Monday, August 31, 2015

Help us not to waver between 2 opinions. 8/31/15

Day 241- Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/1Cor.11

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

 Correcting an Abuse of the Lord’s Supper

 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

 And when I come I will give further directions.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

Satisfy the inner demand August 31st
“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.” EXODUS 16:12
The children of Israel experienced a special capacity to collect and enjoy manna early in the morning before the sun became hot (Exo. 16:21). In the same way, there is a special capacity to experience and know the Lord, who is the true manna, early in the morning. I cannot fully explain or tell you why, but according to my experience there is a capacity to hear His voice and receive His impressions early in the morning. I have found that there is a special portion of the enjoyment of the Lord in the early morning that is different from any other time. This life is a life of feeding upon the Word. This life is a life that gets up early to be with the Father. It is a life that practices withdrawing. This is the life that dwells within us. So we need to pay attention to the Lord’s speaking to us about our schedules, our daily living, and our priorities. We will never be a satisfied person unless we satisfy the inner demand of Christ, who is “our life,” to spend time enjoying God. We need to spend time for this love-life and relationship between the Father and the Son to be cultivated within our hearts until we are a reproduction of Christ. The Spirit of His Son is in our hearts crying, “Abba, Father,” loving the Father. It is in this triune flow of love that we spend time with Him and enjoy Him. Do not mourn over yourself. Do not waste time taking condemnation and looking at your condition. Enjoy the Person in whom the Father delights. Just say, “O Father, You delight in Your Son! Look at His blood! Look at His righteousness! Look at His worthiness! Look at what He has attained and accomplished! Father, You cannot turn away the presence of Your Son. Nothing can separate me from Your love which is in Christ Jesus my Lord” (Rom. 8:39). We just need to leave our preoccupation with ourself and enjoy this Person.

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Sunday, August 30, 2015

Everything comes from God. 8/30/15

Day 240- Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/1Cor.11


1 Corinthians 11:1-16

 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

 On Covering the Head in Worship
2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,[a] and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

 7 A man ought not to cover his head,[b] since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own[c] head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

The brothers as Christ August 30th

 “But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” 1 CORINTHIANS 8:12
If this realization were really in our consciousness — that to sin against a brother is to sin against Christ — how differently we would treat one another. Brothers and sisters, we are members of Christ. So we need to keep the precious oneness of the Spirit between us. God is between us. We are not making up or manufacturing a oneness. We are sharing in the oneness of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Their oneness is in us! We do not have another kind of oneness.
Brothers, there is a oneness of the Spirit. We can keep the oneness of the Spirit because God is between us as the bond of peace. The way you keep the oneness of the Spirit is to keep checking the monitor of peace. Is there peace? In taking the steps that you are taking, is there peace? Do not interfere with the peace. The peace between us is so sweet. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Where there are no other factors but Christ between us, no legalities being imposed on us, there is peace! It is called the peace of Christ. That peace is not just a good feeling between us. That peace is a Person! He made peace. He Himself is that peace (Eph. 2:14). And keeping peace is keeping Christ between one another (Col. 3:15). That is what the church is. The church is Christ dispensing His peace between us. This is the sense in which we understand that the church is Christ.

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Saturday, August 29, 2015

Love is Patient 8/29/15

Day 239- Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/1Cor.10


1 Corinthians 10:19-33

 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

 23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his [a]neighbor. 25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and [b]all it contains. 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

 31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.


Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

 August 29th

 Perfection in my response

"Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." Matthew 18

What is the perfect church? It is a forgiving church. It is a longsuffering church. It is an enduring, patient, caring church that is receiving all the failing, sinful, ungodly people who have Christ in them. There is forgiveness up to seventy times seven. And there is love and there is mercy. There is this kind of relationship that you do not find in any other place. In other places, when someone treats me unfairly or I am offended, I leave and go somewhere else. But that does not accomplish the Lord's desire to perfect the church in the realm of God's unconditional love. This is the meaning of His prayer in John 17:23, "that they may be made perfect into one." Being perfected into one is simply this:the love of God being perfected in us toward one another. This does not mean the perfection of your condition. It means the perfection in my response to your condition-- how I receive you, love you, pray for you, and have mercy toward you. It is how I receive you and make you the object of God's love, no matter what condition you are in.
The church is filled with the love of God-- the love He has toward us, the love we have toward Him, and the love we have toward one another. How marvelous that this is the love in the church. The love- life in the church is the unconditional love of God coming to us. We know what He has done for us. We know how He has received us. Now that same love is demonstrated toward one another

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Friday, August 28, 2015

We have an example. 8/28/15

Day 238- Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/1Cor.10


1 Corinthians 10:1-18

Warnings From Israel’s History

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”[a] 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ,[b] as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Idol Feasts and the Lord’s Supper

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. 18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?


Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

The perfect church August 28th

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” MATTHEW 5:48
The love of God moves us, preserves us, keeps us, and reaches us wherever we are. And this very love is the love we have toward one another in the church. This unconditional love of God is the love with which we love each other. This is what makes the perfect church. All the members, with all their imperfections, are in a fellowship with one another in the love of God. The perfect church is the church that has the love of God flowing in all the imperfect members toward all the other imperfect members. In Matthew 5:48 when the Lord said, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” He was not speaking of a moral kind of perfection — having a completely righteous and rectified life without any problems, faults, or sins. Of course, we are not condoning sin; but here the Lord was not referring to a sinless life. When we think of “perfect,” we think of living a perfect life of absolute holiness according to God’s standard. But here the context of being perfect is Matthew 5:44: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” This means love the unlovable. Love the ones who are irritating to you. Love your enemies. Then He says, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” This means that the Father’s love is perfect toward all sinful men. That is the meaning of perfection. Also, in Colossians 3:14 Paul tells the believers, “Put on love, which is the bond of perfection,” or “the bond of perfectness.” Thus, there can be a perfect church.

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Thursday, August 27, 2015

The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 8/27/15

Day 237- Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/1Cor.9


1 Corinthians 9

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas[a]? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabaswho lack the right to not work for a living?
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 8 Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. 16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

The Need for Self-Discipline

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

Love transmitted August 27th

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” ROMANS 5:5
The flow of love between the Father and the Son is the same love that is being transmitted to us! It is wonderful to know that in this universe there is only one love. We do not have any love for God. We might think we have love for God, but in ourselves, none of us have any love for God (Rom. 3:10-11). Every bit of love in us toward God is God. Perhaps you feel you do not have that much love for the Lord. You find your heart loving the things of the world. But let me tell you, if there is even a little bit of love within you, a little bit of desire for the Lord, that is the Lord. Take that little bit of love, baby it, nourish it, and let it grow. Just tell the Lord, “Thank You for this little bit of love. It is You, Lord. The love in me for You, even if it is so small, is You. It is God.”
There is one love, and that one love has been poured out in our heart. That is why we do not work up love. We cannot be loving in ourselves. We need to get into another kingdom, another realm, where the divine love is flowing. We need to be born again. When we are born again, we see the kingdom and we enter into the kingdom. We enter into the realm of the divine love. Our spirit becomes joined to the Lord, so that we are joined to the transmission of divine love between the Father and the Son. So right inside of you is the love of God (John 17:26). It is in you.
To experience this transmission of divine love, just get on your knees and start thanking Him for everything in your life. Thank Him for every problem. Thank Him for every impossibility. Thank Him that all things are working together for good to those who love God (Rom. 8:28). Just start loving Him and thanking Him. After a short time, the tears will come down, and you will begin to merge with the divine life and love that is within your being. That life is so thankful to the Father. That life knows how to suffer. It knows how to pass through difficulties. That is why the Bible talks about entering into the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil. 3:10). It is not gritting our teeth and hoping for a better day. It is participating in the satisfaction and the contentment of His life (Phil. 4:11-13). Nothing outwardly changes, but inwardly you are joyful in God. God is enough. You say “Thank You” to the Lord, and there is a wonderful transmission of life and love.

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