In Acts 12 Peter has been put in prison as the persecution begins on the church. Herod is a people pleasing fool and the folks are loving what he is doing to these new people called Christians. He throws Peter in prison intending to have some fun with him in the next couple of days. At night while he is praying the doors come open and his chains fall off. Just like when I walk into the Safeway the doors just open up. As he satnds in disbelief the chains fall off his hands and feet. The door is open.

This is the God I serve. When you are in chains and locked behind doors of darkness, you pray, and He comes through. The door is open.

Oh, by the way, in the next couple of sentences Herod is eaten by worms. He takes care of your tormentors too.

In Luke’s version of the parable of the talents today I was reminded of my desire to multiply all the Lord has given me. This one and only life we have is to be used to bring him glory and that brings us great joy. After church on sunday one of our great leaders came up to me and shared that as she deals with kids in her job at a local school as a counselor she encourages those who are struggling with depression to just volunteer. She says that as they give their lives away in service they move away from depression. Isn’t it interesting that the number one prescription drug today is an anti-depressant. All we have to do is give ourself away and we find more joy. And on top of that are taking this one and only life that God has given us and making a difference. I like to think we are actually changing the world.