[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY APRIL 1

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY APRIL 1

WORD OF WISDOM

I just noticed two large bumps on my car battery. Had them tested and one
came back positive. Hope it's not terminal.


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DAILY DEVOTION

Wait for the Plan to Unfold


But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to
unfold.
(Psalm 106:13, NIV)

	 It's easy to get in a hurry and try to make things happen, to force
doors to open, and to manipulate people and circumstances. If you push hard
enough, sometimes God will let you open a door that He hasn't ordained.
He'll let you walk down a road that's not His best path. I'm all for taking
risks and getting out of our comfort zone, but we have to listen to that
still, small voice inside. An opportunity may be right for you, but when you
feel that unrest, it may be that it's not the right time.
In Genesis 16, Abraham knew God had promised him a baby, but God never said
it would come through Sarah's maid. When it was taking longer than he and
Sarah thought it should, they decided to help God out. Abraham had a baby
out of wedlock, and it was a big mistake. God doesn't need your help. Just
do your part and wait for Him to unfold His plan for your life.
	 
A Prayer for Today

"Father, thank You that You are the God who created the universe, and You're
my Father as well. Thank You that You are working behind the scenes and
unfolding Your plan for my life at just the right time. Help me to be
patient and know that You are always on schedule. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

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DAILY BIBLE READING

2 Samuel 10-12 New King James Version
The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated
10 It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and
Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 Then David said, "I will show kindness
to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me."

So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his
father. And David's servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. 3
And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you
think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to
you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to
spy it out, and to overthrow it?"

4 Therefore Hanun took David's servants, shaved off half of their beards,
cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.
5 When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly
[a]ashamed. And the king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have
grown, and then return."

6 When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to
David, the people of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the
Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah
one thousand men, and from Ish-Tob twelve thousand men. 7 Now when David
heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 8 Then the
people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance
of the gate. And the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were
by themselves in the field.

9 When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he
chose some of Israel's best and put them in battle array against the
Syrians. 10 And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai
his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of
Ammon. 11 Then he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you
shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I
will come and help you. 12 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our
people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in
His sight."

13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against
the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 When the people of Ammon saw that
the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the
city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to Jerusalem.

15 When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered
together. 16 Then [b]Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were
beyond [c]the River, and they came to Helam. And [d]Shobach the commander of
Hadadezer's army went before them. 17 When it was told David, he gathered
all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set
themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. 18 Then the
Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and
forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of
their army, who died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants to
[e]Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with
Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of
Ammon anymore.

David, Bathsheba, and Uriah
11 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to
battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained
at Jerusalem.

2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on
the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and
the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about
the woman. And someone said, "Is this not [f]Bathsheba, the daughter of
[g]Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers, and
took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed
from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived;
so she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."

6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab
sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was
doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8 And David
said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah departed
from the king's house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 9 But
Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his
lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 So when they told David, saying,
"Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Did you not come
from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

11 And Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in
tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open
fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my
wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing."

12 Then David said to Uriah, "Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let
you depart." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Now
when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk.
And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord,
but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it
by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, "Set Uriah in
the forefront of the [h]hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be
struck down and die." 16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he
assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 Then the
men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the
servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 19 and
charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters
of the war to the king, 20 if it happens that the king's wrath rises, and he
says to you: 'Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did
you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who struck Abimelech
the son of [i]Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a
millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go
near the wall?'-then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead
also.' "

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by
him. 23 And the messenger said to David, "Surely the men prevailed against
us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the
entrance of the gate. 24 The archers shot from the wall at your servants;
and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite
is dead also."

25 Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab: 'Do not
let this thing [j]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as
another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.' So
encourage him."

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned
for her husband. 27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought
her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing
that David had done displeased[k] the Lord.

Nathan's Parable and David's Confession
12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him:
"There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man
had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing,
except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up
together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank
from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4
And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock
and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to
him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had
come to him."

5 So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to
Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this [l]shall surely die! 6
And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and
because he had no pity."

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of
Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand
of Saul. 8 I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your
keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been
too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised
the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah
the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and
have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the
sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and
have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' 11 Thus says the
Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house;
and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor,
and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it
secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' "

13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."

And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall
not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to
the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you
shall surely die." 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.

The Death of David's Son
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became
ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and
went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose
and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did
he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the
child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child
was dead. For they said, "Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to
him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is
dead? He may do some harm!"

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that
the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, "Is the child
dead?"

And they said, "He is dead."

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed
his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he
went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and
he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, "What is this that you have done?
You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child
died, you arose and ate food."

22 And he said, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said,
'Who can tell whether [m]the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may
live?' 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with
her. So she bore a son, and he[n] called his name Solomon. Now the Lord
loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So [o]he
called his name [p]Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

Rabbah Is Captured
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal
city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against
Rabbah, and I have taken the city's water supply. 28 Now therefore, gather
the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it,
lest I take the city and it be called after my name." 29 So David gathered
all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it.
30 Then he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of
gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head. Also he brought
out the [q]spoil of the city in great abundance. 31 And he brought out the
people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and
iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the
cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to
Jerusalem.

Footnotes
2 Samuel 10:5 humiliated
2 Samuel 10:16 Heb. Hadarezer
2 Samuel 10:16 The Euphrates
2 Samuel 10:16 Shophach, 1 Chr. 19:16
2 Samuel 10:19 Heb. Hadarezer
2 Samuel 11:3 Bathshua, 1 Chr. 3:5
2 Samuel 11:3 Ammiel, 1 Chr. 3:5
2 Samuel 11:15 fiercest
2 Samuel 11:21 Jerubbaal (Gideon), Judg. 6:32ff.
2 Samuel 11:25 Lit. be evil in your sight
2 Samuel 11:27 Lit. was evil in the eyes of
2 Samuel 12:5 deserves to die, lit. is a son of death
2 Samuel 12:22 Heb. mss., Syr. God
2 Samuel 12:24 So with Kt., LXX, Vg.; Qr., a few Heb. mss., Syr., Tg. she
2 Samuel 12:25 Qr., some Heb. mss., Syr., Tg. she
2 Samuel 12:25 Lit. Beloved of the Lord
2 Samuel 12:30 plunder