DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 16:
WORD OF WISDOM
Just because it's a "good" thing doesn't mean it's a "God" thing.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Walking Wisely Before the Eyes of the World
"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they
speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they
shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to
every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as
supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is
the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men:"
1 Peter 2:12-15
Many years ago, Dr. Bill Rice traveled and preached as an evangelist before
founding a ministry geared to reaching deaf people with the gospel. He told
the story that once he was riding a city bus through the town where he was
holding a revival. When he paid his fare, the driver gave him back too much
change. He pointed it out, returning the extra money. The driver responded,
"I knew I gave you too much. I heard you preach last night and wanted to see
if you were for real."
Every day we are being watched by those around us. Most of the time we are
not even aware of who is looking. But our testimony-for good or for bad-has
a powerful impact. In fact as the old saying goes, "Actions speak louder
than words." When our lives match what our words say, there is a
confirmation that shows people we are for real. The fact that there are
hypocrites in the church is a poor excuse for people not going to church,
but it is also a tragedy for our failings in daily life to be used by Satan
to keep others away from the gospel.
Make sure that what you live from day to day aligns with what you declare
your beliefs to be.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Jeremiah 16-18 The Message (MSG)
Can Mortals Manufacture Gods?
16 God's Message to me:
2-4 "Jeremiah, don't get married. Don't raise a family here. I have signed
the death warrant on all the children born in this country, the mothers who
bear them and the fathers who beget them-an epidemic of death. Death
unlamented, the dead unburied, dead bodies decomposing and stinking like
dung, all the killed and starved corpses served up as meals for carrion
crows and mongrel dogs!"
5-7 God continued: "Don't enter a house where there's mourning. Don't go to
the funeral. Don't sympathize. I've quit caring about what happens to this
people." God's Decree. "No more loyal love on my part, no more compassion.
The famous and obscure will die alike here, unlamented and unburied. No
funerals will be conducted, no one will give them a second thought, no one
will care, no one will say, 'I'm sorry,' no one will so much as offer a cup
of tea, not even for the mother or father.
8 "And if there happens to be a feast celebrated, don't go there either to
enjoy the festivities."
9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, "Watch this! I'm about
to banish smiles and laughter from this place. No more brides and
bridegrooms celebrating. And I'm doing it in your lifetime, before your very
eyes.
10-13 "When you tell this to the people and they ask, 'Why is God talking
this way, threatening us with all these calamities? We're not criminals,
after all. What have we done to our God to be treated like this?' tell them
this: 'It's because your ancestors left me, walked off and never looked
back. They took up with the no-gods, worshiped and doted on them, and
ignored me and wouldn't do a thing I told them. And you're even worse! Take
a good look in the mirror-each of you doing whatever you want, whenever you
want, refusing to pay attention to me. And for this I'm getting rid of you,
throwing you out in the cold, into a far and strange country. You can
worship your precious no-gods there to your heart's content. Rest assured, I
won't bother you anymore.'
14-15 "On the other hand, don't miss this: The time is coming when no one
will say any longer, 'As sure as God lives, the God who delivered Israel
from Egypt.' What they'll say is, 'As sure as God lives, the God who brought
Israel back from the land of the north, brought them back from all the
places where he'd scattered them.' That's right, I'm going to bring them
back to the land I first gave to their ancestors.
16-17 "Now, watch for what comes next: I'm going to assemble a bunch of
fishermen." God's Decree! "They'll go fishing for my people and pull them in
for judgment. Then I'll send out a party of hunters, and they'll hunt them
out in all the mountains, hills, and caves. I'm watching their every move. I
haven't lost track of a single one of them, neither them nor their sins.
18 "They won't get by with a thing. They'll pay double for everything they
did wrong. They've made a complete mess of things, littering their lives
with their obscene no-gods, leaving piles of stinking god-junk all over the
place."
19-20
God, my strength, my stronghold,
my safe retreat when trouble descends:
The godless nations will come
from earth's four corners, saying,
"Our ancestors lived on lies,
useless illusions, all smoke."
Can mortals manufacture gods?
Their factories turn out no-gods!
21
"Watch closely now. I'm going to teach these wrongheaded people.
Starting right now, I'm going to teach them
Who I am and what I do,
teach them the meaning of my name, God-'I Am.'"
The Heart Is Hopelessly Dark and Deceitful
17 1-2 "Judah's sin is engraved
with a steel chisel,
A steel chisel with a diamond point-
engraved on their granite hearts,
engraved on the stone corners of their altars.
The evidence against them is plain to see:
sex-and-religion altars and sacred sex shrines
Anywhere there's a grove of trees,
anywhere there's an available hill.
3-4
"I'll use your mountains as roadside stands
for giving away everything you have.
All your 'things' will serve as reparations
for your sins all over the country.
You'll lose your gift of land,
The inheritance I gave you.
I'll make you slaves of your enemies
in a far-off and strange land.
My anger is hot and blazing and fierce,
and no one will put it out."
5-6 God's Message:
"Cursed is the strong one
who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
and sets God aside as dead weight.
He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
in a land where nothing grows.
7-8
"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
the woman who sticks with God.
They're like trees replanted in Eden,
putting down roots near the rivers-
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
bearing fresh fruit every season.
9-10
"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be."
11
Like a cowbird that cheats by laying its eggs
in another bird's nest
Is the person who gets rich by cheating.
When the eggs hatch, the deceit is exposed.
What a fool he'll look like then!
12-13
From early on your Sanctuary was set high,
a throne of glory, exalted!
O God, you're the hope of Israel.
All who leave you end up as fools,
Deserters with nothing to show for their lives,
who walk off from God, fountain of living waters-
and wind up dead!
14-18
God, pick up the pieces.
Put me back together again.
You are my praise!
Listen to how they talk about me:
"So where's this 'Word of God'?
We'd like to see something happen!"
But it wasn't my idea to call for Doomsday.
I never wanted trouble.
You know what I've said.
It's all out in the open before you.
Don't add to my troubles.
Give me some relief!
Let those who harass me be harassed, not me.
Let them be disgraced, not me.
Bring down upon them the day of doom.
Lower the boom. Boom!
Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
19-20 God's Message to me: "Go stand in the People's Gate, the one used by
Judah's kings as they come and go, and then proceed in turn to all the gates
of Jerusalem. Tell them, 'Listen, you kings of Judah, listen to God's
Message-and all you people who go in and out of these gates, you listen!
21-23 "'This is God's Message. Be careful, if you care about your lives, not
to desecrate the Sabbath by turning it into just another workday, lugging
stuff here and there. Don't use the Sabbath to do business as usual. Keep
the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. They never did it, as
you know. They paid no attention to what I said and went about their own
business, refusing to be guided or instructed by me.
24-26 "'But now, take seriously what I tell you. Quit desecrating the
Sabbath by busily going about your own work, and keep the Sabbath day holy
by not doing business as usual. Then kings from the time of David and their
officials will continue to ride through these gates on horses or in
chariots. The people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem will continue to
pass through them, too. Jerusalem will always be filled with people. People
will stream in from all over Judah, from the province of Benjamin, from the
Jerusalem suburbs, from foothills and mountains and deserts. They'll come to
worship, bringing all kinds of offerings-animals, grains, incense,
expressions of thanks-into the Sanctuary of God.
27 "'But if you won't listen to me, won't keep the Sabbath holy, won't quit
using the Sabbath for doing your own work, busily going in and out of the
city gates on your self-important business, then I'll burn the gates down.
In fact, I'll burn the whole city down, palaces and all, with a fire nobody
will be able to put out!'"
To Worship the Big Lie
18 1-2 God told Jeremiah, "Up on your feet! Go to the potter's house. When
you get there, I'll tell you what I have to say."
3-4 So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there,
working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned
out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter
would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.
5-10 Then God's Message came to me: "Can't I do just as this potter does,
people of Israel?" God's Decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way that
this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I
may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of
them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start
over with them. At another time I might decide to plant a people or country,
but if they don't cooperate and won't listen to me, I will think again and
give up on the plans I had for them.
11 "So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message:
'Danger! I'm shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back
from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.'
12 "But they'll just say, 'Why should we? What's the point? We'll live just
the way we've always lived, doom or no doom.'"
13-17 God's Message:
"Ask around.
Survey the godless nations.
Has anyone heard the likes of this?
Virgin Israel has become a slut!
Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks?
Do alpine streams run dry?
But my people have left me
to worship the Big Lie.
They've gotten off the track,
the old, well-worn trail,
And now bushwhack through underbrush
in a tangle of roots and vines.
Their land's going to end up a mess-
a fool's memorial to be spit on.
Travelers passing through
will shake their heads in disbelief.
I'll scatter my people before their enemies,
like autumn leaves in a high wind.
On their day of doom, they'll stare at my back as I walk away,
catching not so much as a glimpse of my face."
18 Some of the people said, "Come on, let's cook up a plot against Jeremiah.
We'll still have the priests to teach us the law, wise counselors to give us
advice, and prophets to tell us what God has to say. Come on, let's
discredit him so we don't have to put up with him any longer."
19-23
And I said to God:
"God, listen to me!
Just listen to what my enemies are saying.
Should I get paid evil for good?
That's what they're doing. They've made plans to kill me!
Remember all the times I stood up for them before you,
speaking up for them,
trying to soften your anger?
But enough! Let their children starve!
Let them be massacred in battle!
Let their wives be childless and widowed,
their friends die and their proud young men be killed.
Let cries of panic sound from their homes
as you surprise them with war parties!
They're all set to lynch me.
The noose is practically around my neck!
But you know all this, God.
You know they're determined to kill me.
Don't whitewash their crimes,
don't overlook a single sin!
Round the bunch of them up before you.
Strike while the iron of your anger is hot!"
The Message (MSG)
Copyright C 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
