DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY JUNE 2:
WORD OF WISDOM
Every new beginning is some other beginning's end.
___
DAILY DEVOTION
Clean from the Inside Out
"And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he
went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled
that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now
do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your
inward part is full of ravening and wickedness."
Luke 11:37-39
I read about a little boy who was preparing to leave for his piano lesson.
Before they left the house his mother wanted to make sure he was presentable
when he got to his teacher. "Did you wash your hands?" she asked. "Yes,
Mother," he replied. "Did you wash your face?" Yes, Mother," he said once
more. "And did you wash behind your ears?" she continued. He hesitated for a
moment and then said, "On her side I did."
The Pharisees in Jesus' day were not concerned with genuine holiness, but
rather only cared about the outward appearance they presented to others.
Those who only saw them in public would be quite impressed as they passed by
with their elaborate garments, praying loudly as they went. But God saw
their hearts, and He was not impressed because He knew that their outward
religiosity hid inward evil.
It is possible to outwardly conform to the commands of Scripture for a time
without truly desiring to love and follow God, but eventually what is on the
inside will show up in our lives. If we want our conduct to be pleasing to
God, rather than focusing on the external, we should begin by focusing on
the heart. "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear
me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them,
and with their children for ever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).
The cleansing of our lives begins when we align our hearts with the things
God wants us to love.
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Job 37-39Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
37 "The thunder and lightning frighten me;
my heart pounds in my chest.
2
Listen to God's thundering voice!
Listen to the sound coming from his mouth.
3
He sends his lightning to flash across the whole sky.
It lights up the earth from one end to the other.
4
After the flashes of lightning you can hear his roaring voice.
He thunders with his wonderful voice!
And while his voice thunders, the lightning flashes continue.
5
God's thundering voice is amazing!
He does great things that we cannot understand.
6
He says to the snow,
'Fall on the earth.'
And he says to the rain,
'Pour down on the earth.'
7
God does this to stop everyone's work
and to show the people he made what he can do.
8
The animals run into their dens and stay there.
9
Whirlwinds come from the south.
The cold winds come from the north.
10
God's breath makes ice
and freezes even large bodies of water.
11
He fills the clouds with water
and scatters his lightning through them.
12
He orders the clouds to be blown all around the earth.
The clouds do whatever he commands.
13
He causes the clouds to punish people with floods
or to water his earth and show his love.
14
"Job, stop for a minute and listen.
Think about the wonderful things God does.
15
Do you know how God controls the clouds?
Do you know how he makes his lightning flash?
16
Do you know how the clouds hang in the sky?
This is just one of the amazing works of the one who knows everything.
17
All you know is that you sweat, your clothes stick to you,
and all is still and quiet when the heat wave comes from the south.
18
Can you help God spread out the sky
and make it shine like polished brass?
19
"Job, tell us what we should say to God!
We cannot think of what to say because of our ignorance.[a]
20
I would not tell God that I wanted to talk to him.
That would be like asking to be destroyed.
21
A person cannot look at the sun.
It is too bright as it shines in the sky after the wind blows the clouds
away.
22
In the same way God's golden glory shines from the Holy Mountain.[b]
He is surrounded by the brightest light.
23
We have seen that God All-Powerful really is all powerful!
But he is just and never treats anyone unfairly.[c]
24
That is why people fear and respect him.
He shows no respect for those who think they are wise."
God Speaks to Job
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job from a whirlwind and said,
2
"Who is this ignorant person
saying these foolish things?[d]
3
Prepare yourself for an attack!
Get ready to answer the questions I will ask you.
4
"Where were you when I made the earth?
If you are so smart, answer me.
5
And who decided how big the earth should be?
Who measured it with a measuring line?
6
What is the earth resting on?
Who put the first stone in its place
7
when the morning stars sang together
and the angels[e] shouted with joy?
8
"Who closed the flood gates
as the sea gushed from the womb?
9
Who covered it with clouds
and wrapped it in darkness?
10
I set the limits for the sea
and put it behind locked gates.
11
I said to the sea, 'You can come this far, but no farther.
This is where your proud waves will stop.'
12
"Did you ever in your life command the morning to begin
or the day to dawn?
13
Did you ever tell the morning light to grab the earth
and shake those who are evil out of their hiding places?
14
The morning light makes the hills
and valleys easy to see.
When the daylight comes to the earth,
the shapes of these places stand out like the folds of a coat.
They take shape like soft clay
that is pressed with a stamp.
15
Evil people don't like the daylight.
When it shines bright, it keeps them from doing the bad things they do.
16
"Have you ever gone to the deepest parts of the sea?
Have you ever walked on the ocean bottom?
17
Has anyone shown you the gates to the world of the dead?
Have you ever seen those gates that lead to the dark place of death?
18
Do you really understand how big the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19
"Where does light come from?
Where does darkness come from?
20
Can you take them back to where they belong?
Do you know how to get there?
21
Surely you know these things, since you are so old and wise.
You were alive when I made them, weren't you?[f]
22
"Have you ever gone into the storerooms
where I keep the snow and the hail?
23
I save them there for times of trouble,
for the times of war and battle.
24
Have you ever gone to the place where the sun comes up,
where it makes the east wind blow all over the earth?[g]
25
Who dug ditches in the sky for the heavy rain?
Who made a path for the thunderstorm?
26
Who makes it rain even in desert places
where no one lives?
27
The rain gives that dry empty land all the water it needs,
and grass begins to grow.
28
Does the rain have a father?
Who produces the drops of dew?
29
Does ice have a mother?
Who gives birth to the frost?
30
That's when the water freezes as hard as a rock.
Even the deep sea freezes over!
31
"Can you tie up the Pleiades[h]?
Can you unfasten the belt of Orion[i]?
32
Can you bring out the other constellations[j] at the right times?
Can you lead out the Bear[k] with its cubs?
33
Do you know the laws that control the sky?
Can you put each star in its place above the earth?[l]
34
"Can you shout at the clouds
and command them to cover you with rain?
35
Can you give a command to the lightning?
Will it come to you and say, 'Here we are; what do you want, sir?'
Will it go wherever you want it to go?
36
"Who makes people wise?
Who puts wisdom deep inside them?
37
Who is wise enough to count the clouds
and tip them over to pour out their rain?
38
The rain makes the dust become mud,
and the clumps of dirt stick together.
39
"Do you find food for the lions?
Do you feed their hungry babies?
40
No, they hide in their caves
or wait in the grass, ready to attack their prey.
41
Who feeds the ravens when their babies cry out to God
and wander around without food?
39 "Do you know when the mountain goats are born?
Do you watch when the mother deer gives birth?
2
Do you know how many months they must carry their babies?
Do you know when it is the right time for them to be born?
3
These animals lie down, they feel their birth pains,
and their babies are born.
4
Their babies grow strong out in the wild.
Then they leave their mothers and never come back.
5
"Who let the wild donkeys go free?
Who untied their ropes and let them loose?
6
I let the wild donkey have the desert for a home.
I gave the salt lands to them for a place to live.
7
They are happy to be away from the noise of the city.
They never have to listen to their drivers shouting at them.
8
They live in the mountains.
That is their pasture.
That is where they look for food to eat.
9
"Will a wild bull agree to serve you?
Will he stay in your barn at night?
10
Will he let you put ropes on him
to plow your fields?
11
A wild bull is very strong,
but can you trust him to do your work?
12
Can you trust him to gather your grain
and bring it to your threshing place?
13
"An ostrich gets excited and flaps its wings, but it cannot fly.
Its wings and feathers are not like the wings of a stork.
14
An ostrich lays her eggs on the ground
and lets the sand keep them warm.
15
The ostrich forgets that someone might step on her eggs
or that a wild animal might break them.
16
An ostrich leaves her little babies.
She treats them as if they were not her own.
If her babies die, she does not care that all her work was for nothing.
17
That's because I did not give wisdom to the ostrich.
She is foolish, and I made her that way.
18
But when the ostrich gets up to run, she laughs at the horse and its rider,
because she can run faster than any horse.
19
"Did you give the horse its strength?
Did you put the mane[m] on its neck?
20
Did you make it able to jump like a locust
or snort[n] so loudly that it scares people?
21
A horse is happy to be so strong.
It scratches the ground with its foot and runs into battle.
22
It laughs at fear; nothing makes it afraid!
It does not run away from battle.
23
The soldier's quiver shakes on the horse's side.
The spear and weapons its rider carries shine in the sun.
24
The horse gets very excited and races over the ground.[o]
When it hears the trumpet blow, it cannot stand still.
25
When the trumpet sounds, it snorts, 'Hurray!'
It can smell the battle from far away
and hear the shouts of commanders with all the other sounds of battle.
26
"Did you teach the hawk how to spread its wings and fly south[p]?
27
Are you the one who told the eagle[q] to fly high into the sky?
Did you tell it to build its nest high in the mountains?
28
It lives high on a peak at the top of a cliff.
That is its fortress.
29
From there it looks far into the distance,
searching for its food.
30
The eagles gather around dead bodies,
and their young eat the blood."
Footnotes:
a.Job 37:19 We cannot . ignorance Literally, "We cannot arrange our thoughts
because of the darkness."
b.Job 37:22 Holy Mountain Or "the north" or "Zaphon."
c.Job 37:23 But he . unfairly Or "He does not answer us when we try to sue
him for justice."
d.Job 38:2 Or "Who is this person darkening advice with ignorant words."
e.Job 38:7 angels Literally, "sons of God."
f.Job 38:21 This is sarcasm-saying something in a way that everyone
understands it is not really true.
g.Job 38:24 Or "Where is the place that the fog disperses and the place
where the east wind scatters it all over the earth?"
h.Job 38:31 Pleiades A famous group of stars. It is often called, "The Seven
Sisters."
i.Job 38:31 Orion A famous group of stars. It looks like a hunter or
powerful soldier.
j.Job 38:32 constellations Groups of stars in the night sky. Here, this
probably means the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. They seem to pass
through the sky so that a new constellation is in a certain part of the sky
each month.
k.Job 38:32 Bear A famous group of stars. It looks like a bear. It is often
called, "the Big Dipper." Near it is a smaller constellation that looks like
a small bear. It is often called, "the Little Dipper."
l.Job 38:33 Can you . earth Or "Can you put it in charge over the earth?"
m.Job 39:19 mane The hair on a horse's neck.
n.Job 39:20 snort The sound a horse makes by blowing air very hard through
the nose.
o.Job 39:24 races over the ground Literally, "swallows up the ground."
p.Job 39:26 south Or "to Teman."
q.Job 39:27 eagle Or "vulture."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
