Jesus told the Christians of his day: 'Don't let anyone fool you. For many will come claiming to be the Messiah and will lead many astray. When you hear of wars beginning, this does not signal my return; these must come, but the end is not yet. The nations and kingdoms of the earth will rise against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many places' (Matthew 24:4-7 TLB). And these words apply to us today, too. Let's face it, when we watch the news, it's easy to panic about everything that's going on. Wars and rumours of wars? Check. Famines and general world hunger? Check. Earthquakes and other natural disasters? Check.

In Isaiah 9:7 TLB, we are told: 'His ever-expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule with perfect fairness and justice from the throne of his father David. He will bring true justice and peace to all the nations of the world'. Our job, as God's representatives at this time, is to see where we can love and help people in the midst of these scary times. We can support through praying, giving financially and bringing encouragement.

We have God's authority to bring about his 'ever-expanding, peaceful government, and to show God's goodness and victory in the 'wars and rumours of wars' (Matthew 24:6 NIV).

So what now? Catch up on the news today and consider what you can do to help one of the situations reported on - whether raising money, lending a hand or generating awareness. Your actions will make a difference.

We're living in the period between the time that Jesus physically spent here on earth and the time he'll return physically to earth again. We've been in this period since Jesus ascended to Heaven; this is nearly 2000 years. God himself has said that only he knows when his Son will return (see Matthew 24:36) and that, 'the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come' (Matthew 24:14 NLT).

On a practical level, this means there's less need for apocalypse-type yelling and placard-waving, but a much bigger need for living in the way that Jesus wants right now (including lovingly telling people about him). So, if we're meant to make a difference in our world now, let's remember what Jesus said way back then: 'Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Messiah." They will deceive many' (Matthew 24:4-5 NLT). Not good.

To stay true to God in our day-to-day lives, let's always ask, 'Does this match up to Jesus?' Whatever anyone teaches us, offers us or asks of us, let's pray about it and ask if it fits with what Jesus wants, or what Jesus would do himself. If it goes against the ways of the Jesus in the Bible, then it's definitely something to avoid.

So what now? While you're waiting for Jesus to return, live in the moment: share your love of Jesus with others.

Busy guy, the apostle Paul. In Acts 17 we find him spending a good chunk of time going round Greece, checking out the different idols the people worshipped. What did he find? Well, he learned that the Christian church was pretty focussed on the whole being-religious thing (Acts 17:22). They spent a whole lot of time talking about what to worship and how they should do it. Their main problem? They'd tried to fill their lives with all-things-worshipful, but not with the actual, living God who made the world and everything in it (Acts 17:24). Essentially, they'd missed the point by worshipping God's creation and not God himself.

How prone are we to do the same? The world is full of stuff that grabs, and keeps, our attention. In that sense, we too can get quite religious about certain things. Money, material stuff, social media, gaming, etc - how often do they rise to the top of our priority list?

Instead of feeling bad about our sometimes upside-down priorities, let's remember this: the things of the world can't satisfy us, but the things of God do, and will, bring a whole new level of purpose when we seek him first - and he is always available to be found.

So what now? Skip social media today. Each time you get the urge to check your timeline, pray instead. True, you can pray while you're doing other stuff during your day, but on this occasion we mean focussed prayer. Bring each part of your life to God and ask his will for it.

We may have had nights when we've been so petrified by something that might happen, our mind so filled by 'what if's', that we can't sleep. Sometimes our fears of punishment, danger, loneliness, [insert-fear-here] seem well-founded. But are they actually? The truth is, we sometimes experience a real-life high level of stress about stuff that's only taking place in our heads. So we become paralysed by events that aren't actually happening: fear gets out of proportion and affects our daily lives. But the God who put boundaries on the sea (see Proverbs 8:27-29) can restore the boundaries in our worried minds.

Do we feel held back from the peace and freedom that God can give us? Isaiah 26:4 NLT says, 'Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock'. It takes effort to say 'No' to what holds us back and put our trust in God, but when we're persistent in handing things back to him, we'll develop rest in our soul.

Now, the above advice is harder if we've been struggling with fear for some time. If that's us, we can know this: God is on our side. He wants us to know that nothing can separate us from him: 'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free' (Galatians 5:1 NIV).

So what now? When you find yourself distracted by worry, especially at night when you should be sleeping, do something simple - read the Bible. The whole of Isaiah 26 is great. Focus on God's word instead of on your fears.

Today is Easter Sunday, the day we honour the most powerful event of all time. In fact, it was the greatest history-shifting, life-changing event - the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And the apostle Paul wrote: 'The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you' (Romans 8:11 NLT). We literally have the most powerful person ever on our side and living in us!

Diets, New Year resolutions, motivational seminars - all good in themselves. They're about us trying to make ourselves newer and better. But often we can't maintain the effort to really change. We find it hard to change, but we're desperate to. The many self-help books out there tell us what to do to change but can't give us the power to do it. Where can we find the power to change? Through our main source of power: Jesus. He invites us into relationship with him and offers us help for life. He can help us to live spiritually, physically and mentally healthy.

Jesus' resurrection conquered the power and weight of death and sin, forever: 'God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who forgives our sins and sets us free' (Colossians 1:13-14 CEV). Through his resurrection we are changed: 'Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new' (2 Corinthians 5:17 CEV).

So what now? Thank Jesus that, on this day many years ago, his love and power changed your life, and the whole world, forever. Live knowing that through his resurrection power, you can live free.

The apostle Paul is preaching up a storm. He's talking about how to please God, about how we should live in a way that makes everything we do an act of worship. He tells us: 'Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them' (Romans 12:9 NLT). This verse is saying: 'let love be without hypocrisy.' God is deeply unimpressed by hypocrites. He can spot them a galaxy away. The Bible is full of places where he's disapproving of people's outward actions because their hearts are completely the opposite.

In the book of Joel, God says, 'Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead' (Joel 2:13 NLT). He's cross at people who are doing all the right things but not really feeling it. They're covering up how they feel by putting up an impressive-looking front. But it's not real.

Being nice and considerate can make us look good but it's really not what God's after. To quote 1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT, 'If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.' Our love should be for the benefit of others, not for our own personal PR campaign; otherwise it's worthless.

So what now? Has there been a time lately where you've done something nice but you had an ulterior motive? Ask God to give you his genuine - that is, never false or hypocritical - love for people.