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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, June 15, 2023
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Principles for Marriage Bible Verse:1 Corinthians 7:1-11 (ESV) "Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife." Message:
The very odd thing about this passage is Paul's encouragement of married couples to have sex. And even odder, he realizes that women can have a sex drive and tells husbands that it is their duty to satisfy their wives' needs!
Paul does encourage people to abstinence, not because there is anything wrong with sex, but because it interferes with service to Christ. But he recognizes that, like all gifts, the gift of chastity is not given to all. (He elaborates on the diversity of gifts at some length in Chapter 12, his famous essay about the diversity of gifts among Christians, comparing the church to a body and members to various parts.)
But again, oddly, although he mildly encourages people not to marry, if they do marry, he encourages them to intimacy.
His words about divorce echo those of Christ. Paul, however, recognizes that women as well as men can end a marriage. A woman could not initiate a divorce at law, but she could certainly leave her husband and take up with a new man. The passage even seems to grant such a second relationship the status of a “marriage,” although it appears to forbid (or at least strongly discourage) the practice.
Meditation : Prayer : Now, oh Lord, I pray that you may lift up the light of your countenance upon me, and give me peace; in my going out and in my coming in; in my sitting down and my rising up; in my work and in my play; in my joy and in my sorrow, in my laughter and in my tears; until that day comes which is without dawn and without dark...Amen |
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