by Pastor Cecil | Apr 23, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
It has been a long-long-long time, but I can remember some of the games the kids in our neighborhood played. Hide and Seek, Kick the Can, Stick Ball, and many others, until we heard the call from our moms to come in the house. I can never remember our choosing up sides and playing a rousing game of—Perseverance.
I especially like the way Thayer’s Lexicon interprets the word Perseverance: “The characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering.”
That is powerful! It is far too easy to seek an escape from trial and testing instead of inquiring of the Lord as to His purpose in what we are going through. Some seem to feel that Christians should not go through the trials of life. Oh, really?!
Read what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27: “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
That is true perseverance that leads to godliness. So what is godliness? Reverence, respect and piety toward God. It is saying: Not my will, but Your will be done!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 22, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
We have considered faith and virtue as qualities that true believers should pursue. This brings us to knowledge and self-control. Whoa, Nelly! I am not sure about you, but I immediately think of Solomon. Here was a man who was complimented by God because he had chosen knowledge over riches. He was known as the wisest man in his time.
In spite of his extensive knowledge, Solomon lacked self-control. Knowledge without self-control becomes a dangerous commodity. Rather than relying upon the infallible Word of God as absolute wisdom, Solomon relied upon his vast knowledge. In so doing he came to the conclusion in Ecclesiastes 1:2: “‘‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'”
It is possible for Christians to amass large amounts of information and knowledge without pursuing the self-control to apply this knowledge as God desires. Over and over we observe overly educated scholars who “know much,” but “minister little.”
I am sure that this lacks grammatical correctness, but I hope you understand what I am trying to say. The measure of a truly wise man or woman is the ability to take God’s Word and apply it skillfully to their life. Jesus loves me, this is I know—He will guide me as I go!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 21, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:5-7
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
Back in my college days, I worked as a police officer and later a juvenile probation officer. My first experience as a police officer was in the small Idaho town of Caldwell, Idaho. I was hired by a police chief named Keith Judd.
It was while I was working as County Juvenile Probation Officer that a tragic event occurred. On the outskirts of Caldwell a family reported that someone was shooting at the house. Police from the area rushed to the scene in an attempt to locate where the shots were coming from. They surrounded the house and waited for more shots to be fired.
Unfortunately the shots were not coming from outside, but from inside. The family’s teenage son was the shooter. From his upstairs bedroom window he fired at the back of Keith Judd. Keith was paralyzed and died a few years later.
In yesterday’s Scripture we read that God has allowed us to be partakers of the divine nature and thus, escaping the corruption that is prevalent in the world. Today we read that we are to add to our diligent pursuit of faith—virtue.
The Greek word for virtue is aretê. It is interpreted: moral excellence, modesty or purity. Those qualities do not occur naturally. Remember that we are endued with a sinful nature inherited from Adam. We are not born good and lose ground— we are born as sinners and it is only by God’s grace we can be transformed.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is our first objective, and this is to be followed by virtue. Are you pursuing moral excellence, modesty or purity? If not, I urge you to do so immediately!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 20, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Have you ever made a promise and later regretted that you had made it? I know that I have found myself in a difficult situation and wished I could take back my promise. My Dad was a model of integrity and demonstrated the worth of his word.
There was the time when he made a mistake in making a pledge to purchase stained glass windows for the church. He made an honest mistake since he did not hear correctly. Instead of pledging $500.00 he pledged $5,000.00
He prayed about it and told the Lord about his mistake (the Lord already knew) and asked Him to assist him to make the necessary money to meet his pledge. He was retired and had not worked for several years. God graciously answered Dad’s prayers and he was asked to do extra work sufficient for his pledge. It became a special blessing that went far beyond the money he earned. It was an intimate provision from the Lord he loved so much.
God has given us many promises in His Word. The problem is that we fail to search the Scriptures to discover what God has given us. We will spend most of this week searching the first chapter of Second Peter to discover a few of those precious promises.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 17, 2009 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This week we have been looking at 2 Corinthians chapter five. Paul stresses that we must have a new life in Christ in order to spend eternity with Him in heaven. It is not enough to say words or do good deeds—we must have our name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
This week’s hymn is “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” In 1893, James Black was a Methodist Sunday school teacher in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. As he was calling roll one day for a youth meeting, young Bessie, daughter of a drunkard, did not show up, and he was disappointed at her failure to appear. He commented to a friend, “Well, I trust when the roll is called up yonder, she’ll be there.” He tried to find an appropriate song for the situation but could not find one in his song book.
Here is how Mr. Black describes how he came to write the hymn:
“This lack of a fitting song caused me both sorrow and disappointment. An inner voice seemed to say, ‘Why don’t you write one?’ I put away the thought. As I opened the gate on my way home, the same thought came again so strongly that tears filled my eyes. I entered the house and sat down at the piano. The words came to me effortlessly… The tune came the same way—I dared not change a single note or word.”
“When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder“
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,
and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather
over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
Refrain
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.
On that bright and cloudless morning
when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather
to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
Refrain
Let us labor for the Master
from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over,
and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
Refrain
To access When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/whentherolliscalledupyonder in your browser or click on the image below.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
