V. E. Gilkerson
-----Original Message-----
From: donniedailygems-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:donniedailygems-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Donnie Parrett
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2016 8:57 PM
To: donniedailygems@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [donniedailygems] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY MAY 18
DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY MAY 18:
WORD OF WISDOM
I'm not afraid of tomorrow because I know God is already there!
___
DAILY DEVOTION
Praying for the Harvest
"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them
two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself
would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the
labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would
send forth labourers into his harvest."
Luke 10:1-2
In 1792, largely because of the efforts of William Carey, churches in
England united together and formed the Particular Baptist Society for
Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen and appointed Carey and John Thomas
to go to India as their first missionaries. In a tearful prayer service as
they prepared to leave, those who remained behind promised to pray. Andrew
Fuller later described their parting with the analogy of miners going deep
underground secured by those on the surface holding fast to strong ropes.
Fuller said, "Before [Carey] went, we engaged that while he lived we should
never let go the rope."
There are many good and necessary things that are part of reaching the lost,
but the thing Jesus said should come first is our prayers. In a day when
more missionaries are coming home than going out and many are leaving full
time ministry, we need to be more faithful than ever to pray that God will
provide the workers to bring in the harvest.
Often we focus on programs, training, and materials, and all of those have
their proper place. But sometimes we fail to see the needs of workers for
the harvest met because we have failed to pray. The need for workers is
certainly not limited to foreign missions. There are many places in the
United States that lack a clear gospel witness. It should break our hearts
and drive us to our knees to think of the harvest lacking workers. And while
we pray, we should ask God to make us part of the solution.
Before the white fields of harvest can be reached, we must be faithful to
pray.
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Esther 1-3Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Queen Vashti Disobeys the King
1 This is what happened during the time when Xerxes[a] was king. Xerxes
ruled over the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. 2 King Xerxes ruled
from his throne in the capital city of Susa.
3 In the third year of Xerxes' rule, he gave a party for his officers and
leaders. The army leaders and important leaders from all of Persia and Media
were there. 4 The party continued for 180 days. All during this time, King
Xerxes was showing the great wealth of his kingdom and the majestic beauty
and wealth of his palace. 5 And when the 180 days were over, King Xerxes
gave another party that continued for seven days. It was held in the inside
garden of the palace. All the people who were in the capital city of Susa
were invited, from the most important to the least important. 6 The inside
garden had white and blue linen hangings around the room. They were held in
place with cords of white linen and purple material on silver rings and
marble pillars. There were couches made of gold and silver. They were
sitting on mosaic pavement made of porphyry,[b] marble, mother-of-pearl, and
other expensive stones. 7 Wine was served in golden cups, and every cup was
different. There was plenty of the king's wine, because the king was very
generous. 8 The king had given a command to his servants. He told them that
each guest must be given as much wine as he wanted, and the wine server
obeyed the king.
9 Queen Vashti also gave a party for the women in the king's palace.
10-11 On the seventh day of the party, King Xerxes was in high spirits from
drinking wine. He gave a command to the seven eunuchs who served him. The
eunuchs were Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas.
He commanded them to bring Queen Vashti to him wearing her royal crown. She
was to come so that she could show her beauty to the leaders and important
people. She was very beautiful.
12 But when the eunuchs told Queen Vashti about the king's command, she
refused to come. Then the king was very angry. 13-14 It was the custom for
the king to ask the advice of the experts about the law and punishments. So
King Xerxes spoke with the wise men who understood the laws. They were very
close to the king. Their names were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish,
Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. They were the seven most important officials of
Persia and Media. They had special privileges to see the king. They were the
highest officials in the kingdom. 15 The king asked them, "What does the law
say must be done to Queen Vashti? She has not obeyed the command of King
Xerxes that the eunuchs had taken to her."
16 Then Memucan answered the king with the other officials listening, "Queen
Vashti has done wrong. She has done wrong against the king and also against
all the leaders and people of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 I say
this, because all the other women will hear about what Queen Vashti did.
Then they will stop obeying their husbands. They will say to their husbands,
'King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she refused to
come.'
18 "Today the wives of the Persian and Median leaders have heard what the
queen did, and these women will be influenced by what she did. They will do
the same thing to the king's important leaders. And there will be plenty of
disrespect and anger.
19 "So if it pleases the king, here is a suggestion: Let the king give a
royal command and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media. The
laws of Persia and Media cannot be changed. The royal command should be that
Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Let the king
also give her royal position to someone else who is better than she is. 20
Then when the king's command is announced in all parts of his large kingdom,
all the women will respect their husbands. From the most important to the
least important, all the women will respect their husbands."
21 The king and his important officials were happy with this advice, so King
Xerxes did as Memucan suggested. 22 King Xerxes sent letters to all parts of
the kingdom. He sent them to each province, written in its own language. He
sent them to each nation in its own language. These letters announced in
each person's language that every man was to be the ruler over his own
family.
Esther Made Queen
2 Later, King Xerxes stopped being angry. Then he remembered Vashti and what
she had done. He remembered his commands about her. 2 Then the king's
personal servants had a suggestion. They said, "Search for beautiful young
virgins for the king. 3 Let the king choose leaders in every province of his
kingdom. Then let the leaders bring every beautiful young virgin to the
capital city of Susa. These young women will be put with the group of the
king's women. They will be under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who
is in charge of the women. Then give beauty treatments to all of them. 4
Then let the one who is pleasing to the king become the new queen in
Vashti's place." The king liked this suggestion, so he accepted it.
5 Now there was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai. Mordecai
was the son of Jair, and Jair was the son of Shimei, and Shimei was the son
of Kish. Mordecai was in the capital city, Susa. 6 Mordecai had been carried
into captivity from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was with
the group that was taken into captivity with King Jehoiachin of Judah. 7
Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah. She didn't have a father or a mother,
so Mordecai took care of her. Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter
when her father and mother died. Hadassah was also called Esther. She had a
very pretty face and a good figure.
8 When the king's command had been heard, many young women were brought to
the capital city of Susa. They were put under the care of Hegai. Esther was
one of these women. She was taken to the king's palace and put into Hegai's
care. Hegai was in charge of the king's women. 9 He liked Esther. She became
his favorite, so he quickly gave Esther beauty treatments and special food.
He chose seven slave women from the king's palace and gave them to Esther.
Then he moved Esther and her seven women servants into the best place where
the king's women lived. 10 Esther didn't tell anyone she was a Jew. She
didn't tell anyone about her family background, because Mordecai had told
her not to. 11 Every day Mordecai walked back and forth near the area where
the king's women lived. He did this because he wanted to find out how Esther
was, and what was happening to her.
12 Before a young woman could take her turn to go in before King Xerxes, she
had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments-six months with oil of
myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. 13 When her time came to
go in to the king, she could choose to wear or take whatever she wanted from
the women's living area. 14 In the evening the young woman would go to the
king's palace. And in the morning she would return to another area where the
king's women lived. Then she would be placed under the care of a man named
Shaashgaz. He was the king's eunuch in charge of the slave women. She would
not go back to the king again unless he was pleased with her. Then he would
call her by name to come back to him.
15 The time came for Esther to go to the king. She was the one Mordecai had
adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail. All she wanted to take with her
was what Hegai, the king's officer in charge of the women, suggested.
Everyone who saw Esther liked her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Xerxes in
the palace. This happened in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the
seventh year of his rule.
17 The king loved Esther more than any of the other young women, and she
became his favorite. He approved of her more than any of the others. So King
Xerxes put a crown on Esther's head and made her the new queen in place of
Vashti. 18 And the king gave a big party for Esther. It was for all his
important people and leaders. He announced a festival in all the provinces
and sent out gifts to people, because he was a generous king.
Mordecai Learns About an Evil Plan
19 Mordecai was sitting next to the king's gate at the time the young women
were gathered together the second time. 20 Esther had still kept it a secret
that she was a Jew. She had not told anyone about her family background.
This is what Mordecai had told her to do. She still obeyed Mordecai just as
she had done when he was taking care of her.
21 During the time Mordecai was sitting next to the king's gate, this
happened: Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the
doorway, became angry with the king. They began to make plans to kill King
Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai learned about these plans and told Queen Esther.
Then she told the king. She also told him that Mordecai was the one who had
learned about the evil plan. 23 Then the report was checked out. It was
learned that Mordecai's report was true. The two guards who had planned to
kill the king were hanged on a post. All these things were written down in a
book of the king's histories in front of the king.
Haman's Plan to Destroy the Jews
3 After these things happened, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha
the Agagite. The king promoted Haman and gave him a place of honor more
important than any of the other leaders. 2 All the king's leaders at the
king's gate would bow down and give honor to Haman. This is what the king
commanded them to do. But Mordecai refused to bow down or give honor to
Haman. 3 Then the king's leaders at the gate asked Mordecai, "Why don't you
obey the king's command to bow down to Haman?"
4 Day after day, the king's leaders spoke to Mordecai, but he refused to
obey the command to bow down to Haman. So they told Haman about it. They
wanted to see what Haman would do about Mordecai. Mordecai had told them
that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai refused to bow down to him
or give him honor, he was very angry. 6 Haman had learned that Mordecai was
a Jew. But he was not satisfied to kill only Mordecai. He also wanted to
find a way to destroy all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, in all of Xerxes'
kingdom.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of
Nisan, Haman threw lots to choose a special day and month. And the twelfth
month, the month of Adar was chosen. (At that time the lot was called
"pur.") 8 Then Haman came to King Xerxes and said, "King Xerxes, there is a
certain group of people scattered among the people in all the provinces of
your kingdom. They keep themselves separate from other people. Their customs
are different from those of all other people. And they don't obey the king's
laws. It is not right for the king to allow them to continue to live in your
kingdom.
9 "If it pleases the king, I have a suggestion: Give a command to destroy
these people. And I will put 750,000 pounds[c] of silver into the king's
treasury. This money could be used to pay the men who do these things."
10 So the king took the official ring off his finger and gave it to Haman
son of Hammedatha the Agagite. Haman was the enemy of the Jews. 11 Then the
king said to Haman, "Keep the money. Do what you want with them."
12 Then on the 13th day of the first month, the king's secretaries were
called. They wrote out all of Haman's commands in the language of each
province. And they wrote them in the language of each group of people. They
wrote to the king's satraps, the governors of the different provinces, and
the leaders of the different groups of people. They wrote with the authority
of King Xerxes himself, and sealed the commands with the king's own ring.
13 Messengers carried the letters to all the king's provinces. The letters
were the king's command to ruin, kill, and completely destroy all the Jews.
This meant young people and old people, women, and little children too. The
command was to kill all the Jews on a single day. The day was to be the 13th
day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. And the command was to take
everything that belonged to the Jews.
14 A copy of the letters with the command was to be given as a law. It was
to be a law in every province and announced to the people of every nation
living in the kingdom. Then everyone would be ready for that day. 15 At the
king's command the messengers hurried off. The command was given in the
capital city of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of
Susa was in confusion.
Footnotes:
a.Esther 1:1 Xerxes Hebrew, "Ahasuerus." He was king of Persia about 485-465
B.C.
b.Esther 1:6 porphyry A dark red or purple stone.
c.Esther 3:9 750,000 pounds Literally, "10,000 talents" (340,000 kg).
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
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