Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

1 Corinthians 1:27 (NKJV) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. When you look through the stories of the Bible, one thing stands out: God does not do things like the world does.  He operates the way He wants to, and nobody is going to tell Him differently.  We see this so clearly in the type of people that He uses.  He does not go for the high and mighty.  He goes for the low and humble, and makes them into who He wants them to be.  For the next few days, I want us to look at different people in the Bible, and see how God chose them and used them. King David:  David was a young man that watched his father’s sheep.  One day when the prophet Samuel came to anoint one of his sons to be the next king of Israel, his father never even called him to come in to meet this great man of God.  Yet after Samue...

Daniel 12:3 (NKJV) Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Here is another reward for those who take the things of the Kingdom seriously.  Those who turn many to righteousness will be like stars that will shine forever and forever.  I like that, how about you?  You see, if we will just say that we will live for God and let His glory shine through us, it will bless so many people!  Then, throughout all eternity, we will be blessed as we see people in heaven, because of us. I heard a saying once and it has stuck with me: “You can either pay now and play later, or play now and pay later, but you will have to pay at some time in life.”  So you see, if we will do what we have to do now and work for the Kingdom and help many come to righteousness, we will enjoy the blessings of heaven forever! Some say, “Well all you are looking for is to get...

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. The judgment seat of Christ, for many, is going to be a glorious day.  All the work that we did for the cause of Christ will be rewarded.  Over and over the scripture brings out that Christ has crowns waiting for those who have been faithful to Him.  Before we look at these crowns, let me remind you again that we are saved by grace, and not by works.  These are rewards that we receive for what we have done for Christ while on the earth, and they will be with us for all eternity. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8 it says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have love...

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV) And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Teach your children.  Why, you might ask?  Because if we do not teach them, the devil will make sure that he does.  Many a dictator has said, “If you give me the children, I can take the world.”  We, as parents, need to take time each day to teach our children of the wonders of God.  It will bless them and help them to be more than conquerors in life. When your children are young and you go for a walk, show them the wonders that God the Father has made.  Show them the ocean and the fish.  Show them the mountai...

Acts 4:12 (NKJV) Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There are those people who say that there are many ways to God, yet the Bible could not be clearer on this subject.  Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.  The devil has tried to bring all of these different religions, and has people in the media lying to people.  Jesus said in John 14:6, ”I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus Christ is God’s gift to the world, and He is the most beautiful of all gifts.  When we receive Him as our personal Lord and Savior, it takes all of the works out.  You see, He did all the work for us.  He went to the cross for us.  He defeated satan for us.  He redeemed us and restored us back to our Heavenly Father, and now all we have to do is believe and receive. The Bible is...

Matthew 26:26-28 (NKJV) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. What Jesus did that evening with His disciples was not for Him, but for us.  He set a new covenant into place.  A covenant is a will, or a contract.  We hold in our hands an Old and New Testament.  This Old Testament was a covenant based on law.  Through Jesus, this New Covenant is set by God’s grace.  Oh, how I love grace more than law! When Jesus broke this bread and said, “This is my body,” He was saying that all that happened to His body by going to the cross, He did for us.  His body was beaten, whipped, and harmed beyond words, so that our body could be healed and made well. L...

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. This verse is amazing!  This is how God, our Father, thinks towards us.  His thoughts toward us are not to make us sick, to destroy us, or to give us a lousy life.  His thoughts are not to bring death and destruction.  He is not looking for ways to make us sick and miserable.  No, and a million times no!  My Father’s heart is to bless me, and to help me in my race on earth. I do not know how much clearer God could put it for us: His thoughts are of peace and not of evil.  He wants us to have a peaceful life; a life of resting in Him.  One thing I figured out is that God wants the best for me, just like I want the best for my kids.  He has much bigger shoulders than I have, and He knows the paths that are in front of me, so He can show me the traps that the devil would li...

Matthew 27:45-46 (NKJV) Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" When Jesus was on the cross, in God’s eyes, the whole world was on that cross also.  The sin of Adam was laid upon Jesus, and He became sin for us.  Some people have a hard time receiving this, but look at what it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Jesus, Who knew no sin, (He never sinned once in His 30 plus years upon this earth) became the sin sacrifice for all of us.  This gift that God gave us is so powerful that if a person chooses not to accept it, it will separate them from God for all eternity.  At the moment that Jesus cried out these heart-wrenching words, all of creation shut down...