DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 23
WORD OF WISDOM
The more we love the Word of God the more we will love the God of the Word.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Good News
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told
them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those
things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these
things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen,
as it was told unto them.
Luke 2:17-20
The overwhelming news that the shepherds received from the angels took them
out of the fields into Bethlehem. There they looked until they found the
Savior, lying in a manger because Joseph and Mary had nowhere else to go.
After the shepherds verified what they had heard, they could not contain the
news. They told everyone about the amazing thing that had happened. That is
the way we are supposed to be. Rather than being silent followers of Jesus
Christ, we are to be witnesses for Him. If we love Him as we should, this
will not be a difficult chore; it will be a happy privilege. J. C. Ryle
said, "Love to the Lord Jesus Christ is no hidden, secret, impalpable thing.
It is like the light-it will be seen. It is like sound-it will be heard. It
is like heat-it will be felt. Where it exists, it cannot be hid. Where it
cannot be seen, you may be sure there is none."
The good news that we have to share with the world is the same message that
the angels gave to the shepherds. There is hope for salvation in Jesus
Christ. Every person we meet needs to hear that message. Every day we have
opportunities to share the good news with others. This is God's plan for
reaching the world-that our overflowing love will cause us to speak. "For
the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead" (2 Corinthians 5:14).
A proper love for Christ is so strong that it compels us to tell others of
His salvation.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Paul
Acts 19:1-41 Easy-to-Read Version
Paul in Ephesus
1 While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on
his way to Ephesus. In Ephesus he found some other followers of the Lord. 2
He asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
These followers said to him, "We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit!"
3 Paul asked them, "So what kind of baptism did you have?"
They said, "It was the baptism that John taught."
4 Paul said, "John told people to be baptized to show they wanted to change
their lives. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him,
and that one is Jesus."
5 When these followers heard this, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on
them. They began speaking different languages and prophesying. 7 There were
about twelve men in this group.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and spoke very boldly. He continued doing
this for three months. He talked with the Jews, trying to persuade them to
accept what he was telling them about God's kingdom. 9 But some of them
became stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone, they said bad
things about the Way. So Paul left these Jews and took the Lord's followers
with him. He went to a place where a man named Tyrannus had a school. There
Paul talked with people every day. 10 He did this for two years. Because of
this work, everyone in Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God used Paul to do some very special miracles. 12 Some people carried
away handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on those who
were sick. The sick people were healed, and evil spirits left them.
13-14 Some Jews also were traveling around forcing evil spirits out of
people. The seven sons of Sceva, one of the leading priests, were doing
this. These Jews tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to make the evil
spirits go out of people. They all said, "By the same Jesus that Paul talks
about, I order you to come out!"
15 But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, "I know Jesus, and I know
about Paul, but who are you?"
16 Then the man who had the evil spirit inside him jumped on these Jews. He
was much stronger than all of them. He beat them up and tore their clothes
off. They all ran away from that house.
17 All the people in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks, learned about this. They were
all filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. 18 Many of the
believers began to confess, telling about all the evil things they had done.
19 Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books
and burned them before everyone. These books were worth about 50,000 silver
coins.[a] 20 This is how the word of the Lord was spreading in a powerful
way, causing more and more people to believe.
Paul Plans a Trip
21 After this, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through
the regions of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. He thought,
"After I visit Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome." 22 Timothy and Erastus
were two of his helpers. Paul sent them ahead to Macedonia. But he stayed in
Asia for a while.
Trouble in Ephesus
23 But during that time there was some trouble in Ephesus about the Way.
This is how it all happened: 24 There was a man named Demetrius. He worked
with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the
goddess Artemis. The men who did this work made a lot of money.
25 Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same
kind of work. He told them, "Men, you know that we make a lot of money from
our business. 26 But look at what this man Paul is doing. Listen to what he
is saying. He has convinced many people in Ephesus and all over Asia to
change their religion. He says the gods that people make by hand are not
real. 27 I'm afraid this is going to turn people against our business. But
there is also another problem. People will begin to think that the temple of
the great goddess Artemis is not important. Her greatness will be destroyed.
And Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world
worships."
28 When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, "Great is
Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus!" 29 The whole city was thrown into
confusion. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, men from Macedonia who
were traveling with Paul, and rushed all together into the stadium. 30 Paul
wanted to go in and talk to the people, but the Lord's followers did not let
him go. 31 Also, some leaders of the country who were friends of Paul sent
him a message telling him not to go into the stadium.
32 Some people were shouting one thing and others were shouting something
else. The meeting was very confused. Most of the people did not know why
they had come there. 33 Some Jews made a man named Alexander stand before
the crowd, and they told him what to say. Alexander waved his hand, trying
to explain things to the people. 34 But when the people saw that Alexander
was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. For two hours they
continued shouting, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of
Ephesus! Great is Artemis .!"
35 Then the city clerk persuaded the people to be quiet. He said, "Men of
Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of
the great goddess Artemis. Everyone knows that we also keep her holy
rock.[b] 36 No one can deny this, so you should be quiet. You must stop and
think before you do anything else.
37 "You brought these men[c] here, but they have not said anything bad
against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple. 38 We
have courts of law and there are judges. Do Demetrius and those men who work
with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts. Let
them argue with each other there.
39 "Is there something else you want to talk about? Then come to the regular
town meeting of the people. It can be decided there. 40 I say this because
someone might see this trouble today and say we are rioting. We could not
explain all this trouble, because there is no real reason for this meeting."
41 After the city clerk said this, he told the people to go home.
Footnotes
Acts 19:19 silver coins Probably Greek drachmas. One coin was worth the
average pay for one day's work.
Acts 19:35 holy rock Probably a meteorite or rock that the people thought
looked like Artemis and worshiped.
Acts 19:37 men Gaius and Aristarchus, the men traveling with Paul.
