by Pastor Cecil | Jan 15, 2016 | Psalm
Psalm 99:9
“Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.”
Sometimes we never get the credit we think we deserve. I am so glad we don’t. If we did we would be prone to take pride in our accomplishments. Many of God’s most faithful servants labored in complete anonymity.
Such was the case with the composer of this week’s hymn. Reginald Heber was born at Malpas, Cheshire, England, April 21, 1783, to a heritage of wealth and culture. By the age of five, he had read the Bible so thoroughly that he could give chapter and verse for chance quotations.
He composed many hymns, but served his entire life without seeing them published. It was only after his death that as many as 57 of his hymns were recognized. It was to the Lord that he dedicated his works. Such is the case with this week’s hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy!
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! tho’ the darkness hide Thee
Tho’ the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
To access Holy, Holy, Holy, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/holyholyholy/ in your browser or click on the image below.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 14, 2016 | Matthew
Matthew 10:39
“ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
You may have heard the humorous anecdote of the man who commented, “I now must admit that I believe in the hereafter. It seems like every time I go from one room to another, I stop and ask myself, ‘What am I here after?’” Ouch! That hits pretty close to home!
Have you ever lost something that has special significance to you? Sometimes it is not the monetary value of a item which makes it precious, but the memories that are associated with it. I recently lost about 20 DVD’s of favorite Christian music that I played before services each Sunday. The only thing I can conclude is that they were accidentally thrown away in the trash after a potluck dinner.
Let’s face it — the most precious things in this world will someday be lost in one way or another. If we base our happiness and contentment on the things of this world, we will experience disappointment when they are lost, as eventually they will be.
Today’s Scripture tells us that if we grasp and hold on to the things of this life, we will lose them. But when we lose our life and the things of this life, we will find LIFE … real life. That is what I want to seek and hold onto!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 13, 2016 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 12:1
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”
Anniversaries are times to recall days gone by. The older we get, the more anniversaries we have to remember. Some anniversaries bring back wonderful, sweet, and precious memories, but others bring a pang to the heart. January 13th is one of the latter for me. It was one year ago on January 13th that my precious wife Joyce slipped away from this pain-racked world into the paradise of God.
We had celebrated 62 anniversaries of marriage and many other precious times that we always recalled with joy. But there were other anniversaries that brought tears to our eyes. The anniversary of the passing of our daughter Brenda was one of these. Joyce would always light a candle on the anniversary of Brenda’s passing.
Joyce and I were so blessed to have found each other at the tender age of fourteen. We knew from the start that we would walk life’s pathway together. We shared joys and tears along the way, but it was always together. The hardest part in the passing of your soul mate is that there is now an emptiness where once there was that one you knew was beside you. I can hardly wait to be with her and my other loved ones again! Until then I will double my efforts to serve Jesus with my whole heart!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 12, 2016 | Philippians
Philippians 3:20-21
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Coming from a law enforcement background, I am familiar with certain procedures. One of them is to identify the individual you are investigating. One of the first things an officer requires when someone is questioned is their identification.
Identification reveals a person’s previous criminal activity, or the fact that there are no records indicating that this person may be a danger. Many times an individual may be questioned for a very minor traffic infraction, but when identification is checked that individual may be wanted for a far more serious offense.
Proper identification is not just a matter of concern for law enforcement. Often a person may give lip service to the Lord, but there is no evidence to substantiate they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We might say that they give phony identification!
In Matthew 7:20 Jesus says: “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” A wise man has said that God calls us to be fruit inspectors. That is the proper identification to let us know who we are in contact with. Do you have your ID?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 11, 2016 | Luke
Luke 15:15-16
“Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.”
Sometimes I feel as if I repeat things over and over. In a way that is good because it’s only fresh in my mind. In a way it’s bad because people think I’m just getting old and repeating myself.
Once again I look across the room at my birdcage and watch as my two parakeets work away at the seeds I have given them. Countless times as I have emptied the seed cup and replaced the seeds with new feed I think of a tragic incident. A friend had just purchased birds for the first time and in a few weeks they died. When he went back to the pet store they determined that the seeds were nothing more than husks. The birds had opened the seeds taken out the center portion which contained the nutrients. With nothing left to eat they died.
Spiritually many people are fed nothing but empty husks. Ministers who should be disseminating strong spiritual food are dishing out nothing more than empty husks. They do not even train their people how to find food in God’s word for themselves. How sad it is that there is a form of godliness but it is nothing but empty husks!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
