DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY MARCH 29:
WORD OF WISDOM
Although prison is just one word, to some people it's an entire sentence.
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DAILY DEVOTION
3RD GRADER'S EXPLANATION OF GOD
Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third
grade homework assignment to "Explain God."
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones
that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He
doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and
easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time
teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and
fathers.
"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of
this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times
besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because
of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise
in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees
everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty
busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's
head asking for something they said you couldn't have.
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any
in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church. Jesus is
God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and
performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn
about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they
crucified Him.But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His
Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and
God said OK.
"His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work
on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He
could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening
to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and
which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a
secretary only more important. You can pray anytime you want and they are
sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty
all the time.
"You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if
there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do
something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong!
And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very
lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but
God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark
or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by
big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I
figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.
"And that's why I believe in God."
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Joshua
Joshua 18 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Dividing the Rest of the Land
18 All the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh where they set up the
Meeting Tent. The Israelites controlled that country. They had defeated all
the enemies in that land. 2 But at this time there were still seven tribes
of Israel that had not yet received their land.
3 So Joshua said to the Israelites, "Why do you wait so long to take your
land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you. 4 So
each of your tribes should choose three men. I will send them out to study
the land. They will describe that land, and then they will come back to me.
5 They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep
their land in the south. The people of Joseph will keep their land in the
north. 6 But you should describe the land and divide it into seven parts.
Bring the map to me, and we will throw lots to let the Lord our God decide
how to divide the land among the tribes. 7 The Levites don't get a share of
the land. Their share is to serve the Lord as priests. Gad, Reuben, and half
the tribe of Manasseh have already received the land that was promised to
them. They are on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the Lord's
servant, gave them that land."
8 So the men who were chosen went to look at the land and write down what
they saw. Joshua told them, "Go through the land and describe it in writing.
Then come back to me at Shiloh. I will throw lots and let the Lord decide
how you will share the land."
9 So the men went into the land. As they walked through it, they wrote down
what they saw. They listed all the cities and divided the land into seven
parts. Then they went back to Joshua at Shiloh. 10 Joshua threw lots for
them in front of the Lord at Shiloh. In this way Joshua divided the land and
gave each tribe its part of the land.
Land for Benjamin
11 The tribe of Benjamin was given the land that was between the areas of
Judah and Joseph. Each family in the tribe of Benjamin got its land. This is
the land that was chosen for Benjamin: 12 The northern border started at the
Jordan River. It went along the northern edge of Jericho. Then the border
went west into the hill country. It continued until it was just east of Beth
Aven. 13 Then the border went south to Luz (Bethel), then down to Ataroth
Addar. Ataroth Addar is on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon. 14 At the
hill south of Beth Horon, the border turned south and went along the west
side of the hill. The border went to Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath
Jearim). This town belonged to the people of Judah. This was the western
border.
15 The southern border started near Kiriath Jearim and went to the River of
Nephtoah. 16 Then the border went down to the bottom of the hill near the
valley of Ben Hinnom, north of Rephaim Valley. It continued down Hinnom
Valley just south of the Jebusite city. Then the border went on to En Rogel.
17 There it turned north, went to En Shemesh, and then continued on to
Geliloth. (Geliloth is near the Adummim Pass in the mountains.) The border
went down to the Great Stone that was named for Bohan, the son of Reuben. 18
It continued to the northern part of Beth Arabah. Then the border went down
into the Jordan Valley. 19 Then it went to the northern part of Beth Hoglah
and ended at the north shore of the Dead Sea. This is where the Jordan River
flows into that sea. That was the southern border.
20 The Jordan River was the eastern border. So this was the land that was
given to the tribe of Benjamin. These were the borders on all sides. 21 Each
family got its land. These are their cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek
Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar
Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities and the fields around
them.
25 The tribe of Benjamin also got Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah,
Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite
city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were 14 cities and the
fields around them. The tribe of Benjamin got all these areas.
