|
Colossians 1:13-14 NASB "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."I had put in a transfer from one department to another and waiting for the paperwork seemed to go on forever! Today's verses speak to us about being transferred from darkness into the Light because of what Christ did on the Cross, and in that transfer comes the forgiveness of sins! It was like starting over, a new beginning, an opportunity for change. When the transfer went through, I was refreshed to begin again, as if I was born again! The old job left me feeling stagnant, just going through the motions where the new position allowed me to be productive again. In life, we may find ourselves so deep in sin, so deep in just going through the motions, so deep in not really living but existing, that we need to make a transfer and the best transfer of life comes to us through the work of the Cross. Spend time this week at the foot of the Cross and see the transfer available to us through Jesus Christ! BTW, the only paperwork needed is time in God's Word! peace, tom
0 Comments
1 John 3:16 NASB "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters."I am sure you've heard this from me before but going through an old box of items I found a patch from my fire department uniform. I once again took time to look at the words "Ut Vivant Alli", which mean "that other's may live". Today's verse shares about the love of Christ, and how that love was shown to us by Him laying down His Life for us! As we face the week of His Passion, the road to the Cross, let us take time to think of what it really means to lay down our life for others. It may not mean that we go to the Cross, but we may have to endure some pain along the way, it may cost us our time, energy or even our money to put others before us. It may mean praying with someone in the middle of the grocery store, or hardware store, or even at our desks at work. The question is... how far are we willing to go to show the love of Christ to others?! May our journey to the Cross remembered this Friday, be one of self reflection of where and how we share God's Love! peace, tom
Job 42:10 NASB "The Lord also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had."Bringing it back to new life meant hard work but in the end, it was worth it! Today's verse speaks of the Lord and restoration, the restoration of all that had happened to Job and it was increased double! Restoring an old car, or an old tool is nothing compared to restoring a relationship that has gone sour. It may have been something they said, or we said but it caused division to the point where our relationship suffers. God is in the restoration business and anyone who has spent time restoring an old car, or tool, knows the hard work that goes into it. God is willing to and has done the hard work for us by sending His Son to the Cross, all we have to do is walk in the Light of it. Yeah easier said than done, but all things are possible for those who love Him! Follow where the Lord is leading so our relationship with Him and others can be restored. It's well worth the effort to hear the words "I missed you!" peace, tom
Ephesians 6:16 NASB "in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."I love a new adventure, and learning to weld was the latest one! Today we read about the Armor of God, specifically the shield of faith and it's purpose! As the sparks began to fly, I forgot critical pieces of protective gear in order to weld. Some of the sparks landed on my clothing causing burn holes, some fell in my work boots and did a good job of burning my socks and foot, and those sparks that landed on my hands, left reminders to always wear gloves! Some adventures in life will teach us valuable lessons about protective gear and His Word teaches us the importance of taking up the Armor of God, especially the shield of faith where we can protect ourselves from the flaming arrows of satan. Those arrows can burn us, leave scars and even destroy relationships. Let's make sure we are protected so we can help others extinguish the arrows shot at them! peace, tom
Romans 12:10 ESV "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."He didn't say anything, he just put his hand on my shoulder, that was enough! Today's verse shares about brotherly love, and how we should honor each other more than we honor ourselves! He knew the pain I was going through at the loss of a very good friend. As I stood looking into space, for my mind had drifted away from the moment, he gently came behind me and put his hand upon my shoulder as a sign of comfort, strength and understanding. In life, we will need that type of comfort and brotherly love, let us accept it, and realize that God sends them to help us when life gets a little too heavy to carry. And let us honor others more than we honor ourselves by offering a shoulder to cry on, time to pray with each other, a friendly text to say "I'm thinking and praying for you" - that's showing honor to others! peace, tom
Matthew 15:11 NASB "It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”"If you had spoken to her like that, I would have put you in your place! Today's Word speaks about our words and it's not what goes into our mouth that defiles someone but what comes out! Having to face the reality of my anger outburst, the first step was to recognize how badly I spoke to my wife. Words of anger, which can crush the spirit, seemed to flow out of me with no regard for how bad they hurt her and yet I would never let anyone else speak to her that way. It was a double standard that I was living, one for myself and one for others. I needed the Truth to set me free and to begin to love her with not only my actions but my words as well. How we speak to each other can tell us a lot about our relationship with Jesus. How we act behind closed doors is where the real test of our walk with Christ happens and the words we speak can either lift a person or tear them down. The question for today is... are we speaking words of encouragement to each other? peace, tom
John 5:24 NASB "“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."I was a rookie fire fighter when I found myself in the smoke filled, fire all around house and didn't really know how to get out! That's when I heard him, follow me, stay close and we will get out! Today's verse speaks to us about hearing God's Word, believing in Him who spoke it and how we can get out of death into life! I am sure, if I didn't follow where my officer was leading, I would most likely have died in that fire. Having the faith to trust him and follow where he led me, brought me from death to life. But that was just this world, there is one who has taken me from the death of hell into an eternal life with Him and His Name is Jesus Christ. Do you know Him, do you believe Him and His Word?! Don't spend eternity in the flames of hell but trust and believe in Jesus Christ and we will pass from death into life! For those of us who know Him, follow where He leads, it's a great adventure! peace, tom
Romans 8:5 ESV "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."As my mind began to wander, so did the drill bit! Today's verse speaks of where our focus is, whether on the flesh or the Spirit and thereby living according to which we focus on. No sooner did I focus back on drilling the hole, did I realize I was in the wrong place! I needed to make the hole in one location but my lack of focus, lack of concentration had caused my mistake and there by ruining the piece of wood. I had to purchase another piece and this time I made sure I was focused on what I was doing. In life, we will have times when our focus seems to drift from what we should be looking at, doing, acting upon and that can lead us into trouble and even into sin. Many of our mistakes, our sin can be traced back to a lack of focus! Let's keep our focus on where the Spirit leads us and not where the flesh draws us to. This way the holes we drill can be truly "holy" and not randomly in the wrong the place! peace, tom
Philippians 2:3 NASB "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;"As we sat there sharing a cup of coffee, he began to tell his story! Funny how God uses someone with a hearing loss to listen to others share their life's story! While waiting for my next meeting, I found myself walking the street in front of where I was to meet and in doing so, I ran into a guy who was "down on his luck". Today's verse shares with us about not being selfish or conceited but humbly consider others more important than ourselves! Close by was a street vendor, so I grabbed two cups of coffee and went over to talk with the man. At first he was shocked that someone would buy him coffee and wanted to hear his story, but the more we talked that more he felt comfortable enough to be honest with his shortcomings. After praying with him, and sharing the few dollars I had with me, he simply said "thank you, have a blessed day!" I'm not sure who had come away more blessed, him or I. Don't let the status of others keep us from sharing the love of Christ even through a cup of coffee! Lift someone's spirit today by offering to listen as they share their struggles, we will come away realizing the blessings in our own life, and give God the thanks! peace, tom
Hebrews 13:5 NASB "Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”"I came away realizing that money had become my god! Working three jobs, meant time away from family, time away from the hobbies that I used to love to do, time not spent with God or my church community. I was living for the wrong reason! Today's Word shares about making sure our character is free from the love of money and being content for when we know we have God, we will never be deserted or abandoned! Many times our priorities get all messed up, we keep chasing after things that aren't as important as other things. Time spent in God's Word, time spent with family, time spent with the guys from our men's groups can all be lost if we make it about money and trying to get more of it. Only when my world came crashing down did I realize what I was missing as I chased the "almighty dollar" verses chasing the "Almighty" Himself! The question is, what are we chasing in our life, God or something we think can replace Him in our lives?! peace, tom
|
Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
October 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed