Mark 14:38 (NASB) "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”I didn't even see it creep in but after while, it became overwhelming! My dad has taken us boys out in a wood boat for the first time. What we didn't know was that an old wooden boat will need to be wet in order for the wood to swell to a point of where it doesn't let more water in! Today's verse speaks about watching and praying as temptation comes into our lives and how the spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. As we began to bail the water out, a little panic set in that we were going to sink! After a while, the level of the water began to go down for the wood had swollen and no more water was coming in. We learned an important lesson that day! In life, temptation will come, it will slowly seep in when we least expect it and before we know it, we will be sinking deeper and deeper into sin. If we stay alert and walk by the Spirit and not our flesh, we can keep our lives swollen with the things of God and be protected from ever sinking to sin!! So, the question is, how's your boat doing?! peace, tom
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Jeremiah 31:25 (NASB) "For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.”"I could tell that things weren't going to go as planned, the battery in my drill and the light I was using were slowly fading out! Today, we have a promise from God about those of us who are weary, He will satisfy us and refresh us! I needed to recharge the battery in my drill and plug my light in so that they would work at 100%. I had failed to charge them up the last time I used them and now had to deal with my laziness! In life, we may find ourselves needing to be recharged, needing to be plugged back in to the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to ask ourselves "why didn't I stay connected in the first place so I would be at full power?". Laziness can cause a lot of problems, not only for the moment but also for when we need to be working at our best later! Don't forget to get recharged by God daily by reading His Word, praying and walking in the Spirit - otherwise we are useless tools for Christ! peace, tom
Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."Maybe that's why we don't read it as we should! I didn't want to make the call but I knew I had to in order to get rid of the pain! Recently I broke a tooth and needed to get it fixed but I really don't like going to the dentist! Today we read that God's Word, is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword, piercing through our soul and spirit, joints and marrow and judging our thoughts and intentions! I couldn't help but think that some don't read God's Word daily because it is a sword that will cut things out of our life. Like going to the dentist to have painful work done, the daily reading of God's Word will cause pain in clearing out the sin of our life! I am reminded of that old saying "no pain, no gain!" - I'm off to the dentist, are you off to read God's Word? peace, tom
Hebrews 2:1(NASB) "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it."I had let other things keep me from it and now I had to pay for it! I knew that I had to take care of the weeds growing in the garden but every day I said "I'll get to it tomorrow!" Today we learn about paying closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it! I remember the words of my parents "stay current" - it simply meant taking care of the things in life on a "current" basis. Don't put off till tomorrow, the things needed to be done today. Rather than spend a few minutes in the garden pulling weeds, I ended up for hours doing what could have been done a few minutes a day! In life, we can ignore the things of God for just so long, we can keep putting Him and His Word off for another day but there will come a day when we wish we did it every day. Don't let time with God slip away, stay current in our relationship with His Son Jesus Christ daily, then the weeds of our life won't grow so big and strong! peace, tom
Deuteronomy 16:7 "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.I wish I could have done more but I did what I could! There were times when a customer's problem was more than I could do. I did what I could but realized that others were able to do more so I would give them the name of the company that could help them out. Today's verse tells us that we should give what we are able to give from the blessings of God! Realizing that we can't do it all and that there are others who are blessed with gifts and talents that can help is being honest with ourselves and what we can do. Doing what we can is a good thing but recognizing that others have gifts and talents too and allowing them to bless others is a better thing. Let's not try to be a "do it all, know it all" kind of person but let's let the blessing of others bring us joy too! peace, tom
Ephesians 5:11 "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;"There is an old saying "for evil to prosper, good men do nothing!" It was a title I didn't liked to hear but during an outing with my high school, some of the guys began to destroy some of the property where we visited. I went to the teacher and shared what was going on. From that day on, I was know as a "narc", a rat, and was no longer part of that group! Today's verse speaks of not participating in evil deeds but even exposing them! It's never easy to take the right path, if it was everyone would be doing it. Exposing those doing the wrong thing can be hard but if we keep our focus on Christ, and make sure we take the log out of our own eye first, we can be the men who do something to stop the evil from advancing. Be strong and stand firm in our faith and act like men is another great verse to remember as we expose the acts of evil! The world may call us a "narc" but in God's World we shall be called "blessed"! peace, tom
Acts 15:32 (NASB) "And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words."As we were finishing up the job, the foreman came by and yelled to us "good job guys!" When we got back to the office, there was a message to meet the foreman in his office. Upon arriving there, he began to share how the customer couldn't say enough about the quality of our work and how pleased they were! Today's verse speaks about encouragement and strengthening others! It doesn't take a lot of energy to pass along some kind words of encouragement to others. The foreman actually gave our crew a new sense that we were doing things correctly and bringing "kudos" to the company. I wonder how many times we can encourage others in the work they are doing for the Lord?! Simple words of strength and encouragement can make the difference in a person's life and bring God the glory. Why not send out an encouraging text or call to someone we see working hard and doing a great job! It could be the encouragement they need to carry on! peace, tom
2 Corinthians 6:3 (NASB) "giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,"There were so many things around that it became difficult to walk! Spending time with my grandson, we began to pull all the toys out and lay them on the carpet, no sooner did we have them all out when there was no place to actually play with them and the toys became stumbling blocks for us! Today's verse speaks to us about giving no offense in anything to discredit the work God has called us to! Sometimes in our effort to try and get everything out, we can became stumbling blocks to others. Many times it best to share just a few things rather than all of it so as to make the Way to Christ easier. How many times have we heard those who don't know Christ ask what some of the "words" we use mean?! Keeping things simple will cause less stumbling blocks in sharing Christ and our own walk with Him. Let's not discredit Christ and the Work of the Cross by creating stumbling blocks in our life! Putting most of the toys away meant more time to enjoy the ones we had out! peace, tom
Romans 16:17 (NASB) "I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them."You could tell from the start that his main goal was to cause trouble! Not wanting to judge him right away, I gave him some time but as the time went on, I realized that he was there for one thing and one thing alone! Today's verse speaks to us about keeping an eye on those who cause trouble, sharing things that we didn't learn growing up and to turn away from them. There is a time when we must let go of those in our life who are looking to cause trouble and this guy was one of them. As the men's group started, his only goal was to argue every point we discussed from God's Word. After a few weeks, I made the decision to ask him not to return, a hard decision but it had to be made! I had talked with him one on one after the first meetings he attended and even then his heart wasn't in the right place. Sometimes we need to make the hard decision of cutting those things out of our life that cause nothing but trouble and add those things that will bring us closer to God!! Time to sharpen the saw blade! peace, tom
1 Corinthians 4:12 (NASB) "and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;"I knew the minute we began to work with it, that the mixture was wrong! While filling a crack in our basement wall, we had made up some hydraulic cement but the mixture between water and cement was wrong! Today's verse speaks about working with our hands and how when we are reviled, we bless and when persecuted, we endure! Before we could even get the mixture on the wall, the material became too hard to use! UGH - sometimes following the exact measure of things comes to into play when we need to get it right! When we work, we need not focus on what others will think of us, but what our work effort is to the Lord! Having the right mix of God's Word in our life and walking by the Spirit, will allow us to get the job done, no matter what people are saying about us! Work to bring God glory and not man, and get the mixture right, otherwise we will be doing it all over again! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
February 2025
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