by Pastor Cecil | Oct 31, 2013 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:18-19
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed, than to share plunder with the proud.
I once heard of a pastor who presented a sermon series on humility. He hammered against the sin of pride and the necessity for every true believer to be empty of self in order to defeat the terrible sin of pride and self-righteousness. Following his final sermon on the topic, a little lady met him at the door. She thanked him profusely and said, “Pastor, this has been the most meaningful series. I do not have many gifts or talents, but I am so proud that I am humble.” The pastor felt like vomiting!
Pride is one of the most prevalent and insidious of sins. It creeps into our life as quiet as a butterfly. To understand this tendency toward pride, stop and listen to the many times the words “I” or “Me” dominate our conversations. Even our spiritual music often has a personal focus.
None of us are immune from this horrible sin. The moment we take our eyes off the Lord and focus on ourselves, we are headed toward the slippery slope of pride. Surely the Devil howls with delight every time he watches this scene unfold. The way to deal with pride is to spend more time with the Lord and being concerned with others more than ourselves.
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 30, 2013 | Matthew
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
It was a cold and snowy night in the Black Hills of South Dakota in early winter of 1953. Joyce and I were on our way to my first duty assignment at Rapid City. Soon after dark our car slid off the icy road and into a ditch. We were stuck!
We were a few miles from Keystone, S.D., and had noticed a house about halfway to the small town. We had a pet parakeet in a cage, so we covered him as best we could and started walking back in search of some sort of civilization. Thankfully the lights were on in the house, and we were hopeful they were congenial and would invite us to COME ON IN!
It was a blessing to be welcomed into their home, and they agreed to keep our pet for us while we went for a tow truck to pull us out. The tow driver said the road was too slick for him as well and that we would have to wait until morning. We spent a comfortable night in a hotel and the next day we collected our bird, left a bundle of money for the tow truck and went our merry way.
Without Jesus in our hearts we are like stranded motorists who find themselves in unfamiliar territory stuck in the deep ditches of life. Our choices are to remain stuck in our predicament or to come to the Lord for His welcoming embrace. What comfort to know that regardless of how dark our night or deep our ditch, He is always there to welcome us into His fold. COME ON IN!
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 29, 2013 | 1 Peter
1 Peter 5:8-9
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
When I was a boy our family spent a wonderful vacation at Yellowstone National Park. The beauty was breathtaking and we were within walking distance of a lake that was teeming with trout. (At least my imagination told me it was teeming with trout.)
I grabbed my fishing rod and was heading toward the lake. Between myself and the lake was a stand of willow bushes. I was making my way through the thick bushes when I suddenly saw a cow moose and her baby. She was heading my direction with her hackles up and making warning snorts. I froze as she roared past me about 20 feet away.
I was so unnerved that I forgot about my great fishing expedition and headed back to the cabin. Since then I have discovered that a mother moose with a calf is a dangerous animal. Many people have been badly injured or even killed by this gigantic beast. A park ranger cautioned us to stay in clear areas or where paths have been cleared.
In our spiritual journey, we may be tempted to wander into areas that are dangerous. Our enemy is always watching for those who stray from the straight and narrow path of God’s Word. We must always remember that danger is lurking when we compromise what God has given us as the way, the truth and the life.
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 28, 2013 | James
James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Hardly a day goes by when word comes that someone has experienced some sort of catastrophic occurrence in their life. As a pastor I seem to be a conduit of these reports that have an impact on the lives of those closest to the victims.
It is not necessarily restricted to the death of a loved one, although that is certainly one of the examples. A healthy individual may be going about his or her regular business when suddenly a stroke occurs—that healthy person has become an invalid. A lab report may be returned that reveals the presence of cancer—the life of that individual and the entire family has now changed.
Rather than focusing our attention on these debilitating examples, we need to bring the reality of change into our life. If we have not prepared ourselves spiritually for these circumstances, we will be flattened out.
James gives us a strong dose of reality. Life is just a mist that will soon vanish. Rather than putting all of our effort into the things of this world, we need to make preparation for eternity. It begins with being born again and must also be followed by growing mature by constantly seeking God’s will for our life.
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 25, 2013 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 3:11
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 view the video The Sands of Eternity, go to www.PastorCecil.com
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
