[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY MARCH 30

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY MARCH 30

WORD OF WISDOM

A yawn is just a silent screem for coffee.

___

DAILY DEVOTION

Keep Your Cool


Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain
silent.
(Psalm 4:4, NLT)

	 God made us as emotional beings. All through the day you will feel
things, but just because you feel something doesn't mean you have to act on
it. You may feel anger, which is okay, but don't lose your temper. Keep your
cool. You may feel offended, but don't give in to it. You may feel tempted
to compromise when your flesh says, "I have to have it, the feeling is so
strong," but you don't have to get on board with that feeling.
The flesh wants to control your life. You think you can't control it, but
God wouldn't tell us to be angry and not give in if we couldn't do it. The
feelings are real. You have to ask yourself, "If I follow what I'm feeling,
is it going to move me toward my destiny, is it going to help me improve?
Or, is it just my fleshly carnal desires that are trying to keep me from
rising higher?"
	 
A Prayer for Today

"Father, thank You that one of the fruits of the Spirit working in me is
self-control. Thank You that I don't have to be a slave to feelings that
have tried to control me for years. I believe that I have the power to
overcome, to say no to the flesh, and be disciplined to do the right thing.
In Jesus' Name, Amen."

___

DAILY BIBLE READING

2 Samuel 4-6 New King James Version
Ishbosheth Is Murdered
4 When Saul's [a]son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he[b] lost heart,
and all Israel was troubled. 2 Now Saul's son had two men who were captains
of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the
sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth
also was [c]part of Benjamin, 3 because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and
have been sojourners there until this day.)

4 Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five
years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his
nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that
he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.[d]

5 Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and
came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying
on his bed at noon. 6 And they came there, all the way into the house, as
though to get wheat, and they [e]stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and
Baanah his brother escaped. 7 For when they came into the house, he was
lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him,
beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the
plain. 8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and
said to the king, "Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your
enemy, who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this
day of Saul and his descendants."

9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the
Beerothite, and said to them, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life
from all adversity, 10 when someone told me, saying, 'Look, Saul is dead,'
thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in
Ziklag-the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. 11 How
much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house
on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his [f]blood at your hand and
[g]remove you from the earth?" 12 So David commanded his young men, and they
executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in
Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of
Abner in Hebron.

David Reigns over All Israel
5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying,
"Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. 2 Also, in time past, when Saul was
king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and
the Lord said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler
over Israel.' " 3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at
Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord.
And they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over
Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three
years over all Israel and Judah.

The Conquest of Jerusalem
6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, "You shall not come in
here; but the blind and the lame will repel you," thinking, "David cannot
come in here." 7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is,
the City of David).

8 Now David said on that day, "Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft
and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's
soul), he shall be chief and captain." Therefore they say, "The blind and
the lame shall not come into the house."

9 Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And
David built all around from [h]the Millo and inward. 10 So David went on and
became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and
carpenters and masons. And they built David a house. 12 So David knew that
the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted
His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

13 And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had
come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David. 14 Now
these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: [i]Shammua,
Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, [j]Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama,
Eliada, and Eliphelet.

The Philistines Defeated
17 Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over
Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of
it and went down to the stronghold. 18 The Philistines also went and
deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. 19 So David inquired of the
Lord, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them
into my hand?"

And the Lord said to David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the
Philistines into your hand."

20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he
said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough
of water." Therefore he called the name of that place [k]Baal Perazim. 21
And they left their [l]images there, and David and his men carried them
away.

22 Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the
Valley of Rephaim. 23 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said,
"You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front
of the mulberry trees. 24 And it shall be, when you hear the sound of
marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly.
For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the
Philistines." 25 And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove
back the Philistines from Geba[m] as far as Gezer.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
6 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And
David arose and went with all the people who were with him from [n]Baale
Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called [o]by the
Name, the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. 3 So they set the
ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which
was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new
[p]cart. 4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on
the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. 5 Then
David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds
of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on
tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

6 And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to
the ark of God and [q]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 Then the
anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for
his [r]error; and he died there by the ark of God. 8 And David became angry
because of the Lord's outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the
place [s]Perez Uzzah to this day.

9 David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, "How can the ark of
the Lord come to me?" 10 So David would not move the ark of the Lord with
him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of
Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of
Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all
his household.

12 Now it was told King David, saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of
Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David
went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City
of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the
Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then
David danced[t] before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a
linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of
the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's
daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling
before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17 So they brought the
ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that
David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings before the Lord. 18 And when David had finished offering burnt
offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord
of hosts. 19 Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole
multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of
bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed,
everyone to his house.

20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of
Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel
today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as
one of the base fellows [u]shamelessly uncovers himself!"

21 So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of
your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the
Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. 22 And I
will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight.
But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held
in honor."

23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her
death.

Footnotes
2 Samuel 4:1 Ishbosheth
2 Samuel 4:1 Lit. his hands dropped
2 Samuel 4:2 considered part of
2 Samuel 4:4 Merib-Baal, 1 Chr. 8:34; 9:40
2 Samuel 4:6 Lit. struck
2 Samuel 4:11 Or bloodshed
2 Samuel 4:11 Lit. consume you
2 Samuel 5:9 Lit. The Landfill
2 Samuel 5:14 Shimea, 1 Chr. 3:5
2 Samuel 5:15 Elishama, 1 Chr. 3:6
2 Samuel 5:20 Lit. Master of Breakthroughs
2 Samuel 5:21 idols
2 Samuel 5:25 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX Gibeon
2 Samuel 6:2 Baalah, Kirjath Jearim, Josh. 15:9; 1 Chr. 13:6
2 Samuel 6:2 LXX, Tg., Vg. omit by the Name; many Heb. mss., Syr. there
2 Samuel 6:3 LXX adds with the ark
2 Samuel 6:6 held it
2 Samuel 6:7 Or irreverence
2 Samuel 6:8 Lit. Outburst Against Uzzah
2 Samuel 6:14 whirled about
2 Samuel 6:20 openly