by Pastor Cecil | Mar 6, 2015 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1-5
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”
I would dare to say that almost all of us experienced some sort of trial in our life. It could be the loss of health, a financial meltdown, death of a mate or child or any number of catastrophic events. It is not whether or not we will encounter these trials, but rather what we will do when they arise.
The phrase, “Praise to the Lord” occurs in at least 155 verses in the Bible. That indicates to me that we need to spend far more time praising the Lord than we do. It would be well to replace our complaints with words of praise to the Lord.
Over 300 years ago, Joachim Neander was a hymn writer for the German Reform church. He was going through a time of trial and testing in his life. He would take long walks and pour his heart out to the Lord. It was on one of these walks that he came to the realization that it was not his strength that would give him victory and peace, but rather the powerful God he served. It was in that state of mind that he composed this week’s featured hymn.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath not He bought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee!
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
To access Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Inspirational Music Videos, please go to:http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisetothelordthealmighty/ 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 | Mar 5, 2015 | Genesis
Genesis 24:48-49
“And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
I once was asked to officiate at a wedding in a large city. The venue where the wedding was to take place had been in use earlier that day, so we could not have a rehearsal. I had left in plenty of time (or so I thought) to locate the building. Unfortunately, the directions just happened to have omitted one left turn, which made them useless.
If you have ever been in a strange city trying to find your way to an unknown destination, you need help. Time after time I would stop and ask for directions only to be told that they had never heard of the place. I finally located the building and found that we were going to be starting late because others could not find their way either.
In today’s Scripture, Abraham’s servant had been sent on a special mission to go to the land of his master’s family to select a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s son. He had no idea how to find the right one, so he prayed for God’s direction. It would be the young woman who would offer him a drink and also to water his camels.
The test did not seem like very much, but it demonstrated a complete trust in God to lead him to the correct maiden. Rebecca was God’s choice and He led the servant to complete his mission. When we have decisions to make, it is always wise to pray for the Lord to guide us. He will never fail if we keep our eyes on Him.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 4, 2015 | John
John 7:37-38
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
If you have never encountered a situation where you feel helpless, believe me when I say you will. God did not place us in a garden of roses and assure us that we will never encounter troubles and trials.
1 Peter 4:12-13 describes for the believer what we face in this life: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”
Under those circumstances, someone might be tempted to question the value of being a born-again believer. It is true that we will face the fiery trials of this life, but the confidence we have is that the Lord is with us in the midst of our trials.
With all of this in mind, how are we Christians to live our lives? Again I refer to God’s Holy Word. Proverbs 3:5-6: “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.” In each and every circumstance we are to turn to God. He is the One who is already in our tomorrows.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 3, 2015 | Philippians
Philippians 3:7-9
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
I guess we all have the tendency to accumulate more and more stuff. Back in 1953 I had been transferred to Rapid City, South Dakota. Joyce and I stuffed our belongings into a 1948 sedan and began the trip from Idaho. Everything we called our own was packed into that old black car. Can you relate to that?
It did not take long before we began to collect this, that, and the other — three years later we needed a trailer and our vehicle to move everything. We loved the Lord and always served Him with all our heart, but what was I willing to give up for Him?
Paul puts everything on the line in today’s Scripture. He is saying that everything he had gained he now counted as loss for the purpose of serving the Lord. He not only considered them as a loss, he considered them as garbage. Wow!
It challenges me to re-evaluate the things in my life. Having just lost my precious wife of 62 years, I am in a new position of considering what is really important. Without question, I have come to realize that being a servant of the Lord Jesus is all I want and all I need. As long as He gives me breath I will give Him my all!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 3, 2015 | John
John 4:13-14
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
The author of this week’s hymn is William Cowper. He was born in England in the year 1731. He suffered many personal losses during his early years that caused him much mental anguish. Loss after loss of those that were close brought him to the brink of despair.
Through all of his ordeals the Lord kept drawing him. He finally received Jesus as his personal Savior and began writing hymns and poetry. It is fascinating that he lived in a small house just behind the home of his pastor, John Newton, who wrote the wonderful hymn,Amazing Grace.
As we draw near to the Passion Week of our Lord, it is well and good for us to pause and be thankful for the fountain of redeeming blood that cleanses us from all of our sin.
There Is A Fountain
There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel’s veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he
Wash all my sins away
Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more
For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die
When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I’ll sing thy power to save
To access There is a Fountain, this week’s inspirational video fromGloryScapes.com, please go to:http://www.gloryscapes.com/thereisafountain/ 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
