Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

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...

Song of Songs 8:7 (NKJV) Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. Song of Songs 8:7 (TLB) Many waters cannot quench the flame of love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man tried to buy it with everything he owned, he couldn’t do it." Love.  We hear it spoken over and over by so many, yet we wonder, do people really know what love is?  One minute we are saying, “I love you,” and the next we are saying, “I cannot stand you.”  You see, love is from God, and really, God is Love.  To truly understand love, we have to come to a place of seeing Who God is.  God is all-giving.  His love is an all-giving love. As today’s verse states, we cannot buy love with all the wealth that we have.  You know you cannot buy God.  But when we freely receive from Him and let His very being flow from us, it will bless those around us, a...

Jude 1:24-25 (NKJV) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Wow!  What a way to end a letter, “Now to Him Who can keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless.”   When Jesus did a work in us, it was not a half-work, but a complete work.  He is the One Who will keep us, as the Amplified Bible says, from stumbling, slipping, or falling.  That is a pretty good promise, right?  You see, when we look to ourselves, we see faults and mistakes, but when we look to Jesus, we see perfection and grace.  The amazing thing is that when God sees us, He sees us in Jesus.  He sees us the way that He sees His perfect Son.  That is why this scripture states that He can keep us from falling. Too many times, we try to live this Ch...

Jude 1:20-21 (NKJV) But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Praying in the Holy Spirit is a powerful way to stay built up.  It is also a great way to stay strong in the Lord and in His power.  You might ask, “What does that mean to pray in the Holy Spirit?”  Well, I always like to have the Bible interpret the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 it says, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.  What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” So we see that praying in tongues is praying in the spirit, or praying in the Holy Spirit.  God has given to each and every believer the beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit, and we c...

Genesis 22:1-2 (NKJV) Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So many people read this story of God asking Abraham to offer His son and say, “How can God do that?”  He is not like that anywhere else, so why would He ask this man, Abraham, to offer his only son?  We will never understand the Old Testament until we get a revelation of the New Testament; until we see Jesus! The Old Testament is “types and shadows” of the New, so when we look at a story like this and see Jesus in it, it brings great blessing.  Abraham was a covenant man with God, and as a covenant man, what was his belonged to his covenant partner.   Here, God and Abraham had made a covenant, and so for...

Exodus 15:23-25 (NKJV) Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet... What a beautiful picture of our lives before the cross, and after.  Here we are in life, bitter with sin, and getting more bitter each day.  People say they enjoy sinning, but deep within, sin pulls us down, and at times, it seems like there is no way to get back up.  Thank God for Jesus and what He did on the cross for us! You see, when Moses heard the people complaining, he cried out to the Lord.  God could have told Moses so many things, but He showed him a tree and He said to cast the tree into the water, and the water would become sweet.   So it is for us.  It is when we lo...