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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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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 collecting daily manna), 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. Friday, April 07, 2017
Today's Passage : Subject:Closing Words Bible Verse:1 Corinthians 16:15-24 "Now I urge you, brothers — you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints — be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people. The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen." Message:
And so ends the tumultuous, seminal, and frequently criticized first epistle to the church at Corinth. This was thought to be, after Romans, the most important of the epistles and it was thus placed out of chronological order.
The greatest difficulty in 1 Corinthians is not understanding it, but in trying to practice what it says, for its primary aim is to criticize and ameliorate a condition so inherent in human institutions that it is nearly impossible for us to follow: The tendency to break apart into sects which agree with our personal way of thinking.
In a sense, Paul failed in his attempt, because the history of Christ's church has been one of internecine strife, mutual hostility, and even hatred and bloodshed. Possibly the bloodiest war ever fought in Europe was the Thirty Years' War in Germany (1618-1648), when Protestant and Catholic factions laid much of the land to utter waste and decimated the population. Famine and disease rode their pale horses for decades, and almost the entirety of Western Europe became involved.
In another sense, Paul did succeed, for the church of Corinth was reconciled and became one of the larger and more influential churches of the time. Much of the credit must go, not only to Paul's letter, but also to the actions of the "leaders" of the factions. We saw in several places that Paul and Apollos simply refused to allow people to follow them, insisting that all church members follow Christ and Christ only. We can only suppose that the third faction involved, followers of Peter, met with a similar reaction from Peter himself — although, ultimately, this would represent the first great split in the Christian world, as the Orthodox and Catholic churches eventually ruptured, largely due to politics.
But even we who still disagree over doctrinal matters can take to heart Paul's overarching message and the ultimate expression of it in the last words of the epistle: "Greet one another with a holy kiss." No matter how much our sinful pride divides us, with all of us thinking our weak intellects and self serving rationalizations represent truth, we must always come back to the most basic lessons of Chapter 13: First, now we see dimly, but ultimately we will see God's truth face to face; and second, that we must find faith, hope and love in our lives through Christ, and of these, love is foremost.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, support me all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over and my work is done. Then of Thy mercy, grant me a safe lodging, and a holy rest and a peace at last through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen |
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