by Pastor Cecil | Oct 10, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
II Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive of every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Put up your dukes, sinner! You want to fight? Is that what it means to fight a spiritual fight? I don’t think so. That is waging the spiritual fight by using the weapons of the world. What weapons are you using?
I have taught a Bible study on the book of First Timothy several times. One of the key Scriptures I share with the group I am teaching is I Timothy 6:12: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
There again is that word fight. It is not a word that we should lightly use without a proper understanding. There are those who seem to delight in having a mean spirit toward the world, and think of that as a fight for the Lord. That is contrary to what Paul teaches here in II Corinthians as well as in I Timothy.
Let’s keep it simple, yet direct.
(1) We are in spiritual warfare. If you do not think so, you have already lost the battle. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the enemies of the devil and he will use everything in his arsenal to defeat us. We either fight or we are finished!
(2) We do not use the weapons of the world in our fight. Okay — so what are the weapons of the world? Many could be listed, but some are; strife, cliquishness, envy, gossip, maliciousness, separation, and the like. These are things we may encounter from the enemy, but we should never be guilty of using these weapons.
(3) Our weapons must be spiritual weapons. They include; submission to the Lord, prayer, fasting, deep study of His Word, forgiveness, returning good for evil and many more of this same type.
So what is the promise from God as to the result of our battle? Timothy says that strongholds will be demolished. There are many types of strongholds. Some are strongholds which are no fault of our own. It may be something which was imposed upon us by situations beyond our control. These may be in the form of physical, mental or emotional situations. A case in point may be a baby born with a drug addiction as a result of his addicted mother.
There are other strongholds which are the result of our own foolish and sinful choices — the sins which so easily beset us! Some of these strongholds are not just difficult — THEY ARE IMPOSSIBLE! In either case, we need to use spiritual weapons against these strongholds.
As our Scripture for today indicates, we are to take hold of our thought life. AAAH! There is where the battle is won or lost! We are to bring our thoughts into obedience to the will of Jesus Christ, our Savior, but also our Lord. He is the ONE in control! It is he who fights our battles for us, as long as we remain in Him. What a wonderful Savior we serve!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 9, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
Psalm 25:4-7
“Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You are good, O LORD.”
I am not sure if they still do it, since so much has changed in schools since I was a boy; and no, it was not before the flood when I attended school! Back in “the day”, we used to have “show and tell.” Kids would bring some “treasure” and explain why it was a treasure and not simply junk.
In today’s Scripture, the Psalmist is praying to the Lord, and asking for at least three things. In the passage I have underlined these three words: Show, teach and guide. Let’s look at them.
Show. To show implies vision. It is seeing with our eyes or our senses. I love being around my blind friends. They do not have optical vision, so they see with their sense of touch, hearing or smell. Can they see? You better believe they do! Often with greater acuity than sighted persons.
As we read God’s Word, it should always be our prayer to have the Lord show us those things that He desires for us to see. This prayer is a willingness to receive the things that are shown. It may be described as an eagerness to receive what the Lord shows.
The second word, teach goes beyond merely being shown. We need to be taught whatever will be for our good and God’s glory. Many years ago I recall being in a Sunday School class that was taught by a godly woman. One of the members of that class was a small Mexican man. He always wore a smile. One day he was commenting on the teacher. In his broken English he said, “It like she open the top of my head and pour the learning inside!”
We need to consider ourselves as students being taught by the Lord. Sitting in a class can be very tedious and hard. It is the results that count. Not simply to receive a passing grade or an outstanding grade, but that it has meaning and purpose from that day forward.
One other element that is important—the material. The Psalmist asks that he be taught the Lord’s paths. It is a request for direction. I know that comes as a shock to you ladies who think that men never stop and ask for directions. In the spiritual realm we need to have instruction on the paths of the Lord. Without knowing His paths, we will certainly become lost.
The last word, but of vital importance, is the word guide. It means that there is One who knows the way and will go before us to be our Guide. We might pray for insight to see our need, we might have head knowledge about God’s paths, but when we actually hit the trail, we need a guide to be there in the lead.
All this seems so simple you may think I have reverted to those grade school days. If so, just humor me. This one was for me. I always need to be a child at heart and totally dependent upon the Lord. My prayer is that I, like David, want to be led by the Lord.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 8, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
Romans 6:20-23
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
About five years ago Joyce and I were driving along a fairly well traveled street in our area. There was a young man who looked to be in his twenties on the sidewalk. He had a sign begging for money. We both remarked about his appearance. He was clean shaven and well dressed.
From time to time I have noticed the same young man begging in the same area. Gradually I noticed a change in his appearance. His clean looks changed to unkempt and shabby. His hair which had once been clean and combed was now just a dirty mass.
Today I was traveling through that same area. I was startled to see a man begging who appeared to be in his forties of fifties. As I looked closer, I saw that it was the same man!
Recently I saw a television program on jails. A man who had been arrested for possession and use of drugs was being processed. The clerk who was booking the man commented that he had been arrested for the same offense numerous times.
She told the man that she wanted to show him something. She printed out pictures of each time he had been booked into the jail. She showed him ten or eleven pictures that spanned only a few years. It was astonishing how the man had deteriorated in his appearance in such a short time.
The last portion of today’s Scripture clearly teaches that sin has a terrible consequence—death! That death may come quickly as a result of sin, or it may be a tragic deterioration of a once healthy body.
Thank God there is a bright promise! Sin leads to death, but look what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us in the way of promise: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
That is such a precious promise that is the result of receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. It is not promised as a result of our being good or doing something special, it is because we have been redeemed from slavery and death by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. He died that we might live! Magnificent! If that doesn’t light your fire, your wood is wet! “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 5, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
I John 5:1
“Every one who believes — adheres to, trusts in and relies {on the fact} — that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, is a born again child of God; and every one who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him — His offspring.” (Amplified Bible)
Many years ago I recall hearing the story from the early 1900’s. It supposedly took place over Niagara Falls. A man had stretched a wire from one side of the Niagara River directly over the huge drop to the churning water below. He was making trips back and forth and receiving tips from the onlookers for his skill and daring.
The crowds continued to grow as his exploits became more incredible. He asked if they believed that he could cross the dangerous gorge while pushing a wheel barrow? They shouted that they believed in him. He wheeled it across with no problem. The crowd was ecstatic.
He asked them if they believed he could make it with a full wheel barrow? Again they shouted their belief in him. He then started to fill it with stones, but stopped and dumped the stones. He faced the adoring crowd and said he had a better idea. Since they believed in him, one of them could ride in the wheel barrow! The crowd silently disappeared.
What had happened? Their belief was a surface thing which required no commitment on their part. In the ultimate test of that faith, they failed. What kind of faith do we possess?
There are many people in our world who say they believe in God, but one has to question just what they believe. This is a critical point, since our eternal destiny hangs in the balance. We are told in James 2:19; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons do that and tremble.”
Belief then is not just believing about, or even having a knowledge about the Son of God, it is as our Scripture says today; “Every one who believes — adheres to, trusts in and relies {on the fact} — that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, is a born again child of God.”
I want to urge everyone reading this to stop immediately and consider the depth of your commitment. Are you basing your salvation on being baptized as an infant? That has no standing with God! Do you base your salvation on being baptized as an adult? Water baptism is a symbol, but by itself it will do nothing to merit salvation.
It is only by the atoning blood of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, that we are born anew and made ready for eternity with Him in heaven. Belief is critical — but what we believe in and how we believe is just as essential. Stop and consider —– then confidently get in the Lord’s wheel barrow!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 4, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
Psalm 119:129-133
“Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as You always do to those who love Your name. Direct my footsteps according to Your Word; let no sin rule over me.”
I cannot recall the exact incident when it happened, but it was back when I was serving as Deputy Director of the Idaho Law Enforcement Planning Commission. Someone gave me some sound advise, even if I was somewhat offended when I was given this word of instruction: KISS! “Keep It Simple Stupid!”
That word of counsel has remained with me over the years. In my short career as a criminal justice planner I had to present new material to seasoned law enforcement professionals. I felt that the Sheriffs, Police Chiefs, Wardens, Probation/Parole Officers and Court personnel were sitting like birds of prey waiting to strike. I had seen them do that to a former police professional from a major city police department.
It was always my experience that the more I worked on simplifying my presentation, the greater the acceptance. KISS! It seems that this is especially true spiritually. I have no idea why people feel that they have to make things involved and complicated when it comes to explaining the simple truth of God’s Word.
Jesus is my greatest inspiration in keeping things simple. In His earthly ministry He by-passed any attempt to impress the religious leaders with His interpretation of God’s Word (except when He was twelve). In His adult ministry He used stories and illustrations freely in order to allow even the most simple to understand.
As I read this passage from Psalm 119, I am impressed by David’s feeling toward the Word of God. He loved it and had a hunger and thirst for it. Consider these two phrases from today’s Scripture: “Your statutes are wonderful;” and: “I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commands.” and finally: “Direct my footsteps according to Your Word.”
As I read this passage I was reminded of that beautiful message Jesus gave on the mountain side, as recorded in Matthew 5 through 7. We have come to know Matthew 5:3-12 as the Beatitudes. Verse 5 contains the fourth beatitude and coincides with what David wrote; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Jesus pronounces a blessing and a promise for those of us who desire to know His righteous words. I believe that Jesus promises us that if we ask for a love and understanding of His precious Word and the ability to live by it, He will send His Holy Spirit and grant our request.
Are you seeking to find answers to your heartaches and trials? Jesus invites you to draw near to Him and in childlike simplicity pour your heart out to Him. You might start with that little song which many of us learned as children: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. We are weak but He is strong.” To me that is as simple, yet as profound as it gets!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
