by Pastor Cecil | Jun 7, 2019 | 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: https://gloryscapes.com/praisehimpraisehim
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 6, 2019 | Job
Job 3:5
“May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; may a cloud settle on it; may the blackness of the day terrify it.”
It has been 75 years since the military invasion at Normandy, an event that has become known and commemorated as D-Day. June 6, 1944 was a day highly anticipated on both sides of the English Channel. Hitler had been tricked into believing that it was merely a feint to distract his forces from the real landing that he presumed would be at another location. Thank the Lord he was wrong! Casualties could have been even higher than the estimated 20,000 from both sides.
Most of those men who fought and died that day would much rather have been back home with their loved ones. They were there because they were either forced into service or because they felt a call to serve their country.
Each of us regularly finds ourselves in the ultimate battle with the enemy of our souls. Satan is a crafty enemy and will try every means to stop God from having His will in our life. We have a secret weapon against this powerful enemy . . . it is the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send after He ascended back to heaven. We know that event as Pentecost, which we will commemorate this Sunday, June 9.
When we hit the beaches to battle the enemy, remember that we have this powerful weapon that is there with us. Many of the service members of Christ have died on the beaches, but we are promised victory! God’s D-Day is the defeat of Satan for all eternity.
Blessings dear hearts! Walk with God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 5, 2019 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:7
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.”
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a situation that seemed to have no solution? I am tempted to describe one or two of my own, but if I do it may prevent you from relating to your particular no-win situation. How do we cope?
In today’s Scripture we are cautioned to avoid becoming wise in our own eyes. This is very hard for us to grasp since we seem to have the desire to control things around us.
When we encounter evil or injustice we often rise up with righteous indignation and want to correct the situation. God’s Word makes it clear that our fervent anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
How are we to avoid using our own abilities when faced with the problems that confront us? The answer is very clear. First and foremost we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. That means letting go and letting God have control.
Secondly, we must acknowledge God in all of our ways. The Hebrew word for acknowledge is the word yada. It means in part to learn more and more about God and His ways. We do that as we rest in Him, study His Word, and discover more of His wonderful attributes.
Blessings dear hearts! Walk with God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 4, 2019 | Isaiah
Isaiah 26:3
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
We once owned a hamster whose cage had a hamster wheel. The hamster would get on the wheel and run like crazy … but got nowhere. Many times I fear that we Christians are very much like a hamster spinning on a hamster wheel.
Things are making us uncomfortable so we panic and try to fix them in our own strength. We’ve gotta worry! We’ve gotta work! We’ve gotta do something!
The problem is that we are doing things our way rather than doing things God’s way. He never desires us to run ourselves ragged in order to please Him or to merit salvation. In today’s Scripture we see that what God wants us to do is to place our trust in Him.
The Lord calls us to have purpose in our service for Him. If we are not involved in serving Him, we are to relax and enjoy the blessing of just being with Him. When opens the door of service for Him we need to respond eagerly. Until He calls us to do His bidding we need to wait expectantly for Him—it is worth the wait!
Blessings dear hearts! Walk with God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 3, 2019 | Luke
Luke 10:2
“Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”
It is human nature to desire to stay in our warm and snug comfort zone. Many times Satan abuses this desire to remain comfortable in order to keep us from doing God’s will and working in God’s harvest fields.
It is a fact that God wants us to move out of our comfort zone. Inside our zone of comfort we focus most, if not all, of our energy on ourselves. In so doing we often neglect the needs of those around us.
The harvest fields that Jesus speaks about in this passage are the lost and dying all around us. You know, there are different types of harvest fields. When wheat or barley is harvested, all of the grain is gathered at one time.
In a field of strawberries, only those berries that are ripe are picked. It requires many subsequent trips to complete the harvest. It is the same way with the souls of men and women. Some may be gathered all at once in a mass crusade, while others must be picked one at a time.
As we move out to the harvest field we must stop and consider when the crop is ready. It is not our comfort zone that is important, but the harvest. Are you ready?
Blessings dear hearts! Walk with God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
