Today Our Daily Bread 1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11: 1 - 34
1 And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's. 2 I am so glad, dear friends, that you always keep me in your thoughts and you are following the Christian teaching I passed on to you. 3 But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God.
4 A man dishonors Christ F54 if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. 5 But a woman dishonors her husband F55 if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. 6 Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair. And since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, then she should wear a covering. F56 7 A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is God's glory, made in God's own image, but woman is the glory of man.
8 For the first man didn't come from woman, but the first woman came from man. 9 And man was not made for woman's benefit, but woman was made for man. 10 So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign of authority because the angels are watching. 11 But in relationships among the Lord's people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. 12 For although the first woman came from man, all men have been born from women ever since, and everything comes from God. 13 What do you think about this? Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? 14 Isn't it obvious that it's disgraceful for a man to have long hair? 15 And isn't it obvious that long hair is a woman's pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. 16 But if anyone wants to argue about this, all I can say is that we have no other custom than this, and all the churches of God feel the same way about it.
17 But now when I mention this next issue, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. 18 First of all, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that those of you who are right will be recognized!
20 It's not the Lord's Supper you are concerned about when you come together. 21 For I am told that some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. 22 What? Is this really true? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace the church of God and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say about these things? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly do not!
23 For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass it on to you just as I received it. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given F57 for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. 27 So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, F58 you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 31 But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged in this way. 32 But when we are judged and disciplined by the Lord, we will not be condemned with the world. 33 So, dear brothers and sisters, F59 when you gather for the Lord's Supper, wait for each other. 34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won't bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I'll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
FOOTNOTES:F54: Greek his head. F55: Greek her head. F56: Or then she should have long hair. F57: Some manuscripts read broken. F58: Greek the body; some manuscripts read the Lord's body. F59: Greek brothers.
The New Living Translation

~Lena’s Journalin’~
By Divine ideal order, not by preference, by a manner to do life, a way that is narrow and clear for marks of who’s who. If man covers himself, he is as Adam was, hiding from God, as satan was, being his own god, and prideful in his own right, rather than finding himself in God, as Eve was IN Adam. The need for and the covering are symbolisms of man’s need for God, and his inadequacy in being able to do all for himself apart from God. It shows man was not created to be alone and was made for God. Eve was in the heart of man and was made for oneness with man, just as "man" (plural) was inside of the heart of God. The order of things has gotten so far off and it now seems so tyrannical to even consider this ordered because of perversion and abuse. These scriptures were not written with affliction and infliction in mind, they were written with protection in mind, with pure love and longing and pure one centered fellowship in mind. Think of the "covering" as like a wedding ring, to those abused it is bondage, where to those in love it is what causes me to be who I was created to be. The ring and the "covering" are symbols to be seen, they speak of covenant love. Spirit beings know when one is in the love of God and when one is not in the love of God, when a woman (think church) is protected or not, there is no hiding in the spirit. The angels are ministering spirits, sent to minister for those under the "covering" of His love, those who in the spirit are marked ones for God. What is the act of love that brings the symbol of "covering"? Obedience. Jesus said, if you love me, obey my words. Glory is weight, the measurement of how obedient this love is. Jesus carried the greatest "glory" or weight or amount of covering or length of covering (i.e. length "hair"), because He laid down his life, gave up His spirit, sacrificed and surrendered His ALL. Does His bride, the church, do this as a response to His great love?
A very symbolic reminder of how we are to respond to Him is found in the consistent memory and review of how He responded to us, in the terrible, awful, sinful state I was in, He loved me enough to shed all of His blood for me. He asks me to eat the communion meal with Him and with His body to remember this. And what do we, the body do with this meal? We eat it! That means we partake of it, we consume it, we make it and take it as a part of our own lives, our own lifestyles. What he did we now do, for Him and for others. It ties in with covering. If I love Him, I’ll obey Him. He loved God and obeyed Him, even to the death at the cross. He laid down His will, and was glorified as no other. So, you and I can also respond correctly and lay down our wills, our selfish ways, for Him, and for others. As we do, as He did, we are no longer alone, no longer hidden, no longer ashamed. We are "unclothed" (because we do not yet have the glory He has in form, only because we are not yet made into incorruptible bodies, we live in a semi-temporary state here on earth) but even though we live here in mortality, we are "covered". It is as though we are glorified as He is, because we eat and drink as He did. His food and drink was to do the will of the Father, who sent Him. In the spirit, we are seen by the spirit world as covered and glorified, as we are in obedience to His will being fulfilled through His shed blood. The Lord showed us something directly in line with His character and the person of God here: In the night He was betrayed, He ate and drank- ANYWAY! It’s not about fairness or if you do, I will. He did, and we do as He did, no matter what! Thank God for the cover, the order, the glory revealed to and in us! Amen.