Blog Archives - Toni Writing for The Master

Today's devotion

4/28/2017

   tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com
Our God Reigns
By, Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Luke 7:11-16
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   Scripture Quote: Mark 5:28-29, “She said, if I may but touch only His clothes, I will be cured. And instantly the fountain of her blood dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

   In each instance of healing or raising the dead you can read about in the Bible, Jesus invoked the power of the supreme God. Jesus did that so the unbelievers could see that it was by His power, and by His only, that these miracles were done.

In John 5:25, Jesus said that the time was coming, in which the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. He fulfils that prediction, while purposely crying out, so the people around him would hear him and understand: They could see that even death is subject to the sovereign command of Christ. There is no power greater than God’s awesome power - He sent Jesus to teach us that. Over and over, Jesus walked the earth healing people, but more than that, Jesus showed us how to love.

Do you love other people as much as Jesus does? Do you love them as much as you do yourself? Before Jesus was crucified, during his ministry here with us, he taught that the greatest power of all was the power of love.

Today’s meditation: Our sovereign God still reigns - He loves, saves and raises the dead; now and forever.

Memory Verse:  John 11:40, “Jesus answered her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?”

Today's devotion

4/27/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com
Love the Unlovely
By, Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading for the day: Luke 6:27-38
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Scripture Quote: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Luke 6:45-46 (NIV)

Obeying Jesus’ command to love those who behave in a less than desirable way, can often be difficult. Our friends are usually like-minded Christians who don’t often challenge our ability to be gracious. It’s easy to be kind to those who appreciate our efforts done for their benefit.

But consider how well you shine in comparison to our Lord, Jesus – Now, that may just change your perspective on the subject. Jesus loved His accosters, despite their brutal actions. While he was being tortured and mocked, He prayed for those responsible, asking God to forgive them.

Jesus told His disciples, and anyone who would listen, to do good even to those who hate you. And if someone mistreats you, pray for them. So, even if it is the hardest thing you’ve ever done, do it anyway because God is pleased with those who obey God’s Word. The Christian life is all about change and loving every person is part of the deal.

Today’s meditation: If our heart’s desire is to know Jesus
and emulate Him, pray for His help loving even your enemy.

Memory Verse: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Mat 5:44 (NIV)

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Blessings & Love, Toni
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Today's devotion

4/26/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com
Love and Service
By, Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading for the day: Acts 20:18-38
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Scripture Quote: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Rom 12:3 (NIV)

The apostle Paul served his fellow believers with joy and purpose. I’m sure the various, newly forming churches that he visited and wrote to from prison, all looked up to him as an exemplary leader. Paul could have thought himself to be special, more knowledgeable and important than those he taught, but he didn’t.

The temptation to feel superior to any other person comes directly from Satan. Such a ploy could easily steer a Christian off course. No matter how much of God’s Word we can quote, or how long we have studied it, we are not better than anyone else.

We are servants of our Lord Jesus, who loved us and lived a life of service. He died serving humanity through great pain and suffering.

We can be grateful for our redemption and respond to it by spreading His gospel and helping one another whenever possible. Our purpose is to live out the love and humility Jesus taught.

Today’s meditation: Our purpose in this world is to serve one another with love and grace, just as Jesus did.

Today's devotion

4/25/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com

Let the Life of Jesus Be Manifest

Scripture Reading for the day: 2 Corinthians 4:6-14

Scripture Quote: “ We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what his death was like, so that his life can also be seen in us.” 2 Corinthians 4:10 (CEV)

      It's easy to proclaim Christ when things are going smoothly. The challenge is in hiding solely in His arms and finding the pure joy of that even as life turns bitter or infuriating. To lay disappointments, defeats, anger and resentments, and even envy, at Christ's feet while picking up His calm, peaceful acceptance of all things, is to truly know the intimacy with which we can come to have with our loving and forgiving Savior.

      It is during adversity, in particular, that we see Him all the more clearly as we deepen our “knowing” that He lives, even in us. Trials put us and all we profess to believe to the test. When we can stand in our trials, we prove that Jesus is manifest in us. We can take courage, bear patiently, and persevere.

Meditation for the day: We can choose not to pray for “things” anymore, but to seek to know God Himself. The life of the Son of God has been reborn in us and we have the privilege to nourish that life and value it more than we value anything.

Memory Verse:   “You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested.” James 1:3(CEV)

Today's devotion

4/24/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com

Is Hope For an Afterlife Realistic?

Scripture Reading for the day: John 4:4-29

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Scripture Quote: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (NIV)

Jesus told the woman from Samaria that he’d give her water that would cause her to never thirst again. We might find what he said a little confusing at first, but, further study explains that the ever thirst quenching water is actually God’s Holy Spirit. It wells up within us when we first believe and accept Christ into our hearts.

The Holy Spirit teaches, comforts and convicts us from that first moment we believed and remains within us throughout our lives. The more we seek to know God's ways, the stronger The Spirit's guidance will be. Conversely, if we should begin to listen more to the flesh, the Spirit’s influence will weaken and we will eventually go off course. The Holy Spirit will never force us to listen to Him. It's up to us to remain in tune with his guidance.

Once we understand all that our Father God has provided for us to live with joy and peace in our everyday lives, we will see clearly that we were created to live with our Lord and Savior, Jesus, now and for eternity.

Today’s meditation: There is no doubt that as soon as we repent, believe and follow Jesus, we are given the gift of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Memory Verse: “But these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31 (NIV)

Today's devotion

4/21/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com

Humility Leads to Love

By, Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:3-8

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Scripture Quote: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isa 53:5 NIV

It’s hard and extremely humbling when we accept the truth that the only good in us are those spiritual traits and innate talents that God has given us. On our own, we are cruel and self-serving at best. But when we face the truth about ourselves, we gradually realize our wickedness and we can also admit that we know little more than a small child knows about God.
It takes growing in His Word to grasp God’s generosity and patience with us. As a result, we acknowledge and revere His Great Name. It is in that state of humility and reverence for God that we will begin to understand the enormity of what Jesus did when He chose to die in order to redeem us. The Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to comfort and guide us is absolutely transforming. The expression of God's Spirit living within us comes out as love, which gives us an intense desire to please God and to be kind to others. In 1 Corinthians 13:3-8 in the Bible it tells us just what our new love, our spirit-filled love, acts like.
Today’s meditation: Flee from all sin and pursue love.
Memory verse: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1Cor 13:6 NIV

Today's devotion

4/19/2017

  tasmothers@gmail.com  www.writingforthemaster.com

His Excellency
Scripture Reading for the day: Psalm 95

Scripture Quote:“for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95:6(NIV)
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     In Psalm 95:6, we read that the LORD is the greatest God and King over everything. His excellency as Creator is unmatched throughout the universe. Yet He would call us His own. In the Old Testament times, when idol worship and blatant disobedience prevailed, He still loved us. He wanted His people to come to Him with joy and gratitude. And even today, we also may approach our Heavenly Father with an indescribable gladness - Even though we fail Him repeatably, He has chosen us to follow Him and through Christ we are redeemed.
     We are His sheep and He supplies our green pasture. God goes before us to set up the best possibilities despite Satan's efforts to the contrary. We stubbornly refuse His guidance so we can ignorantly, “do it our way,” only to find that we end up in more trouble than we can eradicate ourselves. Jesus has already experienced everything that we have. He is always close and willing to answer our call for help. We need only remember that our hope lies in His hands, not ours - And, that's pretty excellent!

Meditation for the day: “Hope springs eternal...” Alexander Pope . Where does your hope come from?

Memory Verse: ”Come, let us bow down in worship,let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” Psalm 95:6(NIV)

today's devotion

4/18/2017

   tasmothers@gmail.com        www.writingforthemaster.com
God’s Law
Scripture Reading for the day: Romans 8:1-11
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Scripture Quote: For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2

            God’s glory is revealed to us as He inhabits our praises. We experience a deep communion with Him when He pours His love and unfathomable peace into us. But first, we must discard the world’s standards and replace them with God’s Law.

            In the Old Testament we read about God’s demand for holy perfection and the blood sacrifices required for forgiveness of sin that the Israelites lived under. God says in Leviticus 18:5 (NIV), “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.” You will notice that God doesn’t say, keep some of the laws.

            God hates sin and can never embrace it - This is a real problem for us. Even on our best day, how could we shed all the pride and selfishness inherent in us? We try, sure, but we can’t actually live sinless lives. We are sinful people. That’s the reason, in His love and mercy, God sent Jesus to save us. (See John 3:16)

            Jesus lived a sinless life, yet He offered His purity as the blood sacrifice for our sins. God accepts Jesus’ covering over His believers and grants us forgiveness, the Holy Spirit’s guidance and eternity with Him.

Today’s meditation: Jesus has broken sin’s power and polluting influence!

Memory Verse: “With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God.” Romans 7:22 (CEV)

Today's devotion

4/17/2017

www.writingforthemaster.com
Emmanuel - God With Us
By, Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day:  Luke 2:5-21

Scripture Quote: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

          Jesus came to us as an infant, born through the power of the Holy Spirit to the Virgin Mary. Joseph, her betrothed, believed when the angel told him that Mary was truly a virgin and that he should take her to be his wife. The faith that Mary and Joseph demonstrated was tremendous.

          Jesus was born in a stable. He was wrapped in bands of material, and was laid where cattle were fed. Shepherds came from all around to see the baby the angels told them had come to be their Savior.

          Jesus had a very poor beginning, yet, because of His life, we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God's own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness - when he sent Jesus to dwell among us, to teach us and show us by His example, how to love in its truest sense.

Today’s meditation: Celebrate Christ’s birth and what His coming has done for believers everywhere!

Memory Verse: “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Today's devotion

4/14/2017

tasmothers@gmail.com www.writingforthemaster.com
Trust the Word
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading:
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”(John 1:14)
“These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.” (John 20:31)

Believers can trust God’s Word. A scroll dating more than 1,000 years older than the versions among the Dead Sea Scrolls, containing the entire book of Isaiah, was found to be completely accurate except for a few letters. The translations handed down by Hebrew scholars, which prophesied the coming of Jesus, were incredibly accurate. The different writers of the books of the Bible vary in style, but they all convey what God wanted us to know. Our Bible is our trustworthy guide.

Knowledge of the Word is not enough. We must apply what we read to our daily lives. We can choose to spend time each day growing closer to God’s heart by discovering the inspired truths in His Word. When we are single-minded in our pursuit of God, we will find clear direction for our lives. Ponder every morsel of wisdom from God and value it more highly than all the riches of this world. We can bank the promises in the Bible into the vault of our hearts and live a truly rich life that abounds with His blessings. Christ did come to humanity in the form of a perfect man. He did die for our sins and He did rise again to everlasting life. This is truth that we can know deep down in our spirits.

2 Timothy 3:16-17New International Version (NIV) 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work

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Bio: Toni Smothers has written articles for “Total Health”, “Let’s Live”, “People In Action” and “The North American Mentor” magazines. She is a member of the Faithwriters.com writing community and was previously the editor for the teen section of their on-line magazine. She has written many programs, sermons, and skits and has edited several websites. Additionally, she has answered hundreds of questions for GotQuestions.org, a biblical resource site. Here is just one of their many testimonials: "Thank you for this insightful website! I was able to look up many questions I have asked over the years since becoming saved. The site is easy to navigate and gave me so much biblical background for answers that I feel my armor has been strengthened. You and your staff be encouraged to continue to speak the truth for God's glory." When Toni is not writing, she can usually be found cuddling with her 10 pound, furry, Morky muse, 'Sweet Pea.' Toni Smothers studied homeopathy extensively and became a proficient layman. She wrote about homeopathy for “Total Health” and “Let’s Live” magazines. Smothers describes her experience befriending a refugee family from Laos in her article published in the travel magazine, “People in Action.” Additionally, “American Mentor” magazine has published some of her poetry. Smothers drew upon her fun experiences as a youth pastor to provide the needed insight to function as the editor of the teen section of “Faithwriters” magazine and she is a member of the Faithwriters.com writer’s community.

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