It takes a conscious act of willing obedience for us to practise forgiveness. Derek shares a story about a little boy and ice cream to show this in today's devotion.

God love us just as we are, as he calls us to give our love away. Another story from Derek illustrates this today.

Derek Wilson joins me today to talk about generosity - and how the Christian life is a life of giving. Listen to his story about "Mr Twister" to kick off the week.

The risen Christ doesn’t leave us alone. He places us in family, so that we can lean on others and find the strength and help we need.

Paul didn't buy into a "ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ" prosperity gospel. He was determined to spread the news of Jesus 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 (and it eventually did). Let's remember that health and wealth must not be our main priorities - but spreading the news of Jesus must be top of our list.

Paul went 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒-𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒. He preached that even the most religious person has gained nothing 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. South Africa's Nelson Mandela has a similar story - going from a murderer to a messenger of love. 𝑨𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.

Paul considered himself "𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠". But Jesus forgave him when he surrendered his life… If God could take Paul and make him a messenger of the gospel, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

Saul 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 when he encountered Jesus. Do we have the same sense of God's greatness and power? Let's not forget that the same gentle Jesus we love ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠.

Jesus predicted that Peter's death would bring God glory. We speak often about living for God's glory - but ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦? May we all give God the glory - even in those very last few moments.

Peter didn't deserve a second chance - 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒏𝒆. He'll give you one too. And many more. Follow him today - for the first or thousandth time - 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮!

When we say we love Jesus, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤. If we aren't doing this, perhaps we haven't really loved him in the first place. 𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 and tend to the people in our lives today.

Jesus didn't ask Peter if he believed in Him (after all, even the demons believe)… 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐦. Do you love 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 of the gift more than the gift itself?

Peter's 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 was surely the Sea of Galilee. What amazing things he had seen there! Do you have a sacred place where you encounter God in a special way? Why not return to it, or 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ…

Jesus breathed on his disciples and 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 - even when he ascended to heaven they had His Holy Spirit alive in them. 𝑊𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡 - pray with me in today's devotion, and let us be anointed and filled again!

Jesus has called each of his followers to 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 - to love like he did and share the good news. Each of us has this great purpose - 𝑤𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 wherever God has placed us.

When Jesus rose again, the disciples weren't quietly impressed. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲! Just as Jesus had predicted. Are our meetings with Jesus 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑗𝑜𝑦?

Twice in his encounter with the disciples in the Upper Room, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. And even though their lives were not trouble-free after that, they were filled with peace knowing that 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. How about you?

When Jesus first met the disciples after rising from the dead, they were together. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 Don't miss the blessing of spending time with the risen Christ 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠.

When encountering the risen Christ, the women were sent out by Jesus to go and tell the good news. Jesus turned the "come-see" Jewish faith into a "go-tell" Christian faith. Are we telling the good news? How the world needs to hear our testimony.

The risen Christ promises peace and a calming of our fears. Bring your fears to Him today and may you find the peace that only He can bring.