Simon the Sorcerer was doing good business. The people 'followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic' (Acts 8:11 NIV). Then, no doubt to everyone's astonishment, he chose to accept the Gospel message and got baptised. Sadly though, before long, traces of his old ways emerged: he offered Peter and John money to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit!

How did the apostles handle this? Simple! They confronted Simon with the truth in Jesus' name, saying: 'Turn away from this evil thing you have done, and pray to the Lord' (Acts 8:22 NCV). Peter knew something that we should all know: when a new Christian starts turning back to their old ways we must get alongside them quickly and help them or they could end up hurting themselves and others. Being fuzzy and soft in those moments helps no-one.

For all of us, whether disciples for ten minutes or ten years, the forces of evil around us are real; we can't just ignore them and hope they'll play nice or maybe just go away. To fight and win we must know what we are up against. There'll be times when we must be decisive and draw a line saying, 'That's it, the other side of this line is out of bounds for me now that I follow Jesus.'

So what now? Do you need to draw or re-draw some lines in your life today? Don't delay! God's ways are always better than your old ways.

We've been trying and trying but it's useless. It worked yesterday, but that was yesterday. We all know what that feels like. In today's story we meet the disciples having one of those days. As he watched them struggling in their boat, Jesus shouted from the shore, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat' (John 21:6 NKJV). When they did, they caught so many fish their net was stretched to its limit.

Lesson 1: Often, God gives the breakthrough right at the end of our struggle. As long as we think we can do it on our own, he'll let us try. But when we run out of natural energy we discover it's 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord' (Zechariah 4:6 NKJV); Lesson 2: he never takes his eye off us. The mists of early dawn meant they couldn't see him, but he could see them. Despite our disappointment and the frustration of our own efforts, we're never beyond his care - or his reach. Lesson 3: he invites us to come and eat. Jesus had a cooked breakfast waiting for the tired fishermen and invited them to join him. He knew there's nothing more 'spiritual' that a proper brekkie! It's the human life at its most basic - and most fantastic - beach, fire, friends, relaxing, laughing. Bring it on, Jesus!

So what now? God loves you! He wants an adventure with you. He wants you to ask him to help you live your best life!

When God gives us an assignment, he gives us what's needed to fulfil it. And, knowing what we're good at helps us figure out our calling. Winston Churchill said, 'To each there comes in his or her lifetime a special moment when they are tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.'

We can't always be what we want to be, but we can be everything God wants us to be. That's because he assigns us '...each according to his own ability' (Matthew 25:15 NKJV).

The apostle Paul says, 'Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good' (1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV). Some of the things others find boring will give us a buzz. That's not an excuse to only do what we love - we're all quite able to stack the chairs after the service! But let's stop apologising for the skills we don't have, discover the gifts God's given us and put them to work for his Kingdom.

So what now? What do you love doing and do consistently well? Is it music, or computers or helping with little kids? Write down these things. Dream a little with God about what you could do with these gifts. God gives us these dreams for a reason - make a plan to change the world using them.

Giving is a big part of being a Christian, and is expressed in many ways: regular tithing, donating to food banks, giving money to charities, giving time to volunteer, helping family and friends. Whatever form it takes, God calls us to give - there's no getting away from it.

But money's limited, right? And the schedule is hectic? But wait, there's more - we're called to give, and give cheerfully. Does that mean we smile as God uses the last of our money? Not our God. He's not interested in robbing us, nor does he have much use for his own pile of cash. He is very interested in us having the right attitude to money, though, and understanding that he can provide everything we need. God wants us to appreciate the value of what we give to others, to be happy to give practical help to worthy causes and those who need it, safe in the knowledge that we have a different kind of security and support in him.

So is God Heaven's investment banker? Do we 'deposit' our cash to poorer people here, and expect a cheque through the door from an angel next week? Not usually. Sometimes God gives us back what we gave, and more. He's extremely generous. But sometimes, he gives us something worth more to him: he moulds our character. Money not being our focus is his point.

So what now? Bet you could see this challenge coming: choose some way to give this week. Then watch out for God moving.

John tells of many things Jesus did as healer and teacher. Plus he adds: 'Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down...the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written' (John 21:25 NIV).

Our lives can get busy with work and obligations and likely some of our free time is spent worrying about the work and the obligations. We've probably heard of the term 'burnout': it's the stress that results from lack of balance between work and rest. When we get bogged down with what we're supposed to do and take on too much, we can feel like we're 'burning out'.

And, as always, the Bible offers help. We're told that Jesus would often go off alone to pray and to recharge. He even did it when people were looking or waiting for him (like Luke 4). He had his priorities right. He knew that it was more important to spend time with his Father than doing anything else. Praying, reading our Bible, worshipping alone and spending quiet time with God are essential to grow and maintain our spiritual and mental health.

So what now? Write down the things you're worried about in a journal. Close it. Now spend time with God: 10, 20, 30 minutes - however long you need. Ask God to help you recharge and find your right balance. Your to-do list can wait.

Let's talk about Jesus in the storm a bit more...

Let's give credit to the disciples in the boat with Jesus: they were freaked out, but they did ask Jesus for help. But then they were shocked when he actually calmed the storm. They said, 'Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey him' (Matthew 8:27 NKJV)? We need to expect our prayers to be answered, or we'll never be able to move past our fear. Jesus tells us so many times to 'not be afraid'. It's normal to be scared or worried about getting through (or not getting through) our issues, but if we ask God for help, we will get it. He promises us that.

We usually turn to God when we've exhausted our own resources and energy and are desperate. Then we pray, he answers, and we wonder why we didn't ask him to begin with. But then next time, hopefully, we remember to ask for his help a little earlier. When asking for God's help is our first instinct, suddenly the things that scared us won't scare us so much, because we know that God has our back.

God wants to help us in the storm - let's take him up on that.

So what now? Look at yesterday's 'So what now?' again. Do it again. And again. Let him help.