November 10, 2016

Philemon 7-20

1:7 For I have found great joy and consolation in your charity, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
1:8 Because of this, I have enough confidence in Christ Jesus to command you concerning certain things,
1:9 but I beg you instead, for the sake of charity, since you are so much like Paul: an old man and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
1:10 I beg you, on behalf of my son, whom I have begotten in my chains, Onesimus.
1:11 In times past, he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to me and to you.
1:12 So I have sent him back to you. And may you receive him like my own heart.
1:13 I myself wanted to retain him with me, so that he might minister to me, on your behalf, while I am in the chains of the Gospel.
1:14 But I was willing to do nothing without your counsel, so as not to make use of your good deed as if out of necessity, but only willingly.
1:15 So perhaps, then, he departed from you for a time, so that you might receive him again for eternity,
1:16 no longer as a servant, but, in place of a servant, a most beloved brother, especially to me: but how much so more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord!
1:17 Therefore, if you hold me to be a companion, receive him as you would me.
1:18 But if he has harmed you in any way, or if he is in your debt, charge it to me.
1:19 I, Paul, have written this with my own hand: I will repay. And I need not tell you, that you are also in debt yourself, to me.
1:20 So it is, brother. May I delight with you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.

Luke 17: 20-25

17:20 Then he was questioned by the Pharisees: “When does the kingdom of God arrive?” And in response, he said to them: “The kingdom of God arrives unobserved.
17:21 And so, they will not say, ‘Behold, it is here,’ or ‘Behold, it is there.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
17:22 And he said to his disciples: “The time will come when you will desire to see one day of the Son of man, and you will not see it.
17:23 And they will say to you, ‘Behold, he is here,’ and ‘Behold, he is there.’ Do not choose to go out, and do not follow them.
17:24 For just as lightning flashes from under heaven and shines to whatever is under heaven, so also will the Son of man be in his day.
17:25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.