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: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:31 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Wednesday November 25 > Day 329 > > 1 Corinthians 10 > 1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were > led by the providential > Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the > waters, in a baptism like ours, > as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and > drank identical food and > drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's > fountain for them that stayed > with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just > experiencing God's wonder and grace > didn't seem to mean much-most of them were defeated by temptation during > the hard times in the > desert, and God was not pleased. > 6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we > never get caught up in > wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a > circus as they did-"First > the people partied, then they threw a dance." We must not be sexually > promiscuous-they paid for > that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get > Christ to serve us instead > of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of > poisonous snakes. We must be > careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them. > > 11-12These are all warning markers-danger!-in our history books, written > down so that we don't > repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel-they at the > beginning, we at the > end-and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so > naive and self-confident. > You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone > else. Forget about > self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence. > > 13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what > others have had to face. > All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never > let you be pushed past > your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it. > > 14So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something > they can use or control, > get out of their company as fast as you can. > > 15-18I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own > conclusions: When we drink > the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very > life, of Christ? And isn't > it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into > ourselves the body, the very > life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes > one-ness-Christ doesn't become > fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ > to what we are; he raises > us to what he is. That's basically what happened even in old Israel-those > who ate the sacrifices > offered on God's altar entered into God's action at the altar. > > 19-22Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to > nothing, for what's the > idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don't want > you to become part of > something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can't have it > both ways, banqueting with > the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master > won't put up with it. He > wants us-all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less? > > 23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of > God's immense generosity and > grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it > will pass muster." But the > point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost > efforts should be to help others > live well. > > 25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest > of the way. Eat anything > sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don't have to run an "idolatry > test" on every item. "The > earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." That "everything" > certainly includes the leg of > lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you > feel like going, go ahead > and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad > manners and bad > spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each > course as it is served. On the > other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was > sacrificed to god or goddess > so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where > it came from, he isn't, > and you don't want to send mixed messages to him about who you are > worshiping. > > 29-30But, except for these special cases, I'm not going to walk around on > eggshells worrying about > what small-minded people might say; I'm going to stride free and easy, > knowing what our large-minded > Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God > for what is on the table, > how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he > blessed it! > > 31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about > you-you're eating to > God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do > everything that way, heartily > and freely to God's glory. At the same time, don't be callous in your > exercise of freedom, > thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you are. > I try my best to be > considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters; I hope you will > be, too. > > 1 Corinthians 11 > To Honor God > 1-2It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up > the traditions of the > faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ. 3-9In a > marriage relationship, there is > authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority > of Christ is the authority > of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a > lack of respect for the > authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks > with God in a way that > shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her > husband. Worse, she > dishonors herself-an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This > is basically the origin of > these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while > men take their hats off. By > these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each > other, submit their > "heads" to the Head: God. > 10-12Don't, by the way, read too much into the differences here between > men and women. Neither man > nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a > beautiful shining > reflection of God-that is true. But the head on a woman's body clearly > outshines in beauty the head > of her "head," her husband. The first woman came from man, true-but ever > since then, every man comes > from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let's > quit going through these > "who's first" routines. > > 13-16Don't you agree there is something naturally powerful in the > symbolism-a woman, her beautiful > hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in > reverence, praying in > submission? I hope you're not going to be argumentative about this. All > God's churches see it this > way; I don't want you standing out as an exception. > > 17-19Regarding this next item, I'm not at all pleased. I am getting the > picture that when you meet > together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get > this report on your > divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I'm reluctant to > believe it, but there it > is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will > bring truth into the open and > confirm it. > > 20-22And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship-you come > together, and instead of > eating the Lord's Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and > make pigs of yourselves. > Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too > drunk to walk. I can't > believe it! Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would > you stoop to desecrating > God's church? Why would you actually shame God's poor? I never would have > believed you would stoop > to this. And I'm not going to stand by and say nothing. > > 23-26Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's > Supper and why it is so > centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself > and passed them on to you. > The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given > thanks, he broke it and > said, > > This is my body, broken for you. > Do this to remember me. > After supper, he did the same thing with the cup: > This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. > Each time you drink this cup, remember me. > What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and > every time you drink this > cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You > will be drawn back to this > meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let > familiarity breed contempt. > > 27-28Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master > irreverently is like part of the > crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of > "remembrance" you want to be > part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy > awe. > > 29-32If you give no thought (or worse, don't care) about the broken body > of the Master when you eat > and drink, you're running the risk of serious consequences. That's why so > many of you even now are > listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this > straight now, we won't > have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the > Master now than to face a fiery > confrontation later. > > 33-34So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord's Table, be > reverent and courteous with one > another. If you're so hungry that you can't wait to be served, go home and > get a sandwich. But by no > means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family > squabble. It is a > spiritual meal-a love feast. > > The other things you asked about, I'll respond to in person when I make > my next visit. > > 1 Corinthians 12 > Spiritual Gifts > 1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets > worked into our lives. This > is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and > knowledgeable. Remember how > you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, > never knowing what you were > doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this > life. God wants us to use > our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, > by using your heads, you > know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to > say "Jesus be damned!" Nor > would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of > the Holy Spirit. > 4-11God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate > in God's Spirit. God's > various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in > God's Spirit. God's various > expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind > it all. Each person is > given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, > everyone benefits. All kinds of > things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The > variety is wonderful: > > wise counsel > > clear understanding > > simple trust > > healing the sick > > miraculous acts > > proclamation > > distinguishing between spirits > > tongues > > interpretation of tongues. > > All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by > the one Spirit of God. He > decides who gets what, and when. > > 12-13You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no > further than your own > body. Your body has many parts-limbs, organs, cells-but no matter how many > parts you can name, > you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his > one Spirit, we all said > good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently > call our own shots, but > then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final > say in everything. (This > is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of > us is now a part of his > resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain-his > Spirit-where we all come to drink. > The old labels we once used to identify ourselves-labels like Jew or > Greek, slave or free-are no > longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. > > 14-18I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, > not less. A body isn't just > a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the > different-but-similar parts arranged and > functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, > embellished with rings; I guess I > don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not > beautiful like Eye, limpid > and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to > remove it from the body? If > the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? > As it is, we see that God > has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. > > 19-24But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance > from getting blown up into > self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because > of what you are a part > of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. > What we have is one body > with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is > important on its own. Can > you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head > telling Foot, "You're fired; > your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works > the other way-the "lower" > the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an > eye, for instance, but > not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned > with, it makes no > difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You > give it dignity and honor > just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for > the lower parts than the > higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to > full-bodied hair? > > 25-26The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our > lives together as a church: > every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the > parts we don't, the parts we > see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is > involved in the hurt, and in the > healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the > exuberance. > > 27-31You are Christ's body-that's who you are! You must never forget this. > Only as you accept your > part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with > some of the parts that God > has formed in his church, which is his "body": > > apostles > prophets > teachers > miracle workers > healers > helpers > organizers > those who pray in tongues. > But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body > and not a gigantic, > unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all > Miracle Worker, not all Healer, > not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of > you keep competing for > so-called "important" parts. > > But now I want to lay out a far better way for you. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > 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.
