Psalm 121:1

The first two verses of this Psalm are on a plaque at a viewpoint in the Lake District looking towards Derwent Water and the Lakeland Fells beyond. They often come to my mind when I am amongst mountains. When I am amongst such stunning scenery my mind naturally goes to the creator and this verse echoes that sentiment. To the Psalmist the mountains in question would have been those around Jerusalem as the pilgrims made their way towards the temple for the regular gatherings. Their eyes would be lifted up to the hills that were often positions of strength and defensible, but our eyes should be lifted even higher, to the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 119:83

This verse from the longest Psalm and chapter in the Bible contains the delightful simile, "like a wineskin in the smoke", or as the Authorised puts it: "like a bottle in the smoke." This phrase relates to the practice of hanging up a wineskin in the smoky rafters of the building. Over time in this smoky atmosphere the wineskin became withered, cracked and useless. The Psalmist is saying though he is old and withered like an old wineskin, yet he has not forgotten the statutes or decrees of the Word of God. It is important to study the Bible so we can understand what it says and, most importantly, put it into practice. Then when you are old and wrinkled like a wineskin you will know for whom your trust is in.

1 Samuel 28:12

There have been many theories about Samuel's appearance. Was it real or was it a demon? A neat explanation is that the woman was a fraud, as most mediums are, and at best they communicate with a demon who gives her the words to say. This time, however, it wasn't her familiar demon who appeared and she wasn't making it up either as Samuel himself came to her. When he appeared she was so astonished she cried out in fear realising she had been tricked. God had decided to finally respond to Saul by bringing Samuel up to pronounce his doom. Note that Saul saw nothing and everything that Samuel said came out of the woman's lips.

1 Corinthians 12:1

Most Christian denominations teach that the spiritual, supernatural gifts were just for the early church.  Commentaries try to come up with reasons why they don’t see spiritual gifts now. They say "they were needed at first in the Church: (1) as a pledge to Christians themselves who had just passed over from Judaism or heathendom, that God was in the Church; (2) for the propagation of Christianity in the world; (3) for the edification of the Church. Now that we have the whole written New Testament (which they had not) and Christianity established as the result of the miracles, we need no further miracle to attest the truth" (Jamieson  Fausset & Brown's Commentary).
However, having spent all my life in a Pentecostal Church I see spiritual gifts in action every Sunday and I can see that all the reasons given above still apply today. We live in a world that is looking for the spiritual everywhere and when they don't see it in the church they look elsewhere. Spiritual gifts are needed in the church today just as they were in the early church.

1 Corinthians 2:3

Note that Paul here claims he wasn’t an eloquent speaker, maybe comparing himself with Apollos, and claimed people were being won over not by his powerful, persuasive talking but the power of God working through miracles and the convicting power of the Spirit. Was Paul really not a great speaker or was Paul simply being modest? Or perhaps this shows how the gospel should be preached? Not by persuasion but by demonstration.
It is amazing to realise that even the great Paul was nervous and unsure of himself when preaching. He just gave the message clearly and plainly in the most simplistic way. He didn’t do anything magnificent. It is thought that Paul may have been a very quiet preacher who never drew attention to himself, only to the message. We should be like that in whatever we are doing. Put God first. Tell the message plainly and simply so that God’s Spirit and power can do it’s work. People will then respond to the Spirit and not to your great sermon.

John 4:20

When confronted by her guilt the woman declares that Jesus must be a prophet, but then proceeds to ask him a question of public interest rather than dwell on her own problems. When she realises that she is in the presence of a prophet she tries to discuss one of the most controversial topics of the day, rather than talking about her own failings. How often do we avoid our own problems by turning the subject onto something else when things start becoming too personal? Jesus doesn't ignore her question but steers her towards what is really important.

John 1:29

In this verse John calls Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of world, but this wasn't the case until after Christ's crucifixion, so how did John know this? However this is explained when it is remembered that Jesus himself referred to John as the greatest prophet.

Genesis 1:14

There seems to be a problem with the creation story in that the sun and moon to distinguish between night and day were not created until the fourth day, which seems like a contradiction. One explanation could be that the sky was opaque up to this point due to ‘the waters above’, but now cleared to reveal the lights to govern the night and day (note that the day used to be said to begin at sunset, hence the phrase ‘evening and morning’).