DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 16:
WORD OF WISDOM
You don't know what you can do until you have to do it.
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DAILY DEVOTION
The Bread of Life
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth
hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the
children of Israel."
Micah 5:2-3
Some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, God revealed to the
prophet Micah where the promised Messiah would be born. The little town of
Bethlehem, just six miles from Jerusalem, held a special place to the people
because it was where Jacob's beloved wife Rachel had been buried after she
died in childbirth. It was also where the great king David had been born.
Though the city remained small, it was central to Israel's identity.
The name Bethlehem means "House of Bread." The region was fertile ground for
crops, and as Ruth found when she accompanied Naomi home from Moab, there
was much wheat and other grain in Bethlehem to be gathered when harvest time
came. And there in the "House of Bread" Jesus was born. He described Himself
using the metaphor of bread. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of
life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
In sending His Son, God has given us all that we will ever need. As David
put it centuries earlier, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Psalm
23:1). When we have Jesus, we have everything that we need. We lack nothing
in the spiritual bounty that He provides, and He has promised to meet our
physical needs as well. Only a Divine Saviour can provide sufficient bread
for all the people through the centuries who trust in Him.
Christmas reminds us of the birth of the "Bread of Life" and God's promised
supply of all our needs.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Hebrews 7-9 New King James Version (NKJV)
The King of Righteousness
7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met
Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to
whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of
righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," 3
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest
continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham
gave a tenth of the [a]spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of
Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from
the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they
have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not
derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the
promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the
better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of
whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid
tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of
his father when Melchizedek met him.
Need for a New Priesthood
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under
it the people received the law), what further need was there that another
priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called
according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of
necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things
are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has [b]officiated at
the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses
spoke nothing concerning [c]priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident
if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has
come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to
the power of an endless life. 17 For [d]He testifies:
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment
because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing
[e]perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope,
through which we draw near to God.
Greatness of the New Priest
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have
become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
"The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
'You are a priest [f]forever
According to the order of Melchizedek' "),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a [g]surety of a better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from
continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable
priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save [h]to the uttermost those
who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for
them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, [i]harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices,
first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for
all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men
who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law,
appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
The New Priestly Service
8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a
High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
the heavens, 2 a Minister of the [j]sanctuary and of the true tabernacle
which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For
if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who
offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of
the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to
make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to
the pattern shown you on the mountain." 6 But now He has obtained a more
excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant,
which was established on better promises.
A New Covenant
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have
been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- 9 not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not
continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of
them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the
Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
[k]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now
what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The Earthly Sanctuary
9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and
the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in
which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the
[l]sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle
which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the
ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the
golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of
the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the
mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Limitations of the Earthly Service
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into
the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the
second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which
he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; 8
the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was
not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It
was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are
offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to
the conscience- 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various
[m]washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things [n]to come, with the
greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of
this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own
blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal
redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a
heifer, sprinkling the unclean, [o]sanctifies for the [p]purifying of the
flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered Himself without [q]spot to God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the
Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may
receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The Mediator's Death Necessary
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death
of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since
it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the
first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken
every [r]precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood
of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled
both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, "This is the blood of
the covenant which God has commanded you." 21 Then likewise he sprinkled
with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And
according to the law almost all things are [s]purified with blood, and
without shedding of blood there is no [t]remission.
Greatness of Christ's Sacrifice
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens
should be [u]purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places
made with hands, which are [v]copies of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer
Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with
blood of another- 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the
foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is
appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ
was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him
He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
