1 Corinthians 7
7 Now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked, “Is it best for people not to marry?“[Or “married couples not to have sex.”] Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. 3 Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. 4 A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. 5 So don’t refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don’t know of anything the Lord said about this matter. 7 I wish that all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.
Song of Songs 1
She Speaks:
Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon’s curtains.
6 Don’t stare at me
just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected
my complexion.
Don’t let the other shepherds
think badly of me.
7 I’m not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
after shepherds.
My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
and let them rest at noon?
Joseph
2. Joseph’s Path from Prison to a Great Destiny
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
A seemingly chance encounter may be fraught with destiny, so we should not take anything casually.
You know the story of Joseph. His brothers put him in a well thinking to kill him, but they sold him instead and he was brought to Egypt as a slave. There the wife of his master Potiphar tried to seduce him, and when he would not be tempted she had him imprisoned. While in prison and awaiting the day of his execution, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was raised to the rank of Prime Minister of Egypt. How, in the midst of his misery, could Joseph have even imagined that such good fortune would befall him? Yet these things opened the way for him to save the Israelites. Who could have known that it would turn out that way?
Likewise, if I had not been sent to Heung Nam prison for three years, I never would have committed myself to eradicate communism from this earth with my own hands. I would not have known the reality of communism, but would have simply dismissed it as just another philosophy. It was in prison that I experienced communism first-hand. You cannot imagine the cruelty and misery of life in that prison. Yet out of my experience there I resolved to liberate all people who suffered under the communist yoke. The inmates of that prison faced all kinds of evils, and many of them perished. Yet in that awful place a miracle occurred: something unexpected happened in my life that would one day change history [cause communism to fall].
When you consider this, how observant you should be in everything you do and at every moment! You should be able to digest any situation you encounter. This is absolutely necessary for your life as a human being. If you live your life with this attitude, success will walk by your side. If you do not, success will always be two steps ahead of you.
For example, suppose while walking down the street you trip over a crack and knock down a young lady who happens to be walking beside you, sending her to the hospital with a broken ankle. You visit her in the hospital, befriend her, and in time she becomes a church member and gains eternal life. Looking back on that accident, do you think she will curse you or be grateful that it happened? She would say, “It’s amazing! I am so glad that my ankle was broken. Thank you, ankle! Amen!” and add proudly, “In all of history, there is no one who was witnessed to the way I was!”
Therefore, do not pray, “Please God, guard me from getting into a car accident.” Instead, think that a car accident could be the opportunity that opens the door to many unexpected blessings. Who knows the future? You cannot see it. So how do you know whether to complain about your situation or be grateful? Since you do not know, be grateful. That is the attitude of a wise person. (November 4, 1990)
People in prison fit into two categories. One category is criminals who violated the legitimate interests of society for selfish reasons and broke the law. Even Satan’s world25 does not like such people. The second category is godly people who are disliked by people in Satan’s world. Since people in Satan’s world are God’s enemies, they target the people on God’s side for imprisonment. Everyone in prison, everyone who is executed under Satan’s sovereignty, belongs to one of these two categories. This has been so throughout history.
God uses the imprisonment of godly people to cut the satanic net that covers this world and, by casting Heaven’s net, to connect all people to the rope of God’s love. Even though the powers of the satanic world put a godly person in prison, they cannot handle him or digest him. Eventually, they will have to pay a penalty.
When a person whom Satan’s world imprisons loves God more intensely than Satan’s people love in their self-centered way, he creates a problem for Satan’s world. It will have to pay compensation a million-fold. Why? Satan knows that he should belong to God and be under the authority of God’s realm of true love. Therefore, as long as God is alive, when someone is exhibiting true love, Satan cannot show his face. If he nevertheless causes any harm to come to that person, he will have to pay a heavy price for eternity.
This is the very strategy of God. Often in the past, God sent His beloved children into a situation where they would stand up for righteousness and purposefully make problems for the evil world. They would be imprisoned and sometimes even executed. Yet by killing God’s children, the satanic world has had to pay compensation for thousands of years. By this strategy God could expand the foundation of religion throughout the world. (167:305-06, August 20, 1987)