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DAILY DEVOTION

6/22/2021

Praise God’s Love for Us

Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Deuteronomy 30:1-10

Scripture Quote: “Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!” His greatness is beyond discovery!” Psalm 145:3 (NLT)

            Think of all the Lord has done to and through us. Be happy that you are God’s chosen one who is given the mission to serve God, to be custodian of His Word and to be a light to all His people. If you ever stray from His fold, He is always willing to receive you again and again. His love endures forever.

            God wants what all parents do; a happy household of children who are obedient and content. He seeks a truly intimate relationship with each of us and He takes personal pleasure in us. We need only trust and obey and look forward to the time when Jesus brings justice and peace to the entire world. There’s no greater joy than ours as adopted children and heirs of the Almighty. How can we even contain our praises and worship of our Father? And like children, how can we help wanting to please Him.

Meditation for the day: We can only trust God when our focus is on Him and not on our circumstances. He is always with us, helping us to endure all things. There is never a time we are alone once we are adopted into God’s family of believers. What a safe feeling that brings to our hearts.

Memory Verse: “How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! All who delight in him should ponder them.” Psalm111:2 (NLT)

DAILY DEVOTION

6/21/2021

Power and Glory

By Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: I Corinthians 15:45-54

Scripture Quote: “It is the same way for the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power.” I Corinthians 15:42-43 (NLT)

            David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” We can do no less. Our lives have been planned by God for a special purpose. He decided our salvation even before we were born. He loves us more than anyone ever has. We can do none other than praise Him in awe and reverence.

            Once we are united with Christ in heaven, we will no longer be weak, or sick, or hurting. Because Christ rose from the dead, he is a life giving spirit. He became a new form of existence. He is the source of the spiritual life and He creates our own resurrection where we will be given transformed, eternal bodies suited to our new eternal life. It’s so cool to know that we are winners in the end, no matter what happens in between.

Meditation for today: “It is not our strength of faith that saves us, but the truth of our faith – not the weakness of our faith that condemns, but the lack of faith in the One who died.” Jim Rogers

Memory Verse: “O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?”            I Corinthians 15:55 (NLT)

DAILY DEVOTION

6/18/2021

Persistence

Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Genesis 32:22-32

Scripture Quote: “This left Jacob all alone in the camp and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.” Genesis 32:24 (NLT)

            It took an all night struggle with the angle of the the Lord to change Jacob’s attitude of fear to one of perseverance. He would not stop wrestling with that angel, even with a dislocated hip, until the angel promised to bless him. Jacob was persistent. God encourages persistence in all areas of our lives, including the spiritual. Where in your spiritual life do you need more persistence?

            Jesus tells us to persist in pursuing God. How many times have we given up after a few half-hearted attempts and decided that God can not be found? But knowing God takes faith and persistence. Jesus assures us that we will be rewarded if we continue to seek Him.

            We must never give up in our search for a deeper, closer walk with God. We can continue to ask him for more knowledge, patience, wisdom, love and peace for our heart – He will give them to us.

Meditation for the day: As we persist in learning more about God and His ways, we learn what we should be praying for and what things are good and pleasing to God.

Memory Verse: “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.” Mathew 7:7 (NLT)

DAILY DEVOTION

6/17/2021

Peer Pressure

Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Leviticus 19:9-18

Scripture Quote: “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth.” Philippians 3:17-19 (NLT)

            Many so-called friends will call us freakish because we have turned our lives over to Jesus. When we stop laughing at the off-color jokes, or refuse to participate in the conversations centered on gossip and blasphemous language, we will be pressured on all sides to conform and quit acting “holier than thou”. You will be criticized by your peers; there is no doubt about it.

            The good news is that we can find a new set of friends who also dedicate themselves to serving God – Know this; we will be in much better company if we choose to walk with the Lord and his people. Keeping our eyes on Him, taking the narrow path that leads to life, we will have confident comfort deep down in our soul.

Meditation for the day: “Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single handedly and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way.” Dietrich Bonhoeffen

DAILY DEVOTION

6/16/2021

Our Eternal God

Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Exodus 3:14-21

Scripture Quote: “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, what is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 (NKJV)

            God is self existing. How can He be explained or compared to anyone or anything else? How can we comprehend His Majesty? We can’t. We can’t think of something not existing in a time frame with a beginning and an end. The concept of eternity seems to be futuristic to us mortals. But the idea of there being no beginning, is just too difficult for us to grasp. We also know that believers in Jesus are to be joined with Him after their deaths to live eternally in heaven - Many questions will be answered in the end.

            Though it amazes us that God has always been, we know that God can not lie and so we trust what the Bible tells us. To be totally dependent and confident in God’s goodness and faithfulness is the only way to accept that He is, indeed, who He says He is – Our amazing God who was and is and ever will be.

Meditation for the day: Does anything about God amaze you? Remember that thing and take time each day to praise Him about it.

DAILY DEVOTION

6/15/2021

Opposition

By Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Exodus 3:13-17

Scripture Quote: “In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost, for there is a wide open door for a great work here, and many people are responding. But there are many who oppose me.” I Corinthians 16:9 (NLT)

We are not simply taking a walk in the park as we serenely live out our lives as Christians. We are often hated and misunderstood with opposition coming at us from every corner. God never promised us a life of ease when we became His adopted child. So when we step out in faith, when opposition comes, we must stand our ground and not be turned aside by fear or intimidation. We must continue to do and say what we know is right.

Instead of fearing our opposition in the variety of forms it is continuously expressed against us, we can choose to go on praying, reading the Word, going to church and forgiving those who would harm us. The enemy will repeatedly come against us, but if he finds strength in faith, he moves on to another who is weaker and more easily manipulated. We can move on to new levels of victory and remember to pray for our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ – All for God’s glory.

Meditation for the day: Fear losing your faith far more than any of Satan’s vile tricks.

DAILY DEVOTION

6/14/2021

No Condemnation

By Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Romans 8:31-39

Scripture Quote: “Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of honor next to God, pleading for us.” Romans 8:34 (NLT)

            We are in a relationship with Christ by faith. His death becomes our death if His spirit abides within us. Additionally, His perfection is also ours. Christ took our punishment, which we won’t have to bear and gave us His perfection, which we could never achieve ourselves.

            Our faith is not what makes us approved of God, but Christ’s sacrifice. Our faith in that sacrifice is what joins us to Jesus who in turn covers us with His righteousness before God.

            Jesus torturous death is the only thing that secures our freedom from condemnation. If we believe that Christ died for us and defeated death by His resurrection, then it is just as true that He cleansed us and brought us back into relationship with our heavenly Father. What Christ suffered, covers every sin we ever committed or will commit in the future. We are free from fear of death or any of Satan’s tricks because we are homeward bound.

Meditation for today: God sent Jesus to suffer unsurpassed agony and death because He loves us more than we can ever fully comprehend.

Memory Verse: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 (NLT)

DAILY DEVOTION

6/10/2021

Never Forget

By Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading for the day: Deuteronomy 4:29-35
Scripture Quote: “As they had there pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me.” Hosea 13:6 (NASB)
Do you fail to give God all the gratitude that is due to Him? Sometimes when stress and problems overwhelm us we plead to God to rescue us. We seek His mercy and grace and pray for a strong awareness of His presence - We need Him and we know it.
Equally typical, we tend to take over the controls again just as soon as it seems like everything is going well. We suddenly become in charge and feel independent and satisfied. But God wants us to know that we need Him always.
People often wonder and sometimes complain about how hard their lives are and don’t think they should suffer because they are believers. But without the refining trials, without the immediate urgency, we become swollen with pride and discard our need for Jesus. We truly are a sinful people, full of pride. And even though we all tend to be this way, our wonderful friend and merciful Savior keeps faithful to us and remains ready to hold us up with his love whenever we turn to Him.
Today’s meditation: Never forget that Jesus is your only true provision and repent of your rebellious self-reliance. Praise God’s unfailing love for you in good or bad times.
Memory Verse: “For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalms 100:5

DAILY DEVOTION

6/9/2021

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus

By Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day: Philippians 3:12-21

Scripture Quote: “As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing his death, so that, somehow I can experience the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10

Our priority is not self realization as much as knowing Christ. Understanding that circumstances are not accidental, we can react with understanding when life’s inevitable trouble and problems occur. Christians certainly are not exempt from the consequence of their own sins, as well as the malice encompassing our sinful world. Satan often spends great effort in making things worse for Christians because he wants to discourage and tempt us away from our love of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is determined that we grow to the position that we look for and find Jesus in all happenings in our life. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the worst of times and in the most menial work, as should we. To know who we are in Christ and to spend our lives trying to know Him even more is the most productive thing we can do.

Business success, financial goals and aspirations to fame are all irrelevant - They fade in comparison to the great love and future glory we will be surrounded by. Seek earnestly to know your Lord and Savior and glorify Him in all your actions and attitudes.

Mediation for the day: Train yourself to run the race of life, keeping your eyes on Christ.

Memory Verse: “I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.” Philippians 3:7

DAILY DEVOTION

6/8/2021

Judgment Of Sin

By Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading for the day:  Psalm 51:10-17

Scripture Quote: “So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” 2 Samuel 11:14-17

            So David was indirectly but still quite guilty of murder. Yet we read that he was favored by God. Is our sin less because we haven’t murdered anyone? Does God rate sins on a scale of 1 to 10? He doesn’t, because the Bible tells us that all sin is abhorrent to God. All have sinned and been found wanting and in need of Christ’s cleansing sacrifice for God’s unconditional forgiveness.

            We must learn to loath our own sin as much, if not more than, our brother’s. We all have that blackness in our inner being that can only be healed by Him. We must plead for our hearts to be cleansed and our souls renewed. More than anything we hold dear, we must hold the gift of a pure heart in the highest esteem. The Bible tells us, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

Meditation for today: “God has promised to forgive and restore those who come to him hating their sins and wanting to be saved from them. He did it for David; He will do it for us, too.” J.J. Packer

Memory Verse: “You may be saying, what terrible people have you been talking about? But you are just as bad and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself for you do these very same things.” Romans 2:1 (NLT)

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 5 pound, furry, Chihuahua muse, “Princess 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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