by Pastor Cecil | Jun 22, 2012 | Isaiah
Isaiah 55:1
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
I know it may be hard to believe, but I used to be a Boy Scout. I learned how to start a fire without matches, how to tie knots, how to render first-aid and many other practical skills. We were taught that if you are thirsty you can quench your thirst by placing a clean round stone in your mouth.
We were camping in the mountains of Idaho and our Scoutmaster was taking us on a long hike up a mountain. As boys might do, we drank freely from our water canteens early in the hike and they were soon empty with many miles to go. It was then that our Scoutmaster suggested the stone in the mouth trick. Believe me—it sounds better in the Boy Scout Manuel than in practice. We soon spit out the stones. It makes me thirsty just to think of it!
There is also a spiritual thirst that the sincere believer experiences. We come to those places in our life that demand a renewal to quench our parched souls. Back in 1884, Lucy J. Meyer felt that spiritual thirst. It led her to write this week’s hymn.
Ho! Everyone Who Is Thirsty
Ho! Everyone that is thirsty in spirit,
Ho! Everyone that is weary and sad;
Come to the fountain, there’s fullness in Jesus,
All that you’re longing for; come and be glad!
Refrain: I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your hearts for the gifts I am bringing;
While you are seeking Me, I will be found.
Child of the world, are you tired of your bondage?
Weary of earth’s joys, so false, so untrue?
Thirsting for God and His fullness of blessing?
List’ to the promise, a message for you!
Refrain: I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your hearts for the gifts I am bringing;
While you are seeking Me, I will be found.
Child of the kingdom, be filled with the Spirit!
Nothing but “fullness” thy longing can meet;
‘Tis the enduement for life and for service;
Thine is the promise, so certain, so sweet.
Refrain: I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your hearts for the gifts I am bringing;
While you are seeking Me, I will be found.
To access Ho! Everyone Who Is Thirsty, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Christian Music Hymns & Songs, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/hoeveryonewhoisthirsty/ 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 21, 2012 | Isaiah
Isaiah 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
There are so many things that I do not understand that it almost makes me want to crawl in a hole. There are times when I wish I had the answers to the problems of life, and especially to be able to answer those who come to me for counsel. Sometimes they want to know the mind of God by reasoning with the mind of man. Impossible!
If I want to blow a mental fuse, I try to imagine the concept of eternity. God always was and always will be. Everyone and everything on this earth and in the heavens has had a beginning. Not only that, we experience an end. It is not that way with God. He always was and always will be.
Carl Sagan, a renowned scientist who appeared on television for many years, frequently expressed his theory of evolution on the idea of billions and billions of years. First of all, he was not there at the beginning . . . but God was. Carl Sagan did not have the answers as to how biological life could have appeared from mineral sources . . . but God knows. He created the earth and the heavens.
From our human perspective time is based on past, present, and future. However, according to Hebrews 15:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. With God there is no restriction of time. We do not understand it now, but when Jesus comes, our eyes will be opened and we will understand it better by and by.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 20, 2012 | Matthew
Matthew 5:11-12
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In His first public sermon Jesus gives us the steps to victorious Christian living. This Scripture for today is the final in the list of normal Christian beatitudes, or as I like to think of them as: Be-attitudes.
I once heard a minister use them in a sequential manner. Beginning in verse three of Matthew five, we have these beatitudes: poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and finally, the persecuted.
These are attributes that must be developed in order to develop true spiritual maturity. To be poor in spirit means that we become empty of self and see ourselves as poor, destitute beggars who will perish without the salvation that the Lord gives.
When we see ourselves as poor and needy we will begin to mourn for our sins that separate us from God. This leads to a spirit of meekness and total dependence on the Lord to lead, guide and direct.
Our meek dependence upon the Lord will lead naturally to a hunger and thirst for righteousness. As we develop a hunger for the things of God we will begin to see the needs of those around us and we will experience the spirit of mercy.
Isn’t this a beautiful progression? As we see the lost and dying around us and exercise mercy we will find the things of this world hold less and less appeal. That leads to our being purified. The pure in heart will see God in a way they have never seen Him before.
I hope you have your Bible open to Matthew five so you are able to follow the sequence of spiritual growth. It is not until we develop a pure heart that we are able to become peacemakers. It is not the United Nations or any other political body who will bring about peace—it is God’s people living out His plan for our life with joy and delight.
But wait! There is more! Dare I say it? PERSECUTION! That doesn’t seem right does it? Humanly speaking we expect God to protect us and keep us from attack. Nope! God’s people have always experienced persecution.
Reading Christian biographies, I discover that the period of persecution is usually when the greatest spiritual fruit is produced. The important thing is how we react to persecution. Crying and moaning when persecution arises is the normal reaction. But what does Jesus say? It is our Scripture for today. Jesus says that we are to rejoice! We are to be ecstatic! Why? Because our reward is in heaven! Praise the Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 19, 2012 | Matthew
Matthew 11:29-30
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
This weekend we had an air show at our local airport. We live a few miles from the airport and don’t hear the noise from most of the propeller driven aircraft. But then there is the Navy fighter jet! The sight and sound of a powerful modern jet engine flying overhead is quite an experience. Several times one of the aircraft flew so low and close that we could actually see the pilot.
As my neighbor and I stood in the middle of the street watching this wonderful display, he recalled the experience of seeing the Blue Angels (the US Navy demonstration team) from a close observation point. The necessity of flying in perfect formation is required in order to prevent a collision.
I once flew in a jet trainer that was flying alongside a modern jet fighter. What an awesome experience to look out of the cockpit and see our wing tip just a few feet from the other aircraft. I recall our pilot backing off the throttle and commenting that he was not flying in proper formation and it made him nervous. (By the way, we did not collide and all too soon the flight had ended and we were soon home once again.)
The pilot in the lead plane had no responsibility to keep us in formation. All he had to do was to fly straight and level. It was the responsibility of my pilot to follow the other plane in close formation. In the same way, the Lord calls us to fly in close formation to Him. It is not necessary for us to see what is ahead so long as we keep our eyes focused on Him. That, my dear hearts, is spiritual formation flying.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 18, 2012 | 1 Kings
1 Kings 17:13-14
And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’”
Over the years of my ministry I have worked with many people who started strong, but somewhere along the way they lost the vim and vigor of their walk with the Lord. It is always heart-wrenching to observe the fire of spiritual commitment burn lower and lower. God had spoken clearly, but then the things of the world slipped and occupied the place that once belonged to the Lord.
In our Scripture for today we are introduced to a widow with a young son. We are told that God told her to provide for His prophet when he appeared. The problem was that the famine had become so severe that the food was all but gone. She had only enough food for one last meal and then she and her son would starve. Into this bleak scene the prophet Elijah appeared.
Rather than being dismayed by her story of impending doom, he asked to feed him first. From a human point of view that seems presumptuous. Here she was on the verge of starvation and he wants her to feed him first.
The reality is that God had spoken to both Elijah and the widow. She focused on the empty flour bin and oil jug. Elijah focused on the word the Lord had given to him. From his faith he assured her that the flour and oil would never run out as long as the drought remained. Not only was this true, but as an added measure of blessing, Elijah was used by God to restore life to the son of this woman. Trusting God instead of circumstances always brings blessings beyond measure.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
