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Matthew 15:8 NASB "This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me." I couldn't tell the difference! Today's verse is about being real, not lip service but heart service! I thought it was real but after close examination, I found it to be fake! I thought I had found an old train engine for my hobby. I asked the seller if it was real or a fake, and his reply was "check it out yourself!". It sure looked real and I thought to myself that it was too good to be true. Nothing that old could look that good unless it was faked in someway. As I examined it closer, I found the flaws, little things that a quick look would have missed. The reality was that sometimes a quick look can get us into trouble. Let's take a good long look at our heart and see if we are only giving God the lip service where our hearts are not into it. Let's examine closely where our heart is when it comes to serving the Lord. BTW, He knows what's real and what's fake! peace, tom
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Psalm 126:2 NASB "Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”"The tears just kept flowing! Today's Word is about joy and laughter and how the Lord has done things for us! We laughed until we cried. Sometimes I get into these goofy moods were things just end up being funny! So funny that my wife and I find ourselves laughing so hard that we start to cry. If someone were to come in and see us, they may think that we are crying for pain but the reality is that sometimes life is funny, real funny. Find the joy and laughter that the Lord can bring to our life and then laugh, laugh so hard that you end up crying. By the way, others may think we are crazy but that's ok 'cause sometimes you have to be that way. Find a reason to laugh today! My mom used to say that laughter is lubrication for the soul! peace. tom
Galatians 6:9 ESV "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."If I had only held on longer! Today's verse is about not giving up! I was so close to finishing it but I gave up too early! It's too bad that I didn't see that the end was so close but I gave in to exhaustion, to working too long with out reaching the end. Stopping short of reaching our goal or dream or job can lead us to depression, to feelings of being a failure, to not wanting to start anything again. The great thing about Jesus Christ is that each day is a new day. It doesn't matter how yesterday went, we can start anew. Don't let the failures of yesterday keep us from trying again, starting over and this time, let's go the distance. Putting all our hope in ourselves may lead to giving up too early, but if we put our trust in God, and hope in Jesus Christ, we can go the distance! Today's a new day, let's get 'er done! peace, tom
Genesis 1:4 NASB "God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness." Somehow they got all mixed up! Today's verse is rather simple to understand, there needs to be separation between the Light and the darkness! I had set the nails and screws together in a bucket as I head out on a job. Somehow the boxes got opened and all the nails and screws were mixed together. It took a while but I got them separated again in different containers. Having them separated makes it easer when on the job site, I don't have to spend so much time looking for the right nail or screw. In life, the line between good and evil can get mixed up, where we find ourselves in the darkness rather than the light. We need to make sure we separate ourselves from the darkness. Following Jesus will help us do that, separate ourselves from the darkness. Rather than join in the darkness, we are to shine the Light of Christ so others may come to the Light! peace, tom
Ephesians 6:17 NASB "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."Watch your head! Today's verse is part of the armor of God that we should put on! Our first house did not have a full basement which meant that the height of the ceiling was less than normal. Each time I went to the basement or brought someone down there I uttered the words "watch your head". I learned to say this because too many times, I hit my head going down there. When I had to do some work down there, I put on a hard hat to keep from banging my head against the joists. There will be times when we will bump our heads in life. Times when our head will get hurt and that pain may just teach us to put on the helmet of salvation. Protecting ourselves from needless pain is wisdom, and putting on the full armor of God will protect us from the attacks of the enemy. Read about all the armor in Ephesians chapter 6, then put it on. The hard hat did not protect me unless I put it on! peace, tom
Psalm 51:12 NASB "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit."If I let it go, it will break away! Today's verse is about restoration of joy, and not our joy but His! It started out as a small crack that eventually began to get bigger. It is the corner of a step leading into our house. The crack started out small but I didn't do anything about it and as time went on, the crack grew to where, if left alone, we would lose the corner of the step. I needed to fix it before that happened. In life, we will have tiny cracks that will eventually rob us of the joy of His Salvation. They don't start out large but if left alone, will take our joy away. The cracks maybe small at first and that''s when we need to make sure we do something about them. Put on some worship music, sit and read His Word, call out to a godly friend but begin to fix the crack in our walk with Jesus. We don't want to lose the "cornerstone" of Jesus in our life! peace, tom
Mark 16:15 NASB "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."Did you hear the news?! Today's verse is about sharing the news of Jesus Christ, plain and simple! I am always amazed at how fast news travels. Sometimes we don't even know the person who is sharing the news with us but as we stand, whether in line at the grocery store, or hardware store or coffee shop, they turn and say "did you hear the news". It would seem that news travels fast, whether it's bad news or good news, it is passed along at an amazing rate. I wonder what would happen if we began to pass the news of Jesus Christ as fast as we do other things?! Would people begin to go back to church, would we see miracles, signs and wonders like never before?! All it takes is the courage to say "did you hear about Jesus Christ"! Why not try to share Jesus with one person this day, share the Good News! Did you hear... peace, tom
3 John 1:11 NASB "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God." It's a simple game but so much fun! Today's verse shares about who we should imitate! It's a childhood game, maybe you've played it too - it's called "Simon Says"! I have had the opportunity to lead a group of children in the game of Simon Says, some followed and won while others made the mistake of not following what was said and lost. In life, it's the same way! When we follow where God leads us, we can find the good in all things but when we follow the ways of the world, we will only find loss where we keep looking for a better way. Jesus Christ is the best way and will lead us if we follow Him. Sure, His Words maybe difficult at times to follow but in the end He will lead us to the good of life. Simon says "read His Word every day" - wonder if we will follow His Lead?! peace, tom
John 14:26 NASB "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you."He may be gone but his words still ring in my ears! Today we read about help from the Holy Spirit and how we will be reminded of all that Jesus has said! I could hear him in my mind! I could hear his words of encouragement and advice! While doing a home repair job, I could hear the words of my dad in my head. It was almost as if he was right there. My dad went on to glory over a year ago and yet his words of advice still ring out. When we have the Holy Spirit as our helper, we too can hear the Words of Christ ring in our minds. The key of course is whether we listen to Him and the Word spoken to us. Let's not be so arrogant that we think we know it all but be open to advice and help along the way! peace, tom
Romans 15:7 ESV "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."There is nothing like coming home! Today's verse shares that we are to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us! After being away for the last week, it was good to come home! Home to our family, home to our house and home to our church family. We did take time to refresh and relax as we were away but coming home and being welcomed home is always a blessing. Just as Christ welcomes us to His Family when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and one day we will be welcomed home to heaven. But in the mean time it's back to work, back to sharing Christ, back to where He calls us to go and share. Let's make sure whether people are gone for a day, a week or even longer, we welcome them back with the love of Christ! It's good to be back and thank you all for the messages of how these were missed. Peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
February 2026
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