DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 25
WORD OF WISDOM
We can't isolate our children from the world, but God can insolate them.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Building Sandcastles
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth for ever.
1 John 2:16-17
In 2019, a massive sandcastle was built in the German town of Binz on the
Baltic Sea where each year a contest is held for builders who work with
sand. Complete with turrets, windows, arches, and walkways, the highly
detailed castle was a sight to behold. Measuring nearly sixty feet tall, it
was certified as a Guinness World Record holder as the largest sandcastle
ever built. However, if you want to see it in person, you are too late.
After a few months it was gone. Though it was impressive, it was not built
to last.
The world around us is filled with things that may look impressive, but upon
examination are revealed to be only temporary at best. Everywhere we look,
we see people frantically trying to build the largest sandcastles without
any thought of what will happen next. The things of this world are going to
pass away. Each of us who are Christians will stand before God and give an
account to Him of how we used the time and abilities He has entrusted to us.
There will be no deception in that day. Everything will be revealed for what
it really is. "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made
manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by
fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (1
Corinthians 3:12-13). It is our responsibility to focus our lives and our
efforts on things that matter and things that will last. Only then will our
lives not have been lived in vain.
The world tempts us to waste our lives on fleeting things, but God calls us
to live for the eternal.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Exodus 25-27 New King James Version
Offerings for the Sanctuary
25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to the children of Israel,
that they bring Me an [a]offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with
his heart you shall take My offering. 3 And this is the offering which you
shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet
thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, [b]badger skins,
and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and
for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and
in the breastplate. 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary,[c] that I may dwell
among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the
tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make
it.
The Ark of the Testimony
10 "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall
be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its
height. 11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall
overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. 12 You shall
cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings
shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. 13 And you shall make
poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles
into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them.
15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from
it. 16 And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.
17 "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be
its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18 And you shall make two
cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of
the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the
other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece
with the mercy seat. 20 And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings
above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one
another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. 21 You
shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the
Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I
will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim
which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give
you in commandment to the children of Israel.
The Table for the Showbread
23 "You shall also make a table of acacia wood; two cubits shall be its
length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 24 And you
shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold all around. 25
You shall make for it a frame of a handbreadth all around, and you shall
make a gold molding for the frame all around. 26 And you shall make for it
four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that are at its
four legs. 27 The rings shall be close to the frame, as holders for the
poles to bear the table. 28 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and
overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. 29 You
shall make its dishes, its pans, its pitchers, and its bowls for pouring.
You shall make them of pure gold. 30 And you shall set the showbread on the
table before Me always.
The Gold Lampstand
31 "You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of
hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and
flowers shall be of one piece. 32 And six branches shall come out of its
sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches
of the lampstand out of the other side. 33 Three bowls shall be made like
almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and
three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an
ornamental knob and a flower-and so for the six branches that come out of
the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like
almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. 35 And there
shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the
second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of
the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36
Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one
hammered piece of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it, and they
shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. 38 And its
wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made of
a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. 40 And see to it that you
make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
The Tabernacle
26 "Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven
linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of
cherubim you shall weave them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be
twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. And every
one of the curtains shall have [d]the same measurements. 3 Five curtains
shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be
coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue yarn on the edge
of the curtain on the selvedge of one set, and likewise you shall do on the
outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall
make in the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the
curtain that is on the end of the second set, that the loops may be clasped
to one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the
curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.
7 "You shall also make curtains of goats' hair, to be a tent over the
tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. 8 The length of each curtain
shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; and the
eleven curtains shall all have the same measurements. 9 And you shall couple
five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and you shall
double over the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tent. 10 You shall
make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set,
and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 11 And you
shall make fifty bronze clasps, put the clasps into the loops, and couple
the tent together, that it may be one. 12 The remnant that remains of the
curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the
back of the tabernacle. 13 And a cubit on one side and a cubit on the other
side, of what remains of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang
over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover
it.
14 "You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a
covering of badger skins above that.
15 "And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood,
standing upright. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit
and a half shall be the width of each board. 17 Two [e]tenons shall be in
each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the
boards of the tabernacle. 18 And you shall make the boards for the
tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 19 You shall make forty
sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the
boards for its two tenons. 20 And for the second side of the tabernacle, the
north side, there shall be twenty boards 21 and their forty sockets of
silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 22 For the far side of the
tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. 23 And you shall also make
two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 24 They shall be
[f]coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the
top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the
two corners. 25 So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of
silver-sixteen sockets-two sockets under each of the boards.
26 "And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side
of the tabernacle, 27 five bars for the boards on the other side of the
tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for
the far side westward. 28 The middle bar shall pass through the midst of the
boards from end to end. 29 You shall overlay the boards with gold, make
their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold.
30 And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you
were shown on the mountain.
31 "You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and
fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. 32
You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. 33 And you shall
hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony
in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the
holy place and the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark
of the Testimony in the Most Holy. 35 You shall set the table outside the
veil, and the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle
toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.
36 "You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue,
purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. 37 And
you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them
with gold; their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five sockets of
bronze for them.
The Altar of Burnt Offering
27 "You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits
wide-the altar shall be square-and its height shall be three cubits. 2 You
shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece
with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 Also you shall make its
pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and
its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall make a
grate for it, a network of bronze; and on the network you shall make four
bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall put it under the rim of the
altar beneath, that the network may be midway up the altar. 6 And you shall
make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with
bronze. 7 The poles shall be put in the rings, and the poles shall be on the
two sides of the altar to bear it. 8 You shall make it hollow with boards;
as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.
The Court of the Tabernacle
9 "You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there
shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits
long for one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall
be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. 11
Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one
hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of
bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.
12 "And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of
fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of
the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings on one
side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their
three sockets. 15 And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits,
with their three pillars and their three sockets.
16 "For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long,
woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a
weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. 17 All the pillars
around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver
and their sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred
cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine
woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the
tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court,
shall be of bronze.
The Care of the Lampstand
20 "And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure
oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to [g]burn
continually. 21 In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is
before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until
morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations
on behalf of the children of Israel.
Footnotes
Exodus 25:2 heave offering
Exodus 25:5 Or dolphin
Exodus 25:8 sacred place
Exodus 26:2 Lit. one measure
Exodus 26:17 Projections for joining, lit. hands
Exodus 26:24 Lit. doubled
Exodus 27:20 Lit. ascend
