by Pastor Cecil | Jan 29, 2021 | Psalm
Psalm 36:9
“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”
Robert Robinson who lived from 1735 to 1790, was saved while attending a service conducted by the famous evangelist George Whitefield. Following his conversion he entered the Christian ministry, but like so many, he would lose his fervor for God.
The words of the hymn “Come Thou Fount” were written to express his own need for a closer walk with the Lord. His prayer is that his heart may be re-tuned to be in perfect harmony with the will of God.
In stanza two he speaks of his conversion. The word “Ebenezer” refers to a time and place when he actually received the Lord into his life as personal Savior and Lord. He goes on to remind himself and others that it is necessary to daily remind ourselves what a debt we owe to the Lord for our salvation at His expense.
COME THOU FOUNT
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount-I’m fixed upon it-mount of Thy redeeming love. \
Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to Thee;
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video, “Come Thou Fount” from Gloryscapes.com by going to: https://gloryscapes.com/comethoufount/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 28, 2021 | Micah
Micah 6:8
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Some of life’s truths come very naturally to us, but others are harder to learn. Years ago when I was a police officer, there was a sergeant who was extremely cynical. He would stride into the police department with his pipe clenched tightly between his teeth, shaking his head and declaring, “The more I see of people, the more I think sheep are smart animals!” I think sometimes he was right.
It grieves me that we have entire churches filled with believers who have not grown one bit spiritually since they experienced New Birth. They may come, sing, pray, smile, appear contented, but then go out to live pretty much the same way they did before their new birth. God has given us His Word to guide us and prepare us for not only this life, but for the life to come.
Micah 6:8 gives us three of God’s requirements for believers. Do justly: Do what is right and just, even when others are out for their own thing. Love mercy: Love the world (others) with the mercy that Christ has shown to you. Walk humbly: God hates pride and self-sufficiency — in all your ways acknowledge Him.
How would you rate yourself in response to what God requires of His disciples? Where are we falling short and what steps of action should we take?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 27, 2021 | Matthew
Matthew 14:25
“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.”
The fourth watch of the night is the darkest, but it is also the watch that observes the appearance of dawn. For those of us who have worked the “graveyard shift,” it is the most boring, but also the most delightful. It is when you see the first streaks of dawn, the rim of gold on the eastern horizon, and the burst of light when the sun rises to begin its journey for the day.
The disciples of Jesus knew what stormy weather on the water was like. They had perhaps even feared for their lives in previous storms. Now they experienced total shock — Jesus was walking on the water toward their boat!
Peter had fished those very waters and no doubt had been in storms like this before. But never had he experienced someone walking on the water. It was his Lord, and he no longer felt afraid. In fact, he wanted to go to Jesus on the water. Peter was the only man besides Jesus who walked on water. Taking his eyes off the Lord and fearing the water caused him to begin to sink, but when he took the Master’s hand he once again walked on the water to the boat.
When you are laboring in the darkest watch of your personal night, you may feel stark terror. Remember, you are not alone. Jesus is there in the darkness, ready to keep you from sinking. Our only problem is looking at the water instead of the Master who is walking on the water. When we focus our attention on Him, He will keep us from sinking!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 26, 2021 | Matthew
Matthew 19:14
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’”
I make no bones about loving babies and it absolutely crushes me to think of all the millions and millions of babies killed by abortion. I remember when our children were babies. (It has been a long time.) Joyce was always the perfect mother and insisted that they be fed only what the pediatrician said babies should have: milk, baby cereal, and canned baby food. Yuk!!
I was usually the one to push the envelope of what was acceptable. I, in my infinite wisdom, just naturally knew that God intended for babies to have mashed potatoes and gravy. Many times I was chastised for feeding these wonderful foods to the babies, but it was a secret between the babies and me . . . and they loved it! From that to more and more solid food until they became teens and ate us out of house and home.
Many people attend church weekly (some very seldom), and seem to feel that they are getting all of the spiritual nourishment they need. LISTEN! There is no way that I, or any other minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can give you enough in one or two sermons to get you through the week. I have seen the saying many times: A week without church attendance makes one weak. We need that time in worship and hearing the Word proclaimed, but it will never be enough to bring us to spiritual maturity. We need a daily diet of spiritual food.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 25, 2021 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”
Several years ago I had one of those eerie encounters where a friend expressed extreme joy when we unexpectedly bumped into each other at a super store. It seems that someone had passed along the word that I had died. This friend had sincerely believed me to be dead, but here I was ALIVE – AND KICKING!
From time to time I encounter people who deny the existence of God. They seem to have a superior attitude that looks down from the lofty position of their noble wisdom. They claim there is no God, so that makes it true. BEEP!!
We can easily deceive ourselves into concluding that just because we sincerely believe something that makes it so. That is not true in any way, shape, or form. In the spiritual realm we are talking life and death. I mean eternal life or eternal death.
Today’s Scripture pictures the unbeliever as a fool. I can think of no more foolish thing than to deny the existence of God. Not only is it imperative that we believe in God, but we must believe that Jesus came in the flesh and gave His life to save us from sin. We must believe and receive Him as our personal Savior and Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
