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: Saturday, November 21, 2009 10:48 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Sunday November 22 > Day 326 > > 1 Corinthians 1 > 1-2I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to > God's plan, along with my > friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to you in God's church at Corinth, > believers cleaned up by > Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all > who call out to Jesus, > wherever they live. He's their Master as well as ours! > 3May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father, and the > Master, Jesus Christ, be > yours. > > 4-6Every time I think of you-and I think of you often!-I thank God for > your lives of free and open > access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in > you-it's beyond speech, beyond > knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. > > 7-9Just think-you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts > are right in front of you > as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for > the Finale. And not only > that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track > until things are all > wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, > shares with us the life > of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never > forget that. > > The Cross: The Irony of God's Wisdom > 10I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the > authority of Jesus, our > Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each > other. You must learn to be > considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. > 11-12I bring this up because some from Chloe's family brought a most > disturbing report to my > attention-that you're fighting among yourselves! I'll tell you exactly > what I was told: You're all > picking sides, going around saying, "I'm on Paul's side," or "I'm for > Apollos," or "Peter is my > man," or "I'm in the Messiah group." > > 13-16I ask you, "Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we > can each have a relic all > our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in > Paul's name?" I was not > involved with any of your baptisms-except for Crispus and Gaius-and on > getting this report, I'm sure > glad I wasn't. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my > name. (Come to think of > it, I also baptized Stephanas's family, but as far as I can recall, that's > it.) > > 17God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach > the Message of what he > has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it > with a lot of fancy > rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center-Christ on the > Cross-be trivialized into > mere words. > > 18-21The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer > silliness to those hellbent on > destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. > This is the way God > works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It's written, > > I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, > I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots. > So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly > intelligent in this day and age? > Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all > its fancy wisdom never had > a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in > using what the world > considered dumb-preaching, of all things!-to bring those who trust him > into the way of salvation. > > 22-25While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for > philosophical wisdom, we > go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an > anti-miracle-and Greeks pass > it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself-both > Jews and Greeks-Christ is > God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is > so tinny, so impotent, next > to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete > with God's "weakness." > > 26-31Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into > this life. I don't see > many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not > many from high-society > families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that > the culture overlooks and > exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow > pretensions of the "somebodies"? > That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your > own horn before God. > Everything that we have-right thinking and right living, a clean slate and > a fresh start-comes from > God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're > going to blow a horn, blow a > trumpet for God." > > 1 Corinthians 2 > 1-2You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in > on God's master stroke, I > didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest > philosophy. I deliberately kept it > plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he > did-Jesus crucified. > 3-5I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate-I was > scared to death, if you > want the truth of it-and so nothing I said could have impressed you or > anyone else. But the Message > came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it > clear that your life of > faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional > footwork by me or anyone > else. > > 6-10We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get > your feet on firm spiritual > ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced > experts that will be > out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that > goes deep into the interior > of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not > the latest message, but > more like the oldest-what God determined as the way to bring out his best > in us, long before we ever > arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven't a clue about what > this eternal plan is. If they > had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a > cross. That's why we have > this Scripture text: > > No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, > Never so much as imagined anything quite like it- > What God has arranged for those who love him. > But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all > out into the open before > you. > > 10-13The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the > depths of God, and > brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you're thinking > and planning except you > yourself? The same with God-except that he not only knows what he's > thinking, but he lets us in on > it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is > giving us. We don't have > to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by > reading books or going to > school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through > Jesus, and we're passing it > on to you in the same firsthand, personal way. > > 14-16The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the > gifts of God's Spirit. > There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can > be known only by > spirit-God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, > we have access to > everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual > critics. Isaiah's question, "Is > there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is > doing?" has been answered: > Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. > > 1 Corinthians 3 > 1-4But for right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your > unspiritual dealings with each > other and with God. You're acting like infants in relation to Christ, > capable of nothing much more > than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I'll nurse you since you don't > seem capable of anything > more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look > important, are you really > much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything's > going your way? When one of > you says, "I'm on Paul's side," and another says, "I'm for Apollos," > aren't you being totally > infantile? > 5-9Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? > Servants, both of us-servants who > waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual > Master. We each carried > out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the > plants, but God made you grow. > It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of > this process but God, who > makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at > minimum wages. What makes them > worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in > which we are working. > > 9-15Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. Using the gift God > gave me as a good architect, > I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter > who comes on the job take > care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, > the one already laid: Jesus > Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. > Eventually there is going to be > an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found > out. The inspection will be > thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes > inspection, fine; if it > doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But > you won't be torn out; > you'll survive-but just barely. > > 16-17You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God > himself is present in you? No > one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. > God's temple is sacred-and > you, remember, are the temple. > > 18-20Don't fool yourself. Don't think that you can be wise merely by being > up-to-date with the > times. Be God's fool-that's the path to true wisdom. What the world calls > smart, God calls stupid. > It's written in Scripture, > > He exposes the chicanery of the chic. > The Master sees through the smoke screens > of the know-it-alls. > > 21-23I don't want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone > else. Everything is already > yours as a gift-Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, > the future-all of it is > yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union > with God. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > 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. 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