DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY JULY 14:
WORD OF WISDOM
If you're not where you want to be, why do you keep choosing to stay where
you are?
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DAILY DEVOTION
A Pattern of Prayer
"Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not
changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel
knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows
being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime."
Daniel 6:8-10
One of the besetting sins of the modern church is a lack of prayer. We may
read of great prayer warriors of the past-David Brainerd melting the snow
around him with the length of time he spent in prayer or James the half
brother of Jesus who was known in the early church as "Camel Knees" because
his constant praying had left calluses on his legs. But we seldom copy their
intensity and devotion to prayer. This is true despite the fact that prayer
is the essential means God has ordained to meet our needs.
D. L. Moody said, "All through the Scriptures you will find that when
believing prayer went up to God, the answer came down. I think it would be a
very interesting study to go right through the Bible and see what has
happened while God's people have been on their knees calling upon him.
Certainly the study would greatly strengthen our faith-showing, as it would,
how wonderfully God has heard and delivered, when the cry has gone up to Him
for help."
The enemies of Daniel could not find anything to use in their attacks
against him but his devotion to God. They knew that he prayed on a regular
basis, so by passing a law outlawing prayer, they thought they had come up
with a foolproof way to trap him. The day of crisis is not the time to begin
praying. We need the habit before trouble comes.
The great need of our day is more Christians who pray consistently,
habitually, and fervently.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Ecclesiastes 1-3New King James Version (NKJV)
The Vanity of Life
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2
"Vanity[a] of vanities," says the Preacher;
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
3
What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?
4
One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.
5
The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.
6
The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
7
All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
8
All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
10
Is there anything of which it may be said,
"See, this is new"?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
11
There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.
The Grief of Wisdom
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my
heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under
heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they
may be exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun;
and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
15
What is crooked cannot be made straight,
And what is lacking cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with my heart, saying, "Look, I have attained greatness, and
have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart
has understood great wisdom and knowledge." 17 And I set my heart to know
wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping
for the wind.
18
For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
The Vanity of Pleasure
2 I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy
pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of
laughter-"Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?" 3 I searched
in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with
wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the
sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself
vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of
fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the
growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had
servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and
flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for
myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the
provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of
men, and musical instruments[b] of all kinds.
9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in
Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.
11
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
The End of the Wise and the Fool
12
Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?-
Only what he has already done.
13
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly
As light excels darkness.
14
The wise man's eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That the same event happens to them all.
15
So I said in my heart,
"As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?"
Then I said in my heart,
"This also is vanity."
16
For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was
distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I
must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether
he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I
toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is
vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in
which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with
wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who
has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what
has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he
has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work
burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that
his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand
of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?[c] 26
For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His
sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that
he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping
for the wind.
Everything Has Its Time
3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
The God-Given Task
9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen
the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has
made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their
hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from
beginning to end.
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in
their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the
good of all his labor-it is the gift of God.
14
I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
15
That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.
Injustice Seems to Prevail
16 Moreover I saw under the sun:
In the place of judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity was there.
17 I said in my heart,
"God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."
18 I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God
tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals." 19
For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing
befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one
breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to
one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the
spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal,
which goes down to the earth?[d] 22 So I perceived that nothing is better
than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage.
For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Footnotes:
a.Ecclesiastes 1:2 Or Absurdity, Frustration, Futility, Nonsense; and so
throughout this book
b.Ecclesiastes 2:8 Exact meaning unknown
c.Ecclesiastes 2:25 Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; some
Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, and Syriac read without Him.
d.Ecclesiastes 3:21 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read Who knows
whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the
earth?
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.
