Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

Philemon 1:4-7 (NKJV) I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Wow!  What a pat on the back to receive from the great Apostle Paul.  Here is this mighty man of God, and he takes time to tell his friend, Philemon, how much he appreciated his faith and love that he had towards Jesus, and the other believers that he was praying for. We all need a pat on the back, and in today’s devotional, that is exactly what I want to do.  It seems like so often we hear of all the bad that we do, or what we did not do, but God, our dear Father, wants us to know that He loves us and that He is proud of us....

Pastor Diane Feola Proverbs 3:24-26 (NKJV) When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.  25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; 26 for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught. The world can be a fearful place; a place of uncertainty and insecurity.  God does not want His children to be fearful and unsettled.  We are in the world, not of it.  He wants us to sleep well, peacefully, and restfully. You might have trouble sleeping, or trouble resting, but God wants you calm and at peace, because He is watching over you.  Like our Scripture says today, “The Lord is your confidence.”  Look at verse 26 in the Amplified Bible: “For the Lord shall be your confidence, firm and strong, and shall keep your foot from being caught [in a trap or some hidden danger].” That is amazing, right?  He will k...

Amos 5:14-15 (NKJV) Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the LORD God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. 15 Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. God, our Heavenly Father, is a good God, and He wants us to have hearts like His.  He wants us to seek good and not evil.  He wants us to live, and be blessed, and be a blessing.  God, our Father, wants us to hate evil, but not to hate people.  He wants us to pray for those that cause evil, because, just like us, they need Him. Too many times, we look at evil in this world and we get mad at the people that cause it, but what we need to do is get mad at the forces behind that evil.  The scripture states in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of ...

Jonah 4:2 (NLT) So he complained to the LORD about it: Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. So many people put the tag on God that He is out to get you.  That if you make one mistake, He will bring some calamity on you to teach you.  I was taught growing up that God sits up in heaven on a big throne with a lightning bolt in His hand, and He is just looking for someone to tick Him off and then, look out!  Even insurance companies call disasters “acts of god.”  Well that is not our God! Jesus told us so clearly in John 10:10 who the destroyer is, and you know what? It is not God!  Look at what it says: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have i...

Joel 2:28-29 (NKJV) And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. We are living in a great and wonderful day; a day where God’s Spirit is being poured out like never before.  It is also a day that satan knows that the end is near, and he is trying to steal, kill, and destroy like never before.  We can rest assured, however, that the Greater One has won and gives us the victory! God has promised us, in this verse, that His Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, and we are seeing many being saved from all nations.  Nations that would not even let the Gospel in before are now having great revival.  We are seeing this in every continent of the world!  It is a very exciting time to be alive, and supportin...

2 John 1:8 (NIV) Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. This scripture tells us so clearly that we are to watch out.  You might ask, “What am I to watch out for?”  Well, the devil looks for times of weakness in our lives, and tries to get us to stumble or fall.  He tried it with Jesus, and he will try it with us.  You see, when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, the enemy saw that He was hungry, so he came against Him with a thought of doubt.  Let us look at it: Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" You see, Jesus knew He was the S...

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Too many Christians go through life not living in the blessings of God, yet His blessings are available to everyone.  You might say, “Why are we not living in them?”  Well, this verse in the Old Testament tells us pretty clearly in the first part, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  You see, when we do not take time to dig into the Word of God and see the many promises that God, our loving Father, has given to us, then we live only in this world’s system, and this world’s system is passing away. Think about it.  How would I know about salvation unless I read it in the Bible, or heard someone preach this truth from the Bible?  It is the same with the fruits of the Spirit, or healing, or provision, or a...

Malachi 3:16-17 (NKJV) Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. 17 "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "On the day that I make them My jewels.  And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him." Malachi 4:2 (NKJV) But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. Many people look at the words, “THE FEAR OF THE LORD,” and get all messed up.  They think that we are supposed to dread God, or walk around with a fear that God is going to get us for every little mistake we make.  But that is the farthest from the truth!  God is our Father, and He wants us to love Him and have respect for Him. While I was growing up, I had respect for my earthly father.  He was a ...

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 (NKJV) Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. Christians back in the church at Thessalonica were wondering, just like we are, when was Jesus going to return.  Paul gives some great instruction in His two letters to this church, that the day had not come, and that we need to not be shaken, but continue to watch for the signs of the times, and be busy doing the work of the Lord. You see, we can get so caught up with end-time prophecy that we can forget that there is a lost world out there that needs Jesus.  Jesus even told His disciples not to spend all their time wondering whe...