by Pastor Cecil | Dec 11, 2009 | Luke
Luke 2:15
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'”
The beloved Carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was originally written in Latin (Adeste Fideles). The words were written by an Englishman, John Wade who had intended it as a hymn.
The music to “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was composed by fellow Englishman John Reading in the early 1700s. In 1841, Rev. Frederick Oakley revised the lyrics of “Adeste Fideles.”
“O Come, All Ye Faithful“
O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
To access O Come, All Ye Faithful, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/ocomeallyefaithful 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
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 10, 2009 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
A story is told of a very poor man who lived in ancient times. It was a time when powerful kings dominated all who lived in their kingdoms and who had the power of life and death. It was a time when many sons and many horses were a sign of wealth and prosperity.
This poor man had only one horse and one son. As he grew older, his son used the horse to plow the fields, to haul the produce to market and ride from place to place on various errands. People pitied the poor man and often made disparaging remarks about his poverty.
Things went from bad to worse when his son was returning from the village on the horse and was thrown to the ground and his leg broken. The people clucked their tongues and wondered what evil thing this poor man had done to have such bad fortune to befall him. He would just smile and reply, “The Lord knows what I need. I will trust Him to give me what He wants me to have.”
Not long after the son’s accident, the king sent messengers to each village and demanded that every able-bodied young man report for battle immediately. The only one in this age group who was not conscripted was the poor man’s son. In a short time the sad news was relayed to the village that the battle had gone very wrong and all of the men had died in the fray. Now the man who had once been pitied was considered to be the one who was blessed.
When we trust in God, it makes no difference what people think or say—Romans 8:28 is true in any and every circumstance: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
As a child of God we should be under His control. He may delay the answer to our prayer, or He may deny it as He did with Paul. Whatever the Lord determines for our lives—to delay or deny—we can know that His grace is sufficient.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 9, 2009 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:5-7
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.”
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a situation that seemed to have no solution? I am tempted to describe one or two, but if I do it may prevent you from relating to your own particular no-win situation. How do we cope?
In today’s Scripture we see that there are two things we are cautioned to avoid: relying on our own understanding or being wise in our own eyes. This is very hard for us to grasp since we want to control things around us.
When we encounter evil or injustice around us, we rise up with righteous indignation and want to correct the situation. James 1:19-20 makes it clear that our fervent anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
If we are to avoid using our own abilities, is there anything we can do when faced with the problems that confront us? The answer is very clear. It begins with trusting in the Lord with all of our heart. That means letting go and letting God have control.
Secondly we must acknowledge God in all of our ways. The Hebrew word for acknowledge is the word yada’. It means in part, to learn more and more about God and His ways. We do that as we rest in Him, study His Word and discover more of His wonderful attributes.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 8, 2009 | Isaiah
Isaiah 26:3-5
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, He lays the lofty city low; He levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.”
We once owned a hamster whose cage had a hamster wheel. Have you ever seen a hamster on a hamster wheel? It runs like crazy, but gets nowhere. Sometimes in the middle of the night you can hear the squeak of the wheel as the little creature runs and runs but remains in the cage.
Many times I fear that we Christians are very much like a hamster on a hamster wheel. Things are making us uncomfortable so we panic and try to do things in our own strength. We’ve gotta worry! We’ve gotta work! We’ve gotta do something!
The problem is that we are doing things our way rather than doing things God’s way. He never desires us to run ourselves ragged in order to please Him or to merit salvation. In today’s Scripture we see that what God wants us to do is to place our trust in Him.
As a boy I used to cherish the times I was alone with my dad. He once worked as a driver for Washington Motor Coach Company. A few times I rode along on his route. The bus may have carried twenty or thirty passengers, but only dad was the driver. Our lives were in his hands. You might say, and rightly so—we were just along for the ride!
From time to time we would make a scheduled stop and dad would sometimes ask me to do a small task for him. I did so, joyfully. But it was only when he asked that my tasks accomplished the purpose of serving him.
I hope you get the spiritual implication. The Lord calls us to ride along with Him and enjoy the scenery until He calls us to do His bidding. Wait expectantly for Him—it is worth the wait!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 7, 2009 | 1 Peter
1 Peter 5:8-9
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
It was just after noon on Sunday, December 7, 1941, when my 7 year-old world was turned upside down. Church had just dismissed and several of us kids were playing outside the church. Suddenly two of the teenage girls screamed out; “Pearl Harbor has just been bombed by the Japanese!”
The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of congress and uttered the words, That December 7, 1941 would be remembered as a “date which will live in infamy.” The same can be said of September 11, 2001.
Over the years there has been much speculation about why a warning had not been issued. There were radar operators who observed the incoming enemy planes, but seemingly mistook them for a friendly flight from the west coast. The fact of the matter is that there were few, if any provisions made to warn of impending doom.
The Japanese military achieved a great “tactical” victory that fateful day, but it was a terrible “strategic” loss. They failed to calculate the industrial and military potential that they had stirred into life. The result was their total defeat four years, and thousands of lives later.
Every human on the planet can look back on a date of infamy. We cannot place a calendar date to it, but it was the day that Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and disobeyed God. That “sin” has been passed down to every person who has ever lived or will ever live. The result of that sin is death. It was a “tactical” victory for Satan, but it was a “strategic” blunder of eternal repercussions. It will eventually result in his utter demise.
In the meantime, Jesus is our Commander In Chief who gives us victory in our battles. He has assured us that a day is coming when the war will be over and we will have the greatest victory celebration of all time. It will be a date that will live in glory and eternal life. What a day that will be!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
