Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 (NKJV) For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Our Jesus not only went to the cross for our sins, the Bible also tells us that other parts of His suffering were for us.  Look with me at Isaiah 53:4-5 (YLT): “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, and our pains--he hath carried them, and we--we have esteemed him plagued, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 And he is pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace is on him, and by his bruise there is healing to us.” You see, every stripe that came on Jesus’ body was for our healing.  When they put the crown of thorns on His head, we were then able to receive peace in our minds.  God does not do things just for...

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (NKJV) Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Many of us receive communion once a month, kind of like a tradition.  But looking at these Scriptures that follow the verses that we use for communion, we can see that there is more to it than just receiving a little bread and grape juice. Here it says, “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”  So we see that if we do not understand what Jesus did on the cross for us, we can ...

Matthew 28:18-19 (NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV) And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Many people tell us that the last words that Jesus spoke to His followers before His ascension was to “Go,” but by looking at these two verses, He told them to wait, and then go.  You see, Jesus knew how important it was for His followers not to go in their own strength, but to go in the power of the Holy Spirit.  He wanted them filled with His Spirit, and then to go int...

Luke 11:13 (NKJV) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Let us continue looking at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:18 (NKJV) I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. If the great Apostle Paul thought it was important to pray in tongues, so do I. 1 Corinthians 14:37-39 (NKJV) If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Paul shows us here that the things that he taught were from God Himself, and that we should not hinder a person from speaking in tongues. As I study the book of Acts and the Epistles, I see that tongues is an amazing gift that I should earnestly des...

Luke 11:13 (NKJV) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? The Holy Spirit is a beautiful gift given to every person that has received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  But the Bible talks about another gift from the Holy Spirit, and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Tongues is a gifts from the Father to help and assist us in our daily lives.  On the day of Pentecost, they were all together and were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues.  Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church taught on this great gift that God has given to the body of Christ. Let us take the next few days and look at the Scriptures that show us the benefits of receiving this overflow of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:2 (NKJV) For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one...

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJV) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. Yesterday we saw how the Holy Spirit gives us great fruit.  Today, I want you to see how the Holy Spirit gives us gifts.  That is right, gifts!  Gifts to be a blessing to people.  These nine gifts are given as the Spirit wills, and the reason for that is that the Holy Spirit knows what is going on in people lives. I can remember once talking to a person and him ...