DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY JANUARY 4:
WORD OF WISDOM
A key to happiness, is deciding to be a source of it.
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DAILY DEVOTION
God's Measure of Success
"Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that
the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my
servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all
this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of
Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I
given unto you, as I said unto Moses."
Joshua 1:1-3
At the end of a year, many people stop to reflect on what has transpired in
the last twelve months. There are many different measures of success people
use for their standard by which to evaluate. Some focus on career
achievement or advancement. Others highlight financial success or measure
their year by what the stock market did. Some use the accomplishments of
their children or grandchildren as a measuring stick. Churches might look at
their attendance or offerings. But the measure of success that should matter
most to us is what God thinks of what we have done.
After Moses' life, God referred to him with a single phrase that summed up
his life: "Moses the servant of the Lord." It wasn't the parting of the Red
Sea or leading Israel through the wilderness that were the most significant
measuring sticks of Moses' "success." It was that he served God. Everything
else was a byproduct of his service to the Lord.
Similarly, when God selected Joshua as the replacement for Moses who would
lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, He did not focus on his
organizational abilities or military prowess, though both of those were real
and had been demonstrated time and again during the forty years of wandering
the wilderness. Instead, God looked at the way Joshua had faithfully served
Moses.
The world may not value ministering to the needs of others, but God holds it
in high regard. "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another"
(Galatians 5:13).
True success is to faithfully serve God and others.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 10-12The Message (MSG)
The Family Tree of Noah's Sons
10 This is the family tree of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
After the flood, they themselves had sons.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah.
4-5 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, Rodanim. The seafaring
peoples developed from these, each in its own place by family, each with its
own language.
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca.
The sons of Raamah: Sheba, Dedan.
8-12 Cush also had Nimrod. He was the first great warrior on Earth. He was a
great hunter before God. There was a saying, "Like Nimrod, a great hunter
before God." His kingdom got its start with Babel; then Erech, Akkad, and
Calneh in the country of Shinar. From there he went up to Asshur and built
Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and the great city
Calah.
13-14 Egypt was ancestor to the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the
Naphtuhim, the Pathrusim, the Casluhim (the origin of the Philistines), and
the Kaphtorim.
15-19 Canaan had Sidon his firstborn, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the
Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the
Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanites spread out, going from
Sidon toward Gerar, as far south as Gaza, and then east all the way over to
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and on to Lasha.
20 These are the descendants of Ham by family, language, country, and
nation.
21 Shem, the older brother of Japheth, also had sons. Shem was ancestor to
all the children of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, Meshech.
24-25 Arphaxad had Shelah and Shelah had Eber. Eber had two sons, Peleg (so
named because in his days the human race divided) and Joktan.
26-30 Joktan had Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal,
Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab-all sons of Joktan.
Their land goes from Mesha toward Sephar as far as the mountain ranges in
the east.
31 These are the descendants of Shem by family, language, country, and
nation.
32 This is the family tree of the sons of Noah as they developed into
nations. From them nations developed all across the Earth after the flood.
"God Turned Their Language into 'Babble'"
11 1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened
that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of
Shinar and settled down.
3 They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well."
They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that
reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here
and there across the Earth."
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
6-9 God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only
a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next-they'll stop at
nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't
understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the
world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be
called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From
there God scattered them all over the world.
10-11 This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had
Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood. After he had Arphaxad, he lived
500 more years and had other sons and daughters.
12-13 When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah. After Arphaxad
had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
14-15 When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber. After Shelah had Eber,
he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
16-17 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg. After Eber had
Peleg, he lived 430 more years and had other sons and daughters.
18-19 When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he
lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
20-21 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had Serug. After Reu had Serug,
he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
22-23 When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor. After Serug had Nahor,
he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
24-25 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had Terah. After Nahor had
Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Family Tree of Terah
27-28 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his
family, Ur of the Chaldees.
29 Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram's wife was Sarai; Nahor's wife
was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters,
Milcah and Iscah.
30 Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his
daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the
Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they
settled down there.
32 Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
Abram and Sarai
12 God told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home
for a land that I will show you.
2-3
I'll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I'll make you famous;
you'll be a blessing.
I'll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I'll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you."
4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his
nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had
gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and
sound.
Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At
that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
7 God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children."
Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his
tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there
and prayed to God.
9 Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
10-13 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it
was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai,
"Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see
you they're going to say, 'Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll
let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you,
they'll welcome me and let me live."
14-15 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that
his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to
Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
16-17 Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and
cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God
hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram's wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got
seriously sick.
18-19 Pharaoh called for Abram, "What's this that you've done to me? Why
didn't you tell me that she's your wife? Why did you say, 'She's my sister'
so that I'd take her as my wife? Here's your wife back-take her and get
out!"
20 Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him
and his wife and everything he owned on their way.
