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Matthew 14:31 NASB "Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”"Sometimes the "what if's" can become so powerful, they hold us back from moving forward! Today's verse speaks of Jesus' Words to one who doubted! To find out why He said it, we need to check out more of Matthew chapter 14! The report of someone trapped in the building came out over the FD radio as we were responding. As we donned our gear on, the what if's began to play in my mind. What if, we don't find them, what if, the fire is too intense, what if, the smoke is too thick etc. If I allowed the "what if's" to continue, I wouldn't even have gotten off the rig. But as it turned out, we found the man and brought him to safety. Don't let the "what if's" of life keep us from moving forward, let's build our faith to where we can walk on water and not sink by keeping our eye on Jesus! peace, tom
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Ephesians 2:10 NASB "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."Maybe you've heard this before "idle hands are the devils workshop"! Today's verse speaks to us about being God's workman, created for good works which are all ready prepared for us, we just need to walk in them! Sure there were many things that needed to be done on the job site but as the day grew to a close, some of the men began goofing off. The work was there to get done, but we had chosen to play around and thinking that the boss would never show up that late on a Friday night, we continued to play rather than work. There is a time to play but not when there was work to be done. As he drove up, the look on our faces was one of shock, we had got caught! Choosing to do the right thing, at the right time is a sign of maturity in Christ, sitting idly by as others do the work, isn't the best example of a workman created by God. When people see us on the job site, what do they see? Let's choose today to walk in what God has prepared for us! Great way to start the week! peace, tom
Acts 1:8 NASB "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”"Somehow the switch got triggered! Today we read about power, the Holy Spirit power to give us strength to be His Witnesses wherever He calls us to go! Working on a home project, I couldn't get the drill to work. I thought maybe I had dropped it somewhere and it was broke. I began to tear it apart and look for a broken part, but found nothing. I searched the cord for a break in the line and found nothing again. Not until I checked the outlet, did I find that the test button had been pressed and no power came out of the outlet. Once the reset button was pressed, the drill worked and I could go on and do the job. I wonder if sometimes our test button gets pressed where we don't have the power to do what God has called us to do?! Maybe it's time to check and press the reset button so we can get the power of the Holy Spirit back in our lives, in our families, in our churches and yes even in the world! Check your power source today! peace, tom
Ephesians 4:29 ESV "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."It seems so easy and yet sometimes our mouth can speak faster than our brains can think! Today we read about our words and how they can either tear down or build up, it comes down to choice! No sooner did the words leave my mouth, that my brain realized that what I said and how I said it would cause her pain. Speaking to my wife, in any thing less than uplifting, is just wrong! We need to ask ourselves are we trying to make it better or worse. Although she loves me no matter what, I need to make sure that my words are spoken in such a way as to bring grace to the situation and not tear things apart! Let's try to engage our brain before our words are spoken because they can do a lot of damage. Chose wisely my friends for our words and how they are spoken, have consequences! peace, tom
1 Peter 1:7 NASB "so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"It was finally time to enter the smoke house and test our knowledge of what we had learned! Today's verse speaks about testing by fire to see and prove if our faith brings God the praise, glory and honor! For weeks we sat in the classroom, learning about fire, and how to extinguish it. Now it was time to put into practice what we had learned. As I entered the smoke house (the training building where there was actual fire and smoke) I had to prove to our instructors that I had learned what they taught! While the heat was intense, the smoke blinding, we made it to find the victim and carry him out. In life, we will have moments when our faith will be tested. Tested to see if we have learned from those who have shared the Gospel, tested to see if we can live what we read in His Word, and trust me, others will be watching and judging us so let's get it right and bring God the glory and praise! peace, tom
Proverbs 10:28 ESV "The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish."We had done the work, and now it was time to enjoy the harvest! Today we read about the difference between the righteous and the wicked, one finding joy while other will perish! They keep coming!! Each day my wife and I go out to the garden and pick the harvest from the small backyard garden. We had done the work, tilled the soil, planted the seed, weeded, watered and cared for the young plants and now the fruit of our labor came in abundance! Sure hard work is difficult but if we remain faithful, we will see the harvest of our hard work. Don't give up half way, be strong till the end and we will be blessed beyond measure. We have so much in our garden harvest that we give most away.That's how it is will God, He will bless us so much that we can bless others as well!! Do the work and wait for the blessings to flow and they will, and give thanks to God!! peace, Tom
James 1:14 ESV "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."Cast after cast, they kept coming closer! Today we read about how our own desire is what lures us and entices us to sin! With each cast, the small fish followed my lure right to the boat. The faster I retrieved the lure, the fast the fish came. Then all of sudden out of no where, came a huge bass and engulfed my lure! The desire of the little fish wasn't strong enough to get them into trouble but the desire of the big fish got him hooked into trouble! In life, our own desire is what usually gets us into trouble. It starts out small, and as the desire begins to grow, it can lead us where we take the bait and get hooked on those things that cause us to sin. The key is that God, through Christ, has released us back into the water of living by forgiving us of our sin. Don't take the bait of satan, but let our desire be for the things of God! peace, tom
Proverbs 3:5 NASB "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding."Help me Lord, try to understand but never the less, I trust in You! Today we read were our trust should be, not in our own understanding but in Him alone! It's tough to watch the pictures and I can't even imagine being there but watching what is taking place in Afghanistan is heart wrenching, even for the strongest of men. And I have a friend who is struggling to live due to Covid-19. These things in life will cause us to question our faith and trust in the Lord but as today' verse states, we must not lean on our own understanding. We ARE NOT God, and leaning upon our own self is putting us in a place where HE should be. It doesn't make it any easier to face but it will increase our faith and trust in Him when we let go of the reigns and let Him be God not us. It's easy to say we trust Him but living it is where the rubber meets the road! Please join me in praying for those in Afghanistan, and my friend Brian! peace, tom
Hebrews 13:6 NASB "so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”"No sooner had we arrived on scene when the crowd began to grow! Today we read about confidence and having confidence in our Lord so much so that we will not be afraid of what man can do to us! There were gang wars going on and we had to respond to a house fire started by one gang to get even with another. As we pulled up and began to fight the fire, we weren't sure what would happen. Our job was to save lives and put out the fire but as the crowd grew, tempers began to climb as the gang members gathered in the street. No matter what was going on in the street, we had a job to do and we needed to have the confidence that our brothers and sisters in the police department would be there to keep us safe. In life, we will have those moments when we face difficult times, the question is where will we find the strength to not be afraid and finish the work He has called us to?! Can we say that "our strength is in the Lord? peace, tom
Proverbs 15:22 NASB "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed."There's nothing like the advice of those who have gone through it before us! Today's Word is some great wisdom when we need to make a decision, one way leads to frustration where another leads to success! Yes, I will admit we were lost and it seemed that at every turn, in the wrong direction, was leading to more frustration. Guys get this idea that we can't ask for directions even though we know we are lost. The reality is that asking for direction is a sign of confidence in who we are and our limitations. No sooner after asking for directions, we were on our way and the frustration of being lost left! Life can be frustrating and we may find ourselves lost as to what to do next. Getting advice, direction, counsel from those who have the wisdom from going through it themselves is the best way to rid the frustration and the best advice and direction we can get is from other godly men. Don't try to go it alone, be strong and ask for directions! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
October 2024
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