PURE AND STEADFAST!

Psalm 51:10 – Devotional

Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Some people seem to have the idea that children are born innocent, perfect, and with pure little hearts. Then they have children of their own and encounter temper tantrums and sinful behavior. It confirms the reality that we are born with the sinful seed of our first parents, Adam and Eve.

When I pray, “Lord create a pure heart within me,” does that mean that the Lord is to over-ride my unloving behavior and suddenly make me loving? Some people seem to teach that. The result of this false teaching is a feeling that more is required to reach the place where tribulations disappear. Beep!

The Psalmist prays that the Lord will lead him to a purified heart and then to guide him to a steadfast spirit. That means he will become an oak tree rather than a weak willow bush. This will enable us to first of all receive the Lord’s comfort for our discomfort; and second for us to comfort those around us who are in any trouble.

Two questions: 1. Are you receiving God’s comfort for your tribulations? 2. Are you comforting those around you who are experiencing tribulation? There is value for the true believer when we encounter tribulation!

Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!

– – – Pastor Cecil

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If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.

I WILL KEEP GOD’S WORD!

Psalm 119:34 – Devotional

Psalm 119:34

“Lord, teach me Your will and Your way for my life and I will follow You to the end. Give me understanding and I will keep Your law faithfully.”

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. The Psalmist pens this Psalm in the form of a prayer beseeching the Lord to be our teacher. Each section is introduced by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I am told that Jewish youth had to memorize the entire chapter. Containing 176 verses, that was no easy task.

It is interesting to dig a little deeper into the meaning of the word FOLLOW. In the Hebrew it means to keep guard and protect. That gives us a much clearer meaning of what the writer is seeking from the Lord.

When I was a boy, or even a grown man in graduate school, I was required to apply myself to gaining knowledge. I am afraid I fell short many times. Regardless of my failures I was exposing myself to the things my instructor endeavored to teach me.

As we read this Psalm of prayer to the Lord, it is important to make it our own prayer. Our part is to listen to the Lord as He teaches and then to keep, guard, and protect His Word, with our whole heart.

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

– – – Pastor Cecil

Share a blessing by inviting your friends and family to subscribe to Pastor Cecil’s Daily E-Votional by clicking on the Subscribe button above.

Share the Lord with someone by directing them to https://PastorCecil.com.

If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.

MAKE MUSIC TO OUR GOD!

Psalm 147:7 – Devotional

Psalm 147:7

“Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.”

Today’s Evotional is a little different in that it is simply just featuring an inspirational video from GloryScapes entitled, “Piano Concerto in A Minor” — making music to our God.

To enjoy this week’s inspirational video: Piano Concerto in A Minor, go to: https://gloryscapes.com/pianoconcertoinaminor/

Blessings dear hearts! May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

– – – Pastor Cecil

Share a blessing by inviting your friends and family to subscribe to Pastor Cecil’s Daily E-Votional by clicking on the Subscribe button above.

Share the Lord with someone by directing them to https://PastorCecil.com.

If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.

LET GOD BE MAGNIFIED!

Psalm 70:4 – Devotional

Psalm 70:4

“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You: and let all who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified.’”

I am not blessed with a scientific mind, but I do a sliver of understanding that the qualities of glass, shaped, ground, and polished enable it to become a tool to view distant objects up close, or minute objects magnified dramatically.

The Word of God may be understood as God’s gift to us that allows us to view Him magnified more and more. If we fail to use His Divinely inspired Word to see Him magnified, we are left with limited sight.

Sometimes I reflect upon the precious work that biblical translators have done across the centuries of time. They have labored hour after hour in order for us to be able to view God’s Word for us in clarity and magnification.

I want to be one who takes advantage of the precious result of these faithful servants of the Lord who give us a clear view into the WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

– – – Pastor Cecil

Share a blessing by inviting your friends and family to subscribe to Pastor Cecil’s Daily E-Votional by clicking on the Subscribe button above.

Share the Lord with someone by directing them to https://PastorCecil.com.

If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.

OUR RIGHTEOUS LORD!

Psalm 11:7 – Devotional

Psalm 11:7

“The LORD is totally righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright in heart.”

We live is a wicked and fallen world. It is easy for us to become overwhelmed by all of the violence and needless suffering that surrounds us. But in the midst of all of the ugliness we are able to have a light that shines bright and true.

It is vital for us to remember that the darker the night the brighter our light will shine. Does that mean that we are happy about the evil and darkness? Not on your life. The darkness and evil are the natural consequence of our fallen state.

I am so happy that we serve a Lord who loves us so much that He became one of us to demonstrate His love for us and to pay the price for our redemption that only He could pay.

Our righteous Lord became sin in our place that we might receive His gift of eternal love and an eternity with Him in glory. In this world we may be faced with sin and evil, but we serve a Lord whose blood has overcome our fatal condition. His righteous may be beyond our ability to describe, but I can hardly wait to experience it with Him forever!

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

– – – Pastor Cecil

Share a blessing by inviting your friends and family to subscribe to Pastor Cecil’s Daily E-Votional by clicking on the Subscribe button above.

Share the Lord with someone by directing them to https://PastorCecil.com.

If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.

SERVE THE LORD WITH JOY!

Psalm 100:2 – Devotional

Psalm 100:2

“Serve the LORD with gladness come into His presence with singing.”

The Thirty Years’ War raged from 1618 to 1648, and was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe.

Dur­ing this terrible conflict Martin Rinkart, served as a Lu­ther­an min­is­ter. The walled ci­ty saw a stea­dy stream of re­fu­gees pour through its gates. The Swed­ish army sur­round­ed the ci­ty, and fa­mine and plague were ramp­ant. Eight hund­red homes were de­stroyed, and the peo­ple be­gan to per­ish.

There was a tre­men­dous strain on the pas­tors who had to con­duct do­zens of fun­er­als dai­ly. Fi­nal­ly, Martin Rink­art was the on­ly pas­tor left—doing as many as 50 fun­er­als a day.

When the Swedes de­mand­ed a huge ran­som, Rink­art left the safe­ty of the walls to plead for mer­cy. The Swed­ish com­mand­er, im­pressed by his faith and cour­age, low­ered his de­mands. Soon af­ter­ward, the Thir­ty Years’ War end­ed, and Rinkart wrote a hymn of abid­ing trust and gra­ti­tude to­ward God. It is a test­a­ment to the reality that, even through the battles of life, we can serve the Lord with joy!

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

– – – Pastor Cecil

Share a blessing by inviting your friends and family to subscribe to Pastor Cecil’s Daily E-Votional by clicking on the Subscribe button above.

Share the Lord with someone by directing them to https://PastorCecil.com.

If you have watched The Sands of Eternity video above and prayed the prayer at the end, please go to https://PastorCecil.com/ and use the form on the webpage to let us know so we can send you follow up resources and/or send an email to pastorcecil@dailyevotional.com and let him know.