DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 22:
WORD OF WISDOM
"If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."
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DAILY DEVOTION
The Peril of Prosperity
"And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall
I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This
will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I
bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be
merry."
Luke 12:16-19
In his book Money for Nothing, Edward Ungel recounts the results of his
investigation into the lives of people who won large jackpots playing the
lottery. He tells the tragic story of Abraham Shakespeare, who won $30
million in 2006. Shakespeare was hounded by relatives and acquaintances for
money and found himself surrounded by new friends who offered to help him.
One of them, Dorice Moore, convinced him to transfer his assets to her to
"protect" them, not long before she ended his life. A few weeks before he
was killed, Shakespeare told his mother that he wished he had never won.
While many people dream of getting rich, they fail to understand that wealth
does not take away problems and temptations; it simply changes their nature
and scope. In fact, while great wealth is often viewed as a blessing, it can
be the means of destruction for those who refuse to heed the wisdom and
instruction of God. "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and
the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" (Proverbs 1:32). Money is not
evil, and having money is not wrong. It is simply a tool that we should use
for eternal purposes. The danger comes when our focus is taken away from the
eternal by the temporal resources so many try so hard to obtain.
If our trust is in God rather than our own resources, money will not have an
unhealthy hold on us.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Psalm 91-95Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
91 You can go to God Most High to hide.
You can go to God All-Powerful for protection.
2
I say to the Lord, "You are my place of safety, my fortress.
My God, I trust in you."
3
God will save you from hidden dangers
and from deadly diseases.
4
You can go to him for protection.
He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies.
You can trust him to surround and protect you like a shield.
5
You will have nothing to fear at night
and no need to be afraid of enemy arrows during the day.
6
You will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark
or terrible suffering that comes at noon.
7
A thousand people may fall dead at your side
or ten thousand right beside you,
but nothing bad will happen to you!
8
All you will have to do is watch,
and you will see that the wicked are punished.
9
You trust in the Lord for protection.
You have made God Most High your place of safety.
10
So nothing bad will happen to you.
No diseases will come near your home.
11
He will command his angels to protect you wherever you go.
12
Their hands will catch you
so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.
13
You will have power to trample on lions
and poisonous snakes.
14
The Lord says, "If someone trusts me, I will save them.
I will protect my followers who call to me for help.
15
When my followers call to me, I will answer them.
I will be with them when they are in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16
I will give my followers a long life
and show them my power to save."
A song of praise for the Sabbath.
92 It is good to praise the Lord.
God Most High, it is good to praise your name.
2
It is good to sing about your love in the morning
and about your faithfulness at night.
3
It is good to play for you on the ten-stringed instrument and lyre
and to add the soft sounds of the harp to my praise.
4
Lord, you make us very happy because of what you did.
I gladly sing about it.
5
Lord, you did such great things.
Your thoughts are too hard for us to understand.
6
Stupid people don't know this.
Fools don't understand.
7
The wicked may sprout like grass,
and those who do evil may blossom like flowers,
but they will be destroyed, never to be seen again.
8
But, Lord, you will be honored forever.
9
Lord, all your enemies will be destroyed,
and all who do evil will be scattered.
10
But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
You have given me your blessing.[a]
11
My eyes will see the defeat of those waiting to attack me.
My ears will hear the cries of my evil enemies.
12
Good people are like budding palm trees.
They grow strong like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
13
They are planted in the house[b] of the Lord.
They grow strong there in the courtyards of our God.
14
Even when they are old,
they will continue producing fruit like young, healthy trees.
15
They are there to show everyone that the Lord is good.[c]
He is my Rock, and he does no wrong.[d]
93 The Lord is King.
The Lord wears majesty and strength like clothes.
He is ready, so the whole world is safe.
It will not be shaken.
2
Your kingdom has continued forever.
You have lived forever!
3
Lord, the ocean roars.
The mighty ocean sounds like thunder
as the waves crash on the shore.
4
The crashing waves of the sea are loud and powerful,
but the Lord above is even more powerful.
5
Lord, your laws will continue forever.[e]
Your holy Temple will stand for a long time.
94 The Lord is a God who punishes people.
God, come punish them.
2
You are the judge of the whole earth.
Give proud people the punishment they deserve.
3
Lord, how long will the wicked have their fun?
How much longer?
4
How much longer will those criminals
brag about the evil they did?
5
Lord, they hurt your people
and make them suffer.
6
They kill widows and foreigners living in our country.
They murder orphans.
7
And they say the Lord does not see them doing these evil things!
They say the God of Jacob does not know what is happening.
8
You evil people are foolish.
When will you learn your lesson?
You are so stupid!
You must try to understand.
9
God made our ears,
so surely he can hear what is happening!
He made our eyes,
so surely he can see you!
10
The one who disciplines nations will surely correct you.
He is the one who teaches us everything.
11
The Lord knows what people are thinking.
He knows that their thoughts are like a puff of wind.
12
Lord, great blessings belong to those you discipline,
to those you teach from your law.
13
You help them stay calm when trouble comes.
You will help them until the wicked are put in their graves.
14
The Lord will not leave his people.
He will not leave them without help.
15
Justice will return and bring fairness.
And those who want to do right will be there to see it.
16
No one helped me fight against the wicked.
No one stood with me against those who do evil.
17
And if the Lord had not helped me,
I would have been silenced by death.
18
I know I was ready to fall,
but, Lord, your faithful love supported me.
19
I was very worried and upset,
but you comforted me and made me happy!
20
You don't help crooked judges.
They use the law to make life hard for the people.
21
They attack those who do right.
They say innocent people are guilty and put them to death.
22
But the Lord is my place of safety, high on the mountain.
God, my Rock, is my safe place!
23
He will punish those evil judges for the bad things they did.
He will destroy them because they sinned.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
95 Come, let us sing praise to the Lord!
Let us shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2
Come and worship him with songs of thanks.[f]
Let us sing happy songs of praise to him.
3
For the Lord is a great God,
the great King ruling over all the other "gods."
4
The deepest caves and the highest mountains belong to him.
5
The ocean is his-he created it.
He made the dry land with his own hands.
6
Come, let us bow down and worship him!
Let us kneel before the Lord who made us.
7
He is our God,
and we are the people he cares for,
his sheep that walk by his side.
Listen to his voice today:
8
"Don't be stubborn, as you were at Meribah,
as you were at Massah[g] in the desert.
9
Your ancestors doubted and tested me,
even after they saw what I could do!
10
I was angry with them for 40 years.
I said, 'They are not faithful to me.
They refuse to do what I say.'
11
So in my anger I made this vow:
'They will never enter my land of rest.'"
Footnotes:
a.Psalm 92:10 You . blessing Or "You poured your refreshing oil over me."
b.Psalm 92:13 house Or "Temple." See "Temple" in the Word List.
c.Psalm 92:15 good This is a wordplay. The Hebrew word means "straight"
(like the trees) and "good" or "honest."
d.Psalm 92:15 he . wrong Or "there is no crookedness in him."
e.Psalm 93:5 your laws . forever Or "your agreement can really be trusted."
f.Psalm 95:2 songs of thanks Or "thank offerings."
g.Psalm 95:8 Meribah . Massah See Ex. 17:1-7.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
