<p>It’s good to go to church, to set aside a sabbath and worship the Lord, to gather with other believers so the Holy Spirit can move through the body of Christ and ignite the world through us. The early church is lifted up in Acts 2:42-47 as an example of the good way the Spirit worked through the fellowship of the believers, and this is a positive and important thing. </p>
<p>As summer brings warm weather, sunshine, and rest from work, many of us will slip away to the coast to enjoy time at the beach. If that's the case for you, consider these five prayers as you stick your toes in the sand.</p>
<p>People offered burnt offerings as a way to atone for their wrongdoings, to show appreciation for the Lord, and because they saw it as a way to appease God, whose wrath they feared. They hoped it would serve as a symbolic representation of their wholehearted apology for any and all things they had done wrong or would potentially offend the Lord, whether intended or not.</p>
<p>While the star of David doesn’t appear in the Bible nor is it advocated as an “official symbol” of Judaism, it is a meaningful representation of a faithful people and the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. </p>
<p>There are dozens of times the number 40 is mentioned throughout the Bible, as well. For instance, Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20). The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land, something Moses said God orchestrated “to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands” (Deuteronomy 8:2).</p>