OUR DAILY BREAD : YOU MISSED TEH CHANCE

[cimi]

TUESDAY OCTOBER 27


YOU MISSED THE CHANCE

READ:
1 Corinthians 13:2
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If I have the gift
of prophecy and
can fathom all
mysteries and all
knowledge, and
if I have a faith
that can move
mountains, but
do not have love,
I am nothing.
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I heard the saddest words today. Two believers in Christ were discussing an issue about which they had differing opinions. The older of the two seemed smug as he wielded Scripture like a weapon, chopping away at the things he saw as wrong in the other's life. The younger man just seemed weary of the lecture, weary of the other person, and discouraged.

As the exchange drew to a close, the older man commented on the other's apparent disinterest. "You used to be eager," he started, and then abruptly quit. "I don't know what it is you want."

"You missed the chance to love me," the young man said. "In all the time you've known me, what has seemed to matter most to you is pointing out what you think is wrong about me. What do I want? I want to see Jesus__in you and through you."

Had this been said to me, I thought, I would have been devastated. In that moment I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me there had been people I had missed the chance to love. And I knew there were people who couldn't see Jesus in me either.

The apostle Paul tells us that love must be the underlying motive in anything we do; in everything we do (1 COR. 13:1-4). Let's not miss the next chance to show love. ____Randy Kilgore

** Ask the Holy Spirit to show you today who it is you've missed
the chance to love. Then ask Him to give you another opportunity.
Start your conversation with these words. "I'm sorry..."
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Love beats lectures every time.

***********************************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Corinthians 13****************************
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do
not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can
move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give
all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that
I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-
seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will
cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where
there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part
and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes,
what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child I talked like
a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I
became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For
now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see
face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even
as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
First Corinthians 13 is often referred to as
"the love chapter." Jesus said that love would be the distinguishing
characteristic of a Christian. Hours before He went to the cross
He said: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"
(JOHN 1w:34-35). ___SIM KAY TEE