DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17:
WORD OF WISDOM
. Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
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DAILY DEVOTION
The Need for an Interpreter
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we
should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for
the saints according to the will of God."
Romans 8:26-27
If you've ever traveled to another country where you didn't speak the
language, you know how hard it can be to shop or order a meal in a
restaurant. Sometimes what you are first presented with isn't anything like
what you wanted. And trying to ask for directions to a place you can't
pronounce correctly in a language you don't speak may lead you to some
interesting detours, but the chances of getting where you want to go are
small. What you need is someone who speaks both languages and can interpret
for you so that you get what you want.
The Bible teaches that our prayers need an interpreter. We like to think of
ourselves as knowing what we need, and if we are not careful, we may find
ourselves instructing God as to how He should work in our lives. Instead of
seeking His will, we end up seeking our own. That is not what prayer is for,
and God's will and glory should always be foremost in the petitions that we
take to the throne of grace.
But beyond the vital matter of submission to God's will in prayer, the
bottom line is that we simply do not have the knowledge or perspective to
understand what we really need. (We have all had the experience of looking
back in gratitude at the unanswered prayers for things we really wanted at
the time but later discovered would not have been good for us.) What we need
is the guidance and direction of the interpreter-the Holy Spirit-who speaks
both our language and God's, and who knows what we need.
Trusting God in prayer means that we are willing to accept what He knows is
best for us.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Numbers 28-30New King James Version (NKJV)
Daily Offerings
28 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Command the children of Israel,
and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a
sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed
time.'
3 "And you shall say to them, 'This is the offering made by fire which you
shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs in their first year without blemish,
day by day, as a regular burnt offering. 4 The one lamb you shall offer in
the morning, the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, 5 and one-tenth
of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with one-fourth of a hin
of pressed oil. 6 It is a regular burnt offering which was ordained at
Mount Sinai for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 7 And
its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin for each lamb; in a holy
place you shall pour out the drink to the Lord as an offering. 8 The other
lamb you shall offer in the evening; as the morning grain offering and its
drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering made by fire, a sweet
aroma to the Lord.
Sabbath Offerings
9 'And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish,
and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with
oil, with its drink offering- 10 this is the burnt offering for every
Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering.
Monthly Offerings
11 'At the beginnings of your months you shall present a burnt offering to
the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year,
without blemish; 12 three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain
offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; two-tenths of an ephah of fine
flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and
one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, as a grain offering for
each lamb, as a burnt offering of sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to
the Lord. 14 Their drink offering shall be half a hin of wine for a bull,
one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is
the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year. 15
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering to the Lord shall be offered,
besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
Offerings at Passover
16 'On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord.
17 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened bread
shall be eaten for seven days. 18 On the first day you shall have a holy
convocation. You shall do no customary work. 19 And you shall present an
offering made by fire as a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one
ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish.
20 Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths
of an ephah you shall offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram; 21 you
shall offer one-tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs; 22 also one
goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You shall offer these
besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt
offering. 24 In this manner you shall offer the food of the offering made
by fire daily for seven days, as a sweet aroma to the Lord; it shall be
offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25 And
on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no
customary work.
Offerings at the Feast of Weeks
26 'Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering
to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You
shall do no customary work. 27 You shall present a burnt offering as a
sweet aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their
first year, 28 with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil:
three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 29 and
one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30 also one kid of the goats, to
make atonement for you. 31 Be sure they are without blemish. You shall
present them with their drink offerings, besides the regular burnt offering
with its grain offering.
Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets
29 'And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have
a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of
blowing the trumpets. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma
to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year,
without blemish. 3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil:
three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and
one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 also one kid of the goats as a sin
offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering with its
grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain
offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a
sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
Offerings on the Day of Atonement
7 'On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation.
You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work. 8 You shall
present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet aroma: one young bull, one
ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish.
9 Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths
of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 10 and one-tenth for
each of the seven lambs; 11 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering,
besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its
grain offering, and their drink offerings.
Offerings at the Feast of Tabernacles
12 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy
convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to
the Lord seven days. 13 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering
made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two rams,
and fourteen lambs in their first year. They shall be without blemish. 14
Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of
an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two
rams, 15 and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16 also one kid of
the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain
offering, and its drink offering.
17 'On the second day present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs
in their first year without blemish, 18 and their grain offering and their
drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number, according to the ordinance; 19 also one kid of the goats as a sin
offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and
their drink offerings.
20 'On the third day present eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their
first year without blemish, 21 and their grain offering and their drink
offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number,
according to the ordinance; 22 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the
regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.
23 'On the fourth day present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in
their first year, without blemish, 24 and their grain offering and their
drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number, according to the ordinance; 25 also one kid of the goats as a sin
offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its
drink offering.
26 'On the fifth day present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in
their first year without blemish, 27 and their grain offering and their
drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number, according to the ordinance; 28 also one goat as a sin offering,
besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink
offering.
29 'On the sixth day present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in
their first year without blemish, 30 and their grain offering and their
drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number, according to the ordinance; 31 also one goat as a sin offering,
besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink
offering.
32 'On the seventh day present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in
their first year without blemish, 33 and their grain offering and their
drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number, according to the ordinance; 34 also one goat as a sin offering,
besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink
offering.
35 'On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no
customary work. 36 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by
fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their
first year without blemish, 37 and their grain offering and their drink
offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number,
according to the ordinance; 38 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the
regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.
39 'These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides
your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings
and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace
offerings.'"
40 So Moses told the children of Israel everything, just as the Lord
commanded Moses.
The Law Concerning Vows
30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of
Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man
makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some
agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that
proceeds out of his mouth.
3 "Or if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by some
agreement while in her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears
her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father
holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with
which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father overrules her
on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which
she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will release her, because
her father overruled her.
6 "If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash
utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 and her husband hears
it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows
shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8
But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make
void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she
bound herself, and the Lord will release her.
9 "Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound
herself, shall stand against her.
10 "If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an agreement
with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and
did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by
which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband truly made them
void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips
concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not
stand; her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her. 13
Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may
confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no
response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or
all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no
response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them
void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt."
16 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and
his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father's
house.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
