Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

Pastor Diane Feola Proverbs 31:28a (NKJV) Her children rise up and call her blessed. I believe God wants us to leave a legacy.  He wants our children to know more than we know, and to go farther than we went.  He wants our children to build on what we have established in our lifetime as parents.  They should be better off because of what we deposited into them! This is especially true spiritually.  When you look at Timothy, you see someone who was influenced by the faith of his mother and his grandmother.  2 Timothy 1:5 says, "...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also."  Even though Timothy's father was a Gentile, he was strongly influenced by his mother and grandmother.  They deposited something very important in him! Parents and grandparents, you can make a profound influence on your children and grandc...

Romans 5:17  (NKJV) For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 (AMP) For if because one one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Wow!  Are you reading this?  Because of Adam, death reigned, yet because of Jesus, and His abundance of grace, and His gift of righteousness, we now reign in life!  I like the way the Amplified Bible says it, "We will reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." Jesus is our righteousness.  He is our holiness.  We are righteous, holy, redeemed, and b...

Romans 5:18 (NKJV) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Romans 5:18 (MSG) Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! When Adam sinned, the whole world got messed up.  His sin was high treason: giving rulership of planet earth to the outlaw, satan.  We see what happened to the animal kingdom, the plants, and even humans.  Where there was once love one for another, now there is hate.  Where the lion once laid with the lamb, now the lion eats the lamb.  Where plants were once so full of beauty, now we have thorns.  We can dwell on this in life and get depressed, or we can look to Jesus. Adam brou...

1 John 1:1-4 (NKJV) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Our life, our fellowship with the Father, is all because of the Son.  When you make Jesus the Lord of your life and His power comes within you, it changes everything!  We can say that it is a “game changer.”  You see, when I try to do things on my own, I only have my own power to help me overcome.  But when I let His life live big within me, I am letting the life of the Eternal O...

Psalm 43:5 (MSG) Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God. We all have days when we are down; days when it seems that no matter what the weather might be, it is just grey and raining inside of us.  But in this verse, the Psalmist is saying, “Hey mind, get out of the dumps!  It is sunny behind those clouds, and if God is for us, we know that everything is going to come together!” Many times, we could be doing well, but then we let a thought get into our mind, and we do not arrest it, and it starts controlling us.  I like what the psalmist says to do, FIX YOUR EYES ON GOD! When we see who God is, what He has, and what He can do, then we see who the devil is not, what he does not have, and what he cannot do.  You see, our God is the Creator of all good.  Jesus said it so well in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except ...

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (MSG) Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. What an amazing promise!  What a powerful verse of scripture.  No matter what life, or circumstances, might throw at us, we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us.  You might be fighting something today in your life.  You might be in a battle that feels like you are Job, but remember, if God is for you, you can get the victory in this situation! Many believers feel that when all these things are working against us, God must not be around, but let me tell you, He is more around than we can ever imagine.  He is the One who has promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us.  He is the One who carries us during the hardest parts of our lives. He is the Good and Great Shepherd that takes care of us.  When a sheep...

Matthew 16:13-18 (NKJV) When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. When Peter answered this question that Jesus asked, he answered by a revelation from Almighty God.  Jesus told Peter that what he just said was not man-revealed, but God-revealed.  Many times in our lives, we are seeking an answer for some question we mig...

John 3:3 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." We have heard the words “born again” used in so many ways in our world.  People sing it as love songs, and use it in so many different ways.  Yet the Bible is very clear that if you are not born again before you die, you will not go to Heaven. To be born again is a free gift given to each and every person that has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  It is passing from death to life.  You see, when Adam and Eve committed high treason, they were born again from life to death.  Can you imagine that?  One moment they had the very life of God within them, and then after they disobeyed God, death, or separation from God, came inside of them.  That is why when God called out to them, Adam said that he hid himself because he was afraid. Just before they ate of the forbidden fruit,...

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. What an amazing promise from the Word of God that God, our Father, wants each and every person to be saved.  He made this great plan of salvation within the reach of every person.  He did not make it just for the high and mighty.  He made it for you and me! I think of a man named Martin Luther.  He tried to live a holy life for God, and even became a monk, but He found out that no one can live holy enough to reach God’s standards.  Then he saw in the Bible that, “The just shall live by faith.”  He received the revelation that salvation was a gift from God, accepted by faith in Jesus Christ, and not on our own merits.  Once he saw this, it was like a ten-ton weight was ta...