Isaiah 1:16 NASB “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil,"There was a world of difference! Today's Word gives us some straight forward advice on how to live, and it ends with a simple but profound statement! After we had cleaned out all the garbage, trash, and cleaned it up, the place looked brand new! There were piles left by the last tenants, debris everywhere, there were marks on the walls and the place didn't look like a place anyone would want to live. Getting rid of the garbage in our life will lead us to a place where others want to be around us, so let's stop doing evil! Seems pretty simple and when we know the Truth, it will set us free! Let's get out the garbage bags today and start removing those things we need to get rid of! peace, tom
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Philippians 4:11 NASB "Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."I knew they were going fishing but I had to work! Today's Word shares about being content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, easier said than done! All day long, I kept feeling as if I had been cheated. I had asked off for the day but was refused because of the workload. I knew that they were going fishing and I wanted to go but then realized how blessed I was to have a job so I had to let go of the feeling that I was somehow being cheated! I had been hired, and employed, so thinking that "they owed me" wasn't a good place to be. I was blessed to be able to work and have a decent job and fishing would come another day! Having the mindset to be content with where we are and seeing the blessings from the Lord will help us be content with were we are... the fish will be there when it's our time to fish! peace, tom
Colossians 3:9 NASB "Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices,"I'm sure we have all heard that old saying "Houston, we have a problem!". Today's Word speaks about Truth verses lies and how once we have taken off our old ways, we shouldn't go back to them! Having the courage to admit we have a problem takes courage! Admitting that we need help shouldn't be as hard as facing the problem. Only when we admit that we need help, can help begin to come. Years ago, I tried to do things all by myself. I had this attitude that I didn't need anyone, that is until I ran into problems where I did need someone else's help. I realized that admitting my failures would actually help me in the long term and asking for help took more courage than trying to go it alone. Of course the best place to get help is to admit we need Christ, the Holy Spirit and God the Father in our lives. With that kind of help, we won't slip back into our old ways! peace, tom
Romans 12:19 NASB "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord."I love winter but I had had enough! Today's verse speaks to us about getting even, and how we should let God have the revenge! I wanted to shoot the groundhog! As I woke up to an unexpected snow storm, my first thought was to find the groundhog and give him a piece of my mind! That winter had lasted long enough and I was ready for spring! But there are things that are out of our control and to be honest, one groundhog killing would not make a difference. What I needed to accept was that things happen, and how we deal with them can make the difference in our life. Letting go of the things out of our control and letting God take care of them is a much better way to live. When it comes to getting even, we need to let it go and let God take the reins for we know He will judge things better than we do! Learn to let it go and let God, and leave the groundhogs alone! lol peace, tom
2 Peter 2:9 NASB "then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,"There are two sides to every coin! Today's verse gives us both sides of God's Coin as He will deal with us, His Creation - let's make sure we are on the right side of the coin! We keep a big glass jar in a room in our house, where we put our loose change. Each day, when I empty my pockets, I put the change in the jar. The coins build up and when there's time, we take out the coins, count them and turn them in to the bank. The funny thing about the jar is that one of our grandson's always looks down the next of the jar to see all the coins inside. Some are heads and some are tails! I couldn't help but think that God is looking down upon us and looks to see if we are heads or tails, are we the ones He will rescue from the trials of life or are we the ones who will be under punishment until the day of judgement?! Like I said before, let's make sure we are on the right side of the God's Coin, there's always time to flip over if we aren't ! peace, tom
John 15:2 NASB "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit."It was a temporary job but I learned so much! Today's verse speaks of fruit and how He will trim those branches so we can bear more fruit! Taking a temporary job at a nursery taught me the importance of today's verse. I had to trim the branches of the trees that weren't bearing fruit and at the end of each day, we burned them up. I couldn't help but think how God will trim away the branches that will not or are not bearing fruit. And He will prune us so that we can bear more fruit. Let's be honest, the pruning hurts but it's better than being cut off and thrown into the Lake of Fire! Let's check and see if there are any branches that need pruning in our life or branches that need to be cut right off! If we don't, He will! Bear fruit today and more fruit tomorrow! peace, tom
2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?"I think most of us delete them right away! Today's Word is a challenge to us all to test our faith, to examine ourselves and our walk with Christ! Usually after a purchase, we get that "survey" on how they did, the company that we bought from, they ask challenging questions in how well they served us, how the product was and if they met our standards. I like to fill them out and as I did one recently, I began to ask myself if someone was to fill one out for my walk with Christ, how would they answer. The verse for today says that we should fill one out for ourselves. Ask ourselves the hard questions to see if we are really walking the walk or just talking the talk. Let's not fail the test but learn how we can do better... for Him! peace, tom
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NASB "We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone."We were there once! Today's Word gives us some great advice in deal with each other! When I became manager of the store, I knew that I would have to address each employee differently, some worked hard, some were slackers and some just didn't show up at all. I had to make sure I didn't use the "one size fits all" philosophy as I interacted with them. Admonishing the unruly, encouraging the fainthearted and helping those who struggled with the job made each of them feel as if they were important to the company. It made a difference and over time we became a unit as we all worked together. Let's not be so quick to treat everyone the same way but be open to what the Holy Spirit shows us as we interact with others, for we were there once! peace, tom
Hebrews 13:16 NASB "And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."He treated me like family! In fact, he even said that he treated all those who called as if he was helping his mother! Today's Word speaks about doing good and sharing, and how they are pleasing to God! Running into technical difficulties as I tried to set up my new phone, I called "tech support" - Sherlock, his name, offered his assistance with an attitude that no matter what, he was going to help me get it up and running! For hours we sat and tried this and that to get it done! Throughout the whole ordeal, he was kind and courteous and professional and treated me like family! Maybe we need to have that attitude with each other cause we are... family! We all come from the same Father and that makes us family. Let's be kind to each other no matter what and treat each other as family, it makes a difference! peace, tom
1 John 1:6 NASB "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;"I couldn't believe it and it made me take a good look at myself! Today's Word speaks about lying, saying one thing and doing another! I was shocked to hear the words come out of his mouth! While spending time with a pastor friend of mine, I heard him utter some words that, well let's just say did not honor God. I was quick to judge him by today's verse but then realized maybe I needed to check my own life before I began to check his! We are not perfect and each one of us have those "I'm not proud of what I did or said" moments. We need to be careful how we judge others cause no one is perfect but the Lord Jesus Christ! We need to examine our own life and see if we say we have fellowship with Christ and yet walk in darkness! Let's make sure we shine the Light of Christ in our own life before we go checking on someone else's "Light" bulb! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
April 2024
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