In the first chapter of 1 Samuel we read of a woman, desperate for a child, who finds the favour of God, and gives back to the Lord what He has graciously given to her – a son. Samuel becomes a major figure in the life of Israel, anointing both the first king, Saul, and his successor, the shepherd David. But it all starts here, when he first listens to God. 

Bartimaeus is well known for being the blind man who was given his sight by Jesus: and he’s persistent. He just doesn’t give up trying to attract the attention of the man he knows can heal him! The crowds are telling him to keep quiet, to shut up, but he doesn’t listen to them. 

Peter and John have been proclaiming the good news of the gospel – and it is has brought them some unwanted attention. They have been jailed, but the amount of those being converted to Christ is growing (Acts 4:4). The message of Christ crucified, raised from the dead, and that He is the only way to God, is clearly causing a disturbance! The 

In Luke 14, we read what is essentially Jesus’ manifesto. He has come to ‘proclaim good news’, ‘freedom for the prisoners’, ‘recovery of sight for the blind’, and to ‘set the oppressed free’ (v18). This truly is the time of favour from God (v19). 

This passage in Isaiah tells us about the One who is promised – the One who would come, a child who would be born, who would walk among us as a man and yet be so much more. He is God in the flesh (Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3), the One who would counsel us with His wisdom and show us who God is. He is also the ‘Prince of Peace’ (v6). 

Paul and Silas have been imprisoned. They haven’t just been thrown into jail; they have been flogged, and put into the inner cell, in the stocks. There is no earthly way they could escape. The reason for their imprisonment is what has just happened with a female slave. Obviously afflicted by a demonic spirit, the girl has been following them during their time in Philippi, shouting out truth – yet it doesn’t come from the right source. 

The disciples who had been following John the Baptist were now encouraged by the Baptist himself to follow the ‘Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29). Fascinatingly, as Andrew, Peter’s brother, and the other disciple begin to follow the Lord, He turns to them and asks a question. What do they want? 

In Acts 8 we read of great persecution that causes the first Christians to be ‘scattered’ (Acts 8:1). As a result of this scattering, the gospel is widely preached and there is a great move of God; we see Philip the evangelist performing signs and wonders in Jesus’ name (Acts 8:4–7). 

Jeremiah 29 has the famous verses about God’s plans that Christians very often quote! But let’s look at this promise in context. Promises here are being given to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, sent by the prophet Jeremiah, who was in Jerusalem, to the ‘surviving elders’ (Jer. 29:1) – a grim phrase. 

One of the hardest things about following Jesus is resting, when we want to ‘go’! Often it seems as if life has come to a full stop. In the wilderness, the Israelites were completely dependent on the God who had brought them out of Egypt to lead them and protect them in the perilous journey to the Promised Land.