DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 22:
WORD OF WISDOM
If you're faced with a choice of being right or being kind, always be kind.
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DAILY DEVOTION
The Power of Gratitude
"And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the
LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before
the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And
when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the
children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and
they were smitten."
2 Chronicles 20:21-22
When Jehoshaphat faced the threat of an attack by a vast host of his enemies
who had joined forces together against him, he recognized that he had no
hope of victory humanly speaking. So he wisely sought help from the Lord.
God sent word to the besieged king that not only would he be delivered, but
that his army would not have to fight at all. In faith and gratitude,
Jehoshaphat selected singers to go out ahead of his troops, praising the
Lord all the way to the field of battle. When they arrived, they found that
the coalition against them had been broken, and that the enemy armies had
destroyed each other. There is so much value in praising God and giving
thanks for what He has done for us. It is good for our own hearts and lives,
and it has a positive impact on those around us.
In his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge
wrote, "In acknowledging the receipt of divine favor, in contemplating the
blessings which have been bestowed upon us, we shall reveal the spiritual
strength of the nation. We shall do well to accept all these favors and
bounties with a becoming humility, and dedicate them to the service of the
righteous cause of the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. As the nation
has prospered let all the people show that they are worthy to prosper by
rededicating America to the service of God and man."
Every child of God has ample reason to rejoice and give thanks, no matter
the circumstances.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
1 Corinthians 1-3New King James Version (NKJV)
Greeting
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and
Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Gifts at Corinth
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given
to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in
all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the
end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God
is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Sectarianism Is Sin
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you,
but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by
those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I
say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I
am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul
crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15
lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also
baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I
baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach
the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of no effect.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."[a]
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in
the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach
Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b]
foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen
the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God
has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things
that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you
are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption- 31 that, as it is written, "He who glories,
let him glory in the Lord."[c]
Christ Crucified
2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of
speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[d] of God. 2 For I
determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[e]
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith
should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of
this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this
age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory.
9 But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."[f]
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the
things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one
knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received,
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might
know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but
which the Holy[g] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he
himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the
Lord that he may instruct Him?"[h] But we have the mind of Christ.
Sectarianism Is Carnal
3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to
carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid
food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are
still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy,
strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere
men? 4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos,"
are you not carnal?
Watering, Working, Warning
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you
believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he
who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who
waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his
own labor.
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's
building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise
master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let
each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can
anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone
builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it,
because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work,
of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures,
he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy
him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Avoid Worldly Wisdom
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this
age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of
this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise
in their own craftiness"; [i] 20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of
the wise, that they are futile."[j] 21 Therefore let no one boast in men.
For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the
world or life or death, or things present or things to come-all are yours.
23 And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Footnotes:
a.1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
b.1 Corinthians 1:23 NU-Text reads Gentiles.
c.1 Corinthians 1:31 Jeremiah 9:24
d.1 Corinthians 2:1 NU-Text reads mystery.
e.1 Corinthians 2:4 NU-Text omits human.
f.1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
g.1 Corinthians 2:13 NU-Text omits Holy.
h.1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13
i.1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13
j.1 Corinthians 3:20 Psalm 94:11
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
