by Pastor Cecil | Jan 10, 2014 | Luke
Luke 24:29
But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’ And He went in to tarry with them.
Henry F. Lyte was a man who greatly loved the Lord with his whole being. He came up with the saying, “It is better to wear out than to rust out,” and it perfectly described his life.
During the last 23 years of his life he pastored a poor church in England. He always suffered from poor health but during this time his health started to decline even more. When he finally preached his last sermon on September 4, 1847, it is reported that he practically had to crawl to the pulpit.
Shortly before preaching his last sermon he wrote the words and tune to the hymn, Abide With Me. He based his hymn on today’s Scripture that tells the story of Jesus walking with two disciples on the way to Emmaus and their statement, “Abide with us: for it is toward evening and the day is far spent.” He went to be with the Lord shortly after writing the hymn.
Later William Monk wrote a new tune for the hymn. During a time of personal sorrow, he was inspired by the beauty of a magnificent sunset.
Abide With Me
Abide with me—fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens—Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy word before my closing eyes,
Shine thru the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!
To access Abide With Me, this week’s inspirational hymn video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/abidewithme/ 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 | Jan 9, 2014 | Isaiah
Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
Over my many years of ministry I have urged individuals, couples and congregations to call on the name of the Lord at the earliest sign of difficulty. In fact I have gone so far as to beg them to keep in such close contact with the Lord that they talk with Him all through the day.
I wish I could report that my recommended counsel has been followed. That is just not the case. Many times I have had people come and weep bitter tears because they had met with chaos in their life and things were falling apart.
What do you do when your life has come unraveled and hopes have been crushed? The answer is always the same. Call on the name of the Lord. There is no way I have the power to restore and put the broken pieces of their life back together, but I know that when a life is totally surrendered to God, He gives hope for the hopeless.
You may be at a critical juncture of your life at this very moment. Your marriage or your job or your health or your children or your . . . do I need to go on? You get the idea. Regardless of what you face right now, I urge you to memorize Isaiah 55:6 and then do what it says!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 8, 2014 | Proverbs
Proverbs 22:5-6
In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
If you have ever attended a graveside service, you may recall that there are always a limited number of chairs reserved for the immediate family members of the deceased. It is so distressing, and revealing, when young children rush to be seated while relatives with obvious physical limitations are left standing. Meanwhile, the parents of the inconsiderate children stand by with smiles on their faces.
I have no idea why parents have lost control of their children, especially in our current culture, but they have. If we look into God’s Word, we learn that it is not the responsibility of the children, but the parents to establish discipline and direction. (Sometimes, the children seem to act more adult than their parents.)
Is the situation hopeless? I don’t think so, but it certainly requires that we face the issue directly. We need to start sharing the powerful Word of God concerning the subject. The answer is not some idea conceived by a behavioral scientist, but by what God ordains that the relationship with the younger generation should be. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
We cannot suddenly transform an entire generation and cause it to show proper respect, but we can start by being an example ourselves and encouraging others to do the same. When was the last time you went out of your way to show respect to a clerk in a checkout line? When was the last time you picked up your phone to call someone who had impacted your life to tell them how much you appreciated them? Respect is taught by God’s Word, but it is patterned by our actions. What actions have you been patterning?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 7, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 1:20-21
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
There are times in our lives that, when facing danger of one sort or another, we experience the tangible grip of fear. We may not be paralyzed in the situation, but our reactions seem to move in slow motion. Twice I have encountered deranged men with loaded weapons that could have easily taken my life. Time stood still in both occurrences, and only later could I normalize.
Fear is not restricted to physical danger. One of the areas that the enemy of our souls uses to impart fear into our spirits is in the sharing of our faith. We may have a sincere desire to share, but the fear of being rejected and scorned causes us to freeze up.
In today’s Scripture, Paul is well aware that he is facing a very uncertain future. He has already encountered persecution and pain, and he knows that more of the same awaits him. Still, Paul’s main concern is that his life will exalt Jesus. His greatest desire, be it torture or death, is to remain faithful: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
The question I continually ask myself is: What am I willing to endure in order to be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I willing to endure snickers, scorn, or even worse? I pray that I may always be a worthy Servant!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 6, 2014 | Acts
Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Recently I was re-reading the book, Terrorist To Evangelist, by G. Brent Riggs. It is the story of Kenny McClinton and the supernatural power of God unto salvation. Kenny has become a dear friend through the Daily-E-Votional, and I have have been blessed to speak to him several times on the telephone.
Late one night, as I was reading through the story of his life, I was struck by a statement he made about suffering for a righteous cause: “A whole lot of guys (people) wanted to be martyrs, but few were willing to die.”
As I pondered Kenny’s statement, I realized that we need to ask ourselves about our own commitment. What are the things in our life that we consider to be righteous causes? Are we willing to die for them? If we honestly cannot discover any righteous causes, then we are to be pitied.
I do not mean to imply that believers are to live with a persecution complex. I feel that our call is to be sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ and to put our lives where our testimonies are.
I once heard a humorous song that (sadly) expressed the commitment of some people. One line went, “I will go any where you want me to go, dear Lord, as long as it is on the beaches of Waikiki!” HOW SAD!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
