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2 Timothy 2:5 NASB "And if someone likewise competes as an athlete, he is not crowned as victor unless he competes according to the rules." The win was tarnished! Today's verse speaks of following the rules! At the end of the game, I felt glad that we won but it wasn't a good feeling for I knew we had cheated! Playing football for my high school was an honor but one game, I learned an important lesson about winning. During the game, one of my teammates scored a touch down but I knew he had stepped out of bounds. Others saw it too but no one said a word about it. We ended up winning the game but it was a tarnished win! We must never allow ourselves to side step the Truth in order to win. We must admit when we step out of bounds and come clean in order to truly enjoy the blessings! Let's not let our lives be tarnished just to win the game! peace, tom
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1 John 3:8 NASB "he one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." Actions speak louder than words! Today's verse is about sinning and who will destroy the work of the devil! I didn't want to admit that it was sin but it needed to stop! I was blaming everyone else for my anger issues when I had to come to the reality that the "anger issues" was actually sin! We don't like to admit it when we know it's sin so we use words that make it sound not as bad as it really is. Coming to grips with our sin means being honest to ourselves that we are in fact sinning! The only one who can destroy the works of our sin is Jesus Christ! As we prepare to celebrate His Birth, may we prepare our hearts to receive Him personally! Let's call it what it is, for then we can let Christ do His Work in us! peace, tom
Colossians 3:23 NASB "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people," I needed an attitude adjustment! Today's Word can be summed up in a simple question "who do we work for?!" The foreman on the job site asked me a simple question "what do you think you are doing?!". I was new to the work force and really had no idea what I was doing. I was more interested in getting the paycheck at the end of the week than I was about doing the job and doing it right. When we work, no matter what we do, we need to ask ourselves are we giving our best. Jesus gave His All for you and me, I wonder if we are giving our all to Him no matter what! If we take an honest look at why we are doing what we do and the answer comes back "to get what we deserve", it may be time for an attitude adjustment! peace, tom
Romans 15:13 NASB "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."I remembered how I hoped I would get it! Today's verse is about hope! I was a young boy at the time and I remember hoping that I would get a certain toy at Christmas. I held on to the hope of getting it from the moment I saw it. Each day, as Christmas grew closer, my hope increased. When we have the God of hope as our focus, we can be filled with joy and peace, no matter what. It's in the believing that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit to find the courage, power, and strength to stand firm for Christ. As Christmas day came, the excitement of getting that toy was overwhelming and I did get it. That's how it can be with the power of the power of the Holy Spirit, we can get it, we just need to believe and be hopeful. May we find the hope of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit this Christmas season! peace, tom
Titus 2:13 NASB "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,"Don't say it!! Today's verse speaks to us about looking for the return of our Savior! It's a month away... the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. The world doesn't want to recognize it, using words like Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas but that doesn't mean we can't! People will be shopping, putting lights up, even trees in our homes as we prepare for Christmas and I wonder if we are preparing for His Second Coming, when He will come to take us home?! We will never know when He will return but we must be ready and prepared to meet Him face to face. Let's enjoy the month ahead as we look forward to celebrating His Birth but keep focus for His Second coming as well! peace, tom
1 Chronicles 29:13 NASB "Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name." Not just today but everyday! Today's verse is about giving thanks to God. Do we really need a day on a calendar to give thanks to our God?! A friend of mine has called it the "forgotten holiday" - yes Thanksgiving! Seems to me that we need to be grateful to our God every day of our lives. I realize that Thanksgiving is celebrating the memory of our early ancestors coming to this country, about the friendships between two different cultures coming together to share a meal. Oh how far we have come from that day so long ago when two groups of people could enjoy the bounty of the Lord and their friendship. Maybe this Thanksgiving could be a starting point in our lives to give thanks to our God everyday?! Happy Thanksgiving - thank someone today! peace, tom
Matthew 20:28a NASB "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve" It happens every time around this time of the year! Today's Word is about serving and even Jesus came to serve! Each year around this time, the number of EMS calls go up. People call 911 to have the Fire Dept. respond to them. As I walked into his house, I asked him "why did you call" - Looking to see what was wrong, if he had fallen or needed medical attention! He didn't really answer and then I began to realize he didn't need medical attention, he needed human interaction! He was alone in life and when the holidays come around, those who are all alone will try and reach out anyway to have some type of interaction with others. Maybe this year, we can think of those living alone and reach out to them. Give them a call, stop by, and even ask them to join you for Thanksgiving Dinner. Let's follow Jesus' example by coming to serve rather than be served! peace, tom
Hebrews 10:36 NASB "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." It was a lesson he taught me, it was wisdom! Today's verse speaks of endurance and when finished, we may receive! Only pay half now, and the rest when they finish the job! That was the advice my dad gave me when I was a young man learning wisdom. I had paid the entire bill for a company to do a job only to find out that the job was never finished. Trying to get them to come back and finished was like pulling teeth, painful! When we are the ones doing the job, let's make sure we endure to the end and finish well, not just for the promised pay but so we honor God in our witness of knowing His Son. Don't expect the whole reward if we only did half the job! peace, tom
Romans 14:1 NASB "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions." He never put me down! Today's Word is about accepting those who are weak in their faith and not fighting with them over their opinions! When I first attended his bible study, I had no clue. I didn't know where the Books of the Bible were when he began to read from it. When he asked me to pray aloud for the first time, I didn't know what or how to pray. There were other moments when my faith wasn't strong enough but he never looked down on me but took me by the side and encouraged me to keep growing my faith. Years later as we sat together and talked about those early times, I thanked him for accepting me and my weak faith. Let's not be so quick to judge another but accept them and help them grow - someone did it for us! peace, tom
Ephesians 4:23 NASB "and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,"He said it will never happen! Today's verse is about being renewed in the spirit of our minds! His mind was set on the fact that he didn't think we could get it done. We hadn't even started the project before he began his negative statements. He really needed a change of attitude if we were going to get it done. I had had enough and asked him plainly "if you don't want to do this, than let me know now and I will get someone who will help me get it done."! I think he was kind of shocked as he stood back and began to think. Finally he said "I'm in!" - We got the job done no problem! Sometimes we need others and/or ourselves to take a serious look at our attitude and renew it with the Spirit of God that all things are possible with God! The question is... do we need an attitude adjustment?! peace, tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
December 2024
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