But if anyone dares to boast about something--I am talking like a fool--I will be just as daring. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham descendants? So am I. Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a mad man-- but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks , and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from fellow Jews and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when some is led into sin, I am filled with distress.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
58.1 Lose One's Life For Christ's Sake
(Luke 9:22-26)
He also told them, "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life."
And he said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Will a person gain anything if he wins the whole world but is himself lost or defeated? Of course not! If a person is ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Monday, April 15, 2013
57.5 God's Goodness Despite Our Ingratitude
(Psalm 78:1-8, 24-39)
Listen, my people, to my teaching, and pay attention to what I say.
I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past, things we have heard and known, things that our fathers told us.
We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the Lord's power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done.
He gave laws to the people of Israel and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.
He instructed our ancestors to teach his laws to the children, so that that the next generation might learn them
and in turn should tell their children.
In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.
They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him.
He gave them grain from heaven, by sending down manna for them to eat.
So they ate the food of angels, and God gave them all they wanted.
He also caused the east wind to blow, and by his power he stirred up the south wind: and to his people he sent down birds as many as the grains of sand on the shore they fell in the middle of the camp all around the tents.
So the people ate and were satisfied ; God gave them what they wanted.
But they had not yet satisfied their craving and were still eating, when God became angry with them and killed their strongest men, the best young men of Israel.
In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.
So he ended their days like a breath and their lives with sudden disaster.
Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would turn to him; they would repent and pray earnestly to him.
They remembered that God was their protector, that the Almighty came to their aid.
But their words were all lies; nothing they said was sincere.
They were not loyal to him; they were not faithful to their covenant with him.
But God was merciful to his people.
He forgave their sin and did not destroy them.
Many time he held back his anger and restrained his fury.
He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone.
Listen, my people, to my teaching, and pay attention to what I say.
I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past, things we have heard and known, things that our fathers told us.
We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the Lord's power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done.
He gave laws to the people of Israel and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.
He instructed our ancestors to teach his laws to the children, so that that the next generation might learn them
and in turn should tell their children.
In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.
They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him.
He gave them grain from heaven, by sending down manna for them to eat.
So they ate the food of angels, and God gave them all they wanted.
He also caused the east wind to blow, and by his power he stirred up the south wind: and to his people he sent down birds as many as the grains of sand on the shore they fell in the middle of the camp all around the tents.
So the people ate and were satisfied ; God gave them what they wanted.
But they had not yet satisfied their craving and were still eating, when God became angry with them and killed their strongest men, the best young men of Israel.
In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.
So he ended their days like a breath and their lives with sudden disaster.
Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would turn to him; they would repent and pray earnestly to him.
They remembered that God was their protector, that the Almighty came to their aid.
But their words were all lies; nothing they said was sincere.
They were not loyal to him; they were not faithful to their covenant with him.
But God was merciful to his people.
He forgave their sin and did not destroy them.
Many time he held back his anger and restrained his fury.
He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
57.4 Christ Is The Bread Of Life
(John 6:35-40)
"I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty. Now, I told you that you have seen me but will not believe. Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me, because I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. And it is the will of him who sent me that I should not lose any of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last day. For what my Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last day."
57.3 Sharing
(Exodus 16:16-18)
"The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quart for each member of his household."
The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less. When they measured it, those ho had gathered more did not have too much, and those who had gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed.
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