DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY AUGUST 10:
WORD OF WISDOM
If the schools are closed for too long, the parents are gonna find a vaccine
before the scientists!
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DAILY DEVOTION
Stay Close to the Right People
"The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left
you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He
will renew your life and sustain you in your old age..."
(Ruth 4:14-15, NIV)
Naomi lost her husband in death, and then both her sons died as well. She
was so discouraged that she didn't think she could go on. She had been full
of joy and sweetness, but now she was bitter. She even changed her name from
Naomi, which means "my joy," to Mara, which means "bitter." She was saying,
"Call me bitter." But her friends refused and kept calling her Naomi. She
was trying to stay in defeat, but they said, "No, you're coming into
victory," and eventually she did.
If you have been through disappointments and loss, you need people around
you who will remind you about who you are-not people who will get bitter
with you and agree with the defeat. Stay close to people who will call you
blessed and victorious. You want people in your life who will remind you
that your best days are yet to come, that what was meant for your harm, God
will use to your advantage.
A Prayer for Today
Father, thank You that You are able to take the most unfair situations in my
life and turn them into positives. And thank You for the people in my life
who call me victorious and blessed. Help me to stay close to those who
remind me of who I am. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Jeremiah 10-13 New King James Version (NKJV)
Idols and the True God
10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord:
"Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are [a]futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
5 They are upright, like a palm tree,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good."
6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a [b]worthless doctrine.
9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
11 Thus you shall say to them: "The gods that have not made the heavens and
the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens."
12 He has made the earth by His power,
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
13 When He utters His voice,
There is a [c]multitude of waters in the heavens:
"And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries."
14 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
The Coming Captivity of Judah
17 Gather up your wares from the land,
O [d]inhabitant of the fortress!
18 For thus says the Lord:
"Behold, I will throw out at this time
The inhabitants of the land,
And will distress them,
That they may find it so."
19 Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is severe.
But I say, "Truly this is an infirmity,
And I must bear it."
20 My tent is plundered,
And all my cords are broken;
My children have gone from me,
And they are no more.
There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,
Or set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,
And have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they shall not prosper,
And all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the report has come,
And a great commotion out of the north country,
To make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.
23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
24 O Lord, correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You,
And on the families who do not call on Your name;
For they have eaten up Jacob,
Devoured him and consumed him,
And made his dwelling place desolate.
The Broken Covenant
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 "Hear the words
of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Cursed is
the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded
your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the
iron furnace, saying, 'Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command
you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,' 5 that I may
establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them 'a land
flowing with milk and honey,' as it is this day." ' "
And I answered and said, [e]"So be it, Lord."
6 Then the Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: 'Hear the words of this covenant
and do them. 7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought
them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and
exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice." 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their
ear, but everyone [f]followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I
will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them
to do, but which they have not done.' "
9 And the Lord said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of
Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to
the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they
have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house
of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers."
11 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will surely bring calamity on
them which they will not be able to [g]escape; and though they cry out to
Me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer
incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13
For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and
according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars
to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
14 "So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for
I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their
trouble.
15 "What has My beloved to do in My house,
Having done lewd deeds with many?
And the holy flesh has passed from you.
When you do evil, then you rejoice.
16 The Lord called your name,
Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire on it,
And its branches are broken.
17 "For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you
for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they
have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to
Baal."
Jeremiah's Life Threatened
18 Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me
their doings. 19 But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and
I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, "Let us
destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the
living, that his name may be remembered no more."
20 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who judge righteously,
Testing the [h]mind and the heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have revealed my cause.
21 "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth who seek
your life, saying, 'Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die by
our hand'- 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will punish
them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters
shall die by famine; 23 and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will
bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their
punishment.' "
Jeremiah's Question
12 Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
You are near in their mouth
But far from their [i]mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me,
And You have tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
The beasts and birds are consumed,
For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, "He will not see our final end."
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5 "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in the [j]floodplain of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called [k]a multitude after you.
Do not believe them,
Even though they speak [l]smooth words to you.
7 "I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
Therefore I have hated it.
9 My [m]heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;
The vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 "Many rulers[n] have destroyed My vineyard,
They have trodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My [o]pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
Because no one takes it to heart.
12 The plunderers have come
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,
For the sword of the Lord shall devour
From one end of the land to the other end of the land;
No flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have [p]put themselves to pain but do not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
14 Thus says the Lord: "Against all My evil neighbors who touch the
inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit-behold, I will
pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among
them. 15 Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return
and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage
and everyone to his land. 16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully
the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the Lord lives,' as they
taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the
midst of My people. 17 But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and
destroy that nation," says the Lord.
Symbol of the Linen Sash
13 Thus the Lord said to me: "Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it
[q]around your waist, but do not put it in water." 2 So I got a [r]sash
according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, 4 "Take the
[s]sash that you acquired, which is [t]around your waist, and arise, go to
the [u]Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock." 5 So I went and
hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6 Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, "Arise, go
to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide
there." 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the [v]sash from
the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was
profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 "Thus says the Lord: 'In
this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow[w] the dictates
of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them,
shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. 11 For as the
sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of
Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,' says the Lord, 'that
they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they
would not hear.'
Symbol of the Wine Bottles
12 "Therefore you shall speak to them this word: 'Thus says the Lord God of
Israel: "Every bottle shall be filled with wine." '
"And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every bottle will
be filled with wine?'
13 "Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will fill
all the inhabitants of this land-even the kings who sit on David's throne,
the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-with
drunkenness! 14 And I will dash them [x]one against another, even the
fathers and the sons together," says the Lord. "I will not pity nor spare
nor have mercy, but will destroy them." ' "
Pride Precedes Captivity
15 Hear and give ear:
Do not be proud,
For the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
Before He causes darkness,
And before your feet stumble
On the dark mountains,
And while you are looking for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death
And makes it dense darkness.
17 But if you will not hear it,
My soul will weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And run down with tears,
Because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother,
"Humble yourselves;
Sit down,
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory."
19 The cities of the South shall be shut up,
And no one shall open them;
Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;
It shall be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say when He punishes you?
For you have taught them
To be chieftains, to be head over you.
Will not pangs seize you,
Like a woman in [y]labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
"Why have these things come upon me?"
For the greatness of your iniquity
Your skirts have been uncovered,
Your heels [z]made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
24 "Therefore I will scatter them like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is your lot,
The portion of your measures from Me," says the Lord,
"Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face,
That your shame may appear.
27 I have seen your adulteries
And your lustful neighings,
The lewdness of your harlotry,
Your abominations on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
Will you still not be made clean?"
Footnotes:
Jeremiah 10:3 Lit. vanity
Jeremiah 10:8 vain teaching
Jeremiah 10:13 Or noise
Jeremiah 10:17 Or you who dwell under siege
Jeremiah 11:5 Heb. Amen
Jeremiah 11:8 walked in the stubbornness or imagination
Jeremiah 11:11 Lit. go out
Jeremiah 11:20 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
Jeremiah 12:2 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
Jeremiah 12:5 Or thicket
Jeremiah 12:6 Or abundantly
Jeremiah 12:6 Lit. good
Jeremiah 12:9 inheritance
Jeremiah 12:10 Lit. shepherds or pastors
Jeremiah 12:10 desired portion of land
Jeremiah 12:13 Or strained
Jeremiah 13:1 Lit. upon your loins
Jeremiah 13:2 waistband
Jeremiah 13:4 waistband
Jeremiah 13:4 Lit. upon your loins
Jeremiah 13:4 Heb. Perath
Jeremiah 13:7 waistband
Jeremiah 13:10 walk in the stubbornness or imagination
Jeremiah 13:14 Lit. a man against his brother
Jeremiah 13:21 childbirth
Jeremiah 13:22 Lit. suffer violence
