Exodus 12, 13
God
said to Moses and Aaron
"From now on, this month is to be the first month of your year.
On the
evening of the 14th day of this month
each family must kill and eat a one year old male sheep or goat.
Some of its blood must be put on your front door.
You must eat it in a hurry,
with a belt round your waist, sandals on your feet
and a staff in your hand.
This night I will go through the
land
of
Egypt
and strike every first-born of human and animal.
But when I see the blood on your doors
I shall PASS OVER your homes
and you shall be unharmed.
Each year you must remember this night.
Each year you must observe this feast of the Passover.
You also must consecrate all first-born to me."
That night God indeed struck dead the first-born
of all the Egyptians,
from the son of Pharaoh
to animals in the field.
There was great mourning in
Egypt
and Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Israelites go.
The Israelites now numbered about 600,000 men,
having been in
Egypt
exactly 430 years.
As the people travelled, God went before them
in the form of a pillar of cloud during the day
and a pillar of fire at night.
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Dear
God, please help me understand the full meaning of the Passover
story
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Psalm 86
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call to you.
All the nations shall come to adore you
and glorify your name, O Lord,
you who alone are God.
Show me, Lord, your way, and guide my
heart
so that I may walk in your truth.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all
my heart
for your love to me has been great.
O give your strength to your servant
and save your handmaid's son.
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Dear Lord, thank you for
all your love
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Acts 18
Paul left Athens and went to the city of
Corinth.
He met a Jewish couple who had recently left Italy
when the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome
The couple were tentmakers, like Paul
himself.
Paul stayed with them and they worked together
Each Sabbath Paul preached in the prayer
halls,
trying to convert Jews as well as non-Jewish people
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Jesus, thank you for the
example of Paul
who worked to support himself and didn't live off others
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Matthew 18
Peter asked Jesus "How many times
must I forgive someone?
7 times?" Jesus answered "Not 7, but 77 times.
For the kingdom of heaven is like a king
who cancelled the huge debt of one of his servants.
But that same servant refused to cancel
the tiny debt of one of his fellow servants.
So the king said to the servant:
'When you appealed to me, I had pity on you and cancelled your big debt.
But you refused to have pity on your fellow servant who asked you for
mercy.
Therefore you must now go to prison until your big debt is paid.'
If you refuse to forgive other people,
you are making yourself ineligible for God's forgiveness."
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Jesus, please help me to
forgive other people, just as you forgive me....many times each day
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