[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY APRIL 25

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY APRIL 25

MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK

Esther 2:15 (modified)
>From The time that Esther appeared before the king she obtained favor in the
sight of all who looked upon her.

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WORD OF WISDOM

God is not looking for men of great faith, He is looking for common men to
trust His great faithfulness.

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DAILY DEVOTION

Has Jesus Drawn Near to You?

"So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near
and went with them." 
(Luke 24:15) 
 
  Jesus met the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and He challenged them
with the Word of God. It's important to note that Jesus sought them. "So it
was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near." And
He's done that so many times for you and me. Jesus did not seek them to
condemn them or even to condone them but to claim them and to comfort them.
And just as the Lord Jesus sought us when we were lost-we didn't seek Him;
He sought us, and we love Him because He first loved us-so He sought these
men. Now these men, evidently, were already believers, although they were
backslidden and discouraged. If Jesus would seek us when we were outright
sinners, surely, He will seek us when we're saved and away from Him. At some
point, every backslidden and confused Christian is met by Jesus in this
way-not to be condemned or condoned, but to be comforted and claimed.
How has Jesus sought after you before you knew Him and after you came to
know Him?
How has He called us to likewise seek after others who are far from Him?
Intentionally seek after someone who doesn't know Jesus this week for the
sake of having a Gospel conversation. 

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DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Chronicles 16-18 New King James Version
The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle
16 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle
that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt
offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the
Lord. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to
everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the
Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 5
Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel,
Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments
and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; 6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the
priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

David's Song of Thanksgiving
7 On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and
his brethren, to thank the Lord:

8 Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
10 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
12 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
13 O seed of Israel His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,"
19 When you were few in number,
Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

20 When they went from one nation to another,
And from one kingdom to another people,
21 He permitted no man to do them wrong;
Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
22 Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm."

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.

25 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is also to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and gladness are in His place.

28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.

31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
And let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns."
32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.

34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
35 And say, "Save us, O God of our salvation;
Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise."

36 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
>From everlasting to everlasting!

And all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the Lord.

Regular Worship Maintained
37 So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of
the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day's work required;
38 and Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son
of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers; 39 and Zadok the priest and his
brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord at the [b]high place
that was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of
burnt offering regularly morning and evening, and to do according to all
that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel; 41 and
with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were
designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because His mercy endures
forever; 42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets
and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun
were gatekeepers.

43 Then all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned
to bless his house.

God's Covenant with David
17 Now it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David
said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the
ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains."

2 Then Nathan said to David, "Do all that is in your heart, for God is with
you."

3 But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4
"Go and tell My servant David, 'Thus says the Lord: "You shall not build Me
a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I
brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and
from one tabernacle to another. 6 Wherever I have moved about with all
Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I
commanded to shepherd My people, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a house
of cedar?' " ' 7 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David,
'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "I took you from the sheepfold, from following
the sheep, to be [c]ruler over My people Israel. 8 And I have been with you
wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you,
and have [d]made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the
earth. 9 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will
plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more;
nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 10
since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I
will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will
build you a [e]house. 11 And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when
you must [f]go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after
you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall
build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his
Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him,
as I took it from him who was before you. 14 And I will establish him in My
house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established
forever." ' "

15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan
spoke to David.

16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: "Who am I,
O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 17 And
yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of
Your servant's house for a great while to come, and have regarded me
according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18 What more can
David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant.
19 O Lord, for Your servant's sake, and according to Your own heart, You
have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O
Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to
all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like Your people Israel,
the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a
people-to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving
out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You
have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord,
have become their God.

23 "And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant
and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have
said. 24 So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever,
saying, 'The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God.' And let the
house of Your servant David be established before You. 25 For You, O my God,
[g]have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore
Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. 26 And now, Lord,
[h]You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. 27 Now You
have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue
before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed
forever."

David's Further Conquests
18 After this it came to pass that David [i]attacked the Philistines,
subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.
2 Then he [j]defeated Moab, and the Moabites became David's servants, and
brought tribute.

3 And David [k]defeated [l]Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he
went to establish his power by the River Euphrates. 4 David took from him
one thousand chariots, [m]seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot
soldiers. Also David [n]hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he
spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David
killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in
Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought
tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. 7 And David took the
shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to
Jerusalem. 8 Also from [o]Tibhath and from [p]Chun, cities of [q]Hadadezer,
David brought a large amount of bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze
[r]Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

9 Now when [s]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had [t]defeated all the
army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent [u]Hadoram his son to King
David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer
and [v]defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram
brought with him all kinds of articles of gold, silver, and bronze. 11 King
David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that
he had brought from all these nations-from Edom, from Moab, from the people
of Ammon, from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand [w]Edomites
in the Valley of Salt. 13 He also put garrisons in Edom, and all the
Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he
went.

David's Administration
14 So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice
to all his people. 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat
the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 Zadok the son of Ahitub and [x]Abimelech
the son of Abiathar were the priests; [y]Shavsha was the scribe; 17 Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's
sons were [z]chief ministers at the king's side.

Footnotes
1 Chronicles 16:26 worthless things
1 Chronicles 16:39 Place for pagan worship
1 Chronicles 17:7 leader
1 Chronicles 17:8 given you prestige
1 Chronicles 17:10 Royal dynasty
1 Chronicles 17:11 Die and join your ancestors
1 Chronicles 17:25 Lit. have uncovered the ear of
1 Chronicles 17:26 Or You alone are
1 Chronicles 18:1 Lit. struck
1 Chronicles 18:2 Lit. struck
1 Chronicles 18:3 Lit. struck
1 Chronicles 18:3 Heb. Hadarezer
1 Chronicles 18:4 seven hundred, 2 Sam. 8:4
1 Chronicles 18:4 crippled
1 Chronicles 18:8 Betah, 2 Sam. 8:8
1 Chronicles 18:8 Berothai, 2 Sam. 8:8
1 Chronicles 18:8 Heb. Hadarezer
1 Chronicles 18:8 Great laver or basin
1 Chronicles 18:9 Toi, 2 Sam. 8:9, 10
1 Chronicles 18:9 Lit. struck
1 Chronicles 18:10 Joram, 2 Sam. 8:10
1 Chronicles 18:10 Lit. struck
1 Chronicles 18:12 Syrians, 2 Sam. 8:13
1 Chronicles 18:16 Ahimelech, 2 Sam. 8:17
1 Chronicles 18:16 Seraiah, 2 Sam. 8:17, or Shisha, 1 Kin. 4:3
1 Chronicles 18:17 Lit. at the hand of the king