O. Addison Gethers e-mail address [email protected] [email protected]
twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 10:07 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Tuesday November 17 > Day 321 > > Romans 1 > 1I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as > an apostle to proclaim > God's words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, > God's friends. 2-7The sacred > writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son. His > descent from David roots him > in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when > Jesus was raised from the > dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we > received both the generous gift > of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it > by entering into obedient > trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus > Christ! And I greet you now > with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the > Messiah. > 8-12I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That's first. People > everywhere keep telling me > about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. And > God, whom I so love to > worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son-the Message!-knows > that every time I think > of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to > clear the way for me to come > and see you. The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so > want to be there to deliver > God's gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! But > don't think I'm not > expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me > as I do to you. > > 13-15Please don't misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have > no idea how many times > I've made plans for Rome. I've been determined to get some personal > enjoyment out of God's work > among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. > But something has always > come up and prevented it. Everyone I meet-it matters little whether > they're mannered or rude, smart > or simple-deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that's > why I can't wait to get to > you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God. > > 16-17It's news I'm most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of > God's powerful plan to > rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to > everyone else! God's way of > putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what > Scripture has said all along: > "The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives." > > Ignoring God Leads to a Downward Spiral > 18-23But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and > wrongdoing and lying > accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic > reality of God is plain enough. > Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at > what God has created, people > have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal > power, for instance, and the > mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened > was this: People knew God > perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to > worship him, they trivialized > themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense > nor direction left in their > lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. > They traded the glory of > God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy > at any roadside stand. > 24-25So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you > get." It wasn't long before > they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. > And all this because they > traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made > instead of the God who made > them-the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes! > > 26-27Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be > human either-women > didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually > confused, they abused and > defiled one another, women with women, men with men-all lust, no love. And > then they paid for it, > oh, how they paid for it-emptied of God and love, godless and loveless > wretches. > > 28-32Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them > and let them run loose. > And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, > vicious backstabbing. They made > life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and > cheating. Look at them: > mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, > insufferable windbags! They > keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when > they get in the way. > Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know > better. They know perfectly > well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care-worse, they hand > out prizes to those who do > the worst things best! > > Romans 2 > God Is Kind, but Not Soft > 1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that > leaves you on the high ground > where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you > criticize someone, you > condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others > is a well-known way of > escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so > easily diverted. He sees > right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done. > 3-4You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others > you would distract God > from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did > you think that because he's > such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through > from the beginning. God is > kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and > leads us into a radical > life-change. > > 5-8You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God > adds fuel to the fire. > The day is coming when it's going to blaze hot and high, God's fiery and > righteous judgment. Make no > mistake: In the end you get what's coming to you-Real Life for those who > work on God's side, but to > those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least > resistance, Fire! > > 9-11If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which > neighborhood you're from, > what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you > embrace the way God does things, > there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or > how you were brought up. > Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no > attention to what others say > (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind. > > 12-13If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into > account. But if you sin > knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely. > Merely hearing God's law is > a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, > is what makes the > difference with God. > > 14-16When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or > less by instinct, they > confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is not > something alien, imposed on us > from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is > something deep within them > that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes > and no will become public > knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and > woman. The Message from God > that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these > differences. > > Religion Can't Save You > 17-24If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in > the arms of your religion > and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's > revelation, a connoisseur of the > best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special > word of caution for you who > are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know > God's revealed Word inside > and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and > dark nights and confused > emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? > I'm quite serious. While > preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would > suspect you? The same with > adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if > you front it with eloquent > talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you > Jews that the outsiders > are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away. > 25-29Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great > if you live in accord with > God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. The > reverse is also true: The > uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised-in fact, > better. Better to keep > God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don't you see: It's not > the cut of a knife that > makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your > heart, not of a knife on > your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not > legalistic critics. > > Romans 3 > 1-2So what difference does it make who's a Jew and who isn't, who has been > trained in God's ways > and who hasn't? As it turns out, it makes a lot of difference-but not the > difference so many have > assumed. 2-6First, there's the matter of being put in charge of writing > down and caring for God's > revelation, these Holy Scriptures. So, what if, in the course of doing > that, some of those Jews > abandoned their post? God didn't abandon them. Do you think their > faithlessness cancels out his > faithfulness? Not on your life! Depend on it: God keeps his word even when > the whole world is lying > through its teeth. Scripture says the same: > > Your words stand fast and true; > Rejection doesn't faze you. > But if our wrongdoing only underlines and confirms God's rightdoing, > shouldn't we be commended > for helping out? Since our bad words don't even make a dent in his good > words, isn't it wrong of God > to back us to the wall and hold us to our word? These questions come up. > The answer to such > questions is no, a most emphatic No! How else would things ever get > straightened out if God didn't > do the straightening? > > 7-8It's simply perverse to say, "If my lies serve to show off God's truth > all the more gloriously, > why blame me? I'm doing God a favor." Some people are actually trying to > put such words in our > mouths, claiming that we go around saying, "The more evil we do, the more > good God does, so let's > just do it!" That's pure slander, as I'm sure you'll agree. > > We're All in the Same Sinking Boat > 9-20So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the > others? Not really. > Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in > identical conditions, which is to > say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it: > > There's nobody living right, not even one, > nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. > They've all taken the wrong turn; > they've all wandered down blind alleys. > No one's living right; > I can't find a single one. > Their throats are gaping graves, > their tongues slick as mudslides. > Every word they speak is tinged with poison. > They open their mouths and pollute the air. > They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, > litter the land with heartbreak and ruin, > Don't know the first thing about living with others. > They never give God the time of day. > This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these > Scriptures is not what God says > about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the > first place! And it's clear > enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking > boat with everybody else? > Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What > it does is force us to > face our complicity in everyone else's sin. > God Has Set Things Right > 21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the > prophets witnessed to all > those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about > has become > Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone > who believes in him. For > there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled > this long and sorry record > as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of > living the glorious lives > God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in > right standing with > himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us > to where he always wanted > us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. > 25-26God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of > sin. Having faith in him > sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of > the public-to set the > world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally > taking care of the sins he > had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now-this is > current history! God sets > things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness. > > 27-28So where does that leave our proud Jewish insider claims and > counter-claims? Canceled? Yes, > canceled. What we've learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; > we respond to what God > does. We've finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all > others by letting him set > the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade. > > 29-30And where does that leave our proud Jewish claim of having a corner > on God? Also canceled. God > is the God of outsider non-Jews as well as insider Jews. How could it be > otherwise since there is > only one God? God sets right all who welcome his action and enter into it, > both those who follow our > religious system and those who have never heard of our religion. > > 31But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don't we > cancel out all our careful > keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in > fact, is that by putting > that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > Also, follow my tweets on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Donnie1261 > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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