Pastor Tom's Daily Devotional

Isaiah 54:13 (NKJV) All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. When we take time to teach our children about the things of God, and that God is their personal Father, it will change them and bless them throughout their lives.  They may be our kids, but truthfully, they are God’s kids, and we get such a short time to help introduce them to their real Father. I have found that when we talk about God in the morning during breakfast, or pray with them before they go to sleep, or even when we are on a trip and we say things like, “Wow! Look at that sunset that God, your Father, made!” or “Look at that mountain that your Father made just for you! You must be really special to Him!” it instills within them who their real Father is, and it brings such peace into their little hearts.  As they grow, their personal relationship with their heavenly Father will get dearer and dearer to them. So take today’s verse, and also...

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV) You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 (AMP) You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. Perfect peace is so hard to even imagine in this world that we live in, yet here is a promise from the Word of God to help us.  The world offers a very selfish peace, but God’s peace is perfect. There are times that we need to just stop, take a deep breath, and say, “Father, I need you, and I need this perfect peace that you promised in this verse.”  The key to this verse is being a doer of it, and the way you become a doer of it is to have your mind stayed on Him.  That is the condition to living in perfect peace. Too many times, we are listening to the cares of this world and all that is going on around us, but what w...

1 John 5:21 (NKJV) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Many times when we think of idols, we think of a statue, or some wooden object that people worship.  The Amplified version of this verse really shows us what the Apostle John was talking about when he used the word idol.  Check it out: 1 John 5:21 (AMP) Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be). That gives a much clearer picture of the word idol, right?  It is anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart that is due to God, or any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life.  That means anything ! When things start pulling you away from God, and it can even be good things, it is time for you to pull away from those things.  Everyt...

1 Kings 2:2 (NKJV) I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. Psalm 23:4 (NKJV) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Unless the Lord Jesus returns in our lifetime, each and every one of us will die one day.   As born-again Christians, we should not fear this, but know that He will be there to meet us. King David was about to die, and He said, “I go the way of all the earth.”  We know that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.  As we see in David’s writings in Psalm 23, even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why is that? Because HE IS WITH US!  He promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us, even unto the end of the age.  So we can see that if He would not leave us in this life, He is definit...

Matthew 11:28-30  (NKJV) 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. God, our Father, has not called us into some vicious cycle in this world.  He wants us to be separate from the world and to come to Him.  I do not know about you, but that sounds good to me. The rest that our Father gives us is not just an eight-hour sleep, but His rest brings true refreshment to our minds.  The Message Bible brings out a good paraphrase of this verse.  Listen to this: Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG) 28 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30...

2 Kings 20:19 (NLTSE) Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "This message you have given me from the LORD is good." For the king was thinking, "At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime." This story always amazes me.  King Hezekiah was just approached by the prophet Isaiah and asked what he had shown to the people that came from Babylon.  He said, “I showed them everything.”  Isaiah said that all that he showed them would be taken away, and that his children would be taken as well.  Then King Hezekiah makes this statement: "At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime."  I do not know about you, but I want it better for my children, not worse!  I want them to have more blessings in their lives than I had.  I do not want them taken into captivity, or for any harm to come to them.  It is the same way with our Heavenly Father.   He wants the very best for us, for our children, and for every generat...

Mark 8:29 (NKJV) He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ." What a question!  “Who do you say that I am?”  The way we see and perceive Jesus creates the faith that we will have in Him.  You might say, “What do you mean?”  Well think of it.  Do you see Him as your Healer today?  Do you believe Acts 10:38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”?  Do you believe that God anointed Jesus to heal people, and that He can, and wants to, heal you today? Do you believe that Jesus is your Provider?  Do you believe that the second part of John 10:10 is for you?  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 it more abundantly.” Do you believe that ...

Genesis 1:1 (NKJV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What an amazing statement!  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  It does not say, “I hope God did.”  It sure does not show God trying to prove that He did.  It just says that He did it!  One thing is sure, and that is, that God is sure of Himself.  We need to just believe it His way, and everything will work out. When you think about what this verse has in it, it is truly amazing.  God created everything that we can see (and the things that we cannot see) with His Word.  He made the stars, the planets, and the moons that circle the planets.  He made every living thing, from humans to animals to angelic beings.  He made it all! God, our heavenly Father, is truly amazing, and one day we will share in this wonder of His.  It says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered in...

John 14:27 (AMP) Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled]. His peace, the peace of our Lord Jesus, is truly amazing.  It does not matter what you are going through.  When you stop and put your mind on Him, His peace fills you up.  I have found that many times I get myself all wound up for nothing, and then I am all kinds of fried out.  But when I get smart and I get my mind on Him, it all comes together. In this verse, Jesus tells us that the peace that He is going to give us is not like the peace that this world gives.  It is a very different kind of peace.  The world gives peace that lasts for a moment, but the peace that God gives us is a peace that lasts for eterni...