by Pastor Cecil | Sep 21, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 33:1-3
“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
Fanny J. Crosby was a tiny woman. She stood under five feet and weighed less than 100 pounds. Because of being maltreated for an eye infection when she was only a few months old, she spent the remainder of her 95 years totally blind.
This tiny dynamo wrote over 8,000 poems and hymns during her lifetime. She composed her poems and hymns entirely in her mind and then dictated them to a stenographer. She was said to be able to work on as many as twelve hymns at once before dictating them all out.
Fanny felt that it was a special gift from God that she should be blind all of her life, and she thanked Him for that gift. She felt that when she arrived in heaven, the first face she desired to gladden her sight would be her precious Savior. It was in 1896 that she wrote the hymn selected for this week.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
1. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children,
in His arms He carries them all day long:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise him! Praise him ever in joyful song!
2. Praise him! Praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins he suffered, and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
love unbounded, wonderful deep and strong:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
3. Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
crown Him! crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
To access the free inspirational video for this weeks, as well as other videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisehimpraisehim
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 20, 2018 | 1 John
1 John 2:17
“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
In Matthew 19:18-22 we read a sad story. A young man approached Jesus and asked what good thing he needed to do to inherit eternal life. In questioning him it was determined that this young man was obedient to the Law of Moses and he even loved his neighbor as himself.
In verse 21, Jesus gave him an invitation that could have changed his life: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Here was an obedient and observant man who prided himself on doing even more than the Law required, yet he went away from Jesus with a sad and heavy heart. Why? Because he had great wealth! His love of worldly possessions robbed him of the blessed opportunity of being a follower of our Lord.
One has to wonder how long it was before he realized that the puny wealth of worldly goods amount to nothing. It is a question we must ask ourselves and especially in connection with today’s Scripture. Where is our heart of love?
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 19, 2018 | John
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
World War I, sometimes called the “Great War,” was a huge waste of human life. It has been calculated that some fifteen million people lost their lives in this terrible conflict that ended on November 11, 1918. It was thought back then that peace would prevail and no more such wars would be fought — but it was barely 20 years before the even more devastating World War II broke out.
As we honor this day of peace it is important to get a picture of what peace means. It is the Hebrew word “Shalowm” (shalom). The Hebraic concept of shalom is ‘nothing missing-nothing broken’ but figuratively it points to completeness. The word peace is found 429 times in Scripture and is a concept that is important to understand.
Over the centuries there have been many attempts to secure peace between individuals, families, communities, or nations. These human attempts have always failed because it is only the Lord who gives true peace.
The wonderful thing is that the Lord gives us peace in the midst of the storms of life. His peace comes from the inside out rather than from the outside in. His peace passes all human understanding. May He grant you His “shalom”!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 18, 2018 | John
John 13:15-17
“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
It is impossible to change people by preaching at them. That may sound like a strange comment coming from a preacher, but I find it to be true. You cannot line people up and preach them into doing anything. Unfortunately, that is what we have been trying to do for years, both in our homes as well as in our churches. It just does not work!
Perhaps this is a carry-over from how we deal with our children. We yell and scream at them to quit yelling and screaming! Please read that last sentence over and over until you get the drift of what I am saying. It doesn’t work with our children or other people.
The reality is that we teach others by what we do much more than by what we say. We can quote Scriptures about the importance of telling the truth, but if those around us observe that we are stretching the truth, then we have revealed more by our actions than by our words. That is not good!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 17, 2018 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:21
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
What is the difference between beautiful joy and ugly pride? Perhaps we have all seen the distasteful displays of taunting or gesturing after a sports figure has accomplished a particular feat. They seem to enjoy flaunting and taunting their opponents. To me it is an ugly and unsportsmanlike display.
I contrast these ugly displays with the pure joy of believers who have been redeemed and are on the way to heaven. God has allowed me to witness to people who have had their sins forgiven and who have won the greatest contest of all. There is a joy that words cannot express.
God hates pride in any way, shape or form. There are far too many Christians who seem to love drawing attention to themselves. There is great danger for those who lead worship services. They should always ask themselves if they are drawing attention to themselves or to the Lord. Self needs to be nailed to the cross.
I pray that the joy of the Lord might be poured out in our quiet times. I just received a call from a precious young woman who felt the Lord speak to her about a direction in her life. As she submitted to this new direction she felt joy flow over her like the waves of the sea. Praise the Lord! May our prayer always be, “not my will, but Thy will be done.”
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
