Blog Posts - Toni Writing for The Master

DAILY DEVOTION

2/19/2020

Debt
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:9-17
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Scripture Quote: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

Do you, Christian, live under the heavy burden of debt? Do you have a heavily mortgaged home that you fill with things purchased on credit? It sneaks up on a lot of us and before we know it the credit monster keeps adding to our minimum payments until we are scrambling to make ends meet. We don't need to partake of this world's products to the point of overwhelming debt. Is there time left in such a Christian's life to honor God with tithes of service to the body, not to mention his ability to give a tenth of his seriously depleted funds?

If the Holy Spirit dwells in the souls of Christians, then we are called away from common and profane uses. We can become more dedicated to the service of God. We know that God provides. We have had many of our prayers answered as proof of His faithfulness. There is only momentary joy in a new car or other costly toy for our entertainment. Time spent with God's own children in His House of Worship, strengthening and encouraging one another is what we are meant for - God's Word says we are not our own, but we are bought with Christ's blood - Paid for free and clear!

Today’s meditation: Cease the practice of endless self-satisfaction.

Memory Verse: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

Daily devotion

2/17/2020

Culpability
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: John 3:16-21
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Scripture Quote: Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16 NIV)

Christians who profess to love God, also love, comfort and support each other, so that we can feel confident to share our troubles and mistakes without fear of gossip or betrayal of personal issues. But, this is an accountability that is not often pursued because our secrets can shame us. Where we might reveal an illness in a prayer request, that seems to be where our willingness to be vulnerable can often end. The idea of confessing our sins to one another makes some faint-hearted. God's Word instructs us to be accountable, humble our souls and openly seek another to pray for our specific sins, as we pray for theirs, which helps both to be more watchful of our slips.

We naturally want our friends to think well of us. When we admit to them offenses they would otherwise never have known, it humbles our pride and makes us deny rationalizations. We face ourselves in an amazingly fresh way - We definitely learn to desert self-applause. This confession is not meant for the Pastors or Elders of the church, but for other members of the church body. We can improve our faith walk when we share sin and prayer with a trustworthy Christian friend. Try it, you may not like it, but you will grow as a result of it.

Today’s meditation: Answerability improves sin-self-awareness.

Memory Verse: Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21 NIV)

Daily devotion

2/17/2020

Criticism
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 28:24-29
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Scripture Quote: Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Proverbs 15:31(NIV)

How well do you receive criticism? When we think about the times that we learned or grew the most, it usually involved some trial and error. When criticism was meant to instruct it should have been welcome, but when anyone else offers a remark that points out our error, well, we just don’t like it much. The simple truth is that, Christians or not, we are vain humans. Our pride is always trying to control our thinking and behavior. Criticism offered in love, or by a more capable person that is trying to help, still seems to sting.

True wisdom takes a lifetime to acquire and then only when we seek it from the Lord's vast resources. God gives wisdom, understanding and knowledge in all kinds of skills. Each new thing has to be learned gradually with mistakes that are inevitable before a thing can be mastered. If there are others along the way who can actually offer advice or show us a better or more efficient way of doing a thing, it is pretty foolish to take offense. Even in the most common and less difficult skills in life there is room for error. If we can accept criticism as a learning tool rather than a person attack, we will be that much closer to becoming the wise Christian people we actually want to be when we grow up.

Today’s meditation: Choose to embrace criticism and learn from it.

Memory Verse: Wisdom's instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:33 (NIV)

Daily devotion

2/13/2020

Converted Sinners
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Titus 3:1-7
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Scripture Quote: And such were some of you; but you have been washed, you have been made holy, you have been given righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:11(NIV)

Jesus preached the gospel so that sinners would be converted and join together as one church body. It doesn't matter who we have been or what we have done. When followers accept Christ's offer of salvation, we are washed by His blood. We promise to follow Jesus and to make Him the Lord of our lives. We publicly demonstrate the purification of our bodies in baptism and our spirits declare an inward connection to God and His empowerment to achieve His purposes. We understand that His Holy Spirit now dwells within us.

We return to life as we have known it - The only difference is our deepened certainty of God’s profound love for us. We can still sometimes fail as we seek to emulate Jesus, but we are stronger and better able to deal with life’s challenges. When fleshly desire creeps in, we are able to denounce its power over us because our conscience has been tweaked by the Holy Spirit - It nudges us into good moral choices. And God who made the Lord Jesus come back from the dead, assures us that He will do the same for us. God’s desire is to love us and enable us for good - Be grateful and worship Him!

Today’s meditation: We are care-takers and sharers of God’s mercy.

Memory Verse: I am free to do all things; but not all things are wise. I am free to do all things; but I will not let myself come under the power of any. 1 Cor 6:12 (NIV)

Daily devotion

2/13/2020

Contentment
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:11-13
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Scripture Quote: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)

If we have the Spirit of God within and the necessities to preserve life available to us, we have what God calls great gain or an abundant portion. It doesn't actually require much of this world's goods to satisfy those of us who feel we are citizens of another, better place and who know that now is not the time of our true rest. Our ultimate contentment will only be attained when we reach our final destination with the Lord. But, what we need and want aren't always congruent.

Christians, like any other group of people, have fallen victim to appetites that grow with nourishment. We step further away from simplicity each time a desire is seen as basically harmless. It's not the thing desired that is hurtful so much as the gusto with which we pursue that desire. Just like it isn't money alone that is evil, but the love for it and the lust with which it is sought that causes trouble. We are all to some degree entrapped by subtle, secular seductions because we live and function in today's society. But, it is always wise to be aware of our tendencies to wander and be deliberate in our desire to seek first, with great fervor, God's ways, leaving little else of ourselves to stray.

Today’s meditation: Stand fast in simplicity.

Memory Verse: But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV)

Daily devotion

2/12/2020

Content With God’s Provision
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Psalms 37:1-13
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Scripture Quote: If you do what the LORD wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure. The LORD will hold your hand, and if you stumble, you still won't fall. (Psalms 37:23-24 NIV)

Have you ever wondered about a blatant sinner who is financially prosperous, that seems to have a lovely family and life, but who has no respect for the God who created him? Then there's the ease with which everything seems to fall into this guy's lap. Well, Christians can certainly have moments of jealousy when we take our eyes off of Jesus and gaze into the lives of seemingly successful people. But it is God who allows all they enjoy, none of which includes the joy of the Lord, or eternity spent in His glorious kingdom.

They have their riches now, but that fails drastically in comparison to our salvation and the hope of heaven that Christians have. God will provide the necessities of life, according to His purpose. Maybe too much wealth could cause some to discount God's spiritual blessings - We could become idle and yield to temptations of the flesh. God knows each of us and He provides what is best for us. Long to be close to the Lord and walk in obedience as you grow in the knowledge of His Word. You can only claim God's promises if He is number one in your life. Nothing from this world can match God’s protection and love.

Today’s meditation: Envy no man, but crave communion with God.

Memory Verse: It is better to live right and be poor than to be sinful and rich. (Psalms 37:16 NIV)

Daily devotion

2/11/2020

Contemplate God’s Attributes
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Job 11:7-18
Click here to read the scripture
Scripture Quote: (Ecclesiastes 8:17 NIV) then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

Our most inspired thought cannot grasp the concept of divinity or even eternity. We can define those words to human satisfaction, yet verbal explanations are shallow at best. Those realities are so beyond our perception that we haven't the ability to adequately express them to each other. Our human denial of the spiritual dimension in which Christ is King is only altered as far as our willingness to believe. We cannot see Christ who is spirit.

We can feel and be led by the Holy Spirit to read God’s Word and experience a small measure of His Divinity, but without any prior experience or source of reference, we simply cannot conceive of an eternal dimension in which total purity and holiness exists. Only our faith can venture into those realms and take the smallest taste of what we believe to be our eventual destiny. This much we do know: Power belongs to God, and with Him is unfailing love. How glorious that day will be for us when we finally go home to witness and exist in His glory for all eternity.

Today’s meditation: Contemplate Almighty God in awestruck wonder!

Memory Verse: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33 NIV)

Daily devotion

2/10/2020

Contemplate God’s Attributes
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Job 11:7-18
Click here to read the scripture
Scripture Quote: (Ecclesiastes 8:17 NIV) then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

Our most inspired thought cannot grasp the concept of divinity or even eternity. We can define those words to human satisfaction, yet verbal explanations are shallow at best. Those realities are so beyond our perception that we haven't the ability to adequately express them to each other. Our human denial of the spiritual dimension in which Christ is King is only altered as far as our willingness to believe. We cannot see Christ who is spirit.

We can feel and be led by the Holy Spirit to read God’s Word and experience a small measure of His Divinity, but without any prior experience or source of reference, we simply cannot conceive of an eternal dimension in which total purity and holiness exists. Only our faith can venture into those realms and take the smallest taste of what we believe to be our eventual destiny. This much we do know: Power belongs to God, and with Him is unfailing love. How glorious that day will be for us when we finally go home to witness and exist in His glory for all eternity.

Today’s meditation: Contemplate Almighty God in awestruck wonder!

Memory Verse: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33 NIV)

Daily devotion

2/7/2020

Confession
Toni Smothers

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:6-10
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Scripture Quote: Proverbs 28:13-14 (NIV) Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

Do you ever get kind of comfortable with a particular sin and make up rationalizations to keep from calling it what it really is? We can be tricked by the enemy into thinking that what we are doing isn’t so bad. We still love God and claim to be His child. We are just fooling ourselves because when we are guilty of sin, it can pollute us and drag our spirits down. If we refuse to acknowledge that we are in a state of sin, things definitely get worse. If we try to cover or excuse our sin and discount the light of God's Word, we will find no mercy from our LORD. God would never bless a sinful, unhumbled soul - We will reap the consequence of our sin.

In order to get a clean heart we must know and feel the corruption our sin is causing. When we turn to God, we must deplore our sinfulness and know in our heart that we are truly nothing but a sinner. To be forgiven, sin must be confessed in good conscience. We must turn away from whatever has corrupted us and turn to our loving God for pardon and cleansing. God is merciful to an honest and repentant heart.

Today’s meditation: Be sincere with God and confess your sins often.

Memory Verse: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Daily devotion

2/5/2020

  Commit Your Way to the LORD
Scripture Reading for the day: Matthew 11:20-30
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Scripture Quote: Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit you way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:4-5 (NKJV)

            When we see the beauty of this planet, the lush environment that God created for us to live in, we find it easy to admire God’s majesty and creativity. We are surrounded by God’s glory and feel blessed to be included. But our lives are more than beauty and pleasure. We are meant to overcome trials as God refines and reinforces our faith.

            Realistically, we must expect challenges and difficulties along our paths, but we can also find great comfort and courage in knowing that God has given us His Son Jesus, who saves and befriends us. So, no matter what life throws at us, we can be certain that God will never withhold anything that we need to get through it.

            We who follow God’s decrees will have the kind of faith that pleases God. Our faith also proves His grace within our hearts and lives. When we honor Christ with our faithful thoughts and deeds, we receive God’s provision now, along with His promise of eternity. How overwhelming and wonderful is God’s great love for us!

Today’s meditation: “Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 (CEV)

Memory Verse: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27 (ASV)

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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