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

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY MARCH 28

MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR WEEK OF MARCH 28

1 Chronicles 16:25
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared
above all gods. 

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WORD OF WISDOM

My doctor told me that I should eat 1200 calories a day, but he didn't tell
me how many I needed to eat at night.

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DAILY DEVOTION

More Alive than Ever


Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 11:23-26

One of the greatest and most common fears is the fear of death. Survey after
survey shows that dying is dreaded by a vast majority of people. But for
those of us who are saved, death holds no terror. The great evangelist D. L.
Moody began his autobiography with these words: "Some day you will read in
the papers that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe
a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall
have gone up higher, that is all; out of this old clay tenement into a house
that is immortal-a body that death cannot touch; that sin cannot taint; a
body fashioned like unto His glorious body."
In truth, the more we learn and understand about Heaven, the more we want to
go there. There is work for us to do on this earth, but it is not our home.
Paul explained the conflict this way: "For I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you" (Philippians
1:23-24). Because of our salvation, if we experience death, it will merely
be the door that leads us into the presence of God for all eternity. When we
reach Heaven, everything will be perfect. All of the burdens and heartaches
and diseases and infirmities will be gone forever. All of the temptations
and besetting sins we have battled will be behind us. We will truly be more
alive than ever before.
Death no longer has the power to terrorize a Christian because we know where
we are going.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Samuel 28-31 New King James Version
Saul Consults a Medium
28 Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies
together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You
assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

2 So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief
guardians forever.”

Saul Consults a Medium
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in
Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out
of the land.

4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem.
So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When
Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled
greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him,
either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I
may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at
En Dor.”

8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two
men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please
conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has
cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a
snare for my life, to cause me to die?”

10 And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no
punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”

11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman
spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a[a] spirit ascending out of the earth.”

14 So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.”
And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the
ground and bowed down.

15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war
against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore,
neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may
reveal to me what I should do.”

16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed
from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for [b]Himself
as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and
given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of
the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has
done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver
Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your
sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the
hand of the Philistines.”

20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully
afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for
he had eaten no food all day or all night.

21 And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and
said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put
my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. 22 Now
therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a
piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go
on your way.”

23 But he refused and said, “I will not eat.”

So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their
voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. 24 Now the woman
had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took
flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. 25 So she brought
it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away
that night.

The Philistines Reject David
29 Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the
Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of
the Philistines [c]passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David
and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the princes of
the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the
servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these
years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to
me.”

4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of
the Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back
to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down
with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what
could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these
men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances,
saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”

6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you
have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army
is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the
day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7
Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords
of the Philistines.”

8 So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have
you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go
and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

9 Then Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are as good in my
sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have
said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now therefore, rise
early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with [d]you.
And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.”

11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to
the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s Conflict with the Amalekites
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day,
that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and
burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were
there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away
and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it
was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had
been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up
their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s
two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the
Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for
the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was
[e]grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened
himself in the Lord his God.

7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the
ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 So David
inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake
them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without
fail recover all.”

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to
the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But David
pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so
weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and
they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 And they
gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he
had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor
drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To
whom do you belong, and where are you from?”

And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my
master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made an
invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which
belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag
with fire.”

15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”

So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me
into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.”

16 And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all
the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil
which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of
Judah. 17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the
next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode
on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had
carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was
lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which
they had taken from them; David recovered all. 20 Then David took all the
flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said,
“This is David’s spoil.”

21 Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they
could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor.
So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And
when David came near the people, he [f]greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked
and worthless[g] men of those who went with David answered and said,
“Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil
that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they
may lead them away and depart.”

23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has
given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that
came against us. 24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is
who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies;
they shall share alike.” 25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a
statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the [h]spoil to the elders
of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil
of the enemies of the Lord”— 27 to those who were in Bethel, those who were
in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in
Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 those who
were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who
were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 those who were in Hormah, those who
were in [i]Chorashan, those who were in Athach, 31 those who were in Hebron,
and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to
rove.

The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons
31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled
from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the
Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines
killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became
fierce against Saul. The archers [j]hit him, and he was severely wounded by
the archers.

4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through
with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and
[k]abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul
took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was
dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three
sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and
those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel
had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and
fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8 So it happened the next
day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and
his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head and
stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the
Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the
people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they
fastened his body to the wall of Beth[l] Shan.

11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had
done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took
the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and
they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and
buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Footnotes
1 Samuel 28:13 Heb. elohim
1 Samuel 28:17 Or him, i.e., David
1 Samuel 29:2 passed on in the rear
1 Samuel 29:10 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX adds and go to the place which I
have selected for you there; and set no bothersome word in your heart, for
you are good before me. And rise on your way
1 Samuel 30:6 Lit. bitter
1 Samuel 30:21 asked them concerning their welfare
1 Samuel 30:22 Lit. men of Belial
1 Samuel 30:26 booty
1 Samuel 30:30 Or Borashan
1 Samuel 31:3 Lit. found him
1 Samuel 31:4 torture
1 Samuel 31:10 Beth Shean, Josh. 17:11