DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY JANUARY 17
MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK
Leviticus 19:37
Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do
them: I am the LORD.
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WORD OF WISDOM
You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.
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DAILY DEVOTION
"Moved with Compassion"
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no
shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous,
but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that
he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:36-38
The life and ministry of Jesus were characterized by compassion for others.
When He looked at people, He saw beyond their outward circumstances to their
real needs. He did not regard it as a burden to help them. In contrast, even
those closest to Jesus often viewed people with needs as a problem-one they
wanted to get rid of rather than deal with. Once when a great crowd of
people had gathered to hear Jesus and the end of the day was approaching,
they came to Him and said, "Send them away, that they may go into the
country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for
they have nothing to eat" (Mark 6:36). Instead of sending the multitudes
away, Jesus met their need, working a miracle to feed thousands of people
because of His love and compassion for them.
If we are going to truthfully say that we are living like Jesus, our lives
must be characterized by the same kind of compassion for others that He had.
The missionary David Brainerd wrote, "I care not where I go, or how I live,
or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them;
when I awake they are first in my thoughts.no amount of scholastic
attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring
eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love
for human souls." All around us there are people for whom Jesus died who
have no concept of the eternity that awaits them. That fact should fill our
hearts with compassion and move us to action to help them before it is too
late.
Compassion for those in need characterized the life of Christ, and it should
characterize our lives as well.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Exodus 1-3 New King James Version
Israel's Suffering in Egypt
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each
man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All
those [a]who were descendants of Jacob were seventy[b] persons (for Joseph
was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that
generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased
abundantly, multiplied and [c]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was
filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he
said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and
mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they
multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our
enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land." 11 Therefore
they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they
built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they
afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of
the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel
serve with [d]rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard
bondage-in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All
their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of
one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, "When you
do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the
birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a
daughter, then she shall live." 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not
do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have
you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?"
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like
the Egyptian women; for they [e]are lively and give birth before the
midwives come to them."
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and
[f]grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that
He [g]provided households for them.
22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is [h]born
you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."
Moses Is Born
2 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2
So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a
beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer
hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and
pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4
And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her
maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the
reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the
child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said,
"This is one of the Hebrews' children."
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse
for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went and called
the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child
away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman
took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to
Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name [i]Moses,
saying, "Because I drew him out of the water."
Moses Flees to Midian
11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out
to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating
a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and
when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And
when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and
he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking your companion?"
14 Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend
to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"
So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!" 15 When Pharaoh
heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from [j]the
face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew
water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Then
the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them,
and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel[k] their father, he said, "How is it that you
have come so soon today?"
19 And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds,
and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock."
20 So he said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that you have
left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."
21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his
daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom,[l]
for he said, "I have been a [m]stranger in a foreign land."
23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then
the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out;
and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their
groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged
them.
Moses at the Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of
Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame
of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was
burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will
now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from
the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!"
And he said, "Here I am."
5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your
feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6 Moreover He said, "I
am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are
in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know
their [n]sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of
the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land,
to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and
the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the
Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has
come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians
oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that
you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I
should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12 So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to
you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you
shall serve God on this mountain."
13 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel
and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say
to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"
14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 15 Moreover God said
to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Lord God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all
generations.' 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to
them, 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is
done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the
Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land
flowing with milk and honey." ' 18 Then they will heed your voice; and you
shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you
shall say to him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now,
please, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may
sacrifice to the Lord our God.' 19 But I am sure that the king of Egypt will
not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out My
hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and
after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the
sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go
empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her
who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and
clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you
shall plunder the Egyptians."
Footnotes
Exodus 1:5 Lit. who came from the loins of
Exodus 1:5 DSS, LXX seventy-five; cf. Acts 7:14
Exodus 1:7 became very numerous
Exodus 1:13 harshness
Exodus 1:19 have vigor of life, bear quickly, easily
Exodus 1:20 became very numerous
Exodus 1:21 gave them families
Exodus 1:22 Sam., LXX, Tg. add to the Hebrews
Exodus 2:10 Heb. Mosheh, lit. Drawn Out
Exodus 2:15 the presence of Pharaoh
Exodus 2:18 Jethro, Ex. 3:1
Exodus 2:22 Lit. Stranger There
Exodus 2:22 sojourner, temporary resident
Exodus 3:7 pain
