1 Corinthians 11:1-16 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com:Worship

We hear a lot about "worship"-but what is it exactly?  Worship is when you're aware that what you've been given is far greater than what you can give.  Worship is the awareness that were it not for God's touch, you'd still be hobbling and hurting, bitter and broken. Worship is the "thank you" that refuses to be silenced.
Oh we've tried to make a science out of worship.  We can't do that any more than we can "sell love" or negotiate peace."  Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior, by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer.
If you and I can go days without feeling an urge to say "thank you" to the One who saved, healed, and delivered us, then we'd do well to remember what He did!
"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  2 Corinthians 4:15"
From In the Eye of the Storm

1 Corinthians 11:1-16
New International Version (NIV)
11 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

On Covering the Head in Worship

2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,[a] and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

7 A man ought not to cover his head,[b] since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own[c] head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 10:1-14

10 Brothers,[a] my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.[b]

The Message of Salvation to All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

November 21, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

How shall they hear without a preacher? —Romans 10:14

When Thomas Gallaudet graduated from seminary in 1814, he had planned on becoming a preacher. However, his call to the ministry took a different turn when he met Alice, a 9-year-old, hearing-impaired girl in his neighborhood. Gallaudet began to communicate with her by writing words with a stick in the dirt.

Helping Alice motivated him to help others too. After consulting with European and American experts in educating the deaf, he refined a system widely known today as “signing” (a person’s hands spell out the message). Eventually, he established the American School for the Deaf.

Gallaudet’s school for the hearing-impaired contained a Christian curriculum that shared the gospel and included Bible instruction. He had answered the call to preach—but it was to a very special group of people. Signing was the way he communicated the gospel.

Like Gallaudet, we too should be sharing the Word of God with people in ways they can understand. Otherwise, “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). How might God want you to reach out to those around you?

Seeking the lost, and pointing to Jesus,
Souls that are weak and hearts that are sore;
Leading them forth in ways of salvation,
Showing the path to life evermore. —Ogden
Don’t withhold from the world
the best news that’s ever come to it.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 21, 2012

“It is Finished!”

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus . . . for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor . . .” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.

Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

A Personal Thanksgiving - #6748

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Well, this is one of the busiest travel days of the year; people packing into airports and airplanes heading out for whoever they like to be with over Thanksgiving. And you know what? A lot of air travelers are having to make that choice again: Do I want the scanner, or do I want the pat down? Yep!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Personal Thanksgiving."

Well, I'm sitting here listening to all the opinions you hear on the news about Thanksgiving travelers' privacy, and something in the Bible popped into my mind.

It's our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 4:13. "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Wow! God sees what we don't want anybody else to see. The previous verse tells us that God sees and judges "the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

We're talking all the dark stuff. The dirty thoughts, the adulterous desires, the seething jealousy, that volcanic anger, the endless lies, the backstabbing words, that hateful prejudice, the hurtful selfishness. He sees the egocentric pride we've got, and He knows about that long-harbored bitterness. "Everything is uncovered and laid bare."

Oh, we could try to rationalize it or minimize it or call it by a nice name, but it is what it is. It's sin against God; sin against another person. Rotting trash is rotting trash, no matter how pretty the paper you wrap it in. And with God, it's all unwrapped. No secrets. We think, "Hey, well, no one's caught me." If God knows, you're caught. And He knows.

Our secrets are not only exposed to God, but they become the basis for us to be judged by God. "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ" Romans says (Romans 2:16). King David said in one of his psalms, "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me...You are familiar with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1, 3).

My first reaction: "Uh-oh." Second reaction: "Good. One Person I don't need to hide anything from...I can't hide anything from." In fact, the first step to being free from the darkness inside is to say what the Prodigal Son said when he came home to his father: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You" (Luke 15:18). there's just something liberating about being brutally honest about your sin - as you bring it into God's pure light. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

And then comes the release that we desperately need but we so don't deserve. In God's words, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). God stands ready to give us a spiritual shower called "forgiven" - and there's no better feeling than knowing that you're finally clean.

That forgiveness is no cheap thing. Revelation 1:5 says, "He loves us and freed us from our sins by His blood." It took the shedding of the blood of God's only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all my junk. A cross He did not deserve; an excruciating death. God's Son being cut off from God the Father because Jesus was carrying my sin, going through my hell so I could go to His heaven.

But our bill was paid. All we have to do is take for ourselves what He died for, turning from the sin-darkness that has poisoned our life. So, as I see those recurring pictures of the body scanners and the hand searches, I'm thinking that God doesn't need any of that. He sees it all. And He knew that what was hidden in my dark places would blow up my life and my eternity. So He acted to defuse it with the most extreme act of sacrificial love in history. He absorbed the "blast" Himself so I could board the flight to His heaven and be with Him forever.

Do you want to know it? Do you want to get started with Him? Tell Him that today. Check out our website and find out exactly how to be sure you belong to Him. Go to YoursForLife.net today. It's wonderful to live without fear of discovery, with a clean heart, and with nothing to hide.