DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY JANUARY 13
WORD OF WISDOM
If you see church as optional, don't be surprised when your children see God
as unnecessary.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Healing Words
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing
(Proverbs 12:18, NLT)
Somebody needs your healing words today. Why don't you start with
your own family? How long has it been since you told your spouse, "I love
you; I'm so glad that you're mine"? Don't let strangers compliment your
spouse more than you do. Don't let a teacher, a coach, or a friend make your
child feel more special than you do. Bless your children every day with your
words. Tell them how proud you are of them. Tell them what they can become.
Remind them that they are made in the image of Almighty God. Call out their
seeds of greatness. They have enough people telling them what they can't
become. They face all kinds of bullying, negative chatter on social media,
and people saying hurtful things. When you tell them you love them and are
proud of them, that's not just healing the wounds, that's protecting them.
That's what helps those hurtful words bounce off them. Stay on the
offensive. Develop this habit of speaking life-giving words over your
family.
A Prayer for Today
"Father, thank You that You have given me the power of words to lift others
up. All through the day help me to speak healing words, to offer
compliments, and to give encouragement to those around me. Help me to
develop this habit of speaking life-giving words. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 37-39 New King James Version
Joseph Dreams of Greatness
37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a [a]stranger, in the
land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers.
And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's
wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son
of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his
brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they
hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him
even more. 6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have
dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my
sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around
and bowed down to my sheaf."
8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall
you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his
dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said,
"Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and
the eleven stars bowed down to me."
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him
and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your
mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before
you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in
mind.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And
Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?
Come, I will send you to them."
So he said to him, "Here I am."
14 Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with your brothers
and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he sent him out of
the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field.
And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?"
16 So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are
feeding their flocks."
17 And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say,
'Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in
Dothan.
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they
conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, "Look,
this [b]dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast
him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We
shall see what will become of his dreams!"
21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said,
"Let us not kill him." 22 And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast
him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on
him"-that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his
father.
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they
stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24
Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was
no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked,
and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their
camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to
Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill
our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our
flesh." And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so
the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to
the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit;
and he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, "The
lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?"
31 So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the
tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they
brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know
whether it is your son's tunic or not?"
33 And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has
devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces." 34 Then Jacob tore
his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he
refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to
my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
36 Now the [c]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Judah and Tamar
38 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and
visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a
daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and
went in to her. 3 So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name
Er. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. 5
And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He
was at Chezib when she bore him.
6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But
Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord
killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and
marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the
heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's
wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his
brother. 10 And the thing which he did [d]displeased the Lord; therefore He
killed him also.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your
father's house till my son Shelah is grown." For he said, "Lest he also die
like his brothers." And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12 Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died; and
Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his
friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, "Look, your
father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." 14 So she took off
her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and
sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah
was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he
thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. 16 Then he
turned to her by the way, and said, "Please let me come in to you"; for he
did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
So she said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"
17 And he said, "I will send a young goat from the flock."
So she said, "Will you give me a pledge till you send it?"
18 Then he said, "What pledge shall I give you?"
So she said, "Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand."
Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19
So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments
of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite,
to receive his pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her. 21
Then he asked the men of that place, saying, "Where is the harlot who was
[e]openly by the roadside?"
And they said, "There was no harlot in this place."
22 So he returned to Judah and said, "I cannot find her. Also, the men of
the place said there was no harlot in this place."
23 Then Judah said, "Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I
sent this young goat and you have not found her."
24 And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told,
saying, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she
is [f]with child by harlotry."
So Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"
25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the
man to whom these belong, I am with child." And she said, "Please determine
whose these are-the signet and cord, and staff."
26 So Judah acknowledged them and said, "She has been more righteous than I,
because I did not give her to Shelah my son." And he never knew her again.
27 Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins
were in her womb. 28 And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one
put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his
hand, saying, "This one came out first." 29 Then it happened, as he drew
back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, "How
did you break through? This breach be upon you!" Therefore his name was
called Perez.[g] 30 Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet
thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.
Joseph a Slave in Egypt
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites
who had taken him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a
successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And
his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did
[h]to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served
him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put
[i]under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him
overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the
Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all
that he had in the house and in the field. 6 Thus he left all that he had in
Joseph's [j]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the [k]bread
which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7 And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife [l]cast
longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not
know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to
my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept
back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her,
to lie with her or to be with her.
11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do
his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught
him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her
hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 And so it was, when she saw that he had
left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 that she called to the men
of her house and spoke to them, saying, "See, he has brought in to us a
Hebrew to [m]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with
a loud voice. 15 And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and
cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside."
16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she
spoke to him with words like these, saying, "The Hebrew servant whom you
brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18 so it happened, as I lifted my
voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside."
19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him,
saying, "Your servant did to me after this manner," that his anger was
aroused. 20 Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a
place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the
prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave[n]
him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the
prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison;
whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23 The keeper of the prison did
not look into anything that was under [o]Joseph's authority, because the
Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.
Footnotes
Genesis 37:1 sojourner, temporary resident
Genesis 37:19 Lit. master of dreams
Genesis 37:36 MT Medanites
Genesis 38:10 Lit. was evil in the eyes of
Genesis 38:21 in full view
Genesis 38:24 pregnant
Genesis 38:29 Lit. Breach or Breakthrough
Genesis 39:3 to be a success
Genesis 39:4 Lit. in his hand
Genesis 39:6 Care
Genesis 39:6 Food
Genesis 39:7 Lit. lifted up her eyes toward
Genesis 39:14 laugh at
Genesis 39:21 Caused him to be viewed with favor by
Genesis 39:23 Lit. his hand
