by Pastor Cecil | Jun 23, 2010 | Daniel
Daniel 3:17-18
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Walt was hunched as low as possible behind a stone wall. There were enemy shells falling all around him and several of the men in his unit had been killed or wounded. It was at this moment Walt fired off an emergency prayer — “Lord, if You let me live through this ordeal, I will give my life to You.”
Basically the same type of “fiery furnace” prayer can be uttered in reference to any number of ordeals: “If You save my marriage.” “If You heal my loved one.” “If You bless me financially.” “If You …” You get the picture, don’t you?
The fact of the matter is that most of these “fiery furnace” prayers are not the kind of prayers that lead to salvation. Sadly, most of those who pray this type of prayer end up living more for the devil than the Lord to whom they were praying.
What kind of prayers should we be praying? Not those that include some type of condition, but like these three Hebrew men in today’s Scripture demonstrated. They knew the Lord could save them, but even if He didn’t, they were committed to remain faithful to Him. Wow! How is your fiery furnace faith?
Be blessed dear heart and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 22, 2010 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 33:3
“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
I love to cook! My dad loved to cook, and he passed the passion along to me. It does not matter where we are, I seem to gravitate to the kitchen and, before long, have run everyone else out so I can have free reign. Measurements? Not by cups or spoons, but “some” of this and “some” of that. You get my drift?
About seventeen years ago we had the joy of cruising through the lovely San Juan Islands of Washington State. There were three cabin cruisers in our group, and we had eight people in ours. I assumed the cooking duties. Yeah!
Early one morning we were anchored in a quiet and peaceful cove. I was the only one up and was preparing breakfast for our shipmates. I was sipping a cup of coffee when I glanced out a cabin window and saw the most thrilling sight. A huge white cruise liner glided past an opening to our cove. In a few seconds it was gone.
When my shipmates were called to breakfast I related about my wonderful sight. Their reaction was something less than excited. As a matter of fact they were not interested in hearing about it. It was for my eyes only!
Many of the blessings we receive from the Lord are not to be shared with others, but are for our eyes only. The more we try to share them, the more frustrated we become. It is much better to simply thank God for our special blessing. Beautiful!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 21, 2010 | Isaiah
Isaiah 42:16
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
One of my dearest friends and the senior pastor I served with for a number of years is Chuck Higgins. He was one of the most open and honest men I have ever known. He freely told of some of his most embarrassing moments. One of these was at Marineland of the Pacific. He was in the outdoor stadium waiting for the whale show, when a seagull dropped its load on his forehead. The white wet muck covered his forehead and turned his glasses solid white. Many spectators saw it and began to roar with laughter. Chuck just looked up and said, “Why me Lord?”
Have you ever felt that way? How about the Lord leading you into situations where He means for you to be a blessing to someone? Years ago Joyce and I felt a strong urge to travel about 100 miles north of us to see a couple we had known years ago. We really did not have the money to go, but we felt that we needed to go anyway.
When we arrived, they were stunned beyond measure. It seems that they had been praying that they could talk with us since they were going through some very rough times.
Why us? It certainly was nothing that we could take pride in―we just obeyed the leading of the Lord. We had no idea that the couple we would visit had been praying to see us. We were simply taking a drive and being used of God. No room for pride here―just going along for the ride. What a way to live!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 18, 2010 | Matthew
Matthew 27:28-29
“They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said.”
I can still remember the pomp and pageantry that surrounded the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II back in 1953. When the crown was placed on her head she wore the symbol of authority.
There was a day some 2,000 years ago when arrogant soldiers placed a cruel crown of thorns on the head of our Lord. There will come a day when a crown will be placed on the head of our precious Savior, Jesus Christ and every knee will bow before Him. Those who scorn Him and mock him here on earth will be on their knees. For them it will be too late. For the true believers it will be the greatest celebration of all time.
Sin has covered us with layer upon layer of filth and grime. It does not matter what we do to get rid of it, it still remains. It is only by the blood that flows from Calvary’s Fountain that we can be cleansed and refreshed.
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded“
O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns,
Thine only crown;
O sacred head, what glory,
what bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
What language shall I borrow
to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love to Thee.
To access O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Inspirational Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/osacredheadnowwounded 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
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 17, 2010 | Isaiah
Isaiah 48:6
“You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.”
It happened yesterday and, once more, caught me off guard. Let me explain. I was visiting an Alzheimer Care Center to have prayer with a patient and his wife. After my visit, the wife walked me to the door of the Center. She informed me that I needed the code to leave. She said, “It is right here on the wall beside the door.”
It was then that I remembered in previous visits to other Alzheimer facilities that they use the same procedure. They want to protect the patients from wandering out and becoming lost. So why put the code in such plain sight? Simple―you have to put the code in backwards. For instance, if the numbers are 234, you enter 432. (If you have trouble understanding the code you may qualify as a resident!)
There are things in God’s Word that have been hidden from the world. It is not so much that it requires great intellect, but rather that it requires faith. Faith in God is the key to discovering the wonderful things He has given us in the Bible.
God’s “Code” for the true believer is accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, then staying close to His side by discovering truths from the Bible and communicating with Him in prayer. Oh, the wonderful secrets He shares with His loved ones!
Be blessed dear heart and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
