by Pastor Cecil | Jun 29, 2012 | Psalm
Psalm 33:1
“Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.”
What a wonderful woman. She stood less than 5 feet tall and weighed less than 100 pounds. Because of mistreatment for an eye infection when she was only a few months old, she spent the rest of her 95 years blind.
Her name was Fanny J. Crosby. This tiny dynamo wrote over 8,000 poems and hymns during her lifetime. She composed her poems and hymns entirely in her mind and then dictated them to someone else. She was said to work mentally on as many as twelve hymns at once before dictating them all out.
Fanny felt that it was God’s special gift that she should be blind all of her life and she thanked Him for that gift. She once remarked; “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!” In 1896 she wrote this week’s hymn selection.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
1. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children,
in His arms He carries them all day long:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise him! Praise him ever in joyful song!
2. Praise him! Praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins he suffered, and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
love unbounded, wonderful deep and strong:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
3. Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
crown Him! crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
To access Praise Him, Praise Him, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Inspirational Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisehimpraisehim 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 28, 2012 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
I have just completed reading the book by Chuck Swindoll, Say It Well. To say that it has had an impact is an understatement. One of the most startling illustrations he gave was a sermon preached by Dr. Dwight Pentecost during a chapel service at Dallas Theological Seminary the first year that Chuck attended. In that sermon Dr. Pentecost related how trying the conditions had been when he was a student. He and his wife lived in a tiny trailer and had very little food. Things looked very bleak for them.
One day Dwight Pentecost arrived home and announced to his wife that he was no longer going to be discouraged. He had determined in his heart that as long as they were there in that difficult situation, they were going to live an ABNORMAL LIFE.
That declaration had no immoral implications, but a declaration that even though things were trying and tough, they would persevere with the courage that looked beyond the immediate and saw the future.
If I were to send out a questionnaire, I am sure that most of us would say that we have gone through abnormal times in our life. It may be that we are going through them right now. The important thing is how we react to these abnormal times. When we, like Dr. Pentecost, determine to not become discouraged, we will have victory. When we accept the fact, that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are different from others, we will find that God will bless our abnormal life. It is in these abnormal times that we will experience His sweet nearness.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 27, 2012 | 2 Timothy
2 Timothy 4:7-8
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
It is important for us to evaluate what we do with the gifts God has given to us. It reminds me of an incident almost 40 years ago. I was the Deputy Director of the Idaho Law Enforcement Planning Commission. It was our responsibility to allocate State and Federal funds to criminal justice agencies across the State of Idaho.
In order to receive these grants, the individual agencies were required to write a proposal of why they needed the funds. This would be followed by an evaluation at the end of the first year to show how effective the program had been.
One small community requested funds to upgrade their police department. The Chief of Police who wrote the proposal left the department during the year and it was difficult to get the new chief to submit the required evaluation. After many letters and phone calls we received his evaluation: Hired one man. He done good!
That evaluation was good for a laugh, but it strikes me that each of us needs to take the time and effort to evaluate our service to the Lord. I am hopeful that it could be said of us that we have done good. The grammar may be lacking, but the meaning is spot on. Our Lord is watching how we live our life for Him. There will come a day when we stand to give our report to the Lord. I want to hear the Lord say, “Well done!”
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 26, 2012 | Romans
Romans 6:20-23
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
With each passing day it seems that we are exposed to more filth and corruption. There are so many instances of distasteful or downright disgusting perversion, I wonder how much more of this the Lord is going to take. We observe this slide into the slime of sin on television programs and in the advertisements that make the programming possible.
Before you or I get on our high horse about the debased condition of television, look around—it is also prevalent on the radio and in magazines. It is embarrassing going through the check-out stands to be confronted with the offensive stuff plastered on the covers of magazines and newspapers.
The reality is that we are living in a world that is full of repulsive garbage. It is such a dismal scene that it causes you to wonder if there is any solution to the problem. There was a time when people felt the influence of the Christian community—a time when one knew what they were doing was wrong, and many intended to get right with the Lord eventually. But now our Christian influence has dimmed to the point that people who live a godly and moral life are viewed to be the ones who are doing wrong.
There is a solution! It is in discovering what God has to say about sin and doing something about it. It means spending time with God in His Word and speaking with Him in our prayer life. When the Bible says something is sin, we need to get away from it. The best way to deal with the sin in our world is to deal with the sin in our own life.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 25, 2012 | Isaiah
Isaiah 55:11
So is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
At times I stand amazed in the presence of the Lord. That was the case earlier today. You see, I conducted a funeral service that was perhaps the most difficult one I had ever conducted, and I have officiated at several hundred in my ministry.
I had prayed fervently for the correct words and the right spirit in order to bring comfort to the family and to challenge them about their eternal destiny. I was ready to enter the chapel when I saw three people staggering through the door. It was evident that they were plastered. No, they were not construction workers, they were drunk. As soon as they entered they began to talk in loud voices with no attempt to show any sort of respect.
To top it off they walked to the front row and continued their boisterous actions. I later discovered that one of them was the son of the deceased. My prayers were doubled as I tried to bring the truth of God’s Word. I have to confess that I felt a total failure at the end. I had prayed and given my best, but I felt empty.
Later in the afternoon I received a call from the husband of the lady who had died. He started out by apologizing for the actions of his son, but then he said that the words I spoke brought comfort to those who looked beyond the boisterousness.
It reminds me once again that we are never responsible for the responses. We are only called to be faithful and true to God and His Word. When we plant the seed, He does the rest. Thank you Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
