away the A grade he has given you. He calls you in Jesus to repent and receive the gift of forgiveness again.

What peace this brings, knowing that as you believe Jesus died for your sins, you cannot ever lose what Jesus has won for you on the cross. Life in the kingdom of God now, here on earth and in heaven eternally.

Do not be afraid of the future. Do not be afraid to serve the Lord by going out into the world to love others. Do not be afraid, little flock, for God has given you everything you need for today, tomorrow and eternity.

Heavenly Father, you have not held back anything but give it all to me by sending your son Jesus to die for my sins and the whole world. You give me a fresh start over and over again, and when I sin, you don’t take away your kingdom but rather wrap me more and more in your love. Help me to live a life worthy of the call you have placed on my life to follow you and to love others as you have loved me. Amen.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well (Luke 12:25,31).

Read Luke 12:13–31 Are you a member of the 4 am club? Perhaps you haven’t heard of it. The club is for those members who regularly wake up around 4 am and begin to, well they say, think of things they need to sort out. In other words, they wake up not by choice but are woken by the worries of this world.

What do people do when they wake up during the night worrying? They either try to get back to sleep – which, if you have ever woken during the night, you will know the more you try to get back to sleep, the more you can’t – or they worry, trying to sort everything out in their life in the space of a few hours.

What if people wake because God has called them to wake? Not to worry, but to pray?

When God woke Samuel by calling his name, Samuel didn’t realise God wanted to talk with him (1 Samuel 3). What if when you wake up in the middle of the night, God wants to speak to you? What if God is calling you to give him all of your worries?

You see, God cares so much that he sent his only Son Jesus to die on the cross for sin, your sin and mine, so as we believe in him, we are forgiven, have eternal life and are saved from sin, eternal death and the power of the devil. God cares so much that he wants to hear about your concerns and worries and to wrap you in his love.

Jesus asks us this: ‘Who of you can add a single day to your life by worrying? Since you cannot do this why do you worry about the rest?’ If we can’t do that simple thing, to add an hour to our life, which God can – of course – then why do we worry about all things we have no control over?

When you begin to worry, stop, pray, and know that as you seek the kingdom or as you call on Jesus first, all other things will be sorted out. You have the word of the Lord on that.

Lord, I worry so much about the things I cannot change, and then I worry about how I should have changed them if I could. Help me to stop and be in you by your word of promise that you are always with me. Fill me with your love and peace as I look to you first, knowing that everything I need for this life and the next is mine already in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Mark lives with his two daughters aged 11 and 8 in Redcliffe, just north of Brisbane. He is currently a pastor in the LCANZ and is passionate about sharing Jesus’ love with those around him. Pastor Mark loves to travel with his family to see the wonders of God’s creation and meet people who share their stories of what God has done for them.

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ (Luke 24:36).

Read Luke 24:36b–48

When last did you touch someone with the love of Jesus? When last do you remember being touched by Jesus’ love through someone else?

You might be at that place in your life where your daily walk has little meaning or love in it. You might have come to the point of crying out, ‘Are you real, Jesus?’.

When Jesus appears to his disciples on the beach after his resurrection, he begins with these beautiful words of comfort, ‘Peace be with you’.

Asking them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?’, Jesus knows their hearts, and the disciples are troubled and frightened, thinking they have seen a ghost.

Jesus knows your heart, too. He knows your thoughts, your dreams, your feelings of failure. He knows your disappointments and your hurts. He knows you. But maybe you wonder if he is real. Sometimes, the more you pray and seek Jesus, the further away Jesus feels.

But Jesus comes to us. He comes and says, ‘Peace be with you!’ When you feel Jesus is so far away, he is closer than you realise. For Jesus lives in you by his word. Jesus is the word that is planted in your hearts and grows by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you are feeling lost, alone, scared and in need of comfort, call on the name of Jesus, who answers prayer. As you pray, know that the Lord has answered your prayer even before you finish praying, and he knows exactly what you need even when you can’t put it into words. You might find you will meet Jesus in the people he sends your way to encourage you and share words and acts of love.

Jesus works in us and through us, and as we grow in Jesus, spending time in his word, he sends us out to those around us who are feeling lost, alone and hurt to share the same love of Jesus that comforts and heals us. Know this peace Jesus gives you, and know that as you love others in Jesus’ love, they too will come to meet Jesus and know just as you do that Jesus is real.

Dear Jesus, come and be with me and bring your words of peace. Comfort me and show me how real you are in all I do and in the people around me you have blessed me with. Help me be your hands and feet, Jesus, by showing your love to others you have sent me to. Amen.