Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Believer's Freedom

23"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.  25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."[c]
 27If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake[d]29the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? 30If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Footnotes:

Friday, October 1, 2010

The Branch From Jesse

    1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
    2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
    3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
       or decide by what he hears with his ears;
    4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
       with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
       He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
       with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
    5 Righteousness will be his belt
       and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
    6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
       the leopard will lie down with the goat,
       the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together;
       and a little child will lead them.
    7 The cow will feed with the bear,
       their young will lie down together,
       and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
    8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
       and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
    9 They will neither harm nor destroy
       on all my holy mountain,
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
       as the waters cover the sea.
    10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, [b] from Cush, [c] from Elam, from Babylonia, [d] from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
    12 He will raise a banner for the nations
       and gather the exiles of Israel;
       he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
       from the four quarters of the earth.
    13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish,
       and Judah's enemies [e] will be cut off;
       Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
       nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
    14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
       together they will plunder the people to the east.
       They will lay hands on Edom and Moab,
       and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
    15 The LORD will dry up
       the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
       with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
       over the Euphrates River. [f]
       He will break it up into seven streams
       so that men can cross over in sandals.
    16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
       that is left from Assyria,
       as there was for Israel
       when they came up from Egypt