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The birth of a new child signifies newness. A new life, a new beginning. The start of a new story. Babies have their own unique scent. In whatever household that a newborn arrives, the scent of such house changes and anyone who lives in such a household carries this fresh scent with them everywhere they go. It is something that cannot be hidden.

The arrival of children in any family is often met with fanfare and celebration. Children bring with them joy and happiness. The atmosphere where a newborn is is always full of excitement. No matter how many births of children a person witnesses, they will still be filled with awe and wonder each time they witness a new one. The new parents’ sense of wonder is often greater than that of others and for a long time their joy knows no bounds.

Children are the future of the family and the nation. If by some misfortune, people stop giving birth, it will not be long before the world gets wiped out. How a nation turns out, the values a nation has, depends on those who are children today and how they are raised. Those in governance in all spheres of life were once children.

To see the Glory of God is to experience the power, greatness, majesty and awesomeness of God. No other glory can be compared to the glory of God. God reveals his glory by doing things that are deemed impossible by humans. There are several recordings of the manifestation of God’s glory in the Bible and in all these situations, those who experienced it were marveled because it was beyond what they could comprehend. Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection is an example of the manifestation of the Glory of God. It shows that God has power over life, sin, and death.

A prisoner of hope is one who remains hopeful in spite of circumstances that seem hopeless. Hope, which is the expectation that something good will happen, can also be likened to faith. In Hebrews 11:1, faith is explained as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Prisoners of hope believe that even though their current situation looks hopeless and believing that there can be a turnaround is a foolish endeavour, they hold on to their faith.

Arrows are designed to fly, they aren’t for show. They are never intended to stay in a quiver. The quiver is just a vehicle that carries them until they are ready for release. You might say that arrows were made to be released. They were made to pierce a target. Children were designed by their Creator to make an impact on the world. To live for a reason. To accomplish a purpose. To count for something in God’s great scheme of things.

Jesus had been told about the death of Lazarus. For one reason or the other, he couldn’t go there while he was still alive. He arrived after his death and burial. When the people saw him, they cried more because they believed if he had been there earlier, the man would have been healed before death. Jesus told them that the man was not dead, he was only sleeping.

The Pool of Bethesda was renowned as a supposed place of healing in Jesus’ time. It was the place where people of different infirmities gather to wait for the stirring of the water. The Pool of Bethesda i.e. (House of Mercy) was a spring or a pool just by the north side of the temple. Near the water (spring or pool) “a great number of disabled people used to lie— The blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3).

If you have ever come across a rat trapped in a mousetrap, you know how it struggles and struggles to get free but no matter how much it tries, no matter the tactics it devises, it will still be stuck. When its energy runs out, it gives up and until someone comes to its rescue or the owner of the trap comes to take it away, the rat will be trapped forever.

A lot of people, both the guilty and the innocent are in prisons today for various reasons. Some condemned to death and some without hope of ever living. They are resigned to their fate and are expecting their end. Paul and Silas had been preaching the gospel in a city when they were approached by a girl who was demon possessed. They cast the demon out of the girl and the people of the city were angry with them.