Blog Archives - Toni Writing for The Master

DAILY DEVOTION

11/30/2020

Christ’s Indwelling Spirit

Scripture Reading: Revelations 2:9-11

Scripture Quote: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12 (NIV)

Life certainly has its ups and downs. Some of us know what it is like to be ill and seek healing, or maybe we are broke and the mortgage is due. Many of the hardships in life have taught us valuable lessons - Others still confuse us. Whatever the circumstance was, however, we can recall how powerfully the grace of Jesus supported us through it. By His mercy we are enabled to face down all our trials. By the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, we are strengthened.

God knows everything that we have ever suffered. There are times when we intimately know and feel His help. Other times, we may have Lost sight of the depth of His love and support for us. When we allow the obstacle we face to overwhelm us, stealing our certainty in Christ's mercy, we flounder and fall, receiving the full force of the trial’s consequence. So, it comes down to one unwavering truth: God is our rock and our shield and a very present companion who extends His great arm of mercy as needed in the lives of His followers. We can stand steadfast on our Heavenly Father's promise to never leave us or forsake us.

Today’s meditation: Contentment survives any circumstance.

Memory Verse: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalms 4:8 (NIV)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/30/2020

Choose the Lowly Place

Scripture Reading: Luke 14:7-14

Scripture Quote: “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus 10:3 (NIV)

Proud people think too highly of themselves. Even if awards are given, or accolades proclaimed, humility is the only appropriate response to success because everything that we can accomplish in this life is through God's power and grace. To place oneself in the position of honor is to take honor from God in the sight of men. There is no way that a person with an attitude like that could also place God first in his life. Vanity is a creeping thing that can worm its way in, all the while zapping and depleting our desire to serve our Creator.

The humble and modest, as opposed to the proud, realize the true source of all that is good within themselves. Our abilities and strengths come from the Lord, our God, and we must know it. The Holy Spirit teaches us wonderful things as we yield control to Him. Being full of the Holy Spirit and being led by His directives creates for us a consistently precious lifestyle. If we truly desire a closer walk with Jesus, we need only to repent of our pride and stubborn self-reliance. So, choose to lean totally on God and be humble in His sight.

Today’s meditation: Pride and humility cannot coexist.

Memory Verse: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)

November 27th, 2020

11/27/2020

Choose Love Over Anger

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-37

Scripture Quote: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)

We can mull over and over an offense that provoked our anger, or we can suffer that offense quietly, leaving ourselves in the hand of God. Anger is totally opposite to the spirit and letter of the Gospel. When we indulge wrong tempers, we wound the spirit of love and mercy within us. When we stand steadfast in our good will, however, an enemy or hurtful situation is weakened. There is no strength in anger because it robs us of our power to choose loving hearts and minds. When a thief steals from us, he obtains our goods, which are here today and gone tomorrow anyway - But if we raise up in righteous indignation, we have then given the thief our peace and joy as well.

When we rise above our fury, or seething resentments, we move closer to God and His grace purifies and renews our hearts. We more closely resemble our Savior who has also given us the most profound grace in human history. He died under the ignorant, brutally cruel hand of man, yet he used His last dying words to pray forgiveness over all of us.

Today’s meditation: Love can overwhelm anger.

Memory Verse: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” Luke 6:32 (NIV)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/26/2020

Let Your Faith Lead

Scripture Reading: Acts 15:7-11 (All quoted Scripture is MSG)

Scripture Quote: And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:2)

Christians are not only saved by Jesus, having been given a free and full pardon from our sinful past, but our continued conversion also depends on Him and His gracious influence in our minds and hearts. Jesus also intercedes for us to the Father. It is only through Christ that we can approach and have received access to God's throne. We are privileged to remain full of His Holy Spirit. We belong to a new heavenly family, as children of the most High God, who will one day bask in His glory forever.

So, is that it? Are Believers to walk around full of faith, love and hope, only sharing our lives with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ? That would be such a waste of grace. Have we no use for our worldly brother who is lost and destined to life apart from our great God? We were once far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves right with God. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to Him. Christ was manifested in the flesh when the world needed Him most. Can we do less? Be the ambassador God has called you to be.

Today’s meditation: It is our duty to share our faith with the lost.

Memory Verse: But now you have arrived at your destination. (Gal 3:25)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/25/2020

Choose Love Over Anger

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-37

Scripture Quote: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)

We can mull over and over an offense that provoked our anger, or we can suffer that offense quietly, leaving ourselves in the hand of God. Anger is totally opposite to the spirit and letter of the Gospel. When we indulge wrong tempers, we wound the spirit of love and mercy within us. When we stand steadfast in our good will, however, an enemy or hurtful situation is weakened. There is no strength in anger because it robs us of our power to choose loving hearts and minds. When a thief steals from us, he obtains our goods, which are here today and gone tomorrow anyway - But if we raise up in righteous indignation, we have then given the thief our peace and joy as well.

When we rise above our fury, or seething resentments, we move closer to God and His grace purifies and renews our hearts. We more closely resemble our Savior who has also given us the most profound grace in human history. He died under the ignorant, brutally cruel hand of man, yet he used His last dying words to pray forgiveness over all of us.

Today’s meditation: Love can overwhelm anger.

Memory Verse: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” Luke 6:32 (NIV)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/24/2020

Children of the Living God

Scripture Reading: John 1:6-14

Scripture Quote: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name: John 1:12 (NIV)

John the Baptist, was sent by God from his conception in Sara's womb, with the sole purpose to bear witness to the coming of the Messiah. God often uses plain, or even eccentric people, to speak truth to us in our own lives. John had been sent from God to deliver a message. It was John's strictness and purity of his life and doctrine that made others believe him, even without dramatic miracles, eloquent delivery of his message, or any other kind of tangible proof.

Christ's light doesn't need anyone's testimony, but our current secular society does. Christians can show others the likeness of His light so that they can see Christ through us. Unlike John, who foretold His coming, we already have Christ's light within us. That precious gift is not intended to be selfishly hoarded, but shared with those who are currently asleep in the dark of night. Make a deliberate choice to live your faith out loud, trusting that God will make us sensitive to when we should share Christ and his gospel. Only God can make a heart awaken to His light, but He often uses His children to plant an opportune seed. Be open and depend on God's grace to teach you how to be ready to proclaim His message of eternal salvation.

Today’s meditation: Share His light with the sleeping world.

Memory Verse: From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace. John 1:16 (NIV)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/23/2020

Charity Instead of Vengeance

Scripture Reading for the day: Genesis 26

Scripture Quote: “So Isaac prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank in preparation for the treaty ceremony.” Genesis 26:30 (NLT)

            Isn’t it sad that the most common response to poor treatment from others is to plot something bad to befall them? We automatically seek vengeance to sooth our inevitable pride. We seek public sympathy and privately think hateful things. This kind of behavior really has no place in the life of a follower of Christ.

            Actually, if we are honest, we can think of as many wrongs that we have dealt others as have been dealt to us. We like to rationalize these facts away in the mist of our indignant tempest. Isaac, who had good reason to be bitter, didn’t respond with anger. Instead he showed mercy and charity to King Abimelech who had previously been jealous of Isaac’s wealth. He had Isaac’s wells filled with dirt and drove Isaac away. Still, Isaac chose Christ’s peaceful way to treat King Abimelech.

We can be just as receptive to those who want to make peace with us. Often, God’s influence in our lives draws others to us, even enemies - We can take those opportunities to reach out to them with God’s love.

            Isaac compromised for the sake of peace. Would you be willing to forsake your pride to keep peace? Is it hard for you to humble yourself in front of others?

Meditation for the day: The trouble with taking revenge when we are mistreated is that none of us can claim complete innocence.

Memory Verse: “We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we decided we should have a treaty, a covenant between us.” Genesis 26:28

DAILY DEVOTION

11/20/2020

Can We Decide to Love?

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:36-40

Scripture Quote: “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33 (NIV)

When Jesus explained the Father’s greatest command, He told His truth plainly. As Christians, we know what sinful behavior looks and feels like. We try to live within limits that sometimes don't translate into success, but we press on. We take special care to stay on the narrow path, as we struggle internally with all kinds of flaws. We are weak and vulnerable believers, all the while trying to emulate Jesus - That would be great, if it weren't so laughable.

Does all that struggle have value when we so often seem to skip over God's most imperative dictate to love Him and other people as our primary goal? Jesus wasn’t referring to romantic love, which comes easily to us. Instead, God wants us to make love a decision, without payback and without reservation. His people, who are selfish, independent, judgmental, carnivores by nature, have been given this mandate to simply love - We are to love God above all else and one another as much as we do ourselves. We can choose to love even the unlovable, because God first loved us. Thank God His mercies are new every morning!

Today’s meditation: Press forward emulating Jesus’ love for everyone.

Memory Verse: “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14 (NIV)

DAILY DEVOTION

11/19/2020

November 18th, 2020

11/18/2020

Brag On Jesus

Scripture Reading: Romans 1:21-25

Scripture Quote: Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4 NIV

We live in a sinful world which continually draws many people away from God. The goodness of God that has manifested so often in each of our lives, gives us good reason to be steadfast in our loyalty to God. Even when trials and trouble come to us, we can rest in the knowledge that we belong to God, which means that our outcome is guaranteed.

Are we grateful for all the blessings that we have received from God's provision? Do we give God the worship he deserves? Or do we spend more time stumbling off the narrow path, only to be put right again by God's hand of mercy? We children of the most high God can understand the allure of the world on the unsaved because it often tempts the saved as well. Let us truly imitate the heart of our perfect Savior by feeling the grief over the lost that He most certainly does. Our great God wishes that none be forever doomed to eternal separation from Him. We can use our intimate knowledge of our Savior to offer grace to the lost and we can speak up for Jesus and plant seeds in their hearts that might lead to their eventual redemption.

Today’s meditation: Do we truly care for the lost?

Memory Verse: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9 NIV

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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