[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY MARCH 24

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY MARCH 24

WORD OF WISDOM

Let us pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.

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DAILY DEVOTION

Speak Blessing into Your Life


With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human
beings, who have been made in God's likeness.
(James 3:9, NIV)

	 Many people don't realize that with their words they're cursing
their future. Every time you say, "I never get any good breaks," you just
cursed your life. "I'll never be able to afford that nice house." "I'll
never be able to break this addiction." "I'll never get the promotion." No,
stop cursing your future. Sometimes the enemy doesn't have to defeat us; we
defeat ourselves. Pay attention to what you're saying. Are you blessing your
life, or are you cursing it?
Why don't you stop criticizing yourself? Stop talking about all the things
you don't like-how you're getting too old, too wrinkled, too this, too that.
Don't invite that into your life. When you speak them out, you give them
life. Stop cursing your life and start blessing your life. Don't speak words
of defeat; speak words of victory. Start calling yourself strong, healthy,
talented, beautiful, and successful. Prophesy good things. Dare to declare
God's favor. Your words will become your reality.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Samuel 16-18 New King James Version
David Anointed King
16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I
have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and
go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have [a]provided
Myself a king among his sons."

2 And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me."

But the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to
sacrifice to the Lord.' 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you."

4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of
the town trembled at his coming, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"

5 And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify[b]
yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse
and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the
Lord's anointed is before Him!"

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his
physical stature, because I have [c]refused him. For[d] the Lord does not
see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks
at the heart."

8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said,
"Neither has the Lord chosen this one." 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by.
And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." 10 Thus Jesse made
seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord
has not chosen these." 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men
here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is,
keeping the sheep."

And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not [e]sit down
till he comes here." 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy,
with [f]bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint
him; for this is the one!" 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David
from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul
14 But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit
from the Lord troubled him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, "Surely, a
distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our master now command
your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful
player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when
the [g]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well."

17 So Saul said to his servants, [h]"Provide me now a man who can play well,
and bring him to me."

18 Then one of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of
Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a
man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with
him."

19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me your son
David, who is with the sheep." 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread,
a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21
So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he
became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Please let
David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight." 23 And so it
was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a
harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well,
and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

David and Goliath
17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were
gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and
Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered
together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle
array against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one
side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley
between them.

4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath,
from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet
on his head, and he was [i]armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the
coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his
legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his
spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred
shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8 Then he stood and cried out
to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why have you come out to line up
for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a
man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight
with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against
him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us." 10 And the
Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that
we may fight together." 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name
was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years,
in the days of Saul. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow
Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were
Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David
was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. 15 But David
occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at
Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning
and evening.

17 Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of
this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.
18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how
your brothers fare, and bring back news of them." 19 Now Saul and they and
all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the
Philistines.

20 So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and
took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp
as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 21 For
Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army.
22 And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the
army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23 Then as he talked with them,
there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up
from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same
words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the
man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25 So the men of Israel said,
"Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy
Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with
great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father's house
exemption from taxes in Israel."

26 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done
for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from
Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the
armies of the living God?"

27 And the people answered him in this manner, saying, "So shall it be done
for the man who kills him."

28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's
anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here?
And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your
pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the
battle."

29 And David said, "What have I done now? Is[j] there not a cause?" 30 Then
he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people
answered him as the first ones did.

31 Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to
Saul; and he sent for him. 32 Then David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart
fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

33 And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine
to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."

34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his father's sheep,
and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went
out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when
it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36
Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised
Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the
living God." 37 Moreover David said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the
paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the
hand of this Philistine."

And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!"

38 So Saul clothed David with his [k]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on
his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his
sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David
said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So
David took them off.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth
stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he
had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41
So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who
bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about and
saw David, he disdained[l] him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and
good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come
to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the
Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the
birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a
spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day
the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your
head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the
Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this
assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for
the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."

48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet
David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49
Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and
struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his
forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over
the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and
killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David
ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its
sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 Now
the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines
as far as the entrance of [m]the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the
wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as
Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the
Philistines, and they plundered their tents. 54 And David took the head of
the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his
tent.

55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner,
the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this youth?"

And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know."

56 So the king said, "Inquire whose son this young man is."

57 Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took
him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58 And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?"

So David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

Saul Resents David
18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the [n]soul of Jonathan was
knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul
took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house
anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as
his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it
to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and [o]behaved wisely. And Saul
set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the
people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. 6 Now it had happened as
they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the
[p]Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel,
singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with
musical instruments. 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said:

"Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands."

8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said,
"They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed
only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" 9 So Saul
[q]eyed David from that day forward.

10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came
upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with
his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand. 11 And
Saul cast the spear, for he said, "I will pin David to the wall!" But David
escaped his presence twice.

12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had
departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from [r]his presence, and
made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the
people. 14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with
him. 15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid
of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and
came in before them.

David Marries Michal
17 Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give
her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles."
For Saul thought, "Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the
Philistines be against him."

18 So David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's
family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?" 19 But it
happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to
David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

20 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the
thing pleased him. 21 So Saul said, "I will give her to him, that she may
[s]be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against
him." Therefore Saul said to David a second time, "You shall be my
son-in-law today."

22 And Saul commanded his servants, "Communicate with David secretly, and
say, 'Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now
therefore, become the king's son-in-law.' "

23 So Saul's servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David
said, "Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing I
am a poor and lightly esteemed man?" 24 And the servants of Saul told him,
saying, [t]"In this manner David spoke."

25 Then Saul said, "Thus you shall say to David: 'The king does not desire
any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on
the king's enemies.' " But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of
the Philistines. 26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased
David well to become the king's son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; 27
therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men
of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in
full count to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then
Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal,
Saul's daughter, loved him; 29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So
Saul became David's enemy [u]continually. 30 Then the princes of the
Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that
David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name
became highly esteemed.

Footnotes
1 Samuel 16:1 Lit. seen
1 Samuel 16:5 Consecrate
1 Samuel 16:7 rejected
1 Samuel 16:7 LXX For God does not see as man sees; Tg. It is not by the
appearance of a man; Vg. Nor do I judge according to the looks of a man
1 Samuel 16:11 So with LXX, Vg.; MT turn around; Tg., Syr. turn away
1 Samuel 16:12 Lit. beautiful
1 Samuel 16:16 Lit. evil
1 Samuel 16:17 Lit. Look now for a man for me
1 Samuel 17:5 clothed with scaled body armor
1 Samuel 17:29 Lit. Is it not a word? or matter?
1 Samuel 17:38 Lit. clothes
1 Samuel 17:42 belittled
1 Samuel 17:52 So with MT, Syr., Tg., Vg.; LXX Gath
1 Samuel 18:1 life of Jonathan was bound up with the life of
1 Samuel 18:5 Or prospered
1 Samuel 18:6 Philistines
1 Samuel 18:9 Viewed with suspicion
1 Samuel 18:13 Lit. himself
1 Samuel 18:21 be bait for
1 Samuel 18:24 Lit. According to these words
1 Samuel 18:29 all the days