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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer to Be Filled with Flowing Spirit

Oh heavenly Father, make me an empty vessel for your Spirit to fill. Purge me of the world, of pride and lust and greed and foolish wanderings of mind, that I may be prepared to hear your truth.

Let me pour myself out continuously all the day long, so that you might refill me with your Spirit; for I know that the more I give away, the more I will have for myself. Oh Lord, I truly believe that you will keep me filled with all goodness as long as I am giving to others. Do not let me become blocked off from You, mighty Lord, by selfishness; keep me like a crystal brook, flowing always, less I become stagnant and fetid. Let me look to my outflow and trust to you for my inflow, today and always. In Christ's name I pray,

Mason Barge 8/14/2015

For a Positive Attitude Today

Lord, as I offer you all that is ordinary and everyday in my life, I ask you to give me the power of your Spirit that I may transform each day by living with a positive attitude, looking for the best in people and situations. Inspire me to live in your presence every day so that I may have a full share of the hope only your Spirit can bring; lead me do the ordinary things of life in an extraordinary way, to your glory.

Meditation

[Transform each day.]

Dedication to Service

Now, oh heavenly Father, I ask to be called as a witness to your love by the love I extend to others; a precursor of your justice by my unfailing commitment to what is right and good; a lamp set on a hill, reflecting the light of Christ in my forgiveness, mercy and compassion; and a harvester of souls through my humble and dedicated servanthood. In Jesus' name, I pray,

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Bath Abbey Diptychs by Sue Symons (contemporary) at Bath Abbey (England). This page has text beginning at Mark 16:5.

Meeting Life

1 Corinthians 8 (ESV)

Food Offered to Idols

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Notes on the Scripture

s we saw in verse 1 of Chapter 7, Paul had obviously received a letter from the Corinthians, and 1 Corinthians is, in part, a response to it. He is answering questions. Here, someone has apparently asked him whether it was right to eat food that had been sacrificed to an idol/god.

He begins with an eloquent truth. All knowledge is vanity, for there is one truth that we really know; and that, we know with our hearts. That is, the knowledge that there is one God, the God of love, by whom all things exist. For our knowledge of God is different from other knowledge. It is not simply in our mind, but in our hearts, our souls, in every fiber of our being.

His conclusion, then, is simple. Once you have this knowledge, it doesn’t matter whether you eat food consecrated to some imaginary god or not. It's just nonsense. It has no effect on us.

But, he cautions, we must take care, for if there are people who know we do such a thing and they do not have our knowledge of God, we may become unwitting assistants in their downfall. If a gullible person sees us eating food, which others have told him has power because of a pagan god’s blessing, he may think we secretly believe it.

This may seem archaic, but the principle is not. What will you do if someone reads your horoscope? Do you act like some numbers are “lucky” and others are not? These are utter nonsense, but superstition can be deeply ingrained. If you have knowledge of God, you can read your horoscope or not; but if you play along, what influence will it have on others, that you have not dismissed it as the heathen nonsense it is?

Daily Inspiration

“God is Great”

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