by Pastor Cecil | Jan 29, 2018 | Matthew
Matthew 19:1
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’”
I make no bones about loving babies and it absolutely crushes me to think of all the millions and millions of babies killed by abortion. I remember when our children were babies. (It has been a long time.) Joyce was always the perfect mother and insisted that they be fed only what the pediatrician said babies should have: milk, baby cereal, and canned baby food. Yuk!!
I was usually the one to push the envelope of what was acceptable. I, in my infinite wisdom, just naturally knew that God intended for babies to have mashed potatoes and gravy. Many times I was chastised for feeding these wonderful foods to the babies, but it was a secret between the babies and me … and they loved it! From that to more and more solid food until they became teens and ate us out of house and home.
Many people attend church weekly (some very seldom), and seem to feel that they are getting all of the spiritual nourishment they need. LISTEN! There is no way that I, or any other minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can give you enough in one or two sermons to get you through the week. I have seen the saying many times: A week without church attendance makes one weak. We need that time in worship and hearing the Word proclaimed, but it will never be enough to bring us to spiritual maturity. We need a daily diet of spiritual food.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 26, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 36:1-3
“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”
Robert Robinson who lived from 1735 to 1790, was saved while attending a service conducted by the famous evangelist George Whitefield. Following his conversion he entered the Christian ministry, but like so many, he would lose his fervor for God.
The words of the hymn “Come Thou Fount” were written to express his own need for a closer walk with the Lord. His prayer is that his heart may be re-tuned to be in perfect harmony with the will of God.
In stanza two he speaks of his conversion. The word “Ebenezer” refers to a time and place when he actually received the Lord into his life as personal Savior and Lord. He goes on to remind himself and others that it is necessary to daily remind ourselves what a debt we owe to the Lord for our salvation at His expense.
Come Thou Fount
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount-I’m fixed upon it-mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to Thee;
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video, “Come Thou Fount” from GloryScapes.com by going to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/comethoufount/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 25, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”
Several years ago I had one of those eerie encounters where a friend expressed extreme joy when we unexpectedly bumped into each other at a super store. It seems that someone had passed along the word that I had died. This friend had sincerely believed me to be dead, but here I was ALIVE – AND KICKING!
From time to time I encounter people who deny the existence of God. They seem to have a superior attitude that looks down from the lofty position of their noble wisdom. They claim there is no God, so that makes it true. BEEP!!
We can easily deceive ourselves into concluding that just because we sincerely believe something that makes it so. That is not true in any way, shape, or form. In the spiritual realm we are talking life and death. I mean eternal life or eternal death.
Today’s Scripture pictures the unbeliever as a fool. I can think of no more foolish thing than to deny the existence of God. Not only is it imperative that we believe in God, but we must believe that Jesus came in the flesh and gave His life to save us from sin. We must believe and receive Him as our personal Savior and Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 24, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
I am captivated by the meaning of words. It’s one of my delights to solve the daily crossword as often as possible. The nuances of words can determine several different meanings. Just as the word bless in the above passage means to affectionately praise, so the term blessed in the beatitudes has more depth of meaning. In the Amplified Bible it is rendered this way: “Blessed — happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous [that is, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions].”
Many of us are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5, Jesus introduces a Godly lifestyle. He does this by presenting the Beatitudes. Each of the Beatitudes begins with the phrase, “Blessed are you.”
The concept of blessing has come to hold more meaning to me than ever before. We either bless or curse with our mouths. At times I have talked about how actions speak louder than words. That does not mean we are to be silent—rather we are to speak blessing into situations and then act in the manner that is consistent with our words.
Where do you fit into the concept of blessing? When someone thinks of you, can they honestly consider you a blessing in their life? We need to be a blessing!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 23, 2018 | Isaiah
Isaiah 55:9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
I once heard a sermon by Dr. W.A. Criswell of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. I cannot for the life of me recall the sermon, but I do recall an illustration he used to demonstrate the deceitful heart of man and to show how far we will go to appear smarter than we really are. Here is his illustration:
Two drunks in a bar were arguing over which of them was the most religious. Finally, one man bet the other $10 that he could not recite the Lord’s Prayer. The man took the bet and began; “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” The first man stared at him in amazement, reached in his billfold for a $10 bill, handed it to Fred and muttered, “I had no idea you knew it!”
Oh, how sad the lack of knowledge about God and His ways. We can bluff our way past those who have even less knowledge of the Bible than we do, but God knows all about us. There is no way we can fool Him. He knows every thought before we think it and every word before it comes from our lips. That fact should sober us to the reality of cleaning up our act and preparing our heart so that we are acceptable in His sight.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
