DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 4
WORD OF WISDOM
Don't let what's wrong with you effect your worship for what's right with
God.
___
DAILY DEVOTION
"All the Counsel of God"
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not
from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Joshua 1:7-8
Many people today treat the truth like a cafeteria buffet. They pick and
choose the things that look appealing and that they think they will enjoy,
and they leave the rest behind. That is not the way God's truth works. It is
all part of a unified whole. It is all true, and it must all be taken as
true. John Newton wrote, "The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery;
nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from
their proper places, have no determinate import; but it is to furnish us
with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and
affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct."
We are not equipped or qualified to evaluate which parts of the Bible we
should believe and which we should discard. That puts us in a position that
can only rightfully be held by God. Instead we are to take the whole of
God's truth, read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, and follow what
it says. Whether the truth is widely accepted or believed only by a few, it
is still truth. And it is all truth. Paul was able to testify that his
ministry was not based on picking and choosing, but believing it all. He
said, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"
(Acts 20:27).
All of God's Word is true, and it can and must be trusted and obeyed.
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 10-12 New King James Version
Nations Descended from Noah
10 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and
Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, [a]Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The
sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and [b]Dodanim. 5 From these
the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands,
everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their
nations.
6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, [c]Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush
were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah
were Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a
mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty
hunter before the Lord." 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel,
Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went
to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between
Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and
Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).
15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite,
and the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the
Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the
Canaanites were dispersed. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from
Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom,
Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These were the sons of
Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their
lands and in their nations.
21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of
Eber, [d]the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam,
Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether,
and [e]Mash. 24 [f]Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. 25 To Eber
were born two sons: the name of one was [g]Peleg, for in his days the earth
was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot Almodad,
Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 [h]Obal, Abimael,
Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30
And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the
mountain of the east. 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their
families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their
nations.
32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their
generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on
the earth after the flood.
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole earth had one language and one [i]speech. 2 And it came to
pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land
of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let
us make bricks and [j]bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and
they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves
a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men
had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have
one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they
propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there
confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the
earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called
[k]Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and
from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Shem's Descendants
10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot
Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived
five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot
Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and
daughters.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah
lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg,
Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg
lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu
lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug
lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah,
Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot [l]Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah's Descendants
27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native
land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name
of Abram's wife was Sarai,[m] and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the
daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai
was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and
his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them
from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran
and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years,
and Terah died in Haran.
Promises to Abram
12 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father's house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him.
And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then
Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their
possessions that they had gathered, and the [n]people whom they had acquired
in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the
land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as
far as [o]the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the
land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your [p]descendants I will
give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared
to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he
pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built
an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 So Abram
journeyed, going on still toward the [q]South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell
there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when
he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I
know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will
happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife';
and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my
sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that [r]I may live
because of you."
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman,
that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and
commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. 16 He
treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and
female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of
Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you
have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did
you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now
therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." 20 So Pharaoh
commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and
all that he had.
Footnotes
Genesis 10:3 Diphath, 1 Chr. 1:6
Genesis 10:4 Sam. Rodanim and 1 Chr. 1:7
Genesis 10:6 Or Phut
Genesis 10:21 Or the older brother of Japheth
Genesis 10:23 LXX Meshech and 1 Chr. 1:17
Genesis 10:24 So with MT, Vg., Tg.; LXX Arphaxad begot Cainan, and Cainan
begot Salah (cf. Luke 3:35, 36)
Genesis 10:25 Lit. Division
Genesis 10:28 Ebal, 1 Chr. 1:22
Genesis 11:1 Lit. lip
Genesis 11:3 Lit. burn
Genesis 11:9 Lit. Confusion, Babylon
Genesis 11:26 Abraham, Gen. 17:5
Genesis 11:29 Sarah, Gen. 17:15
Genesis 12:5 Lit. souls
Genesis 12:6 Heb. Alon Moreh
Genesis 12:7 Lit. seed
Genesis 12:9 Heb. Negev
Genesis 12:13 Lit. my soul
