[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 21

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 21

MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK

Ruth 1:16
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following
after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I
will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 

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WORD OF WISDOM

Healthy Eating Tip: If you'll pick fresh vegetables every day and feed them
to your pig, he'll convert them into bacon!

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DAILY DEVOTION

Children of the Resurrection


And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and
are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain
that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the
angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Luke 20:34-36

It is easy for Christians to get wrapped up in this world. We live here,
have jobs and families, neighbors and friends, hobbies and interests, and
all the things that make up the lives of those around us. But we have
something they do not, and it should dictate what we love and how we live.
Those who are not saved are still "children of this world" but we are
"children of the resurrection." The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
change everything for those who receive His offer of salvation. And we
should be far more interested in the eternal than we are in the temporal. We
still have to make a living and use what God has given us., but but as the
old song puts it: "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through."
D. L. Moody said, "Surely it is not wrong for us to think and talk about
Heaven. I like to find out all I can about it. I expect to live there
through all eternity. If I were going to dwell in any place in this country,
if I were going to make it my home, I would inquire about its climate, about
the neighbors I would have - about everything, in fact, that I could learn
concerning it. If soon you were going to emigrate, that is the way you would
feel. Well, we are all going to emigrate in a very little while. We are
going to spend eternity in another world. Is it not natural that we should
look and listen and try to find out who is already there and what is the
route to take?"
 We should live every day in light of the fact that Heaven is our eternal
home.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Deuteronomy 4-6 New King James Version
Moses Commands Obedience
4 "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you
to observe, that you may live, and go in and [a]possess the land which the
Lord God of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word
which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of
the Lord your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord
did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the
men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God
are alive today, every one of you.

5 "Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God
commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go
to possess. 6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom
and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these
statutes, and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people.'

7 "For what great nation is there that has God[b] so near to it, as the Lord
our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 And what great
nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all
this law which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to yourself, and
diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach
them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the
day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me,
'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may
learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may
teach their children.'

11 "Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the
mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and
thick darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire.
You heard the sound of the words, but saw no [c]form; you only heard a
voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to
perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments,
that you might [d]observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

Beware of Idolatry
15 "Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke
to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and
make for yourselves a carved image in the [e]form of any figure: the
likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the
earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the
likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish
that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you lift your
eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the
host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the
Lord your God has [f]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a
heritage. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron
furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this
day. 21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore
that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good
land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 But I must
die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over
and [g]possess that good land. 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget
the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for
yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God
has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous
God.

25 "When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the
land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and
do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call
heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly
perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will
not [h]prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the
Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number
among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve
gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear
nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and
you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your
soul. 30 When you are in [i]distress, and all these things come upon you in
the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31
(for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor
destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

32 "For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you,
since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of
heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or
anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of
God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34
Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of
another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm, and by great [j]terrors, according to all that the
Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown,
that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other
besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might
instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words
out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers,
therefore He chose their [k]descendants after them; and He brought you out
of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from
before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give
you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this
day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven
above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore
keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that [l]it
may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may
[m]prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for
all time."

Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan
41 Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the
rising of the sun, 42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his
neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by
fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on
the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan
in Bashan for the Manassites.

Introduction to God's Law
44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. 45
These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke
to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, 46 on this side of
the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of
the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel
defeated[n] after they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his
land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were
on this side of the Jordan, toward the [o]rising of the sun, 48 from Aroer,
which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount [p]Sion (that is,
Hermon), 49 and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the
Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments Reviewed
5 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the
statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may
learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 The Lord our God made a
covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our
fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4
The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the
fire. 5 I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the
word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not
go up the mountain. He said:

6 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of [q]bondage.

7 'You shall have no other gods [r]before Me.

8 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow[s] down to them nor serve them.
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, [t]visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who
hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and [u]keep
My commandments.

11 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord
will not hold him [v]guiltless who takes His name in vain.

12 'Observe the Sabbath day, to [w]keep it holy, as the Lord your God
commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work:
you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female
servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your
stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female
servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in
the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a
mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God
commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 'Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded
you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the
land which the Lord your God is giving you.

17 'You shall not murder.

18 'You shall not commit adultery.

19 'You shall not steal.

20 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your
neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox,
his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

22 "These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from
the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice;
and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave
them to me.

The People Afraid of God's Presence
23 "So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness,
while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the
heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: 'Surely the Lord our
God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice
from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man;
yet he still lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire
will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we
shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the
living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27
You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that
the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.'

28 "Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and
the Lord said to me: 'I have heard the voice of the words of this people
which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always
keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their
children forever! 30 Go and say to them, "Return to your tents." 31 But as
for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the
statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may
observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.'

32 "Therefore you shall [x]be careful to do as the Lord your God has
commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33
You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you,
that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong
your days in the land which you shall possess.

The Greatest Commandment
6 "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments
which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe
them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear
the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I
command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life,
and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and [y]be
careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may
multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you-'a land
flowing with milk and honey.'

4 "Hear, O Israel: [z]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength.

6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when
you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when
you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates.

Caution Against Disobedience
10 "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which
He [aa]swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you
large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all
good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig,
vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant-when you have eaten and
are full- 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord
your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not
go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for
the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord
your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

16 "You shall not [ab]tempt the Lord your God as you [ac]tempted Him in
Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God,
His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 And you
shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be
well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the
Lord swore to your fathers, 19 to cast out all your enemies from before you,
as the Lord has spoken.

20 "When your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is the meaning of
the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has
commanded you?' 21 then you shall say to your son: 'We were slaves of
Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;
22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe,
against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out
from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He
[ad]swore to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to [ae]observe all
these [af]statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He
might preserve us alive, as it is [ag]this day. 25 Then it will be
righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments
before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.'

Footnotes
Deuteronomy 4:1 take possession of
Deuteronomy 4:7 Or a god
Deuteronomy 4:12 similitude
Deuteronomy 4:14 do or perform
Deuteronomy 4:16 similitude
Deuteronomy 4:19 divided
Deuteronomy 4:22 take possession of
Deuteronomy 4:26 live long on it
Deuteronomy 4:30 tribulation
Deuteronomy 4:34 calamities
Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit. seed
Deuteronomy 4:40 you may prosper
Deuteronomy 4:40 live long
Deuteronomy 4:46 struck
Deuteronomy 4:47 east
Deuteronomy 4:48 Syr. Sirion
Deuteronomy 5:6 slavery
Deuteronomy 5:7 besides
Deuteronomy 5:9 worship them
Deuteronomy 5:9 punishing
Deuteronomy 5:10 observe
Deuteronomy 5:11 innocent
Deuteronomy 5:12 sanctify it
Deuteronomy 5:32 observe
Deuteronomy 6:3 Lit. observe to do
Deuteronomy 6:4 Or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, i.e., the only one
Deuteronomy 6:10 promised
Deuteronomy 6:16 test
Deuteronomy 6:16 tested
Deuteronomy 6:23 promised
Deuteronomy 6:24 do
Deuteronomy 6:24 ordinances
Deuteronomy 6:24 today