DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 27:
WORD OF WISDOM
As long as there are lids on jars, women will need men!
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DAILY DEVOTION
Caught up to Meet Him in the Air
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Ever since Jesus left His disciples with the promise that He would return,
God's people have looked forward to His return. The Rapture will reveal the
difference between those who are genuine believers and those who merely
profess to be followers of Christ. If you pass a powerful magnet over a pile
of metal shavings, they will be drawn up to meet it. However, if you spray
paint a pile of wood shavings black, they may look very much like the metal
pieces on the outside, but the magnet will not draw them.
The hope of Christ's return is only a comfort to those who are secure in
Him. Many young people have experienced a stab of panic at returning home
and not finding anyone there. There are even stories of college pranks where
a sleeping student is awakened by a trumpet only to find all of his
roommates have vanished. But those of us who have been saved, who have
placed our faith in Christ alone have nothing to fear from the Rapture.
Though the Bible makes it clear that God's design does not include us
knowing when that event will take place, the truth of the Rapture is a
wonderful blessing and comfort to us. It should also be a powerful
motivation to us to carefully guard the way in which we live. "And every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John
3:3).
We need to live each day in such a way that we will not be embarrassed if
the Lord returns.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Jonah 1-4New King James Version (NKJV)
Jonah's Disobedience
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their
wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going
to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
The Storm at Sea
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and
threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.[a]
But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down,
and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper?
Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may
not perish."
7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know
for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the
lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose
cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you
come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9 So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of
heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
Jonah Thrown into the Sea
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "Why have you done
this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because
he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that
the sea may be calm for us?"-for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea
will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of
me."
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not,
for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore
they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us
perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for
You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You." 15 So they picked up Jonah and
threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men
feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took
vows.
Jonah's Prayer and Deliverance
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he
said:
"I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.
"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
3
For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4
Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'
5
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6
I went down to the moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord, my God.
7
"When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.
8
"Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.
9
But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord."
10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah Preaches at Nineveh
3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell
you." 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey[b] in
extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then
he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
The People of Nineveh Believe
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the
king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be
proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and
his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them
eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and
cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the
violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent,
and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He
did not do it.
Jonah's Anger and God's Kindness
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed
to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still
in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You
are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in
lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord,
please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"
4 Then the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There
he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see
what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant[c] and
made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver
him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as
morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant
that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared
a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew
faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to
die than to live."
9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?"
And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"
10 But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not
labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than
one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their
right hand and their left-and much livestock?"
Footnotes:
a.Jonah 1:5 Literally from upon them
b.Jonah 3:3 Exact meaning unknown
c.Jonah 4:6 Hebrew kikayon, exact identity unknown
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.
