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13 August 2011
8-) Check here to see if you have toiled in vain – Extracted from Psalm 127
1 [Song of Ascents Of Solomon] If Yahweh does not build a house in vain do its builders toil. If Yahweh does not guard a city in vain does its guard keep watch.
2 In vain you get up earlier, and put off going to bed, sweating to make a living, since it is he who provides for his beloved as they sleep.
3 Sons are a birthright from Yahweh, children are a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in a warrior's hand are the sons you father when young.
5 How blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them; in dispute with his enemies at the city gate he will not be worsted. 13 August 2011
20 August 2011
Concerning Marriage & Divorce – Extracted from Matthew, Chapter 19
1 Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the territory of Judaea on the far side of the Jordan.
2 Large crowds followed him and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees approached him, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?'
4 He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female
5 and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh?
6 They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.'
7 They said to him, 'Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?'
8 He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted, that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning.
9 Now I say this to you: anyone who divorces his wife - I am not speaking of fornication - and marries another, is guilty of adultery.'
10 The disciples said to him, 'If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry.'
11 But he replied, 'It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted.
12 There are eunuchs born so from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs made so by human agency and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.' |
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I forget the past and I strained ahead for the prize - Extracted from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 3:8-14
I (hereinafter referred to “Paul”) believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him.
I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith.
All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death.
That is the way I can hope to take my place in the resurrection of the dead.
Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me.
I can assure you, my brothers, I am far from thinking I have already won.
All I can say is I forget the past and I strained ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.
19 November 2011
Christ as the 1st-fruits and then those who belong to Him - Extracted from 1 Corinthians 15: 20-28
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.
Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man.
Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ: but all of them in proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to Him.
After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power.
For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.
And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God (herein referred to “God the Father”) may be all in all.
19 November 2011
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Yahweh my Counselor – Extracted from Psalm, Chapter 16
1 [In a quiet voice Of David] Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge.
2 To Yahweh I say, 'You are my Lord, my happiness is in none
3 of the sacred spirits of the earth.' They only take advantage of all who love them.
4 People flock to their teeming idols. Never shall I pour libations to them! Never take their names on my lips.
5 My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure.
6 The measuring-line marks out for me a delightful place, my birthright is all I could wish.
7 I bless Yahweh who is my counselor, even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.
9 So my heart rejoices, my soul delights, my body too will rest secure,
10 for you will not abandon me to Sheol, you cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss.
11 You will teach me the path of life, unbounded joy in your presence, at your right hand delight for ever.
Harvest Song - Extracted from Psalm 67
1 May God show kindness and bless us, and make his face smile on us!
2 For then the earth will acknowledge your ways and all nations will know of your power to save.
3 Let the nations praise you, O God, let all the nations praise you!
4 Let the nations shout and sing for joy, since you dispense true justice to the world; you dispense strict justice to the peoples, on earth you rule the nations.
5 Let the nations praise you, O God, let all the nations praise you!
6 The soil has given its harvest, God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God bless us, and let him be feared to the very ends of the earth. |
