Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. , ESV. For the sake of discretion, I will tell the story like this… in the last twenty years, between the north pole and south pole, there was someone who made my life very difficult. It seemed like their goal was to make my day miserable with their distasteful attitude. They had a problem with me regardless of how nice I was or how hard I tried to make “things right.” So, what did I do? With the prompting of the Lord, I invited them to dinner. There is something that happens when you break bread with someone. There is a calmness that saturates a dinner table when you sit down and enjoy a meal with other people. Time slows down and conversations flow freely. Most of the time, people’s walls are down. When you sit next to someone, you share your life with them and vice versa. When you share a meal, you share a piece of yourself with them. That, to me, is true fellowship. The Greek word for fellowship is ‘koinonia’…

Sometimes I forget what God has done in my life. A few weeks ago in a church service we sang, “When I think about the Lord, how he saved me… it makes me want to shout hallelujah, thank you, Jesus!” I began to weep at the keyboard as I thanked the Lord for completely changing my life around. Where would I be without the Lord? Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 2 Samuel 6:14–16, NIV. David danced without reservation because the Ark of the Covenant was finally retuning to Jerusalem. He danced because God made a covenant with Israel and he was demonstrating his love toward his LORD. However, Michal, David’s wife, despised his worship and told him he was only dancing for vain glory, (2 Samuel 6:20–21). David responded saying, that his worship was exclusively for the Lord. The next time you worry about other people’s opinions…

“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5, NKJV) As we read the Book of Acts, we see the rapid growth of the church. The followers of Jesus demonstrated passion and reckless boldness in spreading the gospel. Wherever they went, they took the message with them. There was revival, but there was also opposition. Herod had just killed James, the brother of John, and Peter was his next target. Herod was just waiting for the Jewish feast days to end before Peter would suffer a similar fate. Peter already sat in a prison cell—chained to a guard on each side and with two more guards at his cell door. He was under around-the-clock watch. Escape was impossible—or so they thought. While everyone slept, an angel of the Lord woke Peter. As his chains fell off, Peter followed the angel’s instructions to get dressed and follow him. The angel then led him through the prison and out the gate to freedom. The guards and other prisoners knew nothing until morning when they discovered Peter was missing. Constant Prayer Across town a number of believers were holding a prayer meeting at…

“For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” (Exodus 12:23, ESV) For several generations the children of Israel lived in Egypt, although their status had shifted through the years. Joseph, who had once guided Egypt through a great famine, was long forgotten. The Israelites were now slaves and life was hard. Centuries earlier, God had given Abraham the promise of a permanent homeland. In Genesis 13:15 God told him, “For all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever” (ESV). Egypt was not their promised land, and the Lord sent Moses to lead them out of Egyptian bondage. It was now time for Abraham’s descendants to leave. Opposition by Pharaoh  Although God brought a series of plagues upon the land of Egypt, Pharaoh refused to allow the Israelites to leave (Exodus 7-11). With each judgment upon the land, Pharaoh’s heart only grew harder. Nine times he refused to let them go, even as the plagues became progressively severe. Each…