DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10:
WORD OF WISDOM
Faith doesn't always mean that God changes your situation. Sometimes it
means He changes you.
___
DAILY DEVOTION
A Real Walk with God
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch
walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat
sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and
five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Genesis 5:21-24
The list of the descendants of Adam given to us in Genesis chapter five
includes several men whose faith was mentioned in Hebrews 11 in the great
review of Old Testament saints. But only one, Enoch, is singled out with a
description of his relationship with God. When the Bible speaks of walking
with God, it is talking about a life that is based on and filled with faith.
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not
found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had
this testimony, that he pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5).
If our lives are to please God, then we must have Him occupy such a position
in our hearts that He is the center of our thoughts and affections. J.
Oswald Sanders wrote, "It is impossible for a believer, no matter what his
experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend
time with God. Spend plenty of time with him; let other things go, but don't
neglect Him." Too many Christians fill their days and their lives with
everything except God. Often these are not bad things, but taken in
totality, they become clutter that keep us from having room for Him.
The Lord is not interested in partial devotion. He does not seek small
portions of our time; rather, He demands His rightful place at the center of
our lives. When we consistently walk with the Lord, our decisions and
choices will reflect His priorities and obedience to His commands.
Without the faith to seek God's face, we will never have a meaningful and
deep relationship with Him.
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 28-30The Message (MSG)
28 1-2 So Isaac called in Jacob and blessed him. Then he ordered him, "Don't
take a Caananite wife. Leave at once. Go to Paddan Aram to the family of
your mother's father, Bethuel. Get a wife for yourself from the daughters of
your uncle Laban.
3-4 "And may The Strong God bless you and give you many, many children, a
congregation of peoples; and pass on the blessing of Abraham to you and your
descendants so that you will get this land in which you live, this land God
gave Abraham."
5 So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel
the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6-9 Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to
get a wife there, and while blessing him commanded, "Don't marry a Canaanite
woman," and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram. When
Esau realized how deeply his father Isaac disliked the Canaanite women, he
went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of
Ishmael, Abraham's son. This was in addition to the wives he already had.
10-12 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and
camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there,
set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was
set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were
going up and going down on it.
13-15 Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham
your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are
sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the
dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to
south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your
descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and
I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done
everything I promised you."
16-17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "God is in this place-truly.
And I didn't even know it!" He was terrified. He whispered in awe,
"Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of
Heaven."
18-19 Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used
for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it.
He christened the place Bethel (God's House). The name of the town had been
Luz until then.
20-22 Jacob vowed a vow: "If God stands by me and protects me on this
journey on which I'm setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings
me back in one piece to my father's house, this God will be my God. This
stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place
where God lives. And everything you give me, I'll return a tenth to you."
29 1-3 Jacob set out again on his way to the people of the east. He noticed
a well out in an open field with three flocks of sheep bedded down around
it. This was the common well from which the flocks were watered. The stone
over the mouth of the well was huge. When all the flocks were gathered, the
shepherds would roll the stone from the well and water the sheep; then they
would return the stone, covering the well.
4 Jacob said, "Hello friends. Where are you from?"
They said, "We're from Haran."
5 Jacob asked, "Do you know Laban son of Nahor?"
"We do."
6 "Are things well with him?" Jacob continued.
"Very well," they said. "And here is his daughter Rachel coming with the
flock."
7 Jacob said, "There's a lot of daylight still left; it isn't time to round
up the sheep yet, is it? So why not water the flocks and go back to
grazing?"
8 "We can't," they said. "Not until all the shepherds get here. It takes all
of us to roll the stone from the well. Not until then can we water the
flocks."
9-13 While Jacob was in conversation with them, Rachel came up with her
father's sheep. She was the shepherd. The moment Jacob spotted Rachel,
daughter of Laban his mother's brother, saw her arriving with his uncle
Laban's sheep, he went and single-handedly rolled the stone from the mouth
of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. Then he kissed Rachel
and broke into tears. He told Rachel that he was related to her father, that
he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father. When Laban heard the
news-Jacob, his sister's son!-he ran out to meet him, embraced and kissed
him and brought him home. Jacob told Laban the story of everything that had
happened.
14-15 Laban said, "You're family! My flesh and blood!"
When Jacob had been with him for a month, Laban said, "Just because you're
my nephew, you shouldn't work for me for nothing. Tell me what you want to
be paid. What's a fair wage?"
16-18 Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the
younger. Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful. And it was
Rachel that Jacob loved.
So Jacob answered, "I will work for you seven years for your younger
daughter Rachel."
19 "It is far better," said Laban, "that I give her to you than marry her to
some outsider. Yes. Stay here with me."
20 So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few
days, he loved her so much.
21-24 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife; I've completed what we
agreed I'd do. I'm ready to consummate my marriage." Laban invited everyone
around and threw a big feast. At evening, though, he got his daughter Leah
and brought her to the marriage bed, and Jacob slept with her. (Laban gave
his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.)
25 Morning came: There was Leah in the marriage bed!
Jacob confronted Laban, "What have you done to me? Didn't I work all this
time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat me?"
26-27 "We don't do it that way in our country," said Laban. "We don't marry
off the younger daughter before the older. Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and
then we'll give you the other one also. But it will cost you another seven
years of work."
28-30 Jacob agreed. When he'd completed the honeymoon week, Laban gave him
his daughter Rachel to be his wife. (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his
daughter Rachel as her maid.) Jacob then slept with her. And he loved Rachel
more than Leah. He worked for Laban another seven years.
31-32 When God realized that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. But
Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and had a son. She named him Reuben
(Look-It's-a-Boy!). "This is a sign," she said, "that God has seen my
misery; and a sign that now my husband will love me."
33-35 She became pregnant again and had another son. "God heard," she said,
"that I was unloved and so he gave me this son also." She named this one
Simeon (God-Heard). She became pregnant yet again-another son. She said,
"Now maybe my husband will connect with me-I've given him three sons!"
That's why she named him Levi (Connect). She became pregnant a final time
and had a fourth son. She said, "This time I'll praise God." So she named
him Judah (Praise-God). Then she stopped having children.
30 When Rachel realized that she wasn't having any children for Jacob, she
became jealous of her sister. She told Jacob, "Give me sons or I'll die!"
2 Jacob got angry with Rachel and said, "Am I God? Am I the one who refused
you babies?"
3-5 Rachel said, "Here's my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her. Let her substitute
for me so I can have a child through her and build a family." So she gave
him her maid Bilhah for a wife and Jacob slept with her. Bilhah became
pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
6-8 Rachel said, "God took my side and vindicated me. He listened to me and
gave me a son." She named him Dan (Vindication). Rachel's maid Bilhah became
pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. Rachel said, "I've been in an
all-out fight with my sister-and I've won." So she named him Naphtali
(Fight).
9-13 When Leah saw that she wasn't having any more children, she gave her
maid Zilpah to Jacob for a wife. Zilpah had a son for Jacob. Leah said, "How
fortunate!" and she named him Gad (Lucky). When Leah's maid Zilpah had a
second son for Jacob, Leah said, "A happy day! The women will congratulate
me in my happiness." So she named him Asher (Happy).
14 One day during the wheat harvest Reuben found some mandrakes in the field
and brought them home to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Leah, "Could I please
have some of your son's mandrakes?"
15 Leah said, "Wasn't it enough that you got my husband away from me? And
now you also want my son's mandrakes?"
Rachel said, "All right. I'll let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for
your son's love-apples."
16-21 When Jacob came home that evening from the fields, Leah was there to
meet him: "Sleep with me tonight; I've bartered my son's mandrakes for a
night with you." So he slept with her that night. God listened to Leah; she
became pregnant and gave Jacob a fifth son. She said, "God rewarded me for
giving my maid to my husband." She named him Issachar (Bartered). Leah
became pregnant yet again and gave Jacob a sixth son, saying, "God has given
me a great gift. This time my husband will honor me with gifts-I've given
him six sons!" She named him Zebulun (Honor). Last of all she had a daughter
and named her Dinah.
22-24 And then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her
womb. She became pregnant and had a son. She said, "God has taken away my
humiliation." She named him Joseph (Add), praying, "May God add yet another
son to me."
25-26 After Rachel had had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban, "Let me go back
home. Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. You know how
hard I've worked for you."
27-28 Laban said, "If you please, I have learned through divine inquiry that
God has blessed me because of you." He went on, "So name your wages. I'll
pay you."
29-30 Jacob replied, "You know well what my work has meant to you and how
your livestock has flourished under my care. The little you had when I
arrived has increased greatly; everything I did resulted in blessings for
you. Isn't it about time that I do something for my own family?"
31-33 "So, what should I pay you?"
Jacob said, "You don't have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go
back to pasture and care for your flocks. Go through your entire flock today
and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every
spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. That way you can check on
my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that's not
speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, you will know that I stole
it."
34 "Fair enough," said Laban. "It's a deal."
35-36 But that very day Laban removed all the mottled and spotted billy
goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny goats, every animal that had
even a touch of white on it plus all the black sheep and placed them under
the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and
Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what was left of Laban's flock.
37-42 But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and
peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches
in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the
flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked
branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or
speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban.
That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn't mix with
Laban's flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed
branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front
of the branches. But he wouldn't set up the branches before the feebler
animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to
Jacob.
43 The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of
servants, not to mention camels and donkeys.
