DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY MAY 17:
WORD OF WISDOM
Faith is when God is in control, Fear is when life is in control. Disaster
is when we are in control!
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DAILY DEVOTION
Selfless Living in a "Selfie" World
"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said
unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said
unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of
man hath not where to lay his head."
Luke 9:57-58
Each year the Oxford English Dictionary selects a Word of the Year as a way
of recognizing a new word that has entered the language and made an impact.
In a rare decision, 2013 saw the unanimous selection of "selfie" as the Word
of the Year. The ubiquitous smart phones with their cameras have sparked a
craze of self-portraits. The Oxford English Dictionary publishers released a
statement saying, "It seems everyone has posted a selfie somewhere on the
Internet." There are few more apt metaphors for our society-including within
much of the church-than our obsession with placing ourselves in the center
of the picture.
The example of Jesus is very different. While He deserves all the glory of
the universe, He willingly gave up not just immeasurable riches but even
basic comforts and necessities to follow the will of His Father in Heaven.
How tightly we cling to our rights and privileges, and how unfair we think
it is when things don't go exactly as we think they should! Our response to
disruption in our plans and schedules says so much about who is in charge of
our lives.
Henry Drummond said, "The entrance fee into the kingdom of heaven is
nothing: the annual subscription is everything." Those who would follow
Jesus must first count the cost and determine if they are willing to pay the
price of selfless living. The footsteps of Jesus will not lead us to a path
of ease. And if we are focused on what makes us happy and comfortable, we
will find His path too hard to keep walking.
The only way to follow Jesus is to focus on Him rather than on ourselves.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Nehemiah 10-13Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
10 These are the names on the sealed agreement:
Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah. Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah,
Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah,
Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests who put
their names on the sealed agreement.
9 And these are the Levites who put their names on the sealed agreement:
Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the family of Henadad, Kadmiel, 10 and
their brothers: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob,
Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
14 And these are the names of the leaders who put their names on the sealed
agreement:
Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah,
Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph,
Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok,
Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24
Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan,
Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
28-29 So all these people now make this special promise to God. And they all
ask for bad things to happen if they don't keep their promise. All these
people promise to follow the law of God. That law of God was given to us
through Moses his servant. These people promise with an oath to carefully
obey all the commands, rules, and teachings of our Lord God. Now, these are
the people who are making this promise: The rest of the people-the priests,
Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, and all the Israelites who
separated themselves from the people living around them. They have separated
themselves to obey God's law. Their wives, sons, and daughters who are able
to listen and understand also did this. All these people joined their
brothers and the important people to accept for themselves the promise to
obey God's law. And they accepted the curse that asks for bad things to
happen to them if they don't obey God's law.
30 "We promise not to let our daughters marry the people living around us.
And we promise not to let our sons marry their daughters.
31 "We promise not to work on the Sabbath day. If the people living around
us bring grain or other things to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy them
on that special day or on any other festival. Every seventh year,[a] we will
not plant or work the land. And every seventh year, we will cancel every
debt that other people owe to us.
32 "We will accept the responsibility for obeying the commands to take care
of God's Temple. We will give 1/3 shekel[b] of silver each year to support
the Temple service to honor our God. 33 This money will pay for the special
bread that the priests put on the table in the Temple. It will pay for the
daily grain offerings and burnt offerings. It will pay for the offerings on
the Sabbaths, New Moon celebrations, and other special meeting days. It will
pay for the holy offerings and for the sin offerings that make the
Israelites pure. It will pay for any work needed on the Temple of our God.
34 "We, the priests, the Levites, and the people have thrown lots to decide
when each of our families is to bring a gift of wood to the Temple of our
God at certain times each year. The wood is to burn on the altar of the Lord
our God. We must do that just as it is written in the law.
35 "We also accept the responsibility of bringing the first part of our
harvest, whether from the grain in our fields or the fruit from our trees.
We will bring them to the Lord's Temple each year.
36 "Just as it is also written in the law, this is what we will do: We will
bring our firstborn sons and our firstborn cattle, sheep, and goats. We will
bring these to the Temple of our God, to the priests who are serving there.
37 "And we will also bring the first part of our harvest to priests to put
in the storage rooms of our God's Temple. We will bring the first of our
ground meal, the first of our grain offerings, the first fruit from our
trees, and the first of our new wine and oil. And we will bring a tenth of
our crops to the Levites, because they are the ones who collect these things
in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest from the family of Aaron must be
with the Levites when they receive the crops. Then the Levites must bring
the crops to the Temple of our God and put them in the storerooms of the
Temple treasury. 39 The Israelites and the Levites must bring their gifts to
the storerooms. They are to bring their gifts of grain, new wine, and oil.
All the things for the Temple are kept in the storerooms, and that is where
the priests who are on duty stay. The singers and gatekeepers also stay
there.
"We all promise that we will take care of the Temple of our God."
New People Move Into Jerusalem
11 Now the leaders of the Israelites moved into the city of Jerusalem. The
rest of the people used lots to decide who else should move there with the
leaders. They chose a tenth of the people to live in Jerusalem, the holy
city. The rest of the people stayed in their own towns. 2 The people who
stayed asked God to bless those who were willing to move to Jerusalem.
3 Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, servants, and descendants of
Solomon's servants lived in the various towns throughout Judah. These all
lived on property they owned in these towns. But the area leaders lived in
Jerusalem. 4 And other people from the families of Judah and Benjamin lived
in Jerusalem.
These are the descendants of Judah who moved into Jerusalem:
Athaiah son of Uzziah (the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Amariah, who
was the son of Shephatiah, who was the son of Mahalalel, who was a
descendant of Perez) 5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch (the son of Col-Hozeh, who
was the son of Hazaiah, who was the son of Adaiah, who was the son of
Joiarib, who was the son of Zechariah, who was a descendant of Shelah). 6
The number of Perez's descendants living in Jerusalem was 468. All of them
were brave men.
7 These are the descendants of Benjamin who moved into Jerusalem:
Sallu son of Meshullam (the son of Joed, who was the son of Pedaiah, who was
the son of Kolaiah, who was the son of Maaseiah, who was the son of Ithiel,
who was the son of Jeshaiah), 8 and those who followed Jeshaiah were Gabbai
and Sallai. All together there were 928 men. 9 Joel son of Zicri was in
charge of them. And Judah son of Hassenuah was in charge of the Second
District of the city of Jerusalem.
10 These are the priests who moved into Jerusalem:
Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jakin, 11 and Seraiah son of Hilkiah (the son of
Meshullam, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Meraioth, who was
the son of Ahitub), who was the supervisor in the Temple of God, 12 and 822
men of their brothers that did the work for the Temple, and Adaiah son of
Jeroham (the son of Pelaliah, who was the son of Amzi, who was the son of
Zechariah, who was the son of Pashhur, who was the son of Malkijah), 13 and
242 men who were Adaiah's brothers (leaders of their families), Amashsai son
of Azarel (the son of Ahzai, who was the son of Meshillemoth, who was the
son of Immer), 14 and 128 of Amashsai's brothers. (These men were brave
soldiers. The officer over them was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.)
15 These are the Levites who moved into Jerusalem:
Shemaiah son of Hasshub (the son of Azrikam, who was the son of Hashabiah,
who was the son of Bunni), 16 Shabbethai and Jozabad (two of the leaders of
the Levites in charge of the outside work of God's Temple), 17 Mattaniah
(the son of Mica, who was the son of Zabdi, who was the son of Asaph), the
director who led the people in singing songs of praise and prayer, Bakbukiah
(the second in charge over his brothers), and Abda son of Shammua (the son
of Galal, who was the son of Jeduthun). 18 So there were 284 Levites who
moved into Jerusalem, the holy city.
19 These are the gatekeepers who moved into Jerusalem:
Akkub, Talmon, and 172 of their brothers. They watched and guarded the gates
of the city.
20 The other Israelites, and the other priests and Levites, lived in all the
towns of Judah. Everyone lived on the land that their ancestors had owned.
21 The Temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were in
charge of the Temple servants.
22 The officer over the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi. Uzzi was the son of
Bani (the son of Hashabiah, who was the son of Mattaniah, who was the son of
Mica). Uzzi was a descendant of Asaph. Asaph's descendants were the singers
who were responsible for the service in God's Temple. 23 The singers obeyed
orders from the king, which told them what to do from day to day. 24
Pethahiah son of Meshezabel told the people what the king wanted done.
(Meshezabel was one of the descendants of Zerah. Zerah was Judah's son.)
25 The people of Judah lived in these towns: In Kiriath Arba and the small
towns around it, in Dibon and the small towns around it, in Jekabzeel and
the small towns around it, 26 and in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet, 27
in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and the small towns around it, 28 and in
Ziklag, in Meconah and the small towns around it, 29 and in En Rimmon, in
Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 and in Zanoah and Adullam and the small towns around
them, in Lachish and the fields around it, and in Azekah and the small towns
around it. So the people of Judah were living all the way from Beersheba to
the Valley of Hinnom.
31 The descendants of the family of Benjamin from Geba lived in Micmash,
Aija, Bethel, and the small towns around it, 32 in Anathoth, Nob, and
Ananiah, 33 in Hazor, Ramah, and Gittaim, 34 in Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat,
35 in Lod and Ono, and in the Valley of the Craftsmen. 36 Some of the groups
from the family of Levi moved to the land of Benjamin.
Priests and Levites
12 These are the priests and Levites who came back to the land of Judah.
They came back with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua. This is a list
of their names:
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.
These men were the leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of
Jeshua.
8 The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also
Mattaniah. These men, with Mattaniah's relatives, were in charge of the
songs of praise to God. 9 Bakbukiah and Unni were the relatives of those
Levites. These two men stood across from them in the services. 10 Jeshua was
the father of Joiakim. Joiakim was the father of Eliashib. Eliashib was the
father of Joiada. 11 Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the
father of Jaddua.
12 In the days of Joiakim, these men were the leaders of the families of
priests:
The leader of Seraiah's family was Meraiah.
The leader of Jeremiah's family was Hananiah.
13 The leader of Ezra's family was Meshullam.
The leader of Amariah's family was Jehohanan.
14 The leader of Malluch's family was Jonathan.
The leader of Shecaniah's family was Joseph.
15 The leader of Harim's family was Adna.
The leader of Meremoth's family was Helkai.
16 The leader of Iddo's family was Zechariah.
The leader of Ginnethon's family was Meshullam.
17 The leader of Abijah's family was Zicri.
The leader of Miniamin and Maadiah's families was Piltai.
18 The leader of Bilgah's family was Shammua.
The leader of Shemaiah's family was Jehonathan.
19 The leader of Joiarib's family was Mattenai.
The leader of Jedaiah's family was Uzzi.
20 The leader of Sallu's family was Kallai.
The leader of Amok's family was Eber.
21 The leader of Hilkiah's family was Hashabiah.
The leader of Jedaiah's family was Nethanel.
22 The names of the leaders of the families of the Levites and the priests
in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua were written down
during the rule of Darius the Persian king. 23 The family leaders among the
descendants of the Levites and up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib
were written in the history book. 24 And these were the leaders of the
Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, and their
brothers. Their brothers stood across from them to sing praise and honor to
God. One group answered the other group. That is what was commanded by David
the man of God.
25 The gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms next to the gates were
Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub. 26 They served
in the days of Joiakim. Joiakim was the son of Jeshua, who was the son of
Jozadak. And the gatekeepers also served in the days of Nehemiah the
governor and in the days of Ezra the priest and teacher.
Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem
27 The people dedicated the wall of Jerusalem. They brought all the Levites
to Jerusalem. The Levites came from the towns they lived in. They came to
Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. They came to
sing songs of praise and thanks to God. They played their cymbals, harps,
and lyres.
28-29 And all the singers also came to Jerusalem. They came from the towns
all around Jerusalem. They came from the town of Netophah, from Beth Gilgal,
Geba, and Azmaveth. The singers had built small towns for themselves in the
area around Jerusalem.
30 So the priests and Levites made themselves pure in a ceremony. Then they
also made the people, the gates, and the wall of Jerusalem pure in a
ceremony.
31 I told the leaders of Judah to go up and stand on top of the wall. I also
chose two large singing groups to give thanks to God. One group was to start
going up on top of the wall on the right side, toward the Ash Pile Gate. 32
Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed the singers. 33 Also
following them were Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah,
and Jeremiah. 35 And some of the priests with trumpets also followed them up
to the wall. Zechariah also followed them. (Zechariah was the son of
Jonathan, who was the son of Shemaiah, who was the son of Mattaniah, who was
the son of Micaiah, who was the son of Zaccur, who was the son of Asaph.) 36
There were also Asaph's brothers, who were Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai,
Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They had the musical instruments
that David, the man of God, had made. Ezra the teacher led the group of
people who were there to dedicate the wall. 37 They went to the Fountain
Gate and walked up the stairs all the way to the City of David. They were on
top of the city wall. They walked over the house of David and went toward
the Water Gate.
38 The second group of singers started out in the other direction, to the
left. I followed them as they went up to the top of the wall. Half of the
people also followed them. They went past the Tower of Ovens to the Broad
Wall. 39 Then they went over these gates: the Gate of Ephraim, the Old Gate,
and the Fish Gate. And they went over the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of
the Hundred. They went as far as the Sheep Gate and stopped at the Guard
Gate. 40 Then the two singing groups went to their places in God's Temple.
And I stood in my place. And half the officials stood in their places in the
Temple. 41 Then these priests stood in their places: Eliakim, Maaseiah,
Mijamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah. These priests had their
trumpets with them. 42 Then these priests stood in their places in the
Temple: Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and
Ezer.
Then two singing groups began singing with Jezrahiah leading them. 43 So on
that special day, the priests offered many sacrifices. Everyone was very
happy because God had made them happy. Even the women and children were
excited and happy. People far away could hear the happy sounds coming from
Jerusalem.
44 Men were chosen to be in charge of the storerooms on that day. People
brought the first part of the harvest and a tenth of their crops. So the men
in charge put these things in the storerooms. The Jewish people were very
happy about the priests and Levites on duty. So they brought many things to
be put in the storerooms. 45 The priests and Levites did their work for
their God. They did the ceremonies that made people pure, and the singers
and gatekeepers did their part. They did everything that David and Solomon
had commanded. 46 (Long ago, in the days of David, Asaph had been the
director. And he had many songs of praise and thanks to God.)
47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all the Israelites gave
every day to support the singers and gatekeepers. The people also set aside
the money for the other Levites. And the Levites set aside the money for the
descendants of Aaron.
Nehemiah's Last Commands
13 On that day the Book of Moses was read out loud, so that all the people
could hear. They found this law written there: No Ammonite and no Moabite
would be permitted to join in the meetings with God. 2 That law was written
because those people didn't give the Israelites food and water. And they had
paid Balaam to say a curse against the Israelites. But our God changed that
curse and made it a blessing for us. 3 So when the Israelites heard that
law, they obeyed it. They separated themselves from the people who were
descendants of foreigners.
4-5 But, before that happened, Eliashib had given a room in the Temple to
Tobiah. Eliashib was the priest in charge of the storerooms in our God's
Temple. And he was a close friend of Tobiah. That room had been used for
storing the grain offerings, incense, and the Temple dishes and things. They
also kept the tenth of grain, new wine, and oil for the Levites, singers,
and gatekeepers in that room. And they also kept the gifts for the priests
in that room. But Eliashib gave that room to Tobiah.
6 I was not in Jerusalem while all of this was happening. I had gone back to
the king of Babylon. I went back to Babylon in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes
was king of Babylon.[c] Later, I asked the king for permission to go back to
Jerusalem. 7 So I came back to Jerusalem. There I heard about the sad thing
that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a room in the Temple of God! 8 I
was very angry about what Eliashib had done, so I threw all of Tobiah's
things out of the room. 9 I gave commands for the rooms to be made pure and
clean. Then I put the Temple dishes and things, the grain offerings, and the
incense back into the rooms.
10 I also heard that the people had not given the Levites their share. So
the Levites and singers had gone back to work in their own fields. 11 So I
told the officials that they were wrong. I asked them, "Why didn't you take
care of God's Temple?" Then I called all Levites together and told them to
go back to their places and duties in the Temple. 12 Then everyone in Judah
brought their tenth of grain, new wine, and oil to the Temple. These things
were put into the storerooms.
13 I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok
the teacher, and a Levite named Pedaiah. And I made Hanan son of Zaccur, son
of Mattaniah, their helper. I knew I could trust these men. They were
responsible for giving the supplies to their relatives.
14 My God, please remember me for these things I have done. Don't forget all
I have faithfully done for the Temple of my God and for its services.
15 In those days in Judah, I saw people working on the Sabbath day. I saw
people pressing grapes to make wine. I saw people bringing in grain and
loading it on donkeys. I saw people carrying grapes, figs, and all kinds of
things in the city. They were bringing all these things into Jerusalem on
the Sabbath day, so I warned them about this. I told them they must not sell
food on the Sabbath day.
16 There were some men from the city of Tyre living in Jerusalem. They were
bringing fish and all kinds of things into Jerusalem and selling them on the
Sabbath day. And the Jews were buying them. 17 I told the important people
of Judah that they were wrong. I said, "You are doing a very bad thing. You
are ruining the Sabbath day. 18 You know that your ancestors did the same
things. That is why our God brought all the troubles and disaster to us and
to this city. Now you people are making it so that more of these bad things
will happen to Israel. They are doing this because you are breaking the
Sabbath by treating it just as if it were any other day."
19 So this is what I did: Every Friday evening, just before dark, I
commanded the gatekeepers to shut and lock the gates to Jerusalem. They were
not to be opened until the Sabbath day was over. I put some of my own men at
the gates. They were commanded to make sure that no load was brought into
Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
20 One or two times, traders and merchants had to stay the night outside
Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them, "Don't stay the night in front of the wall.
If you do that again, I will arrest you." So from that time on they didn't
come on the Sabbath day to sell their things.
22 Then I commanded the Levites to make themselves pure. After they did
that, they were to go and guard the gates. This was done to make sure the
Sabbath day was kept a holy day.
My God, please remember me for doing this. Be kind to me and show me your
great love!
23 In those days I also noticed that some Jewish men had married women from
the countries of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of the children from
those marriages didn't know how to speak the Jewish language. They spoke the
language of Ashdod, Ammon, or Moab. 25 So I told the men that they were
wrong. I said bad things to them. I hit some of them, and I pulled out their
hair. I forced them to make a promise in God's name. I said to them, "You
must not marry the daughters of these foreigners. Don't let their daughters
marry your sons, and don't let your daughters marry the sons of these
foreigners. 26 You know that marriages like this caused Solomon to sin. In
all the many nations, there was not a king as great as Solomon. God loved
him and made him king over the whole nation of Israel. But even Solomon was
made to sin because of foreign women. 27 And now, we hear that you also are
doing this terrible sin. You are not being true to our God. You are marrying
foreign women."
28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the high priest. One of Joiada's sons was
a son-in-law of Sanballat from Horon. I forced him to leave this place. I
forced him to run away.
29 My God, punish these people. They made the priesthood unclean. They
treated it as if it was not important. They did not obey the agreement that
you made with the priests and Levites. 30 So I made the priests and Levites
clean and pure. I took away all the foreigners and the strange things they
taught. And I gave the Levites and priests their own duties and
responsibilities. 31 And I made sure that people will bring gifts of wood
and the first part of their harvest at the right times.
My God, remember me for doing these good things.
Footnotes:
a.Nehemiah 10:31 seventh year See Ex. 23:10, 11.
b.Nehemiah 10:32 1/3 shekel This was probably a coin at this time, but 1
shekel is 2/5 of an ounce (11.5 g).
c.Nehemiah 13:6 the 32nd year . Babylon That is, 432 B.C.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
