Psalm 145:4 NASB "One generation will praise Your works to another, And will declare Your mighty acts."Like a little kid at Christmas, I can't wait! Today's verse is about God's Works and mighty acts and how we need to share them one generation to the next! Family gatherings can be so much fun. Getting to see those we love up close and personal, enjoying a few games, breaking bread and just catching up on how life has been. For many of us, Covid stopped the family gatherings, so it's been a while since we last saw each other face to face and as our family get's ready to gather with our extended family, I can't help but think of the loved ones who started the family, those who have gone on before us and get to see the next generation of little ones. Belonging to Christ, means we are part of His Family and when we gather, we need to make sure we share the blessings He has given to us. The question for today is... are you part of His Family? He's waiting to adopt us all! peace, tom
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Galatians 6:9 NASB "Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary."I took a moment from picking all the vegetables and thought about when I first planted the seeds! Today we have some great advice for not giving up, not getting discouraged, for in time we will reap a good bounty! It was months ago when I tilled the soil, pulled out the stones, rocks and sticks from this patch of earth in our yard. For weeks, I turned the soil over, pulled any weeds that came and planted the seeds and small plants. Watering them, weeding them took time but now, as the harvest is plenty, I'm glad I worked so hard. In life, we will come across times of discouragement, times of struggle but we must keep our eyes, and thoughts on what is to come! Don't let discouragement keep us from moving forward. Get up, pull up our pants and put on our boots and get to work, keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ for one day we will meet Him face to face and that's the best prize we can ever have! peace, tom
Romans 8:18 NASB "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."If I could have only seen how it was going to look when completed, I wouldn't have struggled so much in the process! Today we read about sufferings and how they are not to be compared to what awaits us! I had to restart the project a few times before I got it right. The struggles of getting it right were getting to me, I even thought about quitting. When it was finally finished, it looked amazing and I was glad I fought through all the struggles. In life we will have those times of struggling, suffering but if we hold on, keep moving, keep trying we will find an outcome that will bring us joy! One day, when we stand before our Savior, face to face, we will see the glory of our hard work, of our faithfulness to keep on keeping on. So find strength in Him to keep moving forward amid the struggles, and He will see us through! peace, tom
Psalm 37:24 NASB "When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand."If I let it happen again, I knew that the engine would be broken! Today we learn about falling down and who holds us so we can get back up! Having put a hill in my train set, I let the train go down the hill only to find that no matter what I did, it was going too fast and would fall off the track and off the train table! It's never a good thing when we fall, the key is whether or not we learn from our fall. I had to put up some protection against the train falling off the track and off the table and so I put up some guardrails. When we fall in life, and we will, I wonder if we put guard rails on our life. Will we let the Lord and His Word be our guardrails to keep us on the right path?! No one likes to fall but when we do, we can rest easy knowing the Lord is the One who holds our hand, but the key is whether or not we reach out and hold His! Get the best guardrail protection out there, get to know Jesus Christ, you'll stay on track better! peace, tom
Isaiah 5:20 NASB "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"I couldn't go along with them, I knew it was the wrong thing to do! Today we learn about choices and how we can deceive ourselves by saying that the bad thing is good and the good bad! No sooner did the crew meet, when one of the guys began saying that we could all just skip work for the day and make up an excuse as to why the job didn't get done. Others began to chime in with their thoughts and before you knew it, guys were beginning to leave the job site. As I walked back to my truck, I had this gut feeling that this just wasn't right, so I returned to the job site and began to work. Sometimes, in fact many times, choosing to do the right thing means going against the grain. The "group mentality" of making bad good and good bad, can lead us down paths we know we shouldn't go! Life is always about choice, so let's make sure we are making the right choice even if we have to walk down the road ourselves but remember this, we are never alone when we have Christ! peace, tom
Hebrews 10:25 NASB "not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."I have been guilty of it too many times! Today's verse addresses meeting together and encouraging one another! It's so easy to find the excuse not to meet up rather than making it a priority. I have found that too many times when I get the call to meet up with a friend I can't because of this and that. Meeting up with other men, to pray together, to share our struggles and our victories, and sometimes just to hang out doing something fun like golfing, fishing, or a good meal should be a priority in our life. Let's stop finding excuses not to meet and find the reason to meet! We will walk away encouraged to face the day! Make plans to meet and keep that commitment! Peace, tom
Romans 12:9 NASB "Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good."Out, in...out, in! Today's Word is about love, and detesting what is evil and clinging to what is good! No I wasn't doing a work out with the out, in, I was cleaning out some of the many things I had been keeping for that "one day"! Going through some of the boxes where I had stored items for that "what if I need it day" caused me to think hard about how much clutter of useless things I save. By going through them, I could keep the good and get rid of the useless. In many of our lives, we keep way too much "stuff", things like bad memories, things from our past that hold us back, un-forgiveness where people have hurt us, and many other things that do us no good to hang on to. It's time we let go of those things and hold on to the good, the blessings, the good memories. Don't let our love for useless things clutter our minds, but free us some space for the blessings of God! peace, tom
1 Chronicles 22:15-16 NASB "Moreover there are many workmen with you, stonecutters, masons of stone, and carpenters; and all of them are skillful in every kind of work. 16 Of the gold, silver, bronze, and iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the Lord be with you.”"There's nothing like it, and yet some of us don't do it to the best of our ability! Today's Word speaks of workmen and the many skillful kinds of work and it ends with simply saying to "Arise and work"! I came home from the job, exhausted, sweaty and dirty but it was a feeling of accomplishment when I looked back at what the team of us accomplished. Being part of a team, with each member bringing his/her best made the job go well and the finished product something we all could be proud of! Somewhere along the way, work has become a bad four letter word. Men would rather stay at home than use our god-given abilities. Don't let the crowd keep us from being all that God has called us to be... Arise and Work, and my the Lord be with us! peace, tom
Job 8:21 NASB "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, And your lips with joyful shouting."It was so funny that I had to share it, maybe you seen it and shared it too! Today's verse shares about laughter and joyful shouting! Sometimes life becomes so serious, so intense, so stressful that when something comes across our desk, it brings laughter and joy and eases the tension of life! While looking through FB, I ran across someone's post that made me laugh, and it was so funny that I had to share it! Although sad at first, about a man who was lonely, he decided to glue a coffee cup to the top of his car, now everyone waves at him! My mom used to say that laughter is lubrication for the soul, so why not laugh today or at least smile, people will think we're up to something!! Enjoy the day and bring a smile or even a hearty laugh to someone! :) peace, tom
Hebrews 10:26 NASB "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,"I got exactly what I had deserved! Today we read about sinning even after we have learned the Truth! I had been taught the right way to do it but trying to be a wise guy and cut time off the job, I did it the way I thought best- WRONG! It didn't save me any time and I eventually had to go back and redo all the work because although I knew the right way to do it, I decided to do it my way. Many times in life, we will be taught the Truth but if we continue to do things that we know are wrong, we deserve exactly what we get! When the supervisor found out how I did it, after teaching me the right way, I was docked the time to redo the work. I lost my pay for the day! Let's learn from our mistakes, learn from the Truth and do it right the first time! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
March 2024
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