by Pastor Cecil | Jan 17, 2012 | 2 Kings
II Kings 6:17
And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
I can recall two incidents in the air that stand out in my mind. Both of them occurred while I was a passenger in a small private aircraft. The first was watching from the rear passenger window and seeing a police car pull over a motorist. It was clear from this vantage point that the officer had been positioned so the oncoming motorist would not have seen him until it was too late. Bam! A ticket!
If there had been some way I could have been able to communicate with the driver before he encountered the officer’s radar I could have warned him to slow down. As a matter of fact there were plenty of speed limit signs and the driver had chosen to ignore them.
The second incident happened so quickly there was no time to be prepared. We were flying from Sacramento, California to Spokane, Washington. We were flying through broken clouds and enjoying the trip when suddenly a military fighter jet passed within a few hundred feet directly in front of us. He must have had radar and could see us even though we had no idea there was another plane near us. It was a reminder that we were just a few hundred feet from eternity.
Each man and woman on planet earth has been given a clear warning. We either heed the warnings God has clearly given in His Word to be born again, or we face the ultimate penalty. The end may be milliseconds away, so it is imperative to make our choice to accept the Lord while there is still time.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 16, 2012 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:5-6
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If that word sweat is offensive, we can substitute perspiration. Either way, it is the moisture that appears on your brow and turns your arm pits a swamp land. I was actively engaged in my early morning exercise last week when a new thought struck me. I know it is unbelievable, but it happens occasionally.
One of the first things I do when I enter the workout room is to turn the heat on in the sauna. I then get on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes. By that time I have worked up a good head of steam. I go into the sauna for about 10 minutes and boy the swea… oops, perspiration is really flowing.
As this happened that morning I thought of the difference between the perspiration from the treadmill and the sauna. In the sauna I am just exposed to heat and do nothing but sit there. On the treadmill I am not only producing perspiration, but my heart rate is increased, which is what I want.
In applying this spiritually I think we will all agree that from time to time we have to endure the heat of outside situations that we can do nothing about but simply endure. On the other hand the Word of God calls us to step out in active service when the Lord calls us. This produces spiritual heat that in turn causes our heart beat increase. I want to sweat in service for the Lord when He calls!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 13, 2012 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Years ago I heard a minister tell of an incident in a hospital elevator where he had just come from visiting a very ill patient. A young man overheard him speak about eternity and, perhaps wanting to mock his view, asked the minister where eternity was. The minister told the boy to place his hand on his chest to feel the beat of his heart. “Young man, eternity is one heartbeat away!” That may answer where eternity is or at least how close we are to it, but just how long is eternity?
Our daughter was in the hospital near death. One afternoon as the two of us spoke quietly, she said she felt she was cheated out of half of her life. She went on to say that grandpa was 74 when he died and here she was just 35.
That evening as I drove into the garage I noticed that the car had been bringing in sand. I took out a sheet of typing paper and swept up some of the sand. I then sat at the kitchen table and counted out 74 grains. Some were larger than others, but all of them were quite small. I placed the 74 grains of sand in a tiny sample perfume bottle.
The next day as I entered her room I placed the bottle on her bed. When she asked what it was I told her it was grandpa. I asked her to imagine the earth being nothing but fine sand. Each grain represented one year of eternity. The 74 grains in the bottle represented grandpa’s life. Compared to the entire globe of sand it was nothing. Whether a person’s life lasted long or short, compared to eternity it was nothing.
It is what we do with the years we are given that matters. We can choose to confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior or we can continue our own willful way and suffer the dreadful consequences prepared for the lost.
I pray that the video that accompanies today’s Daily-E-Votional will assist you in making the right choice. Please feel free to share it with others while there is still time.
To access The Sands of Eternity, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™, please go to: http://www.PastorCecil.com/ 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
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.
P.P.S. – My book, 100 of Pastor Cecil?s Select Illustrations, is now available on Kindle books. Just go to the Kindle store and type in Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations, or Pastor Cecil Thompson.
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 12, 2012 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is not seen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Sometimes I have been accused of not being truthful when I say that everything is going great with me. Read today’s Scripture carefully and you will see that those things around us (or in us) do not determine our attitude. I found the following little story in my files. I hope it will bless you.
“The 92 year old petite, well-poised and proud mother-in-law of my best friend, who is fully dressed each morning by 0800, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. Maurine Jones is the most lovely, gracious, dignified woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. While I have never aspired to attain her depth of wisdom, I do pray that I will learn from her vast experience.
“After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it”, she stated with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old having just been presented with a new puppy. “Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room . . . just wait.”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
“Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.”
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
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.comPlease feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends
P.P.S. – My book, 100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations, is now available on Kindle books. Just go to the Kindle store and type in Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations, or Pastor Cecil Thompson.
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 11, 2012 | John
John 15:5-7
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Several years ago I read a brief biographical sketch about the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, who was the President at the close of the Civil War and a very interesting man. Let me give you just a few glimpses into what he was like. He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point. His roommate was Fred Dent. Once when he was interviewed about what kind of man the President was, Fred Dent replied, “In all the time we roomed together, I never knew Ulysses to use a single vulgar or profane word.” Wow!
Fred spoke highly of Ulysses to his sister, Julia, and finally introduced them in 1844. Ulysses fell in love with Julia and began to court her. It is told that his proposal was somewhat unusual. They were crossing a stream and he told Julia to cling to him and he would see that they made it safely across. When they reached the other side, he told Julia that if she would cling to him the rest of their life, he would like for her to become his wife. SHE CLUNG! We are told that they were one of the most loving couples ever to occupy the White House. They insisted on being together on every occasion. They held hands and always enjoyed their times together. Their children reported that there was never any animosity between them.
Well, so much for today’s history lesson. But it is not merely history, but an example of how we can make a spiritual application. I believe we should always be looking for spiritual applications in the things we see or hear. The Lord wants us to cling closely to Him. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people view us as walking so close to God that it was as though we were holding hands? I do not desire for that to sound sacrilegious or flippant, but a word picture, no more than simply a word picture. An example of our love for the One who died in order that we might be as little children walking hand in hand with our Lord, in confidence, trust, and total dependence.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
