[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 23

Tue Aug 23 10:07:58 UTC 2022

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 23

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

HAS ANYONE ELSE FOUND IT WEIRD THAT WHEN 'STAR TREK' BOLDLY GOES WHERE NO
ONE HAS GONE BEFORE THEY ALWAYS FIND SOMEONE THERE?

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DAILY DEVOTION

Worry Is Not Required

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
John 14:1-4

There is no question that we live in unsettled times. A global pandemic,
economic upheaval, political turmoil, war, and threats of terrorism-the list
of things we could worry about is long. But worry is not the required
response to trouble. It is a choice, something which we allow to fill our
minds and hearts. We have the ability to choose faith and trust in God, and
thus keep our hearts from being troubled. We have unfailing promises from an
eternally faithful God. He has never failed one of His children. We can
trust Him even when things seem to be going wrong.
Sometimes we act as if worry and fear are overwhelming forces and we have no
option but to give in and allow them to control us. But as children of God,
we should recognize that His faithful promises are ours through His grace.
Worry is alluring and tempting to our nature that craves sight instead of
faith. But it is both disobedient and unproductive. Vance Havner said,
"Worry, like a rocking chair, will give you something to do, but it won't
get you anywhere."
Rather than worry, we should claim God's promises and confidently go
forward, trusting Him to deliver and provide. "So that we may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me"
(Hebrews 13:6). A confident Christian is a powerful testimony to the world
that God is real and that He is in control. This is the message we send when
we refuse to worry.
Worry is an indicator that our faith is weak and we are not trusting God as
we should.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Jeremiah 37-39 New King James Version
Zedekiah's Vain Hope
37 Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of
Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of
Judah. 2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave
heed to the words of the Lord which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the
son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Pray now to
the Lord our God for us." 4 Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the
people, for they had not yet put him in prison. 5 Then Pharaoh's army came
up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard
news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 7 "Thus
says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Thus you shall say to the king of Judah,
who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come
up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans
shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with
fire." ' 9 Thus says the Lord: 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The
Chaldeans will surely depart from us," for they will not depart. 10 For
though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against
you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up,
every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.' "

Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of
Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12 that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem
to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the
people. 13 And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard
was there whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah;
and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are defecting to the
Chaldeans!"

14 Then Jeremiah said, [a]"False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans." But
he did not listen to him.

So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. 15 Therefore the
princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him and put him in prison
in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.

16 When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah had
remained there many days, 17 then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out.
The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, "Is there any word from
the Lord?"

And Jeremiah said, "There is." Then he said, "You shall be delivered into
the hand of the king of Babylon!"

18 Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What offense have I committed
against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have
put me in prison? 19 Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you,
saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this
land'? 20 Therefore please hear now, O my lord the king. Please, let my
petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of
Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there."

21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah to the
court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread
from the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus
Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Jeremiah in the Dungeon
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal[b]
the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that
Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, 2 "Thus says the Lord: 'He
who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by
pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall
be as a prize to him, and he shall live.' 3 Thus says the Lord: 'This city
shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which
shall take it.' "

4 Therefore the princes said to the king, "Please, let this man be put to
death, for thus he [c]weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this
city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For
this man does not seek the [d]welfare of this people, but their harm."

5 Then Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he is in your hand. For the king can
do nothing against you." 6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the
dungeon of Malchiah [e]the king's son, which was in the court of the prison,
and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no
water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

7 Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the [f]eunuchs, who was in the
king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king
was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, 8 Ebed-Melech went out of the king's
house and spoke to the king, saying: 9 "My lord the king, these men have
done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have
cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place
where he is. For there is no more bread in the city." 10 Then the king
commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take from here thirty men with
you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies." 11 So
Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under
the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them
down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-Melech the
Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Please put these old clothes and rags under
your armpits, under the ropes." And Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled
Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah
remained in the court of the prison.

Zedekiah's Fears and Jeremiah's Advice
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him
at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to
Jeremiah, "I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me."

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I declare it to you, will you not surely
put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."

16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, "As the Lord
lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give
you into the hand of these men who seek your life."

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,
the God of Israel: 'If you surely surrender[g] to the king of Babylon's
princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire,
and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not [h]surrender to the
king of Babylon's princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of
the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from
their hand.' "

19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have
defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they
abuse me."

20 But Jeremiah said, "They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of
the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul
shall live. 21 But if you refuse to [i]surrender, this is the word that the
Lord has shown me: 22 'Now behold, all the women who are left in the king of
Judah's house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon's princes, and
those women shall say:

"Your close friends have [j]set upon you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have [k]turned away again."

23 'So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans.
You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the
king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.' "

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no one know of these words, and you
shall not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and
they come to you and say to you, 'Declare to us now what you have said to
the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we
will not put you to death,' 26 then you shall say to them, 'I presented my
request before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan's
house to die there.' "

27 Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them
according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped
speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard. 28 Now Jeremiah
remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

The Fall of Jerusalem
39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and
besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the
ninth day of the month, the [l]city was penetrated.

3 Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle
Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, [m]Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer,
[n]Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw
them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king's
garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the
[o]plain. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the
plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he
pronounced judgment on him. 6 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of
Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the
nobles of Judah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with
bronze [p]fetters to carry him off to Babylon. 8 And the Chaldeans burned
the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the
walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away
captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and
those who defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained. 10 But
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor
people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields [q]at the same
time.

Jeremiah Goes Free
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, 12 "Take him and look after
him, and do him no harm; but do to him just as he says to you." 13 So
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris,
Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's chief officers; 14
then they sent someone to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and
committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he
should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.

15 Meanwhile the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was shut up
in the court of the prison, saying, 16 "Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the
Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold,
I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and
they shall be performed in that day before you. 17 But I will deliver you in
that day," says the Lord, "and you shall not be given into the hand of the
men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely deliver you, and you shall
not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you
have put your trust in Me," says the Lord.' "

Footnotes
Jeremiah 37:14 a lie
Jeremiah 38:1 Jehucal, Jer. 37:3
Jeremiah 38:4 Is discouraging
Jeremiah 38:4 Well-being; lit. peace
Jeremiah 38:6 Or son of Hammelech
Jeremiah 38:7 Or officers
Jeremiah 38:17 Lit. go out
Jeremiah 38:18 Lit. go out
Jeremiah 38:21 Lit. go out
Jeremiah 38:22 Or misled
Jeremiah 38:22 Deserted you
Jeremiah 39:2 city wall was breached
Jeremiah 39:3 A title, probably Chief Officer; also v. 13
Jeremiah 39:3 A title, probably Troop Commander; also v. 13
Jeremiah 39:4 Or Arabah; the Jordan Valley
Jeremiah 39:7 chains
Jeremiah 39:10 Lit. on that day