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Job 8:21 NASB "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
And your lips with joyful shouting." I think she thought I lost my mind! Today's Word is about laughter and joy! I didn't notice that she was looking at me until I looked over. I was at a signal when I looked over and saw her looking at me in this "what's wrong with this guy" look. I had been singing to the song on the radio. Singing loud and getting into it, if you know what I mean. The worship song on the radio was one of my favorites and being all alone in my SUV, I cranked it up and just sang, maybe even moved a bit. She looked at me as if I was crazy but I was just worshipping my God. Let's' never be afraid to praise the Lord, even if people think we are crazy - let's just be crazy for Christ! peace, tom
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Matthew 25:21 EVS "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."I'll get to it later! Today's Word is great advice in dealing with the minor things of life. It was only a small leak and I remember saying to myself that I will take care of it later. Little did I know that I should have taken care of it right then and there. When the leak first showed up, I dismissed it, thinking I had more time to address it but without my knowing, the entire pipe was going to let go. Taking care of the little things is important, because if we don't, they only grow bigger! Think about it, when did you let something go only to find a bigger mess?! Whether it be a leaking pipe, rust on our vehicle, our relationship to others, it's the small problems that need to be address right then and there. Don't wait till tomorrow, do it today and when it comes to the things of the Lord, let's not put it off either. Remember today's Word and enter into the joy of our Master! peace, tom
1 Peter 1:22 NASB "Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart,"They can tell! Today's Word, to simplify it, is about being honest and truthful! Whether they are little one or big ones, they can tell when we are being truthful or lying to them. Maybe that's why God's Word tells us to be like little children?! I was pretending to be hurt after he jumped on me just to see his reaction. My grandson just stood there and said "are you done?". He knew that I was playing around with him and waited patiently for me to get back to playing. He knew the truth and wasn't about to let me "pull the wool over his eyes". When we share Jesus with others, it's best we tell the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth so help me God. peace, Tom
Job 8:7 NASB "Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly."It started off as just a small circle! Today's Word is about our beginning may be small but by the end it will increase! It now lays many feet long, as I have run out of room. When I first began my hobby of playing with toy trains, the layout was small. The engine and a few cars would go around a small circle but as time allowed, it began to grow into a layout with many feet of track, switches, curves and even a hill. We may start out small with doing the things of the Lord but if we continue in faith, it will grow. The key of course is to keep at it. Taking things slow and easy and building upon the Rock of our Salvation and letting Him lead us through the Holy Spirit. We may share Jesus with one person today but tomorrow we can share with another - that's going from one to two and so on. Before we know it, there will be many so let's start out with one today! peace, tom
Romans 16:17 NASB "Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them." Sadly there are those who just want to cause trouble! Today's Word has some great insight and direction regarding how to handle those who want to cause trouble! I realized that they just wanted to cause trouble for no other reason than to cause trouble. It seem that they wouldn't give up on causing trouble as we tried to enter the house that was on fire. With each step forward, they pushed back. They had set the fire in retaliation for something, but letting a house burn shouldn't have been the answer. Eventually the police came and allowed us to put the fire out. Sometimes we need to keep fighting for the Truth no matter what. Let's not let the trouble makers get in the way, even if that means turning away from them! peace, tom
Psalm 5:3 NASB "In the morning, Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will present my prayer to You and be on the watch." I can tell the difference! Today's' Word is about prayer and seeking Him first thing in the morning! It was about 11 AM when I realized I had let the busyness of my day get the best of me. Things seemed to go from bad to worse, so I stopped and took a moment. In that moment, I realized I had started my day without Him. Without reading His Word, spending time in prayer, not only asking for things but listening for His Voice. I stopped my day right there and got on my knees and talked to my Heavenly Father. You would think that the rest of the day went just great but the reality was that some days just don't go well. It has nothing to do with our relationship with God but going to Him first gave me the strength to get through the challenges of the day. Let's not just say we put Him first, let's really put Him first! peace, tom
Luke 6:46 NASB "Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"Why did you call me and ask if you weren't going to do what I said?! Today's verse may have us questioning our walk with Christ. I had called him for his expertise, his knowledge on the subject I was dealing with and after hanging up, I decided not to take his advice. Being such a good friend, he stopped by to see how I was doing with the project I called him about. I think he was rather shocked when he didn't see me doing what he advised me to do and asked that question "Why did you call me and ask if you weren't going to do what I said"
I had no good answer to say to him. I thought about it for awhile and came to the conclusion that I thought I knew better - was I wrong. Do we treat God that way too?! Asking Him for His Advice only not to follow it because we think we know better. Maybe it's time we do what He says cause He does know better! peace, tom Ephesians 4:32 NASB "Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you"We disagreed and parted ways! Today's Word teaches us how we are to treat one another! We had different ideas of how things should have gone on the job. We argued fiercely for our own point of view and ended up parting as enemies rather than co-workers. I hadn't seen him in years but when I seen him walking down the store aisle, I had a choice to make, pretend I didn't see him or encounter him as today's verse says. I chose the later and didn't let our differences, so long ago, keep me from being simply kind. We talked and even laughed over the difference we had so many years ago. He even allowed me to pray with him for his wife. We never know how an encounter will go but we must be willing to follow today's verse cause that means that God is in control! Let's not hold on to yesterday's grudges but treat each other kindly! peace, tom
John 8:32 NASB "and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."It wasn't until I was honest with myself and others that I found freedom! Today's Word is about the truth and freedom, things we probably don't really want to admit. I had been living a lie, saying one thing but doing another. Not until I came clean about my anger, did I begin to find the freedom of letting go of the past. I had held on to the moments when my anger ran my life, the times when my anger hurt the ones I loved. Coming clean about my anger meant that I needed to admit the Truth - no more lies, no more blaming others. I was the one who had to deal with my anger - I came clean through the help of God's Word, learning that it was ok to be angry but not to sin. It wasn't the anger that was bad, it was my decisions when I was angry. Coming to the Truth set me free to let go of my past and let go of the sinning anger! What do you need to come clean about! Find the answer in Jesus! peace, tom
John 7:24 NASB "Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."We may not know! Today's verse, while speaking about judgment, gives us some great advice in dealing with others! Outwardly, he looked as if he had it all together. He was dressed well, spoke well and carried himself with a certain air about him. What we didn't know or even see, was that internally he was a mess. As we spent time together, I found out that although his outward appearance seem to project a man who had it all together, he was a mess. Many times we judge each other by what we see without really knowing what's going on in the inside of a man. The more we talked, the more he became truthful that his life was one big facade. As he began to detail what was going on with him, we prayed together. Let's not be so quick to judge each other until we walk a mile in their shoes! peace,tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
October 2024
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