by Pastor Cecil | Jul 17, 2008 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 2:5-8
“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent–not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”
Are you ready for a little detective work? I hope we will not end up as “defective detectives.” In Scripture we are told to study to show ourselves approved of God. Part of that study is to dig into the hidden truths of God’s Word.
From the tone of the comments that Paul makes to the church at Corinth, a particular man had been the source of conflict in the body. It appears that it might have involved Paul, since in the first few verses of this chapter he refers to his first visit as being painful. It also appears that some type of discipline was administered by the church.
We can infer that the man has repented of his offense and has asked for forgiveness. It is thought that Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus which is across the Aegean Sea from Corinth. I don’t think there were any telephones or computers back then, so word of the man’s repentance must have been relayed by word of mouth by someone who had come from Corinth. How are we doing detectives? Stay close, we are about to dig deeper.
Paul indicates that the church in Corinth has exerted enough punishment and that the man was truly repentant. In effect he is saying to stop punishing and start restoring. Thinking like a detective brings us to conclude that the people in Corinth are now in danger of being guilty of sin of an unforgiving attitude—seeking vengeance rather than restoration.
From the reports he had received, Paul saw this and now begins to provide instruction. What is his advice? Forgive, comfort and love. I can almost hear a few cries from those who heard this letter. “What! Don’t forget what he did to us!” Our reactions today may also become vindictive rather than restorative. Are we guilty of possessing an unforgiving spirit?
In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus taught His disciples the principle of forgiveness. Immediately Peter wanted to know how many times we should forgive the one who sins against us. He even ventures a number seven (7) that would demonstrate we have a wonderful spirit of forgiveness. I am quite sure that Peter felt that the Lord would be pleased that he would be willing to forgive a brother who sinned against him seven times. Before we get too critical of Peter, think how you would respond if someone did something terrible to you, asked forgiveness, received your warm forgiving response then did the same thing again. Be honest! I think most of us would feel that two was all he was going to get. Peter was being very magnanimous in saying seven times.
Jesus was not satisfied with seven times. Our Lord said we are to forgive an offender seventy times seven. If my grade school math is operational, that is a total of 490 times. Can you even imagine what it would be like to be victimized hundreds of times and each time have the same warm spirit of forgiveness as before? Only God can give us that type of spirit. No amount of sermons, self-help seminars or good intentions will accomplish this. It is only by the grace of God that we achieve this level of growth.
Jesus taught that we are always to forgive. If you are keeping track of the number of times you have forgiven someone you need to learn what it means to truly forgive. Paul teaches that forgiveness is more than words. It is action. FORGIVE – COMFORT – LOVE. To use the term forgive without the comfort and love is just making noise without demonstrating action.
We need to experience the brokenness of heart and spirit until we are truly crucified with Christ. It is only then that we will receive His strength to forgive. When it is not within us to forgive we need to pray. “Please Lord, make me more like You.”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and become a real blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 16, 2008 | Daniel, Job
Job 2:3
“Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without reason.”
Daniel 6:4-5
” – – the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.'”
Here are two godly men who demonstrated character and integrity in spite of trial and suffering. We are living in a day when it seems that integrity is so seldom demonstrated that we do not even know the meaning. My major professor in graduate school was a stickler on the meaning of words. In memory of Dr. Maloof, I checked in Merriam Webster’s Dictionary and found three descriptive words to describe integrity: Incorruptibility, Soundness, and Completeness. It also gave the word “honesty” as a synonym.
Job is thought to be the oldest book in the Bible. Job himself was a man who was the priest of his family and dedicated to the Lord God. Jesus especially spoke of the heart as being the important element in worship. The external customs and duties were of no value if the heart was not right with God. We might say here, that we can fool people fairly easily, but we can never fool God. When we read that God spoke words of praise to Satan concerning Job’s integrity, He knew what was in Job’s heart.
What would God say to Satan about you or me? Would He delight in reminding Satan of our heart being blameless and upright? Would He say that we have a reverential fear of Him that pleases him? Would He say that we shun the evil that is so prevalent all around us? What would God say about your integrity? When no one is watching – when we are away from the prying eyes of family and friends, what is the level of our integrity?
Daniel was taken into captivity as a young man. He demonstrated integrity by not wanting to eat and drink that which Nebuchadnezzar’s stewards served. He was never known to compromise his beliefs, even when it may have seemed easier to go with the flow. He was answerable to the God of the universe, and that was far more important than any earthly monarch.
In the passage from Daniel 6, these administrators and satraps (governors), tried everything they could to find a lack of integrity which they could use to discredit him. They could find nothing that could be the basis of accusation against him. Hey! There were over 100 of these snoops trying to find any fault in his personal life or in his official work for the king, and they could find none. They finally concluded that the only way they would find any charges against him was in connection with the law of his God.
That just leaves me breathless! If we had a pack of investigators going through every scrap of paper in our wastebasket, our computer memory, the words that we spoke, actions that we took or the people we saw, would they find incriminating evidence against us?
Is our life a life of integrity? Do we live in a way that is pleasing to God and without violating moral absolutes as presented in the Word of God? The word is integrity!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and become a real blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 15, 2008 | Isaiah
Isaiah 40:31
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”
The high cost of fuel is a major concern today. Several years ago a friend of mine pulled confidently into a self-service gas station to fill his diesel powered car. You know what is coming next don’t you—you are right! He was not paying attention, and filled his car with gasoline instead of the diesel it was designed to use.
After paying for his purchase he started his car and confidently placed the vehicle in gear and headed for the exit onto the street. He was suddenly jolted by the engine coughing and choking as if it was going to die. He wisely parked the car and shut it off as soon as possible. Walking back to the pump he had used, he realized his mistake—wrong stuff!
He called for a mechanic who arrived and proceeded to drain all of the bad fuel from the tank, clean out the engine and fill the tank with diesel. Several hours later and many dollars poorer—he was finally on his way. He vowed to pay closer attention the next time he filled his tank.
As this message goes out to the hundreds who will be reading it—it is impossible for me to know what you are facing in your life at this moment. You may be on top of the world with spiritual enthusiasm, or you may be in the pits with Satan hurling his fiery darts at you. Regardless of your circumstance, God knows what octane you need in your tank!
So what is the secret to have our tank filled to the brim? How can we be sure that what we take into our life is that which will make our spiritual engine purr with power? All too often we think we know what we need—what is best for us—only to find that we were wrong.
There are those who turn to self-help books, new age gurus, humanistic logic, worldly counselors, etc., which promise much but deliver little.
When we have the Lord in our life, we need to recognize that He has the power to deal with our needs and to supply exactly what we need and when we need it. News Flash! We do not know what we need or when we will need it. So are we going to trust God or our human emotions? I want to trust God.
Isaiah, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us the answer. He first of all describes that we lack strength and grow weary. We also are prone to stumble and fall. But God has the solution to these human conditions. Those who hope in the Lord—or as some translations render it—those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.
The renewing is not from us but from Him. The only part we play in all of this is to go to the Lord. It is the Lord’s joy and delight to provide us with power and strength so we may be able to soar over the obstacles of life. Those obstacles in your life may take the form of shattered dreams, broken bodies, fractured relationships or empty tanks.
Can I encourage you today that God wants to fill your life to the full? He takes no delight in depressed and despondent kids who mope around without hope. He wants us to have a tiger in our tank, a smile on our face and a zeal to do His will. Let me ask you, which description best fits you? Let God fill you with His grace and glory today—THE RIGHT STUFF!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and become a real blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 14, 2008 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 11:6-7
“I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?”
I recall being on an elevator going down to the ground floor. The elevator stopped on the second floor and a nurse stepped in. I was standing beside the floor buttons so she said; “Third floor please.” I laughed and said, “I’m sorry but the elevator is going down.” Without missing a beat she replied, “Well, I will just go along for the ride!”
Life is often like that. You have your plans all made to go in one direction, when you suddenly find yourself traveling in the opposite way. You have two choices; (1) You can either go along for the ride and be used where the Lord leads or (2) You can get off and wring your hands in frustration because you want to go in your own direction and do things your own way.
I know that this is a drastic over simplification, but I hope you capture some thread of meaning that will apply to your present situation.
Paul freely admits his lack of training as a speaker. That may or may not be — but he was mightily used by God to proclaim the truth through the letters he wrote. His evangelistic fervor elevated people to higher levels. The lost were saved and the weak were made strong in the faith. He may have felt that he was being moved in the wrong direction, but it was to elevate others.
It is not our ability that makes the difference, but our availability. Our ability is quite often a handicap when it comes to serving the Lord. Why? Because we will tend to rely on that ability instead of allowing Him to flow though us.
As I prepare these daily “epistles”, my constant prayer is that perhaps one of you may be elevated and may come to rely more and more upon the Lord. The hours each day that have been required have not been a drag, but a blessing. Many of you have graciously written to share how a particular Daily-E-Votional was just what you needed to make it through a difficult time. It is God who is responsible. I simply push the keys.
My challenge to each of us is that we will recognize that we are called to be elevator operators. We are not to take people down, but to elevate them to higher levels of spiritual growth than ever before!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and become a real blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 11, 2008 | Philippians
Philippians 4:4-7
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I think most of you know by now that I prepare the Daily-E-Votionals for release on the evening before the date given. That means I am writing this on Thursday, July 10th. Why do I make mention of this? It is our anniversary.
That’s right, today, July 10th, Joyce and I are celebrating our 56th wedding anniversary. We are like two kids recalling our activities the day we were married in 1952. We cannot recall the meals we ate, or the people we saw, but we vividly recalled the love that we had for each other, and which has only grown stronger with each passing year and each new experience.
July 11th is another anniversary. It was seventeen years ago that our oldest daughter, Brenda, went home to be with her Lord and our Lord. She is experiencing a release from the pain and strife that plagued the last days of her life.
Over the years Joyce and I have talked about Brenda. It is such a joy that we, as her parents, can be filled with such comfort as we speak about her. She is the lucky one! We have a little while left here, and a great deal of work left to do. It will be such a joy to share with her, when we meet once again.
Today’s Scripture should be read frequently. We are so prone to moan and complain, instead of smiling and rejoicing. Remember that the world is watching the way we react to the death of our loved ones. They are more interested in observing how we live than listening to what we say.
If I say that I have complete trust in Jesus Christ to see me through every struggle of life, including the death, and then collapse under the pressure, what message is dominant in my life? What will the unbelievers that I have been witnessing to say about my walk? Will they respond to my words, or read my actions?
LISTEN! Rejoicing is not an option for us, but rather an imperative. We are to be a people who rejoice! That means to get a smile on our face. You might have the joy of Jesus down in your heart, but you had better let your face know about it. That is what others will see.
It is also this joyful attitude that leads us to the place of prayer. We come with rejoicing in our life to share our needs with our precious Savior. It is not as if we were sad of countenance, or at the end of our ropes, we proclaim our praise and rejoicing, in great expectation of God meeting us at our point of greatest need.
You know what comes to my mind right now? I see the saints of God across the ages, who have had the joy and rejoicing in their hearts, even during times of deep distress. They rejoiced even as the flames consumed them, or the lions devoured them, or the soldiers of the enemy slew them with the sword. Were their prayers heard? I believe they were. I believe they are with our Brenda right now, having utter joy. “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, and the half has never yet been told!”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and become a real blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
