DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 8:
WORD OF WISDOM
Church Sign: "No God -- No Peace. Know God -- Know Peace."
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DAILY DEVOTION
Eternally Unfailing Love
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39
Even the most steadfast human love reaches an earthly end. The longest
marriage in United States history is believed to be that of Herbert and
Zelmyra Fisher of North Carolina, who were married on May 13, 1924. They
were getting close to marking their eighty-seventh wedding anniversary in
2011 when Mr. Fisher died at the age of 105. His wife passed away two years
later, also having reached 105 years of age. The couple left a remarkable
legacy of faithfulness and commitment, but not even their love could last
forever. Their love on earth ended with their lives.
God's love is different. Because He is eternal, His love never fails. That
love is an integral part of His nature and character. The Apostle John
wrote, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John
4:16). This love lavishly poured out to us makes it possible for us to
become part of God's family through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, even
though we do not deserve it.
And that love once accepted, never goes away. No child of God has ever been
abandoned or disinherited. That may happen in earthly families, but God's
love is unfailing. Nothing that we do or do not do changes His love toward
us. It is as eternal as God Himself, and it never fails. If our standing as
God's children depended on us, we would surely lose His love. Because it is
based on His nature, God's love never fails.
Nothing is able to take away the amazing love that God has for us.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Ezekiel 28-30New King James Version (NKJV)
Proclamation Against the King of Tyre
28 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, say to the
prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord God:
"Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, 'I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,'
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3
(Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4
With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5
By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),"
6 'Therefore thus says the Lord God:
"Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7
Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
8
They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
9
"Will you still say before him who slays you,
'I am a god'?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.
10
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens;
For I have spoken," says the Lord God.'"
Lamentation for the King of Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 "Son of man, take
up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord
God:
"You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14
"You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16
"By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17
"Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
18
"You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19
All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever."'"
Proclamation Against Sidon
20 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 "Son of man, set your
face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her, 22 and say, 'Thus says the
Lord God:
"Behold, I am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst;
And they shall know that I am the Lord,
When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.
23
For I will send pestilence upon her,
And blood in her streets;
The wounded shall be judged in her midst
By the sword against her on every side;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 "And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the
house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then
they shall know that I am the Lord God."
Israel's Future Blessing
25 'Thus says the Lord God: "When I have gathered the house of Israel from
the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the
sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave
to My servant Jacob. 26 And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and
plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on
all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the
Lord their God."'"
Proclamation Against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month,
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face
against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all
Egypt. 3 Speak, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God:
"Behold, I am against you,
O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers,
Who has said, 'My River[a] is my own;
I have made it for myself.'
4
But I will put hooks in your jaws,
And cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales;
I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.
5
I will leave you in the wilderness,
You and all the fish of your rivers;
You shall fall on the open field;
You shall not be picked up or gathered.[b]
I have given you as food
To the beasts of the field
And to the birds of the heavens.
6
"Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
Shall know that I am the Lord,
Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7
When they took hold of you with the hand,
You broke and tore all their shoulders;[c]
When they leaned on you,
You broke and made all their backs quiver."
8 'Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Surely I will bring a sword upon you
and cut off from you man and beast. 9 And the land of Egypt shall become
desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the Lord, because he said,
'The River is mine, and I have made it.' 10 Indeed, therefore, I am against
you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste
and desolate, from Migdol[d] to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11
Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it,
and it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt
desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and among the
cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I
will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout
the countries."
13 'Yet, thus says the Lord God: "At the end of forty years I will gather
the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will
bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of
Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly
kingdom. 15 It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again
exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will
not rule over the nations anymore. 16 No longer shall it be the confidence
of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they
turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God."'"
Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt
17 And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on
the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor
strenuously against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder
rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the
labor which they expended on it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
'Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he
shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and
that will be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt
for his labor, because they worked for Me,' says the Lord God.
21 'In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring
forth, and I will open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall
know that I am the Lord.'"
Egypt and Her Allies Will Fall
30 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy
and say, 'Thus says the Lord God:
"Wail, 'Woe to the day!'
3
For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
4
The sword shall come upon Egypt,
And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt,
And they take away her wealth,
And her foundations are broken down.
5 "Ethiopia, Libya,[e] Lydia,[f] all the mingled people, Chub, and the men
of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword."
6 'Thus says the Lord:
"Those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
And the pride of her power shall come down.
From Migdol to Syene
Those within her shall fall by the sword,"
Says the Lord God.
7
"They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries,
And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.
8
Then they will know that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are destroyed.
9
On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships
To make the careless Ethiopians afraid,
And great anguish shall come upon them,
As on the day of Egypt;
For indeed it is coming!"
10 'Thus says the Lord God:
"I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11
He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land;
They shall draw their swords against Egypt,
And fill the land with the slain.
12
I will make the rivers dry,
And sell the land into the hand of the wicked;
I will make the land waste, and all that is in it,
By the hand of aliens.
I, the Lord, have spoken."
13 'Thus says the Lord God:
"I will also destroy the idols,
And cause the images to cease from Noph;[g]
There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt;
I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14
I will make Pathros desolate,
Set fire to Zoan,
And execute judgments in No.[h]
15
I will pour My fury on Sin,[i] the strength of Egypt;
I will cut off the multitude of No,
16
And set a fire in Egypt;
Sin shall have great pain,
No shall be split open,
And Noph shall be in distress daily.
17
The young men of Aven[j] and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword,
And these cities shall go into captivity.
18
At Tehaphnehes[k] the day shall also be darkened,[l]
When I break the yokes of Egypt there.
And her arrogant strength shall cease in her;
As for her, a cloud shall cover her,
And her daughters shall go into captivity.
19
Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt,
Then they shall know that I am the Lord."'"
Proclamation Against Pharaoh
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the
seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21
"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has
not been bandaged for healing, nor a splint put on to bind it, to make it
strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Surely
I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong
one and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall out of his
hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them
throughout the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of
Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and
he will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. 25
Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of
Pharaoh shall fall down; they shall know that I am the Lord, when I put My
sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against
the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and
disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the
Lord.'"
Footnotes:
a.Ezekiel 29:3 That is, the Nile
b.Ezekiel 29:5 Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Vulgate; some
Hebrew manuscripts and Targum read buried.
c.Ezekiel 29:7 Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint and Syriac
read hand.
d.Ezekiel 29:10 Or tower
e.Ezekiel 30:5 Hebrew Put
f.Ezekiel 30:5 Hebrew Lud
g.Ezekiel 30:13 That is, ancient Memphis
h.Ezekiel 30:14 That is, ancient Thebes
i.Ezekiel 30:15 That is, ancient Pelusium
j.Ezekiel 30:17 That is, ancient On (Heliopolis)
k.Ezekiel 30:18 Spelled Tahpanhes in Jeremiah 43:7 and elsewhere
l.Ezekiel 30:18 Following many Hebrew manuscripts, Bomberg, Septuagint,
Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads refrained.
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.
