The disciples were following Him. That is what disciples do: follow their leader! All but one of these disciples were faithful to the end, but none of them ever knew what was going to happen next. When they were on the lake, the last thing they expected was a storm!

Eventually Daniel, a faithful servant of the Most High God, was called to translate the words that the finger of God wrote on the wall! Those words did not please king Belshazzar. But he honoured his promise of gifts for Daniel, not knowing that he would die that same night!

These closing few verses of this chapter of the gospel of Mark give us much to think about as we are looking at the world today and realising that the things mentioned in this chapter are happening now! We must remember that Jesus told His listeners to not be afraid.

The history of Israel as a people, is full of stories about their victory over their enemies. They had much fighting to do, and life was never very peaceful for very long. Or so it seems as we read though the old Testament. Israel are still at war with Palestinians.

As practicing Christians death is something that we should not fear. If we follow the example of Jesus staying in communication with Father God, then we have nothing to fear. Heaven will have a place for us. But if we are self-centred and unhelpful there are some lessons to learn.

At the close of Acts 21 we can read that Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem, and a furious crowd was following him. He himself calmed the crowd and then gave them his testimony. This suddenly is a well known Biblical story. It can be read about in Acts 9.

The first chapter of Job is full of tragedy resulting from a discussion between Satan and God. The whole book of Job can leave us with more questions than answers. But there are many things we can learn from the experiences of Job and from the advice of his friends.

This is the strangest suddenly I have ever read about! We know no more than is given to us in here. We are left with many questions to which we have no answers. Elisha had taken the cloak of Elijah, and he continued life in the way his predecessor had.

The amazing story of the disappearance of Elijah sounds like something from a science fiction film. It must have been a surprise for both these prophets. Elisha had stuck by the side of Elijah and learned much, and the prophets both knew this was their last walk with the other.

We must trust God in the way that David did. Even in the worst of situations, he learned to be positive, to declare the truth that God would see him through. This verse is not a pipe dream, but a positive statement inspired by knowing the God we pray to.