Vicki's Wednesday Word

  1 Corinthians 7:32-35 New Living Translation 32 I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. 33 But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. 34 His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.   Well…if you have to make an argument for celibacy, I guess this would be the best. Take all the care and time and energy you might have spent on a significant other and pour it into the study and service of the Lord. I have been trying to visualize what that life wo

  Ephesians 5:25–27 NLT 25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.   Jesus gave everything in this world for you and me. He left behind family and friends, comforts and familiar surroundings to begin his ministry. Even unto a horrible death, Jesus lived his earthly life all to bring God’s love and mercy to us. Paul is telling us in these verses that the same dedication is a model for marriage. When you choose a partner your priorities change. Your friends and family and old familiar ways no longer take precedence. They are still a special part of you, but the new partner now comes first. A new way of life is created, a new family, even if it is only made up of two people. These two individuals wil

  Genesis 2:18-24 18  Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”  19  So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.  20  He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.  21  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.  22  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 23  “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”     24  This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.   I never t

1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13   4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance…13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.   My former roommate read these few lines at my wedding, like at so many other ceremonies we have all attended. They serve as a guide and a reminder of how people should be treating each other. They comprise a beautiful philosophy that would certainly make the world a much better place if we treated others as Paul describes. That goes double for people who find themselves in a relationship. Four little verses shouldn’t be that hard to carry out. That is until you try it.    More than one human under the same roo

  Luke 7:36-39, 44-50 NLT 36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oi

  Psalms 25:4-12 NLT   4  Show me the right path, O Lord;     point out the road for me to follow. 5  Lead me by your truth and teach me,     for you are the God who saves me.     All day long I put my hope in you. 6  Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love,     which you have shown from long ages past. 7  Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.     Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,     for you are merciful, O Lord. 8  The Lord is good and does what is right;     he shows the proper path to those who go astray. 9  He leads the humble in doing right,     teaching them his way. 10  The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness     all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. 11  For the honor of your name, O Lord,     forgive my many, many sins. 12  Who are those who fear the Lord?     He will show them the path they should choose.   There are enough twists and turns in this life that we are all in need of a

  Acts 9:1-12 NLT Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. 3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there