by Pastor Cecil | Jun 23, 2011 | James
James 1:5-6
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
Over the past week I have received more responses on the series I did on the church than perhaps any other material I have produced. I shared personally with one of my dear friends this morning and just received a request that I put into writing what I had shared in person. I hope I will be able to do so, but that all depends upon the Holy Spirit giving me wisdom.
Some years ago I resigned a church that I loved very much and a body of believers that I felt loved me as their pastor. I could not understand where God was leading me other than to be able to spend more time on the Daily-E-Votional ministry. Within a short period of time it was evident that God wanted a new group started that would be what He wanted, not what any of us wanted.
As I prayed about the matter I was aware that many of our modern churches have been sold a bill of goods by the church growth concept. Most of us have come to feel that bigger is better and if our church is not growing, we must be doing something wrong. I think somewhere we lost sight of the fact that it was the Lord that added to the New Testament church. Now it has fallen upon every gimmick in the book to increase the size. Wild music and wild programs may have increased their size, but where is the spiritual growth?
In starting our new fellowship, I turned to Scripture and found in Acts 2:42 the pattern I feel God desires for His church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” I love that pattern. It is not what we do for the Lord, but what the Lord does for us. I would much rather see the deepening of the love for Jesus in individuals than in seeing more people walking through the door and not growing.
In those times when growth does come, many (if not most) congregations feel the pressure to build a large edifice. Most of the time there is huge debt incurred and immediately the church has violated God’s admonition about not going into debt.
I wonder if we truly recognize the Lord as the head of the church. If so, why don’t we spend more time inquiring of Him and then waiting for Him to answer? It is just very possible that by us being crowded out of the current facility someone will feel the call of God. They may see that there is a field “white unto the harvest” and know that this is the time for them to become involved in doing something significant for the Lord.
We pastors should increasingly spend more time preparing our people to call upon the Lord and seeking His direction than trying to tell them what to do ourselves. I want you to know that none of us is very good at playing Holy Spirit for other people. That is the function of the Holy Spirit and we need to stay clear of His role.
My counsel to us all is to spend more time on our knees and less time on a soap box. The world is dying without Christ and we need to be used by the Lord to win as many as possible.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil (360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can help! Please consider trying to get one other person to subscribe to the Daily-E-Votional. This worldwide ministry asks for no funds and is sent to glorify our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 22, 2011 | Psalm
Psalm 37:7-8
“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.”
In some of my lonely hours stationed away from my family, I relished listening to some great preachers. One of my favorites was Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, who was Pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. One of the stories he shared was about his wife who was a fretter. She worried about any and everything and it drove him wild.
He finally became so frustrated with her fretting that he bought her a small notebook. She was to write all of the things she fretted or worried about and each Saturday morning they would go over the list. During the week she would not mention any of her concerns to him. Whew! What a relief he felt!
When Saturday rolled around he asked her to open her worry book and they would consider the items one by one. As she named them he would ask what had happened. In each case the situation resolved itself and there had been no need for fretting. When he asked her if there were any true emergencies she agreed that there had been a few, but she had not had sufficient time to fret about them and they resolved themselves.
Humorous? Yes! But oh how often we find ourselves fretting instead of resting in the Lord. It takes a terrible toll on our emotions but even more toll on our spiritual life. It is hard to praise the Lord from the depths of our being if we spend our time fretting around like there was little hope.
Here is a Passage to read over and over again and then put it into practice when you are tempted to fret and worry about things in your life. Proverbs 3:5-6; “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.”
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil (360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com Please feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 21, 2011 | James
James 1:13-15
“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Those of us who have a background in law enforcement have seen the tragic effect that alcohol and/or drugs have on an individual. Within a few short years a person seems to age twenty or thirty years and often their downward spiral leads to death.
Today’s Scripture paints this sad and downward progression. It starts with temptation. Temptation is our desire to have or do something that we know to be wrong. James goes further and describes how our evil desire drags us away by way of enticement.
I once heard a counselor speak about his experience in working with men who had been unfaithful. When he asked them to describe in one word what they now felt, almost the always the answer was; “hell.” Temptation-desire-enticement, the next step is sin and when it is full-grown it leads to death.
But there is another type of desire. In Psalm 103 the Psalmist tells us that we are to praise the Lord from the very core of our being. In verse 5 we read these words: “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
That tells us that there are godly desires that are directed toward the Lord. The first four verses of Psalm 103, remind us of the things we are to praise God for. The result is that we can soar like the eagles. So we have two choices. Either the evil desires that lead to death or the godly desires that renew our youth and help us soar like the eagles. I choose the godly desires for my life. Please come and soar with me!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil (360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com Please feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 20, 2011 | Psalm
Psalm 103:2-4
“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.”
Five o’clock in the morning used to seem best suited for rolling over and catching a little more sleep. That is no longer the case. It has become my appointment with the Lord at the treadmill. I prop my 3×5 cards with scriptures on the front and read as I stride along. I have been gaining insights I have never seen before!
My mind was opened to the concept of “crowns” that I saw in Psalm 103:4. Here in the Amplified we see that God crowns us with, “love and compassion.” As I read these words over and over it suddenly dawned on me that the crown signifies those qualities and responsibilities that are designated. In other words we are to be God’s royal ambassadors of loving-kindness and tender mercy. Are we? If we are not, we need to be on our knees and asking God to teach us how.
I also saw another reference that seemed to fit. It is in James 1:12. Here is how the Amplified renders that verse: “Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.” I almost came unglued when I saw the connection. Regardless of all of the trials we face in the world, we have a crown of life waiting for us. That means that we will live eternally with the Lord!
Loving-kindness and tender mercies flowing out from us here and an eternal victor’s crown of everlasting life prepared just for us. What more could we ask for?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil (360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com Please feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 17, 2011 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 4:10-11
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
This week I have directed our attention to a Scriptural view of the real church of Jesus Christ. It seems to have touched a few sore spots since quite a number have sent messages requesting to be removed from the mailing list.
Back in 1866 a liberal theologian attacked the validity of Scripture, especially the first five books of the Bible. In his egotistical manner he put down any who would believe these words to be the inerrant Word of God.
At that time there was a humble rural pastor, Samuel John Stone, who felt moved to pen words to refute what the theologian had said and to uphold the authenticity of this precious Word that has demonstrated itself to be the power of God unto salvation. Samuel Wesley, a grandson of Charles Wesley wrote the music to a hymn that has echoed in the hearts of true believers ever since.
“The Church’s One Foundation”
The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the Word. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.
Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth; her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth; one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder we see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, “How long?” And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore; till, with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
