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Psalm 82:3-4 NASB "Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Save them from the hand of the wicked."Every one of us have family who died serving our country or we know someone who did! I am sure if you asked those brave men and woman, who gave the ultimate cost, what and why they did it, they would simply reply "it was my duty, and honor to serve you and our great country!" Today's verse shares what those men and woman did, and how we should be following their example of service. You see when life becomes about us, and what we can "get out of it", we've lost the meaning of being a servant and helping those in need. As we sit around watching a parade or eating hot dogs and apple pie, may we take a moment and remember those who gave all so that we can live in freedom. Oh, and don't ever forget that Jesus gave His Life so we can live in freedom for all eternity! Have a blessed Memorial Day and serve someone today in the memory of those who gave their life serving us! peace, tom
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Isaiah 1:16 NASB “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil,"The pollen dust was so thick that I couldn't see out of the window! As I got into my SUV, I looked out the windshield only to realize just how dirty it was, I needed to clean it before I began to drive! Today's verse speaks about washing ourselves, making ourselves clean, removing the evil of our deeds! Simply put it shares we need to "stop doing evil"! it took some time but I finally cleaned it off, I even went so far as to put a protective coat of glass cleaner on to help keep it clean. In life, we will run into things that can make us dirty, there are even times when we engage in things that make us dirty, the key is to remove that dirt as soon as possible and that comes by repentance, asking God for forgiveness and putting on His Protection, to keep clean. "Stop doing evil", can it really be that easy, YES it can!! Let's get clean so we can see the path God is calling us to! peace, tom Titus 1:12 NASB "One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”"While having coffee with a friend, a man came up who knew the guy I was having coffee with. As my friend introduced us, he said "hey, you're the guy who..."! Today's verse shares what they thought of Cretans, and let's just say it's not a glowing review! The man I had just met had heard of me, had known some things about me and I had to wonder, what is my reputation? Did you ever wonder what people are saying about you? I pray that they don't use words like "liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons!" but the reality of today is that many of us men fit into one of those groups where our reputation is less than favorable. I wonder, when we are dead and gone, how will we be remembered? We can do something about that by living for Christ today and that means getting off our good intentions! The question is, what are people saying about us and how we live? peace, tom
Luke 6:12 NASB "Now it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer with God."Being totally honest, I have never done it all night long! Can you imagine and maybe some of you have, but spending the whole night in prayer as today's scriptures shares about Jesus?! I have spent time in prayer, even hours in prayer but spending the entire night in prayer, I have never done. Some things we find in God's Word may seem strange to us or even unbelievable but that's how our God works. He challenges us, in His Word to do the extraordinary, things that are not natural to our day to day living, things like miracles, signs and wonders in His Name. Next time we face something unbelievable, it could be time to do something unthinkable in the power of the Holy Spirit and remember the Words of our Savior, "that comes by much prayer and fasting"! peace, tom
Ephesians 6:11 NASB "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."While cleaning up my wife's car for her, I went to get the supplies I needed and there it was! Today's verse speaks some great advice for us as we face the schemes of the devil, and we will face them! I went to the shelf where I keep the car cleaning supplies and my eyes immediately fell upon the product "Armor-all" and I began to laugh to myself as I though about today's scripture. There it was, in a product to keep my wife's car looking good, a way to keep my life from the schemes of the devil - we need to armor all of ourselves with the list given to us in Ephesians 6. Anyone who has gone into battle, whether it was the military, the fire department, and even life knows the importance of armor, so let's make sure ours is on and in good condition for the battles we face. Armor all my friends! peace, tom
Revelation 3:20 NASB "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."Amid the smoke and fire, we could hear someone calling out! Today's scripture speaks to us about Jesus calling out to us, we need to go and open the door for Him to come into our lives! The reports were that someone was in the house, so as the fire began to build, we searched the building and that's when we heard him calling. We got him out safely but I had to wonder, if we didn't hear him calling, would we have found him?! In life, we will face darkness, times of struggle, times of not knowing what comes next but if we are still enough, and listen for His Knock at the door of our life, we can hear His Voice calling to us. Like the man rescued from the burning building, Jesus will rescue us from any and all things - we just need to open the door! Can you hear Him knocking and calling you today?! peace, tom
1 John 5:5 NASB "Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"As the coffee was served, the conversation turned to one man! Today's verse speaks about overcoming the world and who we need to believe in for that to happen! As he sat down, and we began to open our bibles and begin the men's group, one of the men was obviously not in a good place. We began to inquire of him, what was going on, that he was so down and saddened. He said simply said that he had fallen again to temptation and wasn't sure he could ever get past it. As we prayed with him and encouraged him, he began to find strength in the brotherhood that sat with him and promised to support him as he overcame the temptations. In life, we don't have to overcome the world but we do need to overcome the temptation to sin and that strength is found in Jesus Christ and godly men to stand with us. Make sure your in a godly men's group who find their strength in Jesus Christ to overcome the world of temptation! peace, tom
Luke 8:16 NASB "“Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in may see the light."It brought back memories of doing it with my daughters! Today's verse speaks about the Light and what we do with it! He put his finger in the air and repeated after me, "this little light, I'm gonna let it shine!". Remember that old familiar song from summer bible school, or maybe your grandmother or mother taught it to you! That little song about the light of Christ, came from today's scripture verse and teaching it to my grandson, brought back many memories! I thought about when I first learned it and the lady who taught me, I thought about singing it to my daughters! Maybe we should be singing that more often today in such a dark world! Let's be the light of Christ and sing to Him by how we live! peace, tom
Colossians 3:2 NASB "Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth." As soon as he hears the noise, all things stop and he looks to the heavens! Today's verse is a great one to put to memory for it gives great advice on where to keep our minds! No matter what we may be doing, he hears the noise of the plane and stops to look up and doesn't start back up until he sees the plane! Our grandson is in love with airplanes and loves to watch them fly by no matter where we are. I wonder if we can be like little children and our love of God, that each time we think of Him we would look to the heavens?! Things on the earth can cause us pain and suffering but I promise you that whenever we keep our mind on the things of God, we will always come away blessed. No matter where we are, we can keep our mind on Him and follow where the Holy Spirit leads. The question is... are we listening for Him in such a loud and busy world? peace, tom
Hebrews 12:29 NASB "for our God is a consuming fire."As the smoke cleared, the entire house had been reduced to ashes! Today's verse speaks of fire and how God is a consuming fire! Although we did our best, the house was a total loss. The fire had consumed everything, every possession they had, every bit of furniture, even the walls, ceilings and roof was totally destroyed. Fire can be a devastating thing, but there is also a side of fire that consumes yet doesn't destroy. As the weather turns nice, many will sit around the fire pit and enjoy the company of friends and family, Many will grill their favorite meal together, this is the consuming fire of God. The fire of God can burn up our past failures and give us the fire of the Holy Spirit to be our comfort and our guide. It always comes down to choice! May the consuming fire of God bring us the comfort of the campfire with friends! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
October 2024
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