Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

Luke 19:10 (NKJV) …for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Do you ever think about what Jesus came to the earth to do?  He came to seek and to save you and me.  What an amazing God we serve!  He did not care how far or how deep in trouble we were.  He was there for us! Jesus left His throne in heaven to come and set us free, and He will do anything He has to do to redeem us.  When a shepherd loses one of his sheep, he does not say, “Oh well, they will find their way home.”  No, a good shepherd, like a good earthly father, will move every stone and go through every obstacle to find that one lost sheep or child.  How much more God? Think about it.  God is the Almighty One who could move heaven and earth to bring us back, yet He will not violate our free will.  He wants us to want to be rescued, and when we do, He is all over it.  Jesus, our precious brother, did all that He could d...

1 John 3:8 (NKJV) He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. The reason that Jesus came into the world was to destroy satan’s authority over you and me.  In fact, He came to set the whole world free.  The second part of this verse shows this so clearly, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Our Jesus saw a lost and dying world, and He made a decision to come and deliver us from the power of darkness.  Jesus did not do this and then leave us here in this mess.  He gave us authority over satan and all of his powers.  Jesus has now set us free for all eternity. We, as believers, need to see satan for who he is: a defeated, dethroned, outlaw.  His only power is the power of deception.  When we get God’s Word deep within us, it exposes his lies and give...

Colossians 1:15-16 (NKJV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Our Jesus is the Creator of all.  By His Word, all things are made.  He created the beautiful red cardinal, and the great Grand Canyon.  Through His Word, the universe was made and is kept in perfect order.  He is the One who told the oceans to hold their place, and the earth to rotate perfectly. When we think of all that God has put in order, it would be wise for us to trust that He will keep our lives in order also.  You see, the one thing that holds us back from realizing this is that we tend to have more faith in our situation then we do in God.  God, our Father, who created all for us, has given us His Word, JESUS, Who spoke a...

John 3:36 (NKJV) He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Yesterday, we saw that when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the very life of God.  In this verse, John, by the Holy Spirit, tells us again that when we believe in the Son, we receive everlasting life or eternal life.  This life is the life of God Himself.  It is called Zoe life.  This life of God will take us to heaven when we leave this earth, but it will also do so much while we are here living this life. You see, if you have God living in you, how can a demon stay there?  The very brightness of God would send him flying.  But like anything in the kingdom of heaven, we need to believe what God has given to us.  This is called faith, and it is the way the kingdom works.  So many want to see it first, but the Bible says we need to believe it first, and...

1 John 5:11-13 (NKJV) And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, everything changed.  Before being born again we were living dead men.  We might have had breath and been able to walk around, but inside we were spiritually dead.  We did not have the life of God within us.  We were living, yet dead. But once we received God’s great gift of salvation, we received His life: the life of God, eternal life.  So many believe that we will receive eternal life when we get to heaven, but according to this verse, we have eternal life now!  The way we received it is by b...

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Have you ever been to a museum or an exhibit for a special work of art?  A few years ago I had the opportunity to go to Italy and see some of the great works of art.  One was the statue of David, and another was the Sistine Chapel.  As I stood there and looked at these great works of art, I was amazed that a person could do something like this.  The artwork had such amazing beauty! Well, guess what?  One day, God is going to eliminate all of these earthly works, but there is one work that He will not eliminate: US!  You see, this verse puts it so straight.  We are God’s masterpiece; we are God’s amazing work!  It is truly amazing that when God, our dear Father, looks at Himself, He sees us!  We are created in His image and His very likeness. There is nothing in the entire...

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) 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. Our Father has given an amazing gift to us, and anyone who would believe.  That gift is Eternal Life!  So many are taught that you have to work to receive this gift, or you have to be good enough for God to give it to you, but in these verses we see that it is a gift of God .  I think to myself, “How good do I have to be to be accepted by a holy, righteous God?  How many good deeds do I have to do?”  I have found out that I cannot ever do enough!  What I need to do is trust God, and believe His Word that it is a gift from Him, and it is not of works. Now, if someone gives me a gift and then puts a bunch of requirements on that gift, it is not really a gift.  Why does religion put so many requirements on us for salvation?  According to this verse, and so many oth...

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Thank God for the Holy Spirit!  In Him is all power, and He gives us the power to be victorious in this life.  Before Jesus left the earth, He promised us that He would send us another like Himself, and that is the Holy Spirit. In the John 15:26 in the Amplified Bible, it gives us seven names for the Holy Spirit.  It says, “But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.” The Holy Spirit wants to have a big part in our lives, but it is up to us to let Him in.  You might say, “Well, I have the Holy Spirit once I get saved, right?”  Yes you do, but are you acknowledging ...

1 Samuel 30:6 (NKJV) Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. Have you ever felt like that?  Maybe you do right now.  It feels like everybody is against you.  It feels like nobody cares and no one would even listen.  Can you picture David here?  He had done so much for this group of people, and now there is a war and their children and wives have been taken captive, and the first thing that they want to do is stone David.  We can feel this way at times.  “I have done so much, and I have gone out of my way to help them, and all I get in return is this abuse.  I have tried my best to help and they took it all wrong, and now they are all mad at me.”  You see, we are all going to have days like this, when people take us wrong, or we know we gave it our best...