by Pastor Cecil | Sep 30, 2015 | 1 Timothy
1 Timothy 5:13
“And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.”
Many years ago I received a call from a woman who asked for an appointment. I had never met this woman and wondered what she wanted. I will never forget her first words: “I am the other woman.” I was confused since I had never met her before and, in fact, had never heard her name mentioned.
She asked if our Prayer Chain had not been praying about the wicked woman who was having an affair with one of the men in our church. I assured her that her name was not being mentioned in our prayer concerns. She said that several other churches had her name on their prayer lists.
It felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. This woman explained that both she and a certain man were members of the same scuba diving club. That was their only contact and nothing more. The man’s wife, nevertheless, became jealous and began to spread rumors about her husband’s supposed infidelity. From there it was picked up by various prayer groups. How sad!
I immediately called the captain of our prayer chain and asked her if she had heard about this situation. She said that a request had been made but there was nothing to substantiate the charges; therefore, it was never put out as a prayer request. Thank God! Be careful, dear heart. We can do great harm by using prayer as a sanctified gossip line!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 29, 2015 | Philippians
Philippians 1:21-24
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.”
Last week I received an email message with a thought-provoking illustration. Supposedly a teacher stood before a classroom with her arm extended holding a glass of water. She asked the students to guess how much it weighed. The guesses ranged from 12 ounces to 24 ounces. The teacher smiled and said the “weight” depends on how long you hold it. If you hold it for two moments it is very light. If you hold it for two hours it becomes heavier. If you hold it for 10 hours it becomes an unbearable burden.
The Apostle Paul carried many burdens in his ministry. The burdens he bore were for the sake of Christ. He had purpose in his life! He did not bear burdens just for the sake of suffering, but for presenting the message of salvation. His real purpose was to live for Christ in everything he did.
Many people carry burdens that God never intended them to carry. In doing so, they lack the purpose that God intends for his children. Many times it seems that heaven is so close that we can almost reach out and touch it. No matter how anxious we are to be with the Lord, our real purpose must be to serve Him with all of our might. My prayer is that we will have a Christ oriented purpose in our life.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 28, 2015 | Matthew
Matthew 13:15
“For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”
When I was a junior in high school several of us journeyed a few hundred miles from home to work in the harvest. That summer the weather delayed the harvest, however we were able to secure temporary employment at an insecticide processing company.
There was a large platform approximately 10 feet off the floor where various bags of a powder-like product were dumped into a large hopper. To keep the powder from blowing all over, a piece of ½ inch 6’x8’ plywood would be lowered down. When it was open there were chains on either side to prevent it from falling over. An older man who had worked there for quite a while supervised our activities.
The bags weighed anywhere from 50 to 75 pounds. The idea was to empty the product in the center of the opening away from the chains. If a heavy bag hit against the chain it would slam the plywood down striking your head. We quickly learned the process, but that old veteran never seemed to get it through his head. I recall that he was almost bald and his head was covered with sores from where the plywood and hit him so many times. It seemed like it happened several times each shift. As he staggered around, most of us could not contain the laughter.
As I have thought about this incident, it brings to mind how many people know that the wages of sin produce bitter dividends. But in spite of knowing the consequences, they will not be taught. May we all be teachable!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 25, 2015 | 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
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 24, 2015 | John
John 17:11
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me that they may be one as We are.”
Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This morning as I was glancing over the copy of Blessings From The Heart, the word “atonement” seemed to jump out at me and the three words AT-ONE-MENT seemed to flow. We know that Jesus is our atoning sacrifice and He desires for us to be “at one” with Him.
For years I have heard and frequently use the expression of “someone being so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly use.” I am sure that if you think about it you will immediately think of people that unfortunately fit this category.
I love the last few words of today’s Scripture: “…. that they may be one as We are.” Every time I read those words my heart skips a beat. Jesus is praying to His Father that we may be one with Him. To me that is the ultimate of AT-ONE-MENT. It is not doing our own thing, but yielding ourselves to His control so that we are at one with Him in thought, word, and deed.
There is another step that needs to be added to this equation. We need to be at one with each other. There is so much divisiveness in the body of Christ that it is the opposite of AT-ONE-MENT. That does not mean to compromise the basic fundamentals of the faith, but it does mean standing together at the foot of the cross with our hearts as one!
May God Richly Bless You As You bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
