Humanity tossed God’s plan aside in the garden and no matter how hard God tried humanity kept running from Him instead of toward Him. So God chose a family, the family of Abraham to be his partners on the planet. But what was it about Abraham that set him a part from everyone else? What made Abraham a good choice for God’s partner on the planet?

As David looked over his life he saw how God protected and provided for him. It's why David expected God would continue to be with him even in his present valley of darkness and it's why David trusted the promises of God for his future.

The shepherd never leaves the sheep when the sheep are in the valley the shepherd is right in the middle of them calling to them and leading them out of the darkness and into the light from the danger, not from the destination.

David had messed up royally and often. So when he prays to the God who leads him to right paths he does so knowing that he’s been on plenty of wrong paths. David remembered that God had led Israel through the desert for 40 years providing and protecting His people. David trusted that if God had done it back then He’d could do it again.

For ancient Israel, and for us, life is a desert - a few moments of plenty and promise separated by long spans of hunger, thirst and exposure. God promises to lead us to good things, life-giving things so if we're not experiencing those good things whose to blame? Us or Him?

As the Acts of the Holy Spirit in the early Church progresses The Gospel is put into practice in real life (IRL). We see it play out just as we learned it as Peter preaches the first Gospel message and guess what?! He starts with the Gospel Declarations and as the people begin to believe he moves on to the Gospel responses. And as the Gospel was presented people began to respond.

The book of Acts begins by going back to the 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension. We’re given more information about what Jesus told His disciples about what God was doing, what they were to do and what they could expect. The Gospel Jesus proclaimed (and the disciples would preach) was beginning to be realized!