DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 5:
WORD OF WISDOM
"Just because you are unqualified doesn't mean you are disqualified!"
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DAILY DEVOTION
A Heritage of Faith
"The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all
generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom
he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he
beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon
all the inhabitants of the earth."
Psalm 33:11-14
There is no greater human blessing than to be privileged to live in a nation
which from its founding acknowledged the role of God in the affairs of men and
provided freedom to worship Him. The spirit that moved the early leaders of our
nation is on full display in the poem Francis Scott Key wrote following the
battle at Fort McHenry-especially in the verse of the national anthem that is
seldom sung anymore.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the
war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that
hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God
is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave!
Our hope is not in a nation, but in the same God our nation once trusted.
That same God still does work in the hearts of men and in the direction of
countries. We cannot save our nation through political action. The need of our
day is a revival that will see the lost converted and Christians renewed in
their commitment to following the Word of God. And though our true and most
important citizenship is in Heaven, we should be concerned and involved in the
future of our earthly home.
Even as we give thanks for the blessings of freedom, we must also pray for a
spiritual revival in our nation in which people turn back to God.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Proverbs 4-6New King James Version (NKJV)
Security in Wisdom
4 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
2
For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
3
When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
4
He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
5
Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6
Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
7
Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
8
Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
9
She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
10
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
11
I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12
When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
13
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
14
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
15
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16
For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the just is like the shining sun,[a]
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
19
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
20
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
24
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
25
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
26
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
The Peril of Adultery
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
Lend your ear to my understanding,
2
That you may preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge.
3
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of hell.[b]
6
Lest you ponder her path of life—
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.
7
Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
9
Lest you give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10
Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11
And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
And say:
“How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
13
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15
Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16
Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17
Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18
Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19
As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
20
For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
21
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths.
22
His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23
He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Dangerous Promises
6 My son, if you become surety for your friend,
If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2
You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.
3
So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
4
Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
5
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.[c]
The Folly of Indolence
6
Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
7
Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
8
Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
9
How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.
The Wicked Man
12
A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
13
He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
14
Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
15
Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
16
These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Beware of Adultery
20
My son, keep your father’s command,
And do not forsake the law of your mother.
21
Bind them continually upon your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22
When you roam, they[d] will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep you;
And when you awake, they will speak with you.
23
For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light;
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24
To keep you from the evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
25
Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
26
For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an adulteress[e] will prey upon his precious life.
27
Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?
28
Can one walk on hot coals,
And his feet not be seared?
29
So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
30
People do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
31
Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold;
He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
32
Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul.
33
Wounds and dishonor he will get,
And his reproach will not be wiped away.
34
For jealousy is a husband’s fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35
He will accept no recompense,
Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.
Footnotes:
a.Proverbs 4:18 Literally light
b.Proverbs 5:5 Or Sheol
c.Proverbs 6:5 That is, one who catches birds in a trap or snare
d.Proverbs 6:22 Literally it
e.Proverbs 6:26 Literally a man’s wife, that is, of another
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
