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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,It was slowly going out! Today we are reminded to fan the flame of Christ in our lives! As we sat by the fire, enjoying the outdoors and friends, the fire pit began to slowly die down. We didn't notice it at first but we began to get a little colder. We put some new logs in the fire and began to fan the little coals that were still there - soon the fire was roaring, more people came to sit by the warmth of the fire and the conversation of friends. As we head into the New Year, may we fan the fire of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our life, in such a way that others will come closer to the fire and be warmed by His Presence. There are still coals burning so don't let them go out but put on new logs and fan His Flame! peace, tom
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Ezekiel 36:26 NASB "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."It no longer worked as it should! Today's Word speaks of a new heart and a new spirit! No matter how many times I tried to start it, it just wouldn't work. The small engine had lost it's ability to run and needed an overhaul. As I began to take it apart, it became apparent what was wrong. The main part of the engine had simply worn out. Maybe too many times around the track, or possible miss use at some point in it's life, it was dead. I began to replace certain parts to see if I could get it running again. The outer shell looked good but internally it was broken. Many times in life, we look good on the outside but inside, we are dead, just going through the motions, or maybe not even going through them. It's time for a heart transplant - as we face the new year, why not give Jesus a try and see how a new spirit within us can bring us back to life - just saying! peace, tom
Acts 20:35 NASB "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”"It wasn't about what he got but what he gave! Today we read, that by working hard, we must help the weak! Soon after we finished our part of the job, did we learn that the owner was giving it away. He had been blessed financially and decided that when the project was completed, he was going to give it away to a needy family. When we look at what we can give, rather than what we are given, it shows that we understand what God was doing when He gave us His Son Jesus Christ. It was a offering of love, forgiveness and a way back to Him. Let's not look at what we received this Christmas, but what we can give this coming year! peace, tom
Luke 2:10 ESV "And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." I remember them all too well! Today's verse speaks of good news of great joy! We all get those calls, texts, emails etc of news - we seem to remember where we were when the calls came in. I can't imagine what the shepherds were thinking as they heard the angels say "good news of great joy". With the celebration of His Birth, we now have an opportunity to live the good news of great joy. For some of us, the good news was the birth of a child, for others, the good news was that she/he said yes they will marry us, for others it could be as simple as the test came back negative - whatever the news was we remember - it's time to remember and live the good news of great joy - for Jesus came to earth so God is with us! Let's pass along the good news of great joy by how we live! peace, tom
Matthew 1:23 NASB "Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”"Merry CHRISTmas! Today's Word shares the reality of Christ's Birth, that God is with us! We all have lost loved ones along the way of life and although they are gone physically, we still hold them dear in our hearts. As we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, and although He is back upon the Throne, we can still hold dear who He was, is and will ever be, by the memories of how His Life has changed us. We have an opportunity to to live Jesus this coming year by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, by living His Word and by keeping in mind that God is with us. Don't let the world bring darkness into our world but let us shine the Light of Christ into the darkened world. May our celebrations of His Birth bring joy and happiness to each of our lives. Again, from my family to yours Merry CHRISTmas! peace, Tom
John 16:33 NASB "These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."Each time I held them, I felt the love! Today's verse speaks of finding the peace and courage to face the world because of who He is! Whether they were my children or my grandchildren, holding them for the first time made me think of when Mary and Joseph held the Christ child. He was to go on and show the world unbelievable love like no other. These babies of mine, gave me a sense that no matter what, or who I was, I could love them. In the world there is a lot of tribulation and trials but we can find the love, peace and courage if we focus on Him. Welcome Him into our lives as we celebrate His Birth tomorrow and know He has overcome the world! peace, tom
Luke 1:14 ESV "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth," If we don't maybe we need to look deeper! Today's verse speaks of joy and gladness and how many will rejoice at His Birth! He couldn't find one thing to be happy about - we were working together and every so often, he would let out a complaint about something. He had no joy within him, no positive attitude, just negativity and it was beginning to rub off on the other guys on the crew. I finally had to pull him aside and began to talk to him about it. He wasn't happy at all and began to make excuse for his attitude. I remembered the words of my mom, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!" - when we went back to work, I notice he took my advice and stopped the complaining and before long, he was actually smiling. Let's not let others rob of us our joy and gladness at His Birth! peace, tom
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."It didn't go as planned! Today we read that we are to give thanks in everything! I had spent a few days building a backyard ice rink for my grandchildren. Each night, I went out and sprayed water, fixed some divots, and checked the thickness of the ice. Everything was going well and I was looking forward to skating with them at our Christmas celebration. Then the weather turned warm, rain began to fall and the ice rink slowly melted away. I could have gotten depressed but as I think back to all those days of getting the rink ready, I thought of my dad - who had spent many nights doing the same for myself and my brothers and sister. I thought of the hours of fun my older brother and I had playing backyard hockey. Those memories gave me reason to be thankful. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, things may not go as planned, but we can be thankful for it all - the good, bad, and the melted! peace, tom
Romans 12:17 ESV "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all" It had been years since they talked! Today's Word tells us not to repay evil with evil! As we talked over a cup of coffee, he shared how he had not spoken to anyone in his family for years. There had been a bad family fight and each walked away, vowing never to return to the family gatherings. The more we talked, the sadder he got. He spoke of missing his family, the years of things like family weddings, family births, family celebrations. We prayed and spoke of making things better by reaching out. It would take the strength of being more concerned for the rest of the family than for himself. With Christmas right around the corner, maybe you can find the courage to reach out to family that we haven't seen in awhile. Find the strenght in Christ to bring the joy of Christmas back to our families! peace, tom
Matthew 24:42 ESV "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." I tried but just couldn't do it! Today's verse reminds us to stay alert, awake for we know not when Jesus will come! As a young boy, I wanted to stay awake to catch Santa, putting gifts under our Christmas Tree. I tried to keep myself awake but sadly I fell asleep. Sure enough, the next morning, he had come and there under the tree were gifts he left behind. One day, Jesus will return to take us all home to Heaven but if we are asleep, when He returns, we will miss Him. Let's make sure we don't miss His Second Coming by celebrating His First Coming with open hearts and making the season all about Him - BTW, He did leave us all gifts before He returned to Heaven, and the greatest gift was Himself! Let's pass Him along this Christmas Season! peace, Tom
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Tom SEmberAuthor of Daily Devotions Archives
April 2026
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