Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

Pastor Diane Feola Psalms 9:9-10 (AMP) The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation). And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God's Word and the right of their necessity]. This is a scripture we need for today, right?  In these days of political unrest and economic uncertainty, God lets us know He is our refuge and high tower.  High cost, destitution, and desperation are words many people could use to describe our world right now!  Yet God says if we know His Name, if we lean on and put confidence in Him, He will get us through. Are you glad our Father in Heaven is not affected by this world's economy?  He says He owns the cattle on a th...

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV) Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. The prophets of the Old Testament foretold of the One that would come into the world and give His all for us.  We see in these two verses what this One would do, and in Jesus this has all been fulfilled.  Jesus became the one and only sacrifice that is accepted by the Father. In verse 4, we see the word “grief,” which means our sicknesses, and we also see the word “sorrows,” which means pain.  So we see that Jesus bore our sicknesses and our pain!  Praise God!  In verse 5, we see that Jesus was wounded for our “transgressions,” or our sins.  Jesus took my sins, and your sins, and nailed them to the cross, so today, I do not need to be sin-co...

Hebrews 1:3 (NLT) The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. There is just something about the name of Jesus!  His Name is the most beautiful of all names.  This verse shows us that Jesus radiates God’s very glory, and He expresses the very character of the Father.  Jesus said that he who has seen Him has seen the Father.  He and His Father are one. The reason this is so important is that many times we do not fully understand God, because we have never seen Him.  But when we look into the Gospels and we read about Jesus, He shows us who God the Father is.  You see, Jesus was a healer, and a provider.  He let John lay His head on His chest.  Jesus is the One that calmed the storms and raised the dead.  He is th...

Titus 3:5 (NKJV) Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Works, works, works!  So many are caught up in works, but God is caught up in relationship. Now I am not saying works are bad.  In fact, we will be rewarded for the works that we do here on the earth.  But too many churches preach that the only way to please God is to do works. This verse shows us that we are saved by His mercies, and that it is a work of the Holy Spirit.  It says in Ephesians 2:8-9, ”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  You see, salvation is a free gift.  It is God saying man cannot save himself, so He will give Himself for us. What amazing love the Father has for us!  He knew we could not do it, so He did it for us.  When we wo...

Romans 10:13 (NKJV) For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." What a short and sweet verse.  So many want to make salvation so complicated, yet this verse puts it out there so simply.  Call on Jesus and you shall be saved.  God does not want us jumping through hoops.  He wants us to enjoy the fullness of life that He has provided to everyone who believes on Jesus. You see, salvation is a gift, and like any gift, if we refuse to receive it, we will not enjoy it.  But if we receive it, then we can open the package and enjoy all the benefits of it.  And what amazing benefits there are in Jesus!  Salvation means more than going to heaven when we die.  Thank God for that, and we will rejoice for all eternity in this, but if you are like me, you are still living in the here and now, and I need help now to live every day. This word “salvation” is from the Greek word “sozo,” and it means to save, deliver or prote...

Galatians 5:14 (NKJV) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Can it get any simpler than that?  All of the law, all of it, is fulfilled in one word. So many people try and keep every little part of the law, and when they fail, as we all will, they get into condemnation.  But this verse tells us that all we have to do to live free of that condemnation is to keep this one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.  We can say it like this: Love one another. When we think that we are born of love and that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, living this way should be so easy for us, yet we see that for many, it is really tough.  Why is that?  I believe it is because we are too flesh-minded, or we can say, selfish, instead of being God-inside-minded. You see, the Holy Spirit has been given to us to be our Helper.  He is our Teacher, and if we will take time to lis...

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Here is a scripture that I have seen so abused in my life as a Christian.  I have heard people say things like, “You know that tragic accident that person had?  We know it was God’s will and He will work it out for the good.”  Or, someone has a sickness come against them, and they hit them with the same line. But to understand this verse, you have to read what the Holy Spirit was talking about.  He was talking about prayer in verse 26-27.  Let us look at it.  Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints accor...

John 1:12 (NKJV) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. God has given us the right to become His very own children.  Think of that: I am a child of God!  I am not going to be.  I am now!  Many would say, “Yes Pastor, that is correct.  When we get to heaven, we will be children of God.”  No, that is not what the Word teaches us.  It says so clearly that now we are children of God! In 1 John 3:1-2 it says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Did you see that?  Now, we are children of God!  So if I am a child of God, and God is my Father...

Acts 2:38 (NKJV) Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” When Jesus left the earth, He promised us that He would not leave us as orphans.  He promised that He would give us One just like Himself, and that One is the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not a little God, or something like a vapor, He is Almighty God, just like Jesus and God the Father are. When the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2, He came in great power, and He has not changed.  Look at what it says in Acts 2:1-4, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled w...