OUR DAILY BREAD : GATEKEEPERS

[cimi]

April 16
Thursday


GATEKEEPERS

READ:
1 Cor. 3:1-17
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The temple of God is
holy, which temple
you are.
__1 Corinthians 3:17
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In journalism, the term gatekeeper refers to reporters, editors, and publishers who consider various news items and determine which stories are newsworthy. Some long-time news professionals warn that the Internet allows information to get through without being checked at the gate.

In Old Testament times, gatekeepers guarded the temple to prevent those who were unclean from entering (2 Chron. 23:19). In AD 70, the temple was destroyed by the Roman armies of Emperor Titus. But the destruction began years earlier when the Levites assigned to guard it failed to do so after coming under the corrupt influence of the Syrian king Antiochus IV.

Paul called our bodies God's "temple" (1 Cor. 3:16-17), and many forces are at work to assault God's new dwelling. Evil may gain a foothold through unfortified areas of our spiritual life--places where envy, strife, or divisions may undermine us (3:3). Each of us must be on guard against the enemy of our souls and never give place to the devil (Eph. 4:27).

The criteria for what may enter is found in Philippians 4:8--whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. The resulting peace will guard the gate of our hearts and minds.
__Julie Ackerman Link
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`````````````````Help me to guard my troubled soul```````````````
``````````````````By constant, active self-control.`````````````````
`````````````Clean up my thought, my speech, my play;````````````
````````````Lord, keep me pure from day to day. __Thomas`````````
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If you're not on guard against evil
you'll be influenced by evil.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Corinthians 3:1-17********

1 And I, brethren, could not
speak to you as to spiritual
people but as to carnal, as to
babes in Christ. 2 I fed you
with milk and not with solid
food; for until now you were
not able to receive it, and
even now you are still not
able; 3 for you are still carnal.
For where there are envy,
strife, and divisions among
you, are you not carnal and
behaving like mere men?

4 For when one says, "I am
of Paul," and another, "I am
of Apollos," are you not
carnal?...

9 For we are God's fellow
workers; you are God's field,
you are God's building.

10 According to the grace of
God which was given to me,
as a wise master builder I
have laid the foundation, and
another builds on it. But let
each one take heed how he
builds on it. 11 For no other
foundation can anyone lay
than that which is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if
anyone builds on this
foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay,
straw, 13 each one's
work is burned, he
will suffer loss; but he
himself will be saved, yet so
as through fire..

16 Do you not know that
you are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you? 17 If anyone
defiles the temple of God,
God will destroy him. For
the temple of God is holy,
which temple you are.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

We are to be gatekeepers of our bodies, the temple of God (vv.16-
17). The Hebrew word translated "gatekeeper" is used of those who
control the entryway of a sanctuary (1 Chron. 9:17) or of a porter at
a city gate (2 Kings 7:10-11). Dennis Fisher