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Mark 12:10(NASB) "Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone;"You couldn't see it at first but the more we uncovered, the more we realized that the house was in rough shape! Today's verse speaks to us about reading Scripture, especially this verse about the rejected stone being the very corner stone! The house sat upon pillars of rock, which overtime have begun to crumble and fall into disrepair. With that the walls of the house began to sag and lean, the floors were unlevel and if let go, the house would eventually fall. The Corner Stone from today's verse is Jesus Christ, while rejected by many, others have made Him their corner stone of new life. If we allow ourselves to fall away from Christ, our lives will began to sag, our decisions will begin to lean in the wrong direction, and eventually our house will fall. Let's make sure we keep our foundations firmly upon the Lord and check it against God's Word. We may just find we need to do some major repairs to our life! peace, tom
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Matthew 7:14 (NASB) "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."Not everyone can do or even wants to! I remember the very first time I was asked to walk the rafters of the house we were building. The lead carpenter said that I needed to carry these sheets of plywood up to the men putting them down on the roof! Today's verse is a good one for remembering that coming to Christ has a small gate and a narrow way to get there and only a few will find it! The lead carpenter began to share the secret of walking these narrow boards and how to keep from falling off, he simple said "keep your eyes on the thin rafters and take it step by step! Great advice of not just walking rafters but also for finding our way to Christ. Keep our eyes upon Him and His Word, and take it step by step. Sure it may seem scary at first but once we get there, the path is so worth it! Be sure to pass along the advice just like the lead carpenter did to me!! peace, tom
1 Peter 4:12 (NASB) "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;"I don't know what I was thinking! I had figured it would only take a few minutes, boy was I wrong. Trying to fit another job into my busy schedule, I had told the customer that it would only take a few minutes but as I began the work, this went wrong, then that! Today's verse speaks to us about the fiery ordeal among us and that we shouldn't be surprised by it and it's there for our testing! When we try and walk the walk of Christ, satan will put a target on us and hit us with difficulties along the way. We should not be surprised, but face each one as a test of our faith in Christ and not ourselves. Rather than taking minutes to accomplish the job, it ended up taking all day for with each thing I touched, another problem occurred. In life, as we keep on keeping for Christ, we will encounter those fiery ordeals that will test us, but keeping our eyes upon Jesus, we will pass the test. Make sure we are studying for the tests that come our way by staying in His Word and praying for the power of the Holy Spirit! Let's pass those tests today! peace,tom
Romans 8:25 (ESV) "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."It finally grew out! Have you ever hit your fingernail and then had to wait for the bruise of the nail to grow out? It seems to take forever, and yet one day, when you least expect it, you find that the nail bruise is gone! Today's verse speaks about hoping for what we do not see but waiting patiently for it! As I noticed that my nail was finally "clean" of the bruise, I couldn't help but think that sometimes prayer is like that. You pray for something, but nothing seems to be happening, then you keep praying and one day, it happens. With the invention of microwaves, cellphones, tablets etc, we have become a society of wanting and getting it NOW, but in God's World, we may have to wait for Him to act. The key of course is to learn to wait patiently, easier said that done but when we keep faithful in our prayers, God's Will will be done! Keep praying and wait patiently - He will surprise us like never before! peace, tom
1 Peter 2:16(ESV) "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."I wonder what they would say to us! In the movie "Saving Private Ryan", there is a scene where Capt. Miller says to Private Ryan, "EARN THIS!". Today's verse speaks to us about living as free men, and not using our freedom to do evil but to be servants of God! We can't hear from those brave men and woman who gave their life in the service of this great country, but I can imagine them all saying "earn this" to us! Thank God we have the Bible where we can hear what we need to do with our lives after Jesus has laid His Life for us and for our freedom from sin and death! We are to live free, to live serving others for that is the example Jesus has set before us. Living free has a cost, it cost many their lives, so we have a responsilbity to keep their memory alive by living as they did, serving others! Happy Memorial Day, pray for the families of those who have "laid such a costly price at the altar of freedom! peace, tom
1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB) "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”"Maybe this is where the slogan "don't judge a book by it's cover" started! I have seen it many times as a young boy, captains picked players for their team, on the job site as foreman picked men to accomplish a difficult task, boys and men were judged by their outward appearances! Today's verse speaks to us about how God doesn't look at what we look like but rather on what's in our heart! Many times in life, we will sadly judge based upon outward appearances but we may be missing the most important part of those we have chosen to be around. Where is their heart, and for that matter where is our heart?! Judging someone based upon their "look" is not what God does, and thank Him for that! God looks to the heart of a man, and we should too. The question is, what's in our heart? Is it His Word, His Spirit or is our heart filled with ourselves? Let's chose Him and LIVE Him today! peace, tom
Isaiah 43:19 (NASB) "“Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert."It was the first time I had taken my boat on this lake so I took things slow and cautiously! Being on a new lake, not knowing the structure of the bottom or where the rocks to avoid were, I navigated slowly, learning as I went! Today's verse speaks about God doing something new, springing it forth and making a new roadway for us. With most cites beginning to "re-open", we may feel as if we are in uncharted waters. Finding a new path in life can be challenging at best but if we hold firm to our faith in Christ, in the promises of God's Word, we will find our path in the wilderness. To be honest, there was something exciting about being on a new adventure, learning new places to fish, enjoy the newness of change. Let us embrace the newness of life and give God the glory for change! peace, tom
John 5:8(NASB)"Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”"It was easier to lay there rather than get up and get moving! A few days after I had to give up working on the fire department, I went through the test of getting motivated to keep living life. I found reasons to want to stay in bed all day but there was something wrong about that - life went on, I just had to find the new path of living. Today's Word speaks of one of the miracles performed by Jesus and the words He spoke to the man that was healed. With the recent "stay at home" lifestyle, we may find it difficult to get up and get going. Every day may feel as if its the same as the day before but we must get up, pick ourselves up and walk! We were called for a purpose, created to live life and not just "veg" on the couch. People are counting on us so let us find the strength in Christ, to follow the words Jesus used that day. Deep in my heart I knew that life had changed but that meant a whole new adventure began. What's the new adventure you are taking on with Christ?! peace, tom
Matthew 11:28 (NASB) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."It was probably the greatest advice I got that day and it made a big difference in finishing strong! The foreman simply said "take five!" - that meant we could all take a moment and rest from the grueling work we were doing. Today's Word speaks to us about rest and where best to go and get it when we are weary and heavy laden, it's God! As the sweat poured off our faces, we just sat down right where we were. With the words of the foreman to take five, each man just sat, no one talked, no one moved, we were exhausted from the heavy work we were doing. Life will have those moments, when we become so overworked, heavy laden, weary to the point of exhaustion, and it's then we need to step back, take five, spend some quiet time with God and let Him heal us, comfort us, nourish us to get up and keep going. Rest is not a bad four letter word, it is a comforting we can get from God, so let's not forget to rest in Him during these "not sure what's coming next" days! peace, tom
1 Peter 1:7 (ESV) "so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."I had to pull the car over, I couldn't "fake" it any longer! While driving to church one Sunday, my wife and I had a very bad argument, so much so that we were at odds! We had a choice that day, we could go to church and "fake it" that things were ok or we could be honest with ourselves and others that things were not ok! Today's verse speaks about the genuineness of our faith and when tested like gold through fire, it may be found in the praise and glory of the revelation of Jesus Christ. In life, we will have those moments when we need to be real, that our faith needs to be genuine and not fake that things are ok. It's ok to admit that we need help, I needed to admit that my anger had become a serious problem in our relationship and I needed to be truthful about getting help, thank God I did! Don't let things keep us from being real about our relationship with Jesus Christ and each other. Admit we need help and seek Him above all! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
December 2024
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