Proverbs 18:21 NASB "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."Maybe we don't even realize the power we have! Today's Word is about what we say, how it can bring life or death! Many, many years ago, I didn't even think about how my words can hurt but after years of letting my tongue control me, I had had enough. I thank God I have seen the light and realize how my words can hurt or bring life. HIs Word says that we are to speak the Truth in love. I began to ask myself, if I was. I can look back and see where I didn't and how that effected those around me. I didn't like who I was or how I spoke to people so I made the change, and you can too. Let's think before we speak and ask ourselves, will this help or hurt?! It takes only a few seconds to ask but if we don't, we can do so much damage. Let's let our words speak life! peace, tom
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1 Peter 4:8 NASB "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins." We must admit, we are not perfect! Today's Word is about love, that it covers a multitude of sin! Realizing that I wasn't perfect, I had to admit to myself and to her that I had done things that were wrong. Sometimes it was the way I spoke to her, or treated her but despite all, my wife loves me. She isn't perfect either, but despite that fact, I love her. We keep our focus on the love between us and the love God shows us instead of just how imperfect we may be. The goal of our life together isn't that we need to be perfect but that we need to really love each other. If we focus on our failures, we may never get to experience true love. Just imagine if God focused on our sin. Thank God He doesn't and wants nothing more that to love us. Don't we think it's about time we let Him?! Let's focus on the love rather than the sin and we may just find that He really does love us! This Valentine's day, may we focus on loving others as God loves us! peace, tom
Habakkuk 2:3 NASB "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hurries toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it delays, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay long."Your wait time is 20 minutes! Today's Word is about waiting and how it will come! As I sat on the phone, the voice on the other end kept me up to date with how long it would be till I actually would speak with someone. As I set the phone to speaker and began to do other things, the wait time seemed to grow. It had gone from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in the blink of an eye. I thought about hanging up and trying later, but I had already spent ten minutes waiting. Most of us don't like to wait.We have become a generation who wants it now and having to wait seems to distract us from what we wanted to begin with. To many, it would seem that Christ's return is taking too long, or waiting for what we are praying for but we must wait for it, the key is what will or are we doing as we wait! He will come, He will answer our prayer, just wait for Him! peace, tom
1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB "But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."I had all the parts but was missing one thing! Today's verse is about love the greatest of these! I had made a plan, bought the parts I needed and began to put things together, the only problem arose when I lost heart in doing the job. The customer didn't see it but deep in my heart I wasn't "into to it"! Somewhere along the way I lost my love of doing that kind of work. I wasn't sure why but I could feel that something was missing. I did the job but not with the same enthusiasm as I had in years past. I was more like a machine than a person, just going through the motions. Maybe we've found ourselves in that situation, just going through the motions with our job, our marriages, our interaction with people and possibly even our church. It's time, like I did, to step back and find what's missing. For me it was the fact that I wasn't doing it to honor God. When that thought occurred, I began to find that my love of things came back, I was doing them for the right reason! We need to ask ourselves, who are we doing if for?! peace, tom
Ephesians 6:17 NASB "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." I was reminded of today's verse when I saw one of my grandsons put on a hockey helmet and grab his hockey stick! Although he is only 3, he knows what he needs to wear when playing hockey with grampa in the living room. I began to think of how a 3 year old knows the importance of wearing the protective gear and thought to myself, how many times have I gone out into the world without wearing God's Protection. We can read the entire list of gear in Ephesians but the key is whether or not we put it on! We can have all the protective gear but if we don't put it on, we are not ready to play the sport, be protected or even enter the game. Let's not enter the game of life without wearing God's Armor, it may just save us from defeat! peace, tom
1 Corinthians 2:5 NASB "so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God."It should have made it all the way around without stopping! Today we read about how to increase our faith, by the power of God! Every so often the train would either slow down or stop. I made sure the track was put together tight but it still lacked the power to make it all the way around. My layout was too large for the transformer to power the entire track system so I needed to add a few more power lines to bring the power all the way around. In life, we will find those moments when our power seems to fade, we have the need for more power. It's then that we need to turn ourselves over to Him, yes God and let the power of the Holy Spirit be with us all the way around this thing called life. The question is, will we, will we seek His Power rather than the wisdom of man?! Power up! peace, tom
Luke 9:62 NASB "But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”"Keep moving forward! Today's verse is about not looking back but keeping our focus on what God has called us to do! There are days when the work load may seem overwhelming, the stacks of paper seem to be higher each day, the number of appointments don't seem to all fit in one day but we must keep moving forward. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn't come yet so today is the day that we need to keep focus on moving forward. The devil may try to bring up our past, the times we failed, but if we keep our eye upon Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will accomplish what He has called us to. To borrow a line from a favorite movie, "Never give up, Never surrender!" peace, tom
Proverbs 18:22 NASB "He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord." I know I am favored! Today's Word is about wives and how finding a good one, is favor from the Lord. I'll probably get into trouble, well at least embarrass her but it needs to be told. Many times people think I have it all together, but the reality is that behind the scenes, there is some one who has my back. Yes Jesus does but He favored me with a wonderful woman who I call my wife. She works tirelessly for us, keeping our schedule on track, making the most delicious meals and desserts and at the end of the day, when I'm exhausted, she still has the stamina and energy to take care of our extended family. I could go on and on but will stop there before I get in trouble too deep. Bottom line is that I am blessed and favored by the Lord - oh yeah, Happy Birthday my love!! peace, tom
2 Peter 3:17 ESV "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability." I didn't want to use it! Today's Word is an important message about our own stability! As I began to put the project together, I noticed that one of the pieces of wood was severely warped. If I had used it, the entire project wouldn't stand up straight. I needed to find another piece of wood that would keep it straight when I finished the project. Life can lead us to people who will make our life unstable. We have the choice to either go with them or find someone who will help us "walk the walk". If we go with those who are lawless, the chances we will be unstable are pretty high. Let's not be afraid to go against the grain of the world to be stable according to His Word. It always come down to choice! peace, tom
Malachi 3:6 NASB "“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end." Thank God He doesn't! Today's Word shares that the Lord does not change! I have to be honest and say that when I see a new update on my computer, I am a little concerned about the changes that will take place. It's not that I don't like to learn new things but sometimes navigating the new changes can be difficult. I think most people don't like change, ask the pastor who moved the piano from one side of the platform to the other why it took 6 months. (because he moved it one inch at a time! ) The one thing we can count on is that God will never change. Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. We can count on that, put our faith in that and rely that His Word is Truth. Change can be a good thing to help us grow but I like the fact that He is the same, how about you?! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
May 2024
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