Luke 3:11 NASB "And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”"Funny how God has a sense of timing!! Each day at work, after lunch, I would take time to read a verse or so from God's Word, that day I read today's verse about sharing our tunics and our food! Now we didn't wear tunics but I did have an extra pair of gloves in my truck and gave them to a new kid on the job, I also shared part of my lunch with him as he forgot his! And then I read today's verse!! I was almost laughing out loud how God's timing is perfect. He knows what we need and when to share it with us! The key is whether or not we are reading His Word daily to learn more about Him and His Timing and how to be strong in the Lord during a waiting time! Stay strong and be sure to share with those in need, cause one day it could be us in need! And it's what God's Word tells us to do!! Share freely my friends! peace, tom
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1 Timothy 5:22 EVS "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure."Sadly it was easier to go along with them than stand opposed! As a young boy, wanting to be with the 'in" crowd, I found myself going along with them but not realizing what they (and I) were up to! Today's verse shares about not being hasty to go along with others and taking part in their sin! The courage needed to stand opposed to the group of boys wasn't something I had back then. Going along with the crowd got me in trouble more times than I care to admit but as I grew older and wiser, I began to realize the motive of the group and found myself standing opposed to the point where I no longer hung out with them. Not choosing to stand against the status quo because we want to feel part of the group is never a good thing. Staying pure, as the verse ends, means spending more time walking with Christ and the Holy Spirit than those who seek to do wrong! Find strength in Christ, to stand opposed to what we know is wrong! peace, tom
Isaiah 59:2 NASB "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear."The two pieces needed to fit together perfectly for it to work, the only problem was that rust had built up on the one piece so when I put them together, they didn't fit properly! Today's verse speaks about the separation between us and God and how our sin has hidden His Face from us! I had to do a lot of grinding and sanding to get all the rust off the one piece in order for it to fit together with the other one. After many hours, finally they fit! It reminded me of the time when my anger caused a separation between my wife and I. We just didn't fit together as we had so I needed to do the work in order for us to "fit" together again. Same thing with our relationship with God! We must do the work to keep ourselves clean from sin in order to have that union with Him. The question is, what needs to be sanded away from our life so that we fit together with God?! peace, tom 1 Thessalonians 5:21 NASB "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;"Every time it went around, it fell off the track! It usually happened at the same spot, no matter whether it was going forward or backward! Today's verse shares some great advice about examining everything and holding fast to that which is good! You couldn't tell by just looking at it but there was a section of track on my train layout that was bad, it was bent in such a way that the train would fall off the track each time it went by. I had to examine the track very carefully to find it but once I did, I had to remove it. There are things in our life that will cause us to fall off the track of walking with Christ, things that will bend us until we lose the direction of where we are trying to go. It's then that we must follow today's verse and get ourselves back on track. Examine carefully my friends and hold fast to that which is good! peace, tom
Exodus 40:38 NASB "For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel."Sometimes we don't need signs to see which way to go, we can follow it because we can see it for ourselves! As we turned out of the fire house, there in the distance was the smoke and fire, a house was burning and we could see it for ourselves! Today's verse shares about how the Lord led His People through the wilderness, a cloud by day and a fire by night! Many times in life, we cry out for a sign to see, to lead us, to show us the way to go when we already know what to do and how to do it. The hard part is, we need the strength to do what we know is the right thing, the godly thing to do and the way to go. My fire department crew, didn't need anyone to point us in the right direction, we could see it for ourselves. Don't lose focus on what Christ is calling us to do by waiting for a sign, when we know what needs to be done! Let's get up and do it for we know what God is asking of us! peace, tom
2 Timothy 1:6 ESV "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,"Enjoying a nice quiet evening with my wife, we decided to start a fire and just sit and enjoy. Before the long the fire slowly began to burn out. I needed to fan the fire in order for it to bring warmth and light to our evening! Today's verse tells us to fan into flame the gift of God that we have received through the laying on of hands! When we first lit the fire, things were warm and enjoyable but slow, as the flames died out, we became cold and the evening wasn't so enjoyable. Once we fanned the flame to a brilliant flame, the warmth returned and so did the enjoyment of the evening. Don't let the spark of Christ grow dim in our lives! Fan that spark into the flame that God has called us too. We will begin to feel His Warmth again and enjoy the life He has called us too! Flame on! 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;"They stood there poking fun at us and yet we continued to work! Today's verse speaks about work and while we work, we may be reviled and persecuted but we bless and endure as they insult us! As I entered the building where I was to share with the men, a group was outside protesting. They were calling those inside all kind of insults because these men chose to honor God rather than man. I couldn't help but pray for those shouting the insults, I wished somehow that they would come in with us and see what honoring God is all about, how living for Christ is the only Way, but sadly they did not. In life, we have choices, we can try to get even with those who insult us or we can pray for them, try to be like Christ to them - it all comes down to choice! If you are one of those working through the insults, keep on keeping for the cause of Christ, one day we will be rewarded beyond your wildest imaginations! peace, tom
Proverbs 3:6 NASB "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."When I arrived on the job site, the foreman told me my job for the day - he simply said "make sure we stay on target and go straight! Today's verse speaks to us about acknowledging God and He will make our path straight! It was a big responsibility, for if I lost sight of the target, we would have gone in the wrong direction. As the machine began to be fired up, I have to say that I became a little nervous. The entire operation relied on myself to keep us on course! In life, there will be distractions, detours, paths that will lead us to where we should never go. Keeping focus on Christ, by staying in the Word, walking by the Spirit and the help of some godly men will keep us on target. It's harder to stay on target than it is to swerve to the left or right, what direction are we going today? It's never too late to straighten it out! peace, tom
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB "Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."Watching professional sports these "covid-19" days just isn't the same! The seats of the auditoriums are empty, no fans cheering their favorite team and players on, it's just weird! Today's verse shares about being an encourager, building one another up! I am blessed to have been encouraged by others, they don't wear cheerleading uniforms, or wave "pom-poms" in the air but are there when I need that little extra push in life. There are some men in my life that know me so well that they can tell when I need that little bit of encouragement when life seems to be overwhelming. They come and offer to pray with me, for me and that gives me the strength in Christ to encourage others to be strong in Him! Don't let the stadiums of our life be empty but reach out to another man and begin to fill your seats with those who will encourage your walk with Christ! peace, tom
2 Timothy 2:21 NASB "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work."The wheels were full of mud, caked in so much so that we did more sliding around than actually driving! Today's verse shares about cleaning ourselves from the things that will cause us not be vessels for honor, useful to God, not prepared for every good work! Before we could go any further, we needed to stop and clean out the dirt that was stuck on the tires, easier said than done but it can be done! In life, we will get stuck on those things of life that make us unproductive, they will fill our lives so that we aren't productive and just kind of slide around. But when we begin to let God clean us up and we remove those things that cause us to slip, we will find ourselves in a position to be useful to God. The key of course is whether we chose to get clean or wallow around in the muck! The choice is ours but there are people who are counting on us to get clean! Maybe it's time for a bath in God's Love?! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
March 2024
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