All the way through the gospel story, Peter eagerly followed Jesus. But on occasions, he got into trouble, including at the end when it really mattered. Jesus was arrested and Peter followed at a distance. A servant girl questioned Peter. ‘You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?’ (18:17).

It’s not very tidy,’ you say apologetically, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He strides in, giving you a hug as he passes. You close the door and follow him.

There are days when time doesn’t allow for prayer, or you’re so exhausted you keep falling asleep, or you’re feeling too unwell to discern what words to say. But be encouraged. When Jesus was teaching his disciples about prayer, he said: ‘your Father knows what you need before you ask him’ (Matt. 6:8). On these days, you can thank God that he knows what you need, then pray the gift of Jesus’ own prayer that he’s given you to use with faith and expectancy

Earlier, I mentioned a boy in my maths class who would ask questions on my behalf. That was more than forty years ago now, but some things never change. As I have been writing this book, I have been attempting to learn Welsh. Ours is a small class, and I am one of the two oldest students in it. Nonetheless, I still hope that someone else will ask the questions so that I can get an explanation for things which ought to be obvious to me. My understanding is reliant on their courage in asking the question.

I had just arrived to pick up our two youngest grandchildren from afterschool care and needed to ensure we had everything. Two large backpacks? Tick. Two lunch boxes? Tick. Two water bottles? Tick. Two jumpers? Tick. Two pairs of shoes and socks? Well  .  .  . almost. Only one pair of socks missing this time around – not too bad. Two children signed out? Tick. So off we headed to the car.

If you think of your life as a tapestry, how colourful would your picture be? Would the stitches be eye-catching or mostly the edges and background? Of course, it is not completed yet, so what can you do to make it more colourful and more thoughtfully stitched? As the verse suggests, we all have different work to do and so long as we are using our time wisely, our lives will be carefully interwoven with others, so that God’s purpose will be fulfilled in this world.

I have a bicycle in the garage that occasionally sees the light of day. And on this bicycle I have some lights that are powered as I pedal (so they don’t shine very bright!). Called kinetic lights, they transform my feeble efforts into stored energy, which is then used to generate the light. Physics is very cool.

Today’s ‘but’ brings a challenge for us to stand firm, to stand tough, to stand our ground. During our impossible-seeming situations, I want to encourage us to be firm in our convictions and resilient against opposition.

Many years ago, I began highlighting verses about the mouth, tongue or words. The regular splashes of blue in my Bible constantly remind me that words are important to God.

When Jesus says ‘learn from me’, the word he uses for ‘learn’ carries connotations of ‘get into the habit of being’.1 Walk by my side and get into the habit of being taught by me.

I was looking forward to sharing dinner with friends, but although I may have appeared to be a nice enough person, I was later convicted of my unattractive ego and self. My heart was more often motivated by me than by God.

Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

We set off for Bethlehem. I never thought I’d ever leave Moab, and now here I am with all my worldly possessions, trudging along, leaving my home behind. Bethlehem is not far from Moab, but it feels a long way at the moment. After we’d been travelling a while, Naomi suddenly stopped. Right in the middle of the road. She stood there, looking at the ground. She looked in the direction of Bethlehem and slowly turned her head to look back the way we’d come. Then she said something that cut me to the heart.

Read Joshua 2:12–24 Rahab’s surprising faith in the God of the Israelites – the God in heaven above and on earth below – led her to immediate action. She knew that the Lord God was powerful, so she asked the spies to remember her and her family in the ensuing battle. The spies said yes.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 2 Sam. 6:15

At one stage, our daughter worked for a well-known charitable organisation and would at times find herself taking phone calls from people wanting to make a financial donation.

At my primary school, the headmaster could be found at the end of a long, creaky corridor, in a room full of smoke. From what I remember, he rarely left this office.

As I sat down to write today, a song called ‘It is Well’ came on. The lyrics encourage us to believe and have faith even when our eyes see no evidence of God being at work. It felt really timely because of the line of thought I had for today’s devotion.

Although there are only two of us in our household now, I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time each week deciding what our main meals will be, shopping for all the necessary ingredients and finally cooking. I also try to have a selection of things in the fridge and pantry to choose from for our lunches, including some cake for my sweet-toothed husband or any visitors who might drop in. All this takes planning and effort, but I do it because, after all, we need to eat – although perhaps not quite as much or as often as we do!

It seems so easy for them. They just go up to Jesus. Why can’t I do that? I have so many questions. I tried, the other day. He’s in Jerusalem, and I tried, but what would my Pharisee colleagues think? They were livid when Jesus cleared everyone out of the temple. Between you and me, I wonder if he was right. I can’t go up to Jesus.