The Blog of Tom Dale

Day 8 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14 I do not know many "morning" people. If anything, morning is the least favorite time of day for people. Maybe they do not like being waken from a good sleep. Maybe they dread going to work. Maybe the caffeine they get from their coffee does not work like it used to. Maybe they partied like a rock star the night before. In any case, it can be hard to start the day on a good note. However, the Psalmist tells us one such way we can. How can we be glad all our days? By being satisfied with God's love.  Think about it. We all like to be loved. We all desire for someone who will never fail us. The problem is that such people are hard to find in this world!  But God's love will never fail. It will always be there for us. It will always be a source of joy and gladness. It will always satisfy us if we allow it to.  The next time you wake up, thi...

Day 7 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. Joshua 21:45 God had made a promise to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament: He would give them a land to call their own after 400 years of slavery in Egypt. And He fulfilled that promise. After Joshua led the Israelites into war against a land and a people who did not love God, God gave the Israelites the land and a place to call home. The Promised Land became the Given Land.  God also made a promise to all of humanity: He would send His perfect Son Jesus Christ to become the sacrifice for our sins and to take our punishment in our place. And He fulfilled that promise two thousand years ago. Once and for all time our sins have been forgiven.  Finally, God has made a promise to you: that if you would receive Jesus Christ  as your Savior, you would receive Life itself. Is there any better way to spend eternity than with a loving God who will love you...

He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. Job 9:10 Many people mistakenly believe that God does not perform miracles anymore. They may believe that God parted the Red Sea to provide safe passage for the Israelites, or that He sent them bread from Heaven and water from rocks to give them sustenance, but that He does not do anything out of the ordinary like that today. Maybe He retired from miracle working after the Bible was completed. Yet the Bible never says that God ceases to work miracles in our daily lives. Job writes that God does so many miracles that they are impossible to count. Moreover, God's miracles are often beyond our comprehension. They leave us scratching our heads.  Has that ever happened to you? Has something unbelievable or illogical happened in your life that you could not explain? Think for a moment. Now think about this: it may have been God. He has not retired.  God, open up my eyes to see th...

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Psalm 17:6 This morning, I attended church. During the start of the service, I started getting a little tired, so I drank some coffee. Halfway during the service, I felt like passing out. I was exhausted and did not know why. I did not want to sleep while the pastor was preaching and be condemned as a heathen, so I quietly exited the service and made my way to another room to lie down. I lay for about 15 min, but I still felt fatigued. I made the decision to go home and take a nap, but as I walked to my car I could barely stand. I felt so weak. When I got home, I started getting chills. I put on two more layers of clothing and set the thermostat for five more degrees, to no avail. By then I knew that I probably had the flu. I felt like Death Incarnate.  I asked God my Father, "Why? I was having such a good time at church. Why would you let me get so sick all of a sudden?" He answ...

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 Have you ever been afraid? OK, that's a no-brainer. We have all been afraid of someone or something in our lives. And for good reason. Take Joshua's story, for instance. After wandering around in the desert for 40 years, the Israelites were ready to claim a new homeland. There was a problem, however: the land they were about to enter were full of people bigger, stronger, and more wicked than the Israelites. People who did not want the Israelites to share their land and would put up a strong fight.  And Joshua was commanded by God to lead the Israelites into battle against their fearsome enemies! Furthermore, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. Why? Because "the Lord your God will be with you." Whenever you are afraid, remember that your God, who is bigger and stronger than your fear, is with you.  Lord, Y...

Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." Hebrew 13:5 (NLT) First, let me say I am not entirely against shopping for new items. Items we may think we "need" or "want". I want a big screen TV, and I don't think God would be angry if I bought one. However, if I bought one and it did not work, maybe that would be a sign... Yet we need to be careful that our shopping habits do not overcome our spiritual habit of contentment. God promises us that He will always provide for us the necessities of life. We should be content no matter what.  The problem with compulsive and hyper-shopping is this: we may turn our attention from God to the lesser god of consumerism and materialism. We may become less satisfied with the  all-satisfying God and trade His contentment in for a perpetual dissatisfaction with the material things of this world. Because the truth is, that bi...

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:17 (NLT) We have a lot to be thankful for. Air. Water. Food. Shelter. Clothing. I'm assuming that as you read this you have that last one.  It's those little things that make a big difference. Without air, for instance, there could be no life for us to enjoy those things that, in the grand scheme, don't matter: a fancy car, the latest smartphone, an unlimited supply of fast food restaurants, etc. And the Scriptures tell us that whatever is good, whatever is perfect, ultimately is a gift from God. Nothing good in your life could be obtained if God did not allow it. Furthermore, God not only allows us to experience good things this side of eternity, He sends us good things. God is a generous and gracious giver.  The greatest good that God has given us is His Son Jesus Christ, the Source...