by Pastor Cecil | Feb 29, 2012 | Matthew
Matthew 25:40
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me”
I received the following message from a member of our congregation and one of our dear friends. She works in a judicial court system and has been used of God many times to reach people the traditional church programs miss. She has allowed me to share it with you:
My coworker has worked here for well over 20 years now and currently works as our probation officer. A couple weeks ago she was working with a young man in his early 20s. This man has been a regular in our criminal court since his early teens. He has spent most of his life on drugs and hiding from law enforcement. The probation officer has known him since he was a young child.
He recently spent several months in a drug rehab in-patient facility. While there, his mother and sisters were arrested and the only home he has ever known was seized as a meth house. He told the probation officer in one of their meetings that she was the only human being in his entire life that has ever showed him love and compassion.
He told her when he was a little boy he came to the police dept with a cut knee. She looked at the knee and said it looked pretty bad and needed some care. She took him to the restroom and washed it out and then put some medication on it and bandaged it up for him. She then told him to come back in a few days so she could check it for him. He said he remembers telling his mom about his knee and she never even looked at it.
He remembers everything about this incident in detail even though it took place at least ten years ago. The probation officer could barely even remember doing this— it was nothing out of the ordinary for her day. Ten years ago when she took the time to look at a cut on a young boy’s knee she had no idea that would turn out to be the single most important event of his life thus far!!
Sometimes, as you illustrated in your e-votional it is the simplest acts that have the biggest impact.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 28, 2012 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:11-12
“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
I have a photo of my dad, taken in 1950, standing with five of his brothers in front of two 1940’s era cars. As I look at it I feel a longing to see my Dad once more and tell him how much I love him. This man with only an eighth grade education had wisdom which cannot be taught in schools. But beyond that, he was a man who was filled with love for others.
Dad taught me what it was to know the Lord. He did that in many ways, not all of them pleasant. I can vividly remember that in the second drawer of his chest of drawers, he had an old fashioned razor strap. They were created to sharpen the old straight razors which were used by men back in the early days. They may have been designed to sharpen the razors, but they tended to become objects of terror to the behinds of young boys!
Dad freely applied it to my seat of understanding. When the leather and canvas smacked together during the spanking, it made a sound like a rifle shot. It took a very short time before I was promising never, ever, in no way, whatever, etc., to misbehave again. (Sad to say, I did!)
Looking back on these episodes of discipline, I know it hurt Dad as much as it hurt me, but in a different way. He was doing it for love and to direct my steps. When I became a teen, I loved and respected my Dad.
Across the years, since receiving the Lord as my personal Savior, I have grown in my love with Him. There have been times when I felt His hand of discipline, but I always knew that it was for my own good. I also have come to realize that when the Lord has had to discipline me, it hurts Him more than it does me. He only brings about the discipline because of His great love and concern for me. I can hardly wait to see my Lord Jesus and thank Him for loving me enough to discipline me.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 27, 2012 | 1 Peter
1 Peter 5:14
“Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
Last Friday I was walking down the hallway of a local establishment and saw a man named Tom walking toward me. I smiled and said, “Hi Tom!” A voice behind him said, “Hi Cecil!” It was then I realized that both of them were named Tom. It reminded me of an incident that occurred when I served as an associate pastor of a large church.
Joyce and I had stopped by the church tape room to pick up a recording of the previous service. The tape room was at one end of a long hallway. At the far end was an entrance that a few people used to enter the church. One of the greeters was at the door that day was a good friend of ours.
Let me just say that Joyce is far more reserved than I am. That is a gross understatement. If I think it I usually say it and often wish I had remained silent. On this Sunday Joyce saw Bob and waved an exaggerated wave and gave a loud HELLO! What happened next was fantastic! Two little ladies were walking down the hall toward us and when Joyce waved and shouted an exaggerated, “HELLO!” The two ladies felt she was greeting them. They lit up like spotlights and mimicked her greeting.
It made me realize that there are many people around us, young and old, who feel that they are alone and nobody cares about them. I for one want to go out of my way to reach out to lonely hearts with a sincere and friendly greeting. It just very well could be the most spiritual thing I can do. Will you join me?
Blessings dear hearts. Greet one another as unto the Lord, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 24, 2012 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1-5
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. 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, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”
I would dare to say that almost all of us experienced some sort of trial in our life. It could be the loss of health, a financial meltdown, death of a mate or child or any number of catastrophic events. It is not whether or not we will encounter these trials, but rather what we will do when they arise.
The phrase, “Praise to the Lord” occurs in at least 155 verses in the Bible. That indicates to me that we need to spend far more time praising the Lord than we do. It would be well to replace our complaints with words of praise to the Lord.
Over 300 years ago, Joachim Neander was a hymn writer for the German Reform church. He was going through a time of trial and testing in his life. He would take long walks and pour his heart out to the Lord. It was on one of these walks that he came to the realization that it was not his strength that would give him victory and peace, but rather the powerful God he served. It was in that state of mind that he composed this week’s featured hymn.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath not He bought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee!
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
To access Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Inspirational Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisetothelordthealmighty/ 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. – I have completed my first book, 100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations. The cost is $12.95 plus shipping. You can now order it online by going to https://dailyevotional.com/prior2020/book-by-pastor-cecil . . . You may want to consider this book as a thoughtful gift idea for those who do not have Internet access or as helpful sermon illustrations for your Pastor. Or you can find a Kindle edition at Amazon.com.
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 23, 2012 | John
John 4:38
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.
From time to time I notice paper that has been dropped on the street or some other item that has not been attended to. I must admit that I usually am tempted to feel that it is another person’s responsibility. It is then that the Lord taps me on the shoulder and reminds me that if I have seen it then I am the one to do the task. Sometimes the job is yukky and it would be easy to ignore it, but the Lord wants me to have a servant spirit and do it with a sweet attitude.
I once had a young man come into my office for Christian counseling. The problem centered on the work he was doing at a local potato processing plant. It was hard for him to deal with some of his co-workers, and he was distressed that his own attitude was not what it should be.
After we talked for a quite awhile, I learned that the most degrading and miserable job at the plant was cleaning up the rotten potatoes at the end of the processing line. I suggested that he volunteer for the job and perform it as a service to the Lord. He did and there was a dramatic result. Because of the terrible smell of the potatoes, other workers kept clear and it gave him time to sing hymns and recite memory verses to himself. He was the last seasonal worker to be let go when the last of the potatoes were processed. Others remarked about how he blessed them.
I think the bottom line is that anything we see that needs to be done can be done as a service to the Lord. It is wrong to think that ministry is restricted to those who stand behind a pulpit. We are all called to serve where God plants us.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
