DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY MAY 27:
WORD OF WISDOM
The road to success is like running up an escalator going down. U need 2
keep running. If u walk, u stand still, if u stop u are going down!
___
DAILY DEVOTION
The Twenty and The One
================================
There was this $20 dollar bill and a $1 dollar bill on the conveyor belt at
the downtown Federal Reserve Building.
As they were lying there side by side the $1 dollar bill said to the $20
dollar bill, "Hey mannnnnn, where have you been.
I haven't seen you in a long time ?"
The $20 dollar bill replied, "Man I have been having a ball!
I been traveling to distant countries, going to the finest restaurants, to
the biggest and best casinos, numerous boutiques, the mall uptown, the mall
downtown, the mall across town and even a mall that I just newly built.
"In fact, just this week I've been to Europe, a professional NBA game, Rodeo
Drive, the all-day retreat spa, the top-notch hair salon and the new casino!
I have done it all!!!"
After describing his great travels, the $20 dollar bill asked the $1 dollar
bill,
"What about you? Where have you been?"
The $1 dollar replied, "Well, I've been to the Baptist church, the Methodist
church, the Presbyterian church, the Episcopalian church, the Church of God
in Christ, the Catholic church, the Mormon church, the church of the Latter
Day Saints, the A.M.E.
church, the Disciple of Christ church, the..."
"WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT A MINUTE!!"
shouted the $20 dollar bill to the $1 dollar bill.
"What's a church?"
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Job 19-21Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Job Answers
19 Then Job answered:
2
"How long will you hurt me
and crush me with your words?
3
You have insulted me ten times now.
You have attacked me without shame!
4
Even if I have sinned,
it is my problem, not yours!
5
You want me to look bad to make yourselves look good.
You say my troubles are proof that I did wrong.
6
I want you to know it was God who did this.
He set this trap for me.
7
I shout, 'He hurt me!' but get no answer.
No one hears my cry for fairness.
8
God has blocked my way to keep me from getting through.
He has hidden my path in darkness.
9
He took away my honor.
He took the crown from my head.
10
He hits me on every side until I am worn out.
He takes away my hope.
It is like a tree pulled up by the roots.
11
His anger burns against me.
He treats me like an enemy.
12
He sends his army to attack me.
They build attack towers around me.
They camp around my tent.
13
"God has made my brothers hate me.
Those who knew me have become strangers.
14
My relatives have left me.
My friends have forgotten me.
15
My servant girls and visitors in my home
look at me as if I am a stranger and a foreigner.
16
I call for my servant, but he does not answer.
Even if I beg for help, he will not answer.
17
My wife hates the smell of my breath.
My own brothers hate me.
18
Even little children make fun of me.
When I get up, they say bad things about me.
19
All my close friends hate me.
Even my loved ones have turned against me.
20
"I am so thin, my skin hangs loose on my bones.
I have little life left in me.
21
"Pity me, my friends, pity me,
because God is against me.
22
Why do you persecute me as God does?
Don't you get tired of hurting me?
23
"I wish someone would write down everything I say.
I wish my words were written on a scroll.
24
I wish they were carved with an iron tool into lead
or scratched on a rock so that they would last forever.
25
I know that there is someone to defend me and that he lives!
And in the end, he will stand here on earth and defend me.
26
After I leave my body and my skin has been destroyed,
I know I will still see God.
27
I will see him with my own eyes.
I myself, not someone else, will see God.
And I cannot tell you how excited that makes me feel![a]
28
"Maybe you will say, 'How can we push Job a little harder
and make him realize that he is the source of his problems?'
29
But you need to worry about your own punishment.
God might use the sword against you!
Then you will know there is a time for judgment."
Zophar Answers Job
20 Then Zophar from Naamah answered:
2
"You upset me, so I must answer you.
I must tell you what I am thinking.
3
You insulted me with your answers!
But I am wise and know how to answer you.
4-5
"You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long.
That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was[b] put on earth.
Those who don't know God are happy for only a short time.
6
Maybe an evil man's pride will reach up to the sky,
and his head will touch the clouds.
7
But he will be gone forever like his own body waste.
People who knew him will say, 'Where is he?'
8
Like a dream, he will fly away, never to be found.
He will be chased away like a bad dream.[c]
9
Those who knew him before will not see him again.
His family will never again get to see him.
10
His children will have to give back what he took from the poor.
His own hands will give up his wealth.
11
When he was young, his bones were strong,
but, like the rest of his body, they will soon lie in the dirt.
12
"Evil tastes sweet in his mouth.
He keeps it under his tongue to enjoy it fully.
13
He hates to let it go
and holds it in his mouth.
14
But that evil will turn sour in his stomach.
It will be like a snake's bitter poison inside him.
15
The evil man will spit out the riches he has swallowed.
God will make him vomit them up.
16
What he drank will be like a snake's poison;
it will kill him like the bite of a deadly snake.
17
He will never again enjoy so much wealth-
rivers flowing with honey and cream.[d]
18
He will be forced to give back his profits.
He will not be allowed to enjoy what he worked for,
19
because he hurt the poor and left them with nothing.
He took houses he did not build.
20
"The evil man is never satisfied.
But the things he wants cannot save him.
21
After filling himself, there is nothing left.
His success will not continue.
22
Even while he has plenty, he will be pressed down with trouble.
His problems will come down on him!
23
If he does get all he wants,
God will throw his burning anger against him.
God will attack him and rain down punishment on him.
24
Maybe he will run away from an iron sword,
but then a bronze arrow[e] will strike him down.
25
It will go through his body
and stick out of his back.
Its shining point will pierce his liver,
and he will be shocked with terror.
26
All his treasures will be lost in darkness.
He will be destroyed by a fire, a fire that no human started.
It will destroy everything left in his house.
27
Heaven will prove that he is guilty.
The earth will be a witness against him.
28
His house and everything in it will be carried away
in the flood of God's anger.
29
That is what God will do to those who are evil.
That is what he plans to give them."
Job Answers
21 Then Job answered:
2
"Listen to what I say.
Let this be your way of comforting me.
3
Be patient while I speak.
Then after I have finished speaking, you may make fun of me.
4
"My complaint is not against people.
There is a good reason why I am not patient.
5
Look at me and be shocked.
Put your hand over your mouth, and stare at me in shock!
6
When I think about what happened to me,
I feel afraid and my body shakes!
7
Why do evil people live long lives?
Why do they grow old and successful?
8
They watch their children grow up
and live to see their grandchildren.
9
Their homes are safe and free from fear.
God does not punish them.
10
Their bulls never fail to mate.
Their cows have healthy calves.
11
They send their children out to play like lambs.
Their children dance around.
12
They sing and dance to the sound of harps and flutes.
13
Evil people enjoy success during their lives
and then go to the grave without suffering.
14
They say to God, 'Leave us alone!
We don't care what you want us to do!'
15
And they say, 'Who is God All-Powerful?
We don't need to serve him!
It will not help to pray to him!'
16
"Of course, evil people don't make their own success.
I would never follow their advice.
17
But how often does God blow out their light?
How often does trouble come to them?
How often does God get angry with them and punish them?
18
Does God blow them away, as the wind blows straw
or as strong winds blow the grain husks?
19
But you say, 'God is saving their punishment for their children.'
No! Let God punish the evil people themselves so that they will know
what they have done!
20
Let them see their own punishment.
Let them feel the anger of God All-Powerful.
21
When their life is finished and they are dead,
they will not care about the family they leave behind.
22
"No one can teach God anything he doesn't already know.
God judges even those in high places.
23
One person dies after living a full and successful life,
a life completely safe and comfortable,
24
with a body that was well fed
and bones that were still strong.
25
But another person dies after a hard life that has made them bitter,
never having enjoyed anything good.
26
In the end, both of these people will lie together in the dirt.
The worms will cover them both.
27
"But I know what you are thinking,
and I know you want to hurt me.
28
You might say, 'Show me a good man's house.
Now, show me where evil people live.'[f]
29
"Surely you have talked with travelers.
Surely you will accept their stories.
30
Evil people are spared when disaster comes.
They survive when God shows his anger.
31
No one criticizes them to their faces for how they lived.
No one punishes them for the evil they have done.
32
When they are carried to the grave,
they will have someone to watch over the place they are buried.
33
So even the soil in the valley will be pleasant for them,
and thousands of people will join their funeral procession.
34
"So your empty words are no comfort to me.
There is no truth at all in your answers!"
Footnotes:
a.Job 19:27 Or "And in the end, he will stand here on earth and defend me,
26 even after my skin has been destroyed. But I want to see God while I am
still in my body. 27 I want to see him with my own eyes, not through someone
else's eyes. And I cannot tell you how much I want this to happen!"
b.Job 20:4 Adam was Or "people were."
c.Job 20:8 bad dream Or "vision of the night."
d.Job 20:17 rivers . cream A figure meaning a plentiful supply of rich food.
The word translated "cream" could mean butter, curds, or yogurt.
e.Job 20:24 bronze arrow Literally, "bronze bow." Or "powerful bow,"
possibly a bow made of sinew, wood and horn.
f.Job 21:28 Show me . live Or "Show me a wicked ruler's house. Show me where
evil people live."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
