[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 28

Mon Feb 28 00:22:12 UTC 2022

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 28

MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height
of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on
the heart. 

___

WORD OF WISDOM

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

___

DAILY DEVOTION

Provision in Hard Times

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before
Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the
LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let
my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy
servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the
Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they
are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people
dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know
that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
Exodus 8:20-22

 Over the past two years, our world has been shaken by a global event like
most people living now have never seen before. The Covid-19 pandemic created
not just a health crisis, but an economic upheaval as well. The world is a
different place than it was before the pandemic started. All of us know
people who have gotten sick, who have passed away, or who have suffered
economic hardship because of the pandemic. Yet in spite of that reality, we
must not allow ourselves to forget that God is still in control.
When the first plagues struck Egypt, they impacted both the Israelites and
the Egyptians. But starting with the plague of flies, God drew a line
between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The remaining plagues-the
pestilence, the boils, the locusts, and the darkness-did not touch the land
of Goshen where the Israelites dwelled. God is more than able to protect us
and provide for us, no matter what is going on in the world around us. David
reminds us, "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of
famine they shall be satisfied" (Psalm 37:19). God does not promise that
nothing will ever go wrong, but He does promise that we will never be
forsaken.
We must not allow our circumstances to undermine our faith in what God is
willing and able to do.

___

DAILY BIBLE READING

Deuteronomy 25-27 New King James Version
Laws of Social Responsibility
25 "If there is a dispute between men, and they come to [a]court, that the
judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the
wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that
the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence,
according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3 Forty blows he may
give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many
blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.

4 "You shall not muzzle an ox while it [b]treads out the grain.

Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother
5 "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the
widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family;
her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform
the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn
son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his
name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to
take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to
the elders, and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his
brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.' 8
Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he
stands firm and says, 'I do not want to take her,' 9 then his brother's wife
shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his
foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man
who will not build up his brother's house.' 10 And his name shall be called
in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal removed.'

Miscellaneous Laws
11 "If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her
husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and
seizes him by the genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; your eye
shall not pity her.

13 "You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light.
14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small.
15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure,
that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is
giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are
[c]an abomination to the Lord your God.

Destroy the Amalekites
17 "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of
Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the
stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear
God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest
from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving
you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes
26 "And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is
giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, 2 that you
shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you
shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it
in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His
name abide. 3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and
say to him, 'I declare today to the Lord [d]your God that I have come to the
country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.'

4 "Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down
before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 And you shall answer and say before
the Lord your God: 'My father was a [e]Syrian, about to perish, and he went
down to Egypt and [f]dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a
nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us,
afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord
God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our
affliction and our labor and our oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and
with signs and wonders. 9 He has brought us to this place and has given us
this land, "a land flowing with milk and honey"; 10 and now, behold, I have
brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.'

"Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord
your God. 11 So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your
God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who
is among you.

12 "When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in
the third year-the year of tithing-and have given it to the Levite, the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your
gates and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God: 'I have
removed the [g]holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the
Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your
commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your
commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of it
[h]when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it [i]for an unclean use, nor
given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God,
and have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from
Your holy [j]habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the
land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, "a land
flowing with milk and honey." '

A Special People of God
16 "This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and
judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your
heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be
your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His
commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. 18 Also
today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He
promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 and that He will
set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in
honor, and that you may be a [k]holy people to the Lord your God, just as He
has spoken."

The Law Inscribed on Stones
27 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: "Keep
all the commandments which I command you today. 2 And it shall be, on the
day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is
giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash
them with lime. 3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when
you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God
is giving you, 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' just as the Lord God of
your fathers promised you. 4 Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed
over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I
command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. 5 And there you
shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not
use an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build with [l]whole stones the altar
of the Lord your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.
7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before
the Lord your God. 8 And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the
words of this law."

9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying,
"Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the
Lord your God. 10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God,
and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today."

Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal
11 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, 12 "These shall
stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the
Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; 13 and these
shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and
Naphtali.

14 "And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of
Israel: 15 'Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, [m]an
abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it
up in secret.'

"And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!'

16 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

17 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

18 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

19 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the
fatherless, and widow.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

20 'Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has
uncovered his father's bed.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

21 'Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

22 'Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father
or the daughter of his mother.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

23 'Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

24 'Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

25 'Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

26 'Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by
observing them.'

"And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' "

Footnotes
Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit. the judgment
Deuteronomy 25:4 threshes
Deuteronomy 25:16 detestable
Deuteronomy 26:3 LXX my
Deuteronomy 26:5 Or Aramean
Deuteronomy 26:5 As a resident alien
Deuteronomy 26:13 hallowed things
Deuteronomy 26:14 Lit. in my mourning
Deuteronomy 26:14 Or while I was unclean
Deuteronomy 26:15 home
Deuteronomy 26:19 consecrated
Deuteronomy 27:6 uncut
Deuteronomy 27:15 a detestable thing