[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY JULY 15

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY JULY 15

WORD OF WISDOM

Thought I'd be trendy and try one of those 'alternative milks'. I don't know
what a magnesia is, but it made my cornflakes taste horrible.

___

DAILY DEVOTION

Fear Not


Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against
thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they
that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find
them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall
be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold
thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isaiah 41:10-13

Because we live in a fallen world, we have trouble in our lives. Christians
are not exempt from the impact sin had on God's creation design. We get
sick, lose loved ones, struggle with temptation, and face obstacles that
seem to be overwhelming. God does not promise that we will avoid these
things. In fact, He tells us to expect them. But that does not mean that we
are condemned to lives of worry and fear. While God does not promise that we
will escape trouble, He does promise that He will never abandon us in our
difficulties. Instead, like a parent taking a child by the hand to make sure
they do not fall, He will strengthen, uplift, and encourage us all the way
through.
As Martin Luther put it in the hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," this is
our only hope. He wrote, "Did we in our own strength confide, our striving
would be losing." God's strength, power, and support guide us through every
challenge. But His promise offers us even more. That precious promise offers
us peace and comfort in place of the fear that naturally accompanies
difficult circumstances. Fear is not required. Fear is not overpowering.
Fear is a choice to ignore or doubt the promises of God rather than trust
that He will do as He promised.
God's children have no need to fear anything that life can throw at them,
for He is always with us.

Remember what Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:7:
For God hath not given us the spirit of FEAR; but of power, and of love, and
of a sound mind.

___

DAILY BIBLE READING

Ecclesiastes 4-6 New King James Version
The Uselessness of Selfish Toil
4 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the
sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter-
[a]On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil
4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by
his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

5 The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
6 Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

8 There is one alone, without [b]companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his eye satisfied with riches.
But he never asks,
"For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?"
This also is vanity and a [c]grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend
9 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away
13 Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although [d]he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people [e]over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Fear God, Keep Your Vows
5 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear
rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they
do evil.

2 Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool's voice is known by his many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed-
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the
messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your
[f]excuse and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of
dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.

The Vanity of Gain and Honor
8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent [g]perversion of
justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for
high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over
them.

9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from
the field.

10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.

11 When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?

12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through [h]misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.

16 And this also is a severe evil-
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
17 All his days he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and
drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the
sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his [i]heritage.
19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him
power to eat of it, to receive his [j]heritage and rejoice in his labor-this
is the gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life,
because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Wealth Is Not the Goal of Life
6 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among
men: 2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he
lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power
to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil
[k]affliction.

3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days
of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or
indeed he has no burial, I say that a [l]stillborn child is better than he-
4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered
with darkness. 5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has
more rest than that man, 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice-but has
not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?

7 All the labor of man is for his mouth,
And yet the soul is not satisfied.
8 For what more has the wise man than the fool?
What does the poor man have,
Who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better is [m]the sight of the eyes than the wandering of [n]desire.
This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

10 Whatever one is, he has been named already,
For it is known that he is man;
And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?

12 For who knows what is good for man in life, [o]all the days of his
[p]vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will
happen after him under the sun?

Footnotes
Ecclesiastes 4:1 Lit. At the hand
Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. a second
Ecclesiastes 4:8 Lit. evil task
Ecclesiastes 4:14 The youth
Ecclesiastes 4:16 Lit. to all before whom he was to be
Ecclesiastes 5:6 Lit. voice
Ecclesiastes 5:8 wresting
Ecclesiastes 5:14 Lit. bad business
Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit. portion
Ecclesiastes 5:19 Lit. portion
Ecclesiastes 6:2 disease
Ecclesiastes 6:3 Or miscarriage
Ecclesiastes 6:9 What the eyes see
Ecclesiastes 6:9 Lit. soul
Ecclesiastes 6:12 Lit. the number of the days
Ecclesiastes 6:12 futile