[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 8

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 8

WORD OF WISDOM

God's grip will not slip!

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DAILY DEVOTION

Sharpen Each Other


As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
(Proverbs 27:17, NLT)

	 This principle is true in relationships: If you see the good in
your spouse, your children, and your friends, focusing on their strengths
and praising them for what you like about them, that will draw out more good
and improve your relationship. People improve when you praise them for their
good qualities. Your spouse can have a hundred good qualities, but if you
focus on the three things you don't like, it will drive a wedge between the
two of you.
 If you overlook the things you don't like and focus on the things you do
like, it will change the atmosphere in your home. God put you together so
you would sharpen each other. Don't use your iron to say hurtful words that
cut like a knife or use your iron to try to hammer out all the flaws. The
way you sharpen them is by praising them for what you like, encouraging them
in what they're good at, and cheering them on for what they're doing right.
Be a voice that pushes them forward.
	 
A Prayer for Today

"Father, thank You that You've brought me into relationships to sharpen my
loved ones and friends. Help me to overlook the flaws and weaknesses in
others that get on my nerves and focus on all their good qualities. Make me
a loving voice that pushes them forward. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Numbers 1-3 New King James Version
The First Census of Israel
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle
of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after
they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 "Take a census of all the
congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers'
houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, 3 from
twenty years old and above-all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and
Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man
from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house.

5 "These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben,
Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel the
son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of
Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel
the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from
Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran;
14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;[a] 15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son
of Enan." 16 These were chosen[b] from the congregation, leaders of their
fathers' tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel.

17 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been [c]mentioned by name, 18
and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the
second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers'
houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above,
each one individually. 19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them
in the Wilderness of Sinai.

20 Now the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, their genealogies by
their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names,
every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able
to go to war: 21 those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were
forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 From the children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of
names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who
were able to go to war: 23 those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon
were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24 From the children of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and
above, all who were able to go to war: 25 those who were numbered of the
tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 From the children of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and
above, all who were able to go to war: 27 those who were numbered of the
tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28 From the children of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, all who were able to go to war: 29 those who were numbered of
the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30 From the children of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, all who were able to go to war: 31 those who were numbered of
the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 From the sons of Joseph, the children of Ephraim, their genealogies by
their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names,
from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 33 those
who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.

34 From the children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, all who were able to go to war: 35 those who were numbered of
the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36 From the children of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, all who were able to go to war: 37 those who were numbered of
the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38 From the children of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and
above, all who were able to go to war: 39 those who were numbered of the
tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40 From the children of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and
above, all who were able to go to war: 41 those who were numbered of the
tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.

42 From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, all who were able to go to war: 43 those who were numbered of
the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with
the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father's house.
45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers'
houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in
Israel- 46 all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five
hundred and fifty.

47 But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe; 48
for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: 49 "Only the tribe of Levi you
shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; 50
but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over
all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry
the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp
around the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the
Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the
Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp,
everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; 53 but the Levites
shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no
wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall
keep[d] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony."

54 Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded
Moses, so they did.

The Tribes and Leaders by Armies
2 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 "Everyone of the children
of Israel shall camp by his own [e]standard, beside the emblems of his
father's house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of
meeting. 3 On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the
standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and
Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah."
4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.

5 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel
the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar." 6 And his
army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred.

7 "Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the
leader of the children of Zebulun." 8 And his army was numbered at
fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 "All who were numbered according to
their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand
four hundred-these shall [f]break camp first.

10 "On the south side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben
according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be
Elizur the son of Shedeur." 11 And his army was numbered at forty-six
thousand five hundred.

12 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader
of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai." 13 And
his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

14 "Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall
be Eliasaph the son of [g]Reuel." 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five
thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 "All who were numbered according to their
armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four
hundred and fifty-they shall [h]be the second to break camp.

17 "And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the [i]camp of the
Levites in the middle of the [j]camps; as they camp, so they shall move out,
everyone in his place, by their [k]standards.

18 "On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim
according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall
be Elishama the son of Ammihud." 19 And his army was numbered at forty
thousand five hundred.

20 "Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children
of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur." 21 And his army was
numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred.

22 "Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of
Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni." 23 And his army was numbered
at thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 "All who were numbered according to
their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one
hundred-they shall [l]be the third to break camp.

25 "The [m]standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side
according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be
Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai." 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two
thousand seven hundred.

27 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader
of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran." 28 And his army
was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred.

29 "Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of
Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan." 30 And his army was numbered at
fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 "All who were numbered of the forces
with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred-they shall
[n]break camp last, with their [o]standards."

32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their
fathers' houses. All who were numbered according to their armies of the
forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But
the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord
commanded Moses.

34 Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded
Moses; so they camped by their [p]standards and so they broke camp, each one
by his family, according to their fathers' houses.

The Sons of Aaron
3 Now these are the records[q] of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with
Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab,
the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the
sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, [r]whom he consecrated to minister as
priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered
profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no
children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of
Aaron their father.

The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and
present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they
shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the
tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall
attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs
of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall
give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to [s]him
from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his
sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes
near shall be put to death."

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 "Now behold, I Myself have taken
the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who
opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be
Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn
in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord."

Census of the Levites Commanded
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: 15
"Number the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families;
you shall number every male from a month old and above."

16 So Moses numbered them according to the [t]word of the Lord, as he was
commanded. 17 These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath,
and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their
families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their families:
Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their
families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their
fathers' houses.

21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the
Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 22 Those who were
numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and
above-of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. 23
The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward.
24 And the leader of the father's house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the
son of Lael. 25 The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of
meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for
the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26 the screen for the door of the
court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the
altar, and their cords, according to all the work relating to them.

27 From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the
Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites;
these were the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all
the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand [u]six
hundred [v]keeping charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the children
of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 And the
leader of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan
the son of Uzziel. 31 Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand,
the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the
screen, and all the work relating to them.

32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders
of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.

33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the
Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34 And those who were numbered,
according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were
six thousand two hundred. 35 The leader of the fathers' house of the
families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. These were to camp on the
north side of the tabernacle. 36 And the appointed duty of the children of
Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its
sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, 37 and the pillars of
the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.

38 Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before
the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, keeping charge
of the sanctuary, to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but the
outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 All who were numbered of
the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord,
by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two
thousand.

Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: "Number[w] all the firstborn males of the
children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their
names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for Me-I am the Lord-instead of all
the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites
instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel."
42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the
Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number
of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them,
were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45 "Take the Levites instead of all
the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites
instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46 And
for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of
the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you
shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in
the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48
And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is
redeemed, to Aaron and his sons."

49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above
those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the
children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and
sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses
gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of
the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes
Numbers 1:14 Reuel, Num. 2:14
Numbers 1:16 called
Numbers 1:17 designated
Numbers 1:53 have in their care
Numbers 2:2 banner
Numbers 2:9 Lit. set forth
Numbers 2:14 Deuel, Num. 1:14; 7:42
Numbers 2:16 Lit. set forth second
Numbers 2:17 company
Numbers 2:17 whole company
Numbers 2:17 banners
Numbers 2:24 Lit. set forth third
Numbers 2:25 banner
Numbers 2:31 Lit. set forth last
Numbers 2:31 banners
Numbers 2:34 banners
Numbers 3:1 Lit. generations
Numbers 3:3 Lit. whose hands he filled
Numbers 3:9 Sam., LXX Me
Numbers 3:16 Lit. mouth
Numbers 3:28 Some LXX mss. three
Numbers 3:28 taking care of
Numbers 3:40 Take a census of