by Pastor Cecil | Aug 6, 2015 | Psalm
Psalm 108:5-6
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.”
Have you ever heard people make a comment about what they are going to say to the Lord when they get to heaven? I don’t think so! That is such prideful boasting I can hardly contain myself whenever I hear such comments.
The first time we see the Lord in glory we are going to be so overwhelmed that we will fall on our faces, enraptured by His Presence and giving Him ultimate praise. To me that is what exaltation is all about.
The beautiful thing is that we do not have to wait until we get to heaven. We can begin to give Him exaltation right now. Instead of being preoccupied about what we have done or what we accomplish, we need to focus our hearts on who He is and what He has done for us.
For those of us who have received Jesus Christ by personal invitation, our eternity has begun. These old bodies of ours may cease to function here on earth but they are just a shell. The real eternal part of us lives on forever. The question is where we will spend eternity. For the believer it will be in heaven. For those who failed to receive Jesus Christ there is no other destination but an eternity in hell. How sad! Now is the time to enter into that wonderful relationship with Christ that will last beyond the ability to calculate time — forever! Give him exaltation!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 5, 2015 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 32:7-8a
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
Many years ago I was listening to a pastor being interviewed on the radio. He was commenting about a man who had been in one of his exhaustive studies in the book of Revelation. The pastor asked if anyone in the class could sum up what the book of Revelation meant to them. An older gentleman stood and quietly stated, “Jesus wins!”
As we look around our world, we sometimes feel as though we are on the losing side. That is absolutely untrue! We have victory in Jesus! Let me be quick to point out that our victory is not because of our strength or are mental superiority. Our victory comes through the Lord Jesus Christ!
In today’s Scripture, King Hezekiah of Judah was faced with an enemy that seemed unbeatable. Surrounded by an army that had crushed other nations, he was ordered to surrender. But God told Hezekiah to stand fast. You may recall that Hezekiah took the letter that the Assyrian king had sent ridiculing the Lord into the Temple and laid before the God of Israel. The battle was not Hezekiah’s but God’s! In one night 185,000 enemy soldiers were cut down and the siege against Jerusalem was over. Never feel that we are on the losing side. Just remember the comment that that older gentleman made: “Jesus wins!”
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 4, 2015 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 26:4-5
“He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.”
There is no way we can ever place conditions on God. I think most of us have heard of foxhole conversions where someone in grave danger cries out to God, promises to serve Him and become His child . . . if only He will save them from the terrible situation they find themselves in. That’s not the way it works! We are to come to God unconditionally!
It works just the opposite with God. As the Master of the Universe, God is free to place conditions on us. He has promised to bless us, but only when we follow after Him and do the things that He calls us to do. He delights in showering the bounty of heaven upon us when we trust and obey.
There is no way that God finds pleasure in causing us difficulty of any type. In fact it’s just the opposite. God wants us to prosper spiritually and emotionally. It is heartbreaking to observe people who once enjoyed God’s blessing turn their backs on God thinking they can find pleasure in the things of the world. The things of the world are going to pass away, but the things of God will last for eternity.
Here’s the challenge! Are we living our lives to please God? Do we find the highest pleasure in spending time with Him in prayer and reading His precious word? My prayer is that we will seek to find what is right in the eyes of the Lord and then make that our highest priority.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 3, 2015 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
Being alone is a terrible thing. A while back Tom Hanks made the movie “Castaway” in which he portrayed the survivor of a plane crash stranded for many years on an un-inhabited and unknown island. He was so isolated and alone that his only companion was a volleyball that he named “Wilson.” It was poignant to see how being alone could utterly change the way he viewed life.
We really do need each other! Walking life’s pathway alone can be very disheartening and terrifying. The strange thing about it is that many times, if not most of the time, it is a choice. Lonely people frequently push away anyone who attempts to draw close to them.
There have been very few times in my life where I could honestly feel that I was alone. Having said that, there are times where I have intentionally chosen to stand alone. That does not mean that I was a loner, but rather refused to go along with behavior that I felt was not honoring to the Lord. Standing alone is different than being alone! Being alone is a picture of a hermit. Standing alone is a picture of one who does not allow the perversity of this world to overwhelm them.
As you look at your own life in light of God’s will for your life, what do you see? Let me phrase that a different way: If Jesus Christ was to appear in the next few minutes would He find you standing alone for Him? As we face the storms of life and the temptations to go along with the crowd, choose to stand alone for Jesus!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
