by Pastor Cecil | Dec 17, 2013 | Matthew
Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Way back in the early 1920’s, Harry Dixon Loes composed a children’s gospel song that kids across the subsequent decades have sung joyfully, accompanied with various motions that are appropriate to the song’s lyrics. I still recall the joy of singing this song when I was young: This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine! There were other verses that said: Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine! And: Don’t let Satan blow it out/ Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine!
In this dark, black, sin-sick world, it is easy to feel that evil is so prevalent that there is no possibility of allowing our light to shine. What a false view of reality! In truth, the darker the night, the brighter our light shines.
A few years ago we lost power during a vicious ice storm. In addition to the frigid cold, we also had to deal with the loss of lights. The dark and cold seemed to seep throughout our very beings.
One of Satan’s darkest lies is that our little light will never make a difference. What a lie! Our little light will not only illuminate the area around us, but it will also encourage others to let their lights shine.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 16, 2013 | 1 John
1 John 4:7-9
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.
I have a picture of my dad taken in 1950, standing with five of his brothers in front of a couple of 40’s-era cars. As I looked at it recently, I felt 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 kept an old fashioned razor strap. They were created for sharpening the straight razors used by men back in the early days to shave. Those straps may have been designed to sharpen the razors, but they were objects of terror to the behinds of young boys!
Across the years, since receiving the Lord as my personal Savior, I have grown in my love for 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. Fredrick Whitfield must have felt that same way when he wrote the words to the hymn, O How I love Jesus.
The chorus goes like this: O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus–because He first loved me!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 13, 2013 | Psalm
Psalm 98:4&8
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the LORD.
It has been told that Isaac Watts, who wrote the words of this beautiful Christmas hymn, had not intended it to be used only at Christmas. He wrote the words to paraphrase the words of today’s Scripture from Psalm 98.
To me it is a reminder that God will take our most feeble efforts and allow them to be used to accomplish His divine purpose. Once again Proverbs 3:5-6 is proven true: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Please enjoy this hymn of praise.
Joy to the World
Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart Prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing;
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and angels sing
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods; rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy;
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, Repeat, the sounding joy
No more will sins and sorrows grow;
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow;
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace;
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love;
And wonders of His love;
And wonders, wonders of His love.
To access Joy to the World, this week’s inspirational video fromGloryScapes™ Inspirational Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/joytotheworld/ 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
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 12, 2013 | Proverbs
Proverbs 15:1-2
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
You may have heard the adage; “The pen is mightier than the sword.” The sentence (if not the idea, which had been expressed in various earlier forms) was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.
I would have the audacity to go one step further and suggest that the tongue is mightier than the pen. Here is one reason I would say that. In John 11 we read about the death of Lazarus. His two sisters came one at a time to meet the Lord. Each said the same words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha received a mild rebuke while Mary received commendation. The difference must have been in the tone of voice.
It is critical that we control our tongue and the inferences that we use when we speak. I once counseled a man who was relating the words he used toward his wife. They sounded fairly mild. He returned to my office a few hours later and told me that he was wrong. He had indeed spoken the words he had related to me, but his tone of voice made them cut and hurt. Ahh! What a difference.
Read the words of our Scripture for today. Are you using your tongue to bring blessing to others, or is it MIGHTIER THAT A SWORD OR A PEN?!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 11, 2013 | Psalm
Psalm 123:1-2
I lift up my eyes to You, to You who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He shows us His mercy.
Have you ever noticed individuals employed to do a certain job, but who failed to be observant of the undone tasks around them? I recall a man who had the position of custodian for a large organization. He was to insure that everything was kept neat and tidy. He failed miserably!
It was not uncommon for this custodian to walk past wads of paper that someone had carelessly dropped to the floor. He was too busy trying to listen in on some conversation that he had no authorization to be involved with.
On the other extreme, I have seen people who went out of their way to be sensitive to the needs of those they served. In fact, they saw to the needs of others who were not their superiors. They became a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and responded to needs around them, regardless of who should have been doing the work.
A true servant of the Lord should always be keeping an eye open to see those who might have needs that the Master wants us to respond to. If we purpose to look, we will see things we have never seen before and will be doing the Master’s will. What are you seeing?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
