DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY MARCH 18:
WORD OF WISDOM
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to
become what they are capable of being.
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DAILY DEVOTION
God Wants You to Pray
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a
stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he
shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
Luke 11:11-13
The great evangelist D. L. Moody once said, "Some people think God does not
like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble
God is not to come at all." God cares even about the details we think are
small and insignificant. If He knows when each sparrow falls and how many
hairs are on our heads, how much more important are our needs and concerns
to Him?
Of course God does not need us to inform Him of what our problems are. We
never give Him information He does not already have. Why then has God
ordained prayer as the means through which our needs can be met and His work
can be done? Prayer is meant to build our relationship with God. As we come
to Him in faith pouring out our hearts before Him, we are giving a visible
demonstration of our belief in His promises and His goodness.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that this is a prerequisite for prayer: "He that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him." In addition when we have past answered prayers to
look back on and rejoice in, it encourages us to continue to boldly go to
the throne of grace to seek help. Nothing shows God's love for His children
more than the fact that He is willing to meet our needs. God wants to hear
from you today.
Don't fail to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity of prayer.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Joshua
Joshua 9 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
The Gibeonites Trick Joshua
9 All the kings west of the Jordan River heard about these things. They were
the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites. They lived in the hill country and in the plains. They also lived
along the seacoast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon. 2 All these
kings came together and made plans to fight against Joshua and the
Israelites.
3 The people from the city of Gibeon heard about the way Joshua had defeated
Jericho and Ai. 4 So they decided to try to trick the Israelites. This was
their plan: They gathered together old wineskins that were cracked and
broken. They put these old wineskins on the backs of their animals. They put
old pieces of cloth on their animals to look as if they had traveled from
far away. 5 The men put old sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. They
found some old bread that was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to the camp of
the Israelites. This camp was near Gilgal.
The men went to Joshua and said to him, "We have traveled from a faraway
country. We want to make a peace agreement with you."
7 The men of Israel said to these Hivite men, "Maybe you are trying to trick
us. Maybe you live near us. We cannot make a peace agreement with you until
we know where you are from."
8 The Hivite men said to Joshua, "We are your servants."
But Joshua asked, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
9 The men answered, "We are your servants. We have come from a faraway
country. We came because we heard of the great power of the Lord your God.
We heard about what he has done and about everything he did in Egypt. 10 And
we heard that he defeated the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan
River. This was King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in the land of
Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and our people said to us, 'Take enough food for
your journey. Go and meet with the Israelites.' Tell them, 'We are your
servants. Make a peace agreement with us.'
12 "Look at our bread. When we left home, it was warm and fresh. But now you
can see that it is dry and old. 13 Look at our wineskins. When we left home,
they were new and filled with wine. But now you can see that they are
cracked and old. Look at our clothes and sandals. You can see that the long
journey has almost destroyed the things we wear."
14 The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So
they tasted the bread-but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. 15
Joshua agreed to make peace with them. He agreed to let them live. The
leaders of Israel agreed with this promise of Joshua.
16 Three days later the Israelites learned that these men lived very near
their camp. 17 So the Israelites went to the place where they lived. On the
third day the Israelites came to the cities of Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth,
and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the army of Israel did not try to fight against
those cities. They had made a peace agreement with them. They had made a
promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel.
All the people complained against the leaders who made the agreement. 19 But
the leaders answered, "We have given our promise. We promised before the
Lord, the God of Israel. We cannot fight against them now. 20 This is what
we must do. We must let them live. We cannot hurt them or God will be angry
with us because we broke the promise we made to them. 21 So let them live,
but they will be our servants. They will cut wood for us and carry water for
all our people." So the leaders did not break their promise of peace to
them.
22 Joshua called the Gibeonites together. He said, "Why did you lie to us?
Your land was near our camp. But you told us you were from a faraway
country. 23 Now, your people will have many troubles. All of your people
will be slaves-they will have to cut wood and carry water for the house of
God.[a]"
24 The Gibeonites answered, "We lied to you because we were afraid you would
kill us. We heard that God commanded his servant Moses to give you all this
land. And God told you to kill all the people who lived in this land. That
is why we lied to you. 25 Now we are your servants. You can do whatever you
think is right."
26 So the Gibeonites became slaves, but Joshua let them live. He did not
allow the Israelites to kill them. 27 He made them slaves of the Israelites.
They cut wood and carried water for the Israelites and for the altar of the
Lord-wherever the Lord chose it to be. They are still slaves today.
Footnotes:
Joshua 9:23 house of God This might mean the "family of God" (Israel), "the
Holy Tent," or "the Temple."
