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 23, 2009 9:04 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Tuesday November 24 > Day 328 > > 1 Corinthians 7 > To Be Married, to Be Single . . . > 1 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. > First, Is it a good thing to > have sexual relations? 2-6Certainly-but only within a certain context. > It's good for a man to have a > wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but > marriage is strong enough to > contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a > world of sexual disorder. > The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality-the husband seeking to > satisfy his wife, the wife > seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to "stand up for > your rights." Marriage is a > decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is > permissible for a period > of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer > and fasting-but only for > such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of > tempting us when we least > expect it. I'm not, understand, commanding these periods of > abstinence-only providing my best > counsel if you should choose them. 7Sometimes I wish everyone were single > like me-a simpler life in > many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God > gives the gift of the > single life to some, the gift of the married life to others. > 8-9I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well > be the best thing for > them, as it has been for me. But if they can't manage their desires and > emotions, they should by all > means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are > preferable by far to a sexually > tortured life as a single. > > 10-11And if you are married, stay married. This is the Master's command, > not mine. If a wife should > leave her husband, she must either remain single or else come back and > make things right with him. > And a husband has no right to get rid of his wife. > > 12-14For the rest of you who are in mixed marriages-Christian married to > non-Christian-we have no > explicit command from the Master. So this is what you must do. If you are > a man with a wife who is > not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If > you are a woman with a > husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to > him. The unbelieving husband > shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife > is likewise touched by the > holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it > is, they also are > included in the spiritual purposes of God. > > 15-16On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you've got to > let him or her go. You > don't have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of > it, as peacefully as we > can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your > husband not only back to you but > to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your > wife not only back to you > but to God. > > 17And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where > you are right now is > God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, > not your marital status, > defines your life. Don't think I'm being harder on you than on the others. > I give this same counsel > in all the churches. > > 18-19Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don't try to remove the > evidence. Were you > non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don't become a Jew. Being Jewish > isn't the point. The really > important thing is obeying God's call, following his commands. > > 20-22Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? > Slavery is no roadblock to > obeying and believing. I don't mean you're stuck and can't leave. If you > have a chance at freedom, > go ahead and take it. I'm simply trying to point out that under your new > Master you're going to > experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the > other hand, if you were free > when Christ called you, you'll experience a delightful "enslavement to > God" you would never have > dreamed of. > > 23-24All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful > society. Then a huge sum > was paid out for your ransom. So please don't, out of old habit, slip back > into being or doing what > everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is > there. Hold the high > ground with him at your side. > > 25-28The Master did not give explicit direction regarding virgins, but as > one much experienced in > the mercy of the Master and loyal to him all the way, you can trust my > counsel. Because of the > current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best > to stay just as you are. > Are you married? Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don't get married. But > there's certainly no sin in > getting married, whether you're a virgin or not. All I am saying is that > when you marry, you take on > additional stress in an already stressful time, and I want to spare you if > possible. > > 29-31I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There > is no time to waste, so > don't complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple -in marriage, > grief, joy, whatever. Even > in ordinary things-your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as > sparingly as possible with > the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its > way out. > > 32-35I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you're > unmarried, you're free to > concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all > the nuts and bolts of > domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many > more demands on your > attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and > nurturing each other, the > unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. I'm > trying to be helpful and make > it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for > you to be able to develop > a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the > Master without a lot of > distractions. > > 36-38If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to > marry, having decided to > serve God as a "single," and then changes his mind, deciding he should > marry her, he should go ahead > and marry. It's no sin; it's not even a "step down" from celibacy, as some > say. On the other hand, > if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to > God and it's entirely his > own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with > it. Marriage is spiritually > and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I > indicated earlier, > because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for > encouraging singleness. > > 39-40A wife must stay with her husband as long as he lives. If he dies, > she is free to marry anyone > she chooses. She will, of course, want to marry a believer and have the > blessing of the Master. By > now you know that I think she'll be better off staying single. The Master, > in my opinion, thinks so, > too. > > 1 Corinthians 8 > Freedom with Responsibility > 1-3The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to > an idol: Should you > attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think > we know all we need to > know to answer these kinds of questions-but sometimes our humble hearts > can help us more than our > proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone > knows it all. > 4-6Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, > that there's nothing to > them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many > of these so-called gods > are named and worshiped they still don't add up to anything but a tall > story. They say-again, quite > rightly-that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from > him, and that he wants us > to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master-Jesus the > Messiah-and that everything > is for his sake, including us. Yes. It's true. > > 7In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered > up to an idol. It's just > like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn't > everything. If it becomes > everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as > know-nothings. Real knowledge > isn't that insensitive. > > We need to be sensitive to the fact that we're not all at the same level > of understanding in > this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating "idol meat," and are > sure that there's > something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. > An imagination and > conscience shaped under those conditions isn't going to change overnight. > > 8-9But fortunately God doesn't grade us on our diet. We're neither > commended when we clean our > plate nor reprimanded when we just can't stomach it. But God does care > when you use your freedom > carelessly in a way that leads a fellow believer still vulnerable to those > old associations to be > thrown off track. > > 10For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown > in honor of idols, where > the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn't there great danger if > someone still struggling > over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, > sees you go into that > banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused-maybe even to > the point of getting > mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong. > > 11-13Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn't you at least be > willing to give up going to > dinner for him-because, as you say, it doesn't really make any difference? > But it does make a > difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! > When you hurt your friend, > you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn't worth it at the cost of > even one of these "weak > ones." So, never go to these idol-tainted meals if there's any chance it > will trip up one of your > brothers or sisters. > > 1 Corinthians 9 > 1-2 And don't tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I'm > perfectly free to do > this-isn't that obvious? Haven't I been given a job to do? Wasn't I > commissioned to this work in a > face-to-face meeting with Jesus, our Master? Aren't you yourselves proof > of the good work that I've > done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority of my > commission, you can't deny it. > Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority! > 3-7I'm not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary > assignments for God have a > right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and > our families. You don't > seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master's > brothers and Peter in these > matters. So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and > pay our own way? Are > soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from > their own gardens? Don't > milkmaids get to drink their fill from the pail? > > 8-12I'm not just sounding off because I'm irritated. This is all written > in the scriptural law. > Moses wrote, "Don't muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when > it's threshing." Do you think > Moses' primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don't you think his > concern extends to us? Of > course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes > in. So if we have planted > spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from > you? Others demand plenty > from you in these ways. Don't we who have never demanded deserve even > more? > > 12-14But we're not going to start demanding now what we've always had a > perfect right to. Our > decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in > the way or detract from > the Message of Christ. All I'm concerned with right now is that you not > use our decision to take > advantage of others, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. You know, > don't you, that it's always > been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the > proceeds of the Temple, and > that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has > been sacrificed? Along > the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be > supported by those who > believe the Message. > > 15-18Still, I want it made clear that I've never gotten anything out of > this for myself, and that > I'm not writing now to get something. I'd rather die than give anyone > ammunition to discredit me or > impugn my motives. If I proclaim the Message, it's not to get something > out of it for myself. I'm > compelled to do it, and doomed if I don't! If this was my own idea of just > another way to make a > living, I'd expect some pay. But since it's not my idea but something > solemnly entrusted to me, why > would I expect to get paid? So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a > matter of fact: the > pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don't even have > to pay my expenses! > > 19-23Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I > have voluntarily become a > servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: > religious, nonreligious, meticulous > moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the > demoralized-whoever. I didn't take on their > way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ-but I entered their world and > tried to experience things > from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant > there is in my attempts to > lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the > Message. I didn't just want > to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it! > > 24-25You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone > runs; one wins. Run to > win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that > tarnishes and fades. You're > after one that's gold eternally. > > 26-27I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm > giving it everything > I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. > I'm not going to get > caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out > myself. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > 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]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/dbilg?hl=en.
