DAILY WORD.........

Job 6

1 Then Job replied:
2 "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas— no wonder my words have been impetuous.
4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me.
5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg [a] ?
7 I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.
8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?
12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
14 "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
20 They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.
22 Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
24 "Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
25 How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
27 You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.
28 "But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?
29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. [b]
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

DAILY WORD.........

Passage Job 5 :
Job 5
1 "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
4 His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. [a]
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
27 "We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself."

DAILY WORD.........

Passage Job 4 :
Job 4

Eliphaz
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
3 Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
7 "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9 At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish.
10 The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
17 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?' [a]

DAILY WORD.........

Passage Job 3 :
Job 3

Job Speaks
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:
3 "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'
4 That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light
shine upon it.
5 May darkness and deep shadow [a] claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm its light.
6 That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the
year nor be entered in any of the months.
7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.
8 May those who curse days [b] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the
first rays of dawn,
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.
11 "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
12 Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in
ruins,
15 with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never
saw the light of day?
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.
19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
20 "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden
treasure,
22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?
23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
24 For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."

DAILY WORD.........

Passage Job 2:1-13:

1AGAIN THERE was a day when the sons of God [the angels] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and the accuser) came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
2And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan (the adversary and the accuser) answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
3And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.
4Then Satan answered the Lord, Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has will he give for his life.
5But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse and renounce You to Your face.
6And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.
7So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with loathsome and painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
9Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your blameless uprightness? Renounce God and die!
10But he said to her, You speak as one of the impious and foolish women would speak. What? Shall we accept [only] good at the hand of God and shall we not accept [also] misfortune and what is of a bad nature? In [spite of] all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
11Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, for they had made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him.
12And when they looked from afar off and saw him [disfigured] beyond recognition, they lifted up their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe, and they cast dust over their heads toward the heavens.
13So they sat down with [Job] on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief and pain were very great.

DAILY WORD.........

Job 1

1THERE WAS a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained from and shunned evil [because it was wrong].
2And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great body of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.
4His sons used to go and feast in the house of each on his day (birthday) in turn, and they invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them.(A)
5And when the days of their feasting were over, Job sent for them to purify and hallow them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in their hearts. Thus did Job at all [such] times.
6Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them.(B)
7And the Lord said to Satan, From where did you come? Then Satan answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
8And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?
9Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear God for nothing?
10Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.
12And the Lord said to Satan (the adversary and the accuser), Behold, all that he has is in your power, only upon the man himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
13And there was a day when [Job's] sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house [on his birthday],
14And there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15And the Sabeans swooped down upon them and took away [the animals]. Indeed, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
16While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
17While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, The Chaldeans divided into three bands and made a raid upon the camels and have taken them away, yes, and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
18While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,
19And behold, there came a great [whirlwind] from the desert, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
20Then Job arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped
21And said, Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother's womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!
22In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly.

Thank You ........

Dear WOW Gospel Group & Believers,

I want to say thank you, to each and everyone one of you for your prayers during my recovery from the hospital. My wife Kimberly and I know we are truly blessed and honored to have each and every one of you in our lives! Thanks for all the calls & prayers to make sure we are stronger than before!

What the devil ment for bad; GOD ment for GOOD! Here is a time to reflect how good GOD IS! While this is still another reason for ALL OF US to drop to our knees and go to our Fathers feet and PRAISE HIM FOR THE VICTORY!

God bless each and everyone and we WILL continue to work to advance the kingdom and all its righteousness!

Be blessed

Deacon Perry L Austin

DAILY WORD......... 1.17.2008

Passage Philippians 1:1-11
1PAUL AND Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), to all the saints (God's consecrated people) in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops (overseers) and deacons (assistants):

2Grace (favor and blessing) to you and [heart] peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
4In every prayer of mine I always make my entreaty and petition for you all with joy (delight).
5[I thank my God] for your fellowship (your [a]sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership) in advancing the good news (the Gospel) from the first day [you heard it] until now.
6And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.
7It is right and appropriate for me to have this confidence and feel this way about you all, because [b]you have me in your heart and I hold you in my heart as partakers and sharers, one and all with me, of grace (God's unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). [This is true] both when I am shut up in prison and when I am out in the defense and confirmation of the good news (the Gospel).
8For God is my witness how I long for and [c]pursue you all with love, in the tender mercy of Christ Jesus [Himself]!
9And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may [d]display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],
10So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].
11May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [[e]that His glory may be both manifested and recognized].

DAILY WORD 1.15.2008

Passage Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Passage Luke 9:23
23 And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [[a]disown himself, [b]forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, [c]refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [[d]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

Passage 2 Corinthians 5:12-15
12We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we are providing you with an occasion and incentive to be [rightfully] proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who pride themselves on surface appearances [[a]on the virtues they only appear to have], although their heart is devoid of them.
13For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit,
14For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;
15And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

Psalm 91 Jan.4.2008

Psalm 91

1HE WHO [a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].
2I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!
3For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
4[Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.
5You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,
6Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.
7A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.
8Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.
9Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,(A)
10There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.
11For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
12They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.(B)
13You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.(C)
14Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness--trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].
15He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.

Gal 5:16-26 1.12.08

Passage Galatians 5:16-26:

16But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).
17For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.
18But if you are guided (led) by the [Holy] Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.
19Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,
20Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
21Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
23Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [[a]that can bring a charge].
24And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
25If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit [b]we have our life in God, let us go forward [c]walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]
26Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another.

DAILY WORD....1 SAMUEL 15:1-23

1 Samuel 15

1SAMUEL TOLD Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now listen and heed the words of the Lord.
2Thus says the Lord of hosts, I have considered and will punish what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when [Israel] came out of Egypt.
3Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
4So Saul assembled the men and numbered them at Telaim--200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah.
5And Saul came to the city of Amalek and laid wait in the valley.
6Saul warned the Kenites, Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8And he took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, though he utterly destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword.
9Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but all that was undesirable or worthless they destroyed utterly.
10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11I regret making Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commands. And Samuel was grieved and angry [with Saul], and he cried to the Lord all night.
12When Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, he was told, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up for himself a monument or trophy [of his victory] and passed on and went down to Gilgal.
13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you of the Lord. I have performed what the Lord ordered.
14And Samuel said, What then means this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me tonight. Saul said to him, Say on.
17Samuel said, When you were small in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel?
18And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites; and fight against them until they are consumed.
19Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but swooped down upon the plunder and did evil in the Lord's sight?
20Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21But the people took from the spoil sheep and oxen, the chief of the things to be utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.
22Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.

DAILY WORD....

Matthew 7:1-14
1DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.
2For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.
3Why do you [a]stare from without at the [b]very small particle that is in your brother's eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam [c]of timber that is in your own eye?
4Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam [d]of timber in your own eye?
5You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother's eye.
6Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.

Ask, Seek, Knock
7[e]Keep on asking and it will be given you; [f] keep on seeking and you will find; [g]keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.
8For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.
9Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?
10Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?
11If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and [h]advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and [i]advantageous things to those who [j]keep on asking Him!
12So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow and Wide Gate
13Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it.
14But the gate is narrow (contracted [k]by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it.(A)

DAILY WORD....THE LIVING STONE AND A CHOSEN PEOPLE

Passage 1 Peter 2:1-12:
1 Peter 21SO BE done with every trace of wickedness (depravity, malignity) and all deceit and insincerity (pretense, hypocrisy) and grudges (envy, jealousy) and slander and evil speaking of every kind.
2Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation,
3Since you have [already] tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord.(A)
4Come to Him [then, to that] Living Stone which men [a]tried and threw away, but which is chosen [and] precious in God's sight.(B)
5[Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
6For thus it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen ([b]honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall never be [c]disappointed or put to shame.(C)
7To you then who believe (who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him) is the preciousness; but for those who disbelieve [it is true], The [very] Stone which the builders rejected has become the main Cornerstone,(D)
8And, A Stone that will cause stumbling and a Rock that will give [men] offense; they stumble because they disobey and disbelieve [God's] Word, as those [who reject Him] were destined (appointed) to do.
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own [d]purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.(E)
10Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God's people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy.(F)
11Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.
12Conduct yourselves properly (honorably, righteously) among the Gentiles, so that, although they may slander you as evildoers, [yet] they may by witnessing your good deeds [come to] glorify God in the day of inspection [[e]when God shall look upon you wanderers as a pastor or shepherd looks over his flock].

DAILY WORD........

Passage Luke 16:1-13:

1 ALSO [Jesus] said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a [a]manager of his estate, and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that he was squandering his [master's] possessions.
2And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management [of my affairs], for you can be [my] manager no longer.
3And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
4I have come to know what I will do, so that they [my master's debtors] may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.
5So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?
6He said, A hundred measures [about 900 gallons] of oil. And he said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of [b]obligation, and sit down quickly and write fifty [about 450 gallons].
7After that he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures [about 900 bushels] of wheat. He said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of [c]obligation, and write eighty [about 700 bushels].
8And [his] master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting [d]shrewdly and [e]prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder and more prudent and wiser in [[f]relation to] their own generation [to their own age and [g]kind] than are the sons of light.
9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon ([h]deceitful riches, money, possessions), so that when it fails, they [those you have favored] may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings).
10He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.
11Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon ([i]deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?
12And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another [whether God or man], who will give you that which is your own [that is, [j]the true riches]?
13No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or [k]anything in which you trust and on which you rely).

DAILY WORD........PROVERBS 31 WOMEN

Passage Proverbs 31:10-31:

10A capable, intelligent, and [a]virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.(A)
11The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil.
12She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.
13She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it].
14She is like the merchant ships loaded with foodstuffs; she brings her household's food from a far [country].
15She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.(B)
16She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard. [S. of Sol. 8:12.]
17She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.
18She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for God] is good; her lamp goes not out, but it burns on continually through the night [of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust].
19She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].
21She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet.(C)
22She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine, and of purple [such as that of which the clothing of the priests and the hallowed cloths of the temple were made].(D)
23Her husband is known in the [city's] gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.(E)
24She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].
25Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!
26She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].
27She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.(F)
28Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying],
29[b]Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.
30Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!
31Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates [of the city]!(G)

Daily Word.... SAT 1.05.2008

THE PARABLE OF THE TENANTS

Passage Matthew 21:33-45:

33Listen to another parable: There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a wine vat in it and built a watchtower. Then he let it out [for rent] to tenants and went into another country.
34When the fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.
35But the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36Again he sent other servants, more than the first time, and they treated them the same way.
37Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, They will respect and give heed to my son.
38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir; come on, let us kill him and have his inheritance.
39And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?
41They said to Him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and rent the vineyard to other tenants [a]of such a character that they will give him the fruits promptly in their season.(A)
42Jesus asked them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The very Stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the Cornerstone; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?(B)
43I tell you, for this reason the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it.
44[b]And whoever falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom It falls will be crushed to powder [and It will [c]winnow him, [d]scattering him like dust].(C)
45And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), they perceived that He was talking about them.

DAILY WORD........12 CORINTHIANS 1-31

1 Corinthians 12

1NOW ABOUT the spiritual gifts (the special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed.
2You know that when you were heathen, you were led off after idols that could not speak [habitually] as impulse directed and whenever the occasion might arise.
3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, [a]extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.
5And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].
6And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.
7But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit.
8To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;
9To another [[b]wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit;
10To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight ([c]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.
11All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.
12For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
13For by [[d]means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and [e]by baptism united together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit.
14For the body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many.
15If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?
16If the ear should say, Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?
17If the whole body were an eye, where [would be the sense of] hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where [would be the sense of] smell?
18But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation.
19But if [the whole] were all a single organ, where would the body be?
20And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body.
21And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak.
23And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum),
24Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance],
25So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.
26And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it.
27Now you [collectively] are Christ's body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].
28So God has appointed some in the church [[f]for His own use]: first apostles (special messengers); second prophets (inspired preachers and expounders); third teachers; then wonder-workers; then those with ability to heal the sick; helpers; administrators; [speakers in] different (unknown) tongues.
29Are all apostles (special messengers)? Are all prophets (inspired interpreters of the will and purposes of God)? Are all teachers? Do all have the power of performing miracles?
30Do all possess extraordinary powers of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
31But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all--love].

DAILY WORD.........THE BLOOD OF CHRIST 1-3-2008

Passage Hebrews 9:11-28:
11But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,
12He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,(A)
14How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who [a]by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent [b]divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?
15[Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance--since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.
16For where there is a [last] will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,
17For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive.
18So even the [old] first covenant (God's will) was not inaugurated and ratified and put in force without the shedding of blood.
19For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of slain calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself and all the people,
20Saying these words: This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.(B)
21And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the [sacred] vessels and appliances used in [divine] worship.
22[In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.
23By such means, therefore, it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be purified, but the actual heavenly things themselves [required far] better and nobler sacrifices than these.
24For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
25Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
26For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].
27And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment,
28Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and [c]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.

DAILY WORD.... GOD IS GOOD ALL BY HIMSELF......

Colossians 21

FOR I want you to know how great is my solicitude for you [how severe an inward struggle I am engaged in for you] and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [[a]like yourselves] have never seen my face and known me personally.
2[For my concern is] that their hearts may be [b]braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively [c]more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One).
3In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom ([d]comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.
4I say this in order that no one may mislead and delude you by plausible and persuasive and attractive arguments and beguiling speech.
5For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ [that [e]leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].
6As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him.
7Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men's ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).
9For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
10And you [f]are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
11In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).
12[Thus [g]you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [[h]to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [[i]as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.
13And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions,
14Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared [j]completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
15[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].
16Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.
17Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.
18Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,
19And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world's crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules and regulations?--such as]
21Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],
22Referring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.(A)
23Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]