[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY APRIL 5

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY APRIL 5

WORD OF WISDOM

I answered my door and a Jehovah's Witness asked if he could talk to me
about God.
I said, "Sure, what would you like to know?"

___

DAILY DEVOTION

It Shall Be Well 

"Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them...."
Isaiah 3:10, NKJV

	 There is always a lot of fear and panic in the world. Think of the
feelings people still have when someone mentions "coronavirus." But that
virus didn't stop your destiny. Challenges like that come against you, but
God says, "It shall be well with you." You had a setback in your finances.
Your business is suffering. You don't know how you're going to make it. God
is your provider. He feeds the birds of the air. He knows how to take care
of you. New opportunities are going to come looking for you.
Let this phrase sink down in your spirit: "It shall be well with you." God
is going to work out whatever you are facing. He is in control. It's just a
matter of time before you make it through. Live from a place of peace, a
place of trust. If you do this, I believe and declare the forces that are
trying to stop you are being broken. Things are changing in your favor. All
will be well with you.
	 
A Prayer for Today

"Father, thank You that You are the Most High God who sees every unexpected
and uncertain circumstance I will ever face. I declare that I will live from
a place of peace and that my trust is firmly set in You. I believe that all
is well today. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

___

DAILY BIBLE READING

2 Samuel 22-24 New King James Version
Praise for God's Deliverance
22 Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the
Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand
of Saul. 2 And he said:

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn[a] of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
4 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

5 "When the waves of death surrounded me,
The floods of ungodliness [b]made me afraid.
6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears.

8 "Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of [c]heaven quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
9 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
11 He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
And He [d]was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness canopies around Him,
Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
13 From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.

14 "The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
15 He sent out arrows and scattered them;
Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered,
At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17 "He sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
>From those who hated me;
For they were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
20 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

21 "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all His judgments were before me;
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
25 Therefore the Lord has [e]recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to [f]my cleanness in His eyes.

26 "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
28 You will save the humble[g] people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.

29 "For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.
30 For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
31 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

32 "For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33 [h]God is my strength and power,
And He makes [i]my way perfect.
34 He makes [j]my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
35 He teaches my hands [k]to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 "You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
37 You enlarged my path under me;
So my feet did not slip.

38 "I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
39 And I have destroyed them and wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
40 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have [l]subdued under me those who rose against me.
41 You have also [m]given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I trod them like dirt in the streets,
And I [n]spread them out.

44 "You have also delivered me from the [o]strivings of my people;
You have kept me as the head of the nations.
A people I have not known shall serve me.
45 The foreigners submit to me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 The foreigners fade away,
And [p]come frightened from their hideouts.

47 "The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let God be exalted,
The Rock of my salvation!
48 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
49 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.

51 "He is the tower of salvation to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore."

David's Last Words
23 Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
'He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.'

5 "Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and secure.
For this is all my salvation and all my desire;
Will He not make it increase?
6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with hands.
7 But the man who touches them
Must be [q]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place."

David's Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: [r]Josheb-Basshebeth
the Tachmonite, chief among [s]the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite,
because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. 9 And after him was
Eleazar the son of [t]Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with
David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle,
and the men of Israel had retreated. 10 He arose and attacked the
Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The
Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after
him only to plunder. 11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the
Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was
a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and
killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to
David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the
Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of
the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And David said with longing, "Oh,
that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem,
which is by the gate!" 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of
the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate,
and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but
poured it out to the Lord. 17 And he said, "Far be it from me, O Lord, that
I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of
their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it.

These things were done by the three mighty men.

18 Now Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of
[u]another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed
them, and won a name among these three. 19 Was he not the most honored of
three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the
first three.

20 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel,
[v]who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He
also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
21 And he killed an Egyptian, [w]a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear
in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of
the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. 23
He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first
three. And David appointed him over his guard.

24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo
of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the
Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anathothite,
Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29
Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from
Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from
the brooks of Gaash, 31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32
Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan, 33 Shammah the
[x]Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of
Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the
Gilonite, 35 [y]Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of
Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the
Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), 38 Ira the Ithrite,
Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David's Census of Israel and Judah
24 Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved
David against them to say, "Go, [z]number Israel and Judah."

2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, "Now
go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the
people, that I may know the number of the people."

3 And Joab said to the king, "Now may the Lord your God add to the people a
hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see
it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?" 4 Nevertheless the
king's word [aa]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army.
Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of
the king to count the people of Israel.

5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of
the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. 6
Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan
Jaan and around to Sidon; 7 and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to
all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to
South Judah as far as Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the
land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9
Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there
were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and
the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David's Sin
10 And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So
David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now,
I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very
foolishly."

11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the
prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 "Go and tell David, 'Thus says the
Lord: "I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may
do it to you." ' " 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him,
"Shall seven[ab] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee
three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be
three days' plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should
take back to Him who sent me."

14 And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let us fall into
the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into
the hand of man."

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed
time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 And
when the [ac]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the
Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying
the people, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the
Lord was by the threshing floor of [ad]Araunah the Jebusite.

17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the
people, and said, "Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these
sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against
my father's house."

The Altar on the Threshing Floor
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to
the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." 19 So David,
according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 Now Araunah
looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went
out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?"

And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to
the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people."

22 Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up
whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and
threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O
king, Araunah has given to the king."

And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you."

24 Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for
a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which
costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for
fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers
for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Footnotes
2 Samuel 22:3 Strength
2 Samuel 22:5 Or overwhelmed
2 Samuel 22:8 So with MT, LXX, Tg.; Syr., Vg. hills (cf. Ps. 18:7)
2 Samuel 22:11 So with MT, LXX; many Heb. mss., Syr., Vg. flew (cf. Ps.
18:10); Tg. spoke with power
2 Samuel 22:25 rewarded
2 Samuel 22:25 LXX, Syr., Vg. the cleanness of my hands in His sight (cf.
Ps. 18:24); Tg. my cleanness before His word
2 Samuel 22:28 afflicted
2 Samuel 22:33 DSS, LXX, Syr., Vg. It is God who arms me with strength (cf.
Ps. 18:32); Tg. It is God who sustains me with strength
2 Samuel 22:33 So with Qr., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:32); Kt. His
2 Samuel 22:34 So with Qr., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:33); Kt. His
2 Samuel 22:35 Lit. for the war
2 Samuel 22:40 Lit. caused to bow down
2 Samuel 22:41 given me victory over
2 Samuel 22:43 scattered
2 Samuel 22:44 contentions
2 Samuel 22:46 So with LXX, Tg., Vg. (cf. Ps. 18:45); MT gird themselves
2 Samuel 23:7 Lit. filled
2 Samuel 23:8 Lit. One Who Sits in the Seat (1 Chr. 11:11)
2 Samuel 23:8 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. the three
2 Samuel 23:9 Dodai, 1 Chr. 27:4
2 Samuel 23:18 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; some Heb. mss., Syr. thirty; Tg. the
mighty men
2 Samuel 23:20 Lit. great of acts
2 Samuel 23:21 Lit. a man of appearance
2 Samuel 23:33 Or Ararite
2 Samuel 23:35 Hezro, 1 Chr. 11:37
2 Samuel 24:1 take a census of
2 Samuel 24:4 overruled
2 Samuel 24:13 So with MT, Syr., Tg., Vg.; LXX three (cf. 1 Chr. 21:12)
2 Samuel 24:16 Or Angel
2 Samuel 24:16 Ornan, 1 Chr. 21:15