by Pastor Cecil | Nov 9, 2016 | James
James 4:8
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
One summer I was working with my dad, brother, and cousin putting new tar on a flat roof of an educational building. It was hot and sticky and the tar seemed to cover us as much as it did the surface of the roof.
If you have ever tried to clean up after working with tar, you know what a hopeless task it is. We used turpentine and solvents that only started the cleaning process; we then used detergents to help finish the job. Our clothes and shoes were a lost cause and had to be discarded. We had to spend the next week getting rid of the final remnants of the sticky stuff.
Sin is like that, isn’t it? It sticks to us like tar and is difficult to remove. Like clothes and shoes on the roof job, there is no way to get the sin out without getting rid of the garments of filth.
I think of the words of the old hymn written by Robert Lowry back in 1876, “Nothing But the Blood.” The first verse asks a question and gives the answer to cleansing from sin: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” CLEAN UP!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 8, 2016 | Joshua
Joshua 24:15
“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Moses had presented his “upper-desert discourse” known as the Book of Deuteronomy. His successor, Joshua, likewise had a final challenge to the people. It is found in the 24th chapter of Joshua. Today’s Scripture is his challenge for the people to choose the Lord. They said they would, but they did not do it.
In the United States today we will be voting for individuals to be our leaders in various offices. There is no way that any leader can change the course of a nation. It must be the determination of the people to serve the Lord. Then, and only then, will we be able to see transformation.
2 Chronicles 7:14 makes it very plain how we as believers can direct our nation. That applies here in the U.S. or any other nation: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Let us choose to go God’s way and change our world regardless of the cost.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 7, 2016 | Revelation
Revelation 22:12-13
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
I once heard the story of a Bible teacher who had spent weeks teaching a class on the Book of Revelation. He had tried to cover every nuance of interpretation for the group to consider. In the last session he asked if any of the students could summarize the meaning of the Book of Revelation.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, one man in the class raised his hand to speak. The teacher had hoped for a more enthusiastic response, but when he saw there was none coming he asked the man for his comments. The man simply responded, “Jesus wins!”
Wow! What simple yet profound insight! I fear that in the trials and troubles of life we forget the final outcome. We focus so much on the skirmishes that we fail to look beyond and see the final outcome.
What struggles are you dealing with right now? I just spoke with a widow who has lost her husband and two sons in less than three years. It was a joy to help her to recognize that they are with the Lord and that Jesus wins! They have been made complete.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 4, 2016 | 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 | Nov 3, 2016 | Romans
Romans 10:9
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
You may have heard this expression: The only things you can be sure of in life are death and taxes! What a dismal attitude that statement reveals. Unfortunately, there are many people who seem to have this outlook on life.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the GOOD NEWS! It is not a myth or a man-made contrivance. It is the wonderful gift of God who loves us enough to provide us with everlasting life.
There are many “Sinners Prayers” that have been shared to assist a sincere seeker of salvation to come to know the Lord. They can be as different as night and day. The thief on the cross was saved by merely asking Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into His kingdom. Bam! “Today you will be with Me in paradise!” That is about as quick and easy as it gets.
The sincerity of the heart is the determining factor. We are to open our mouths and confess “Jesus is Lord.” This comes from our heart that truly Jesus is the risen Lord who lives eternally. If you have never taken that step, please do so now!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
