by Pastor Cecil | Apr 4, 2016 | Luke
Luke 9:24-25
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”
I am not an accountant by any stretch of the imagination. A series of numbers is enough to send me into a panic. However, I do know enough about business to realize that one’s profit has to exceed the losses in order to be solvent. I cannot even imagine someone making a statement like, “Well, we really did fantastic this month — we only lost $3,000!”
There is a spiritual profit and loss statement as well. Each and every one of us will face a day of accounting. Unlike Hollywood movies, there is no angel or saint sitting at the gate of heaven to calculate our good deeds versus our bad deeds to determine whether we are admitted to heaven or sent to hell.
Our determination of eternal profit and loss is made by how we respond to the still, small voice that calls us to accept Christ. There were two thieves crucified next to Christ. Only one moved from the loss column to the eternal profit column that day. I look forward to speaking with him in heaven and asking him what it was like passing from death into that Paradise with Jesus. What a profit!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 1, 2016 | Psalm
Psalm 23:4
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Someone has observed that shadows are often larger than the real object. When I was a police officer there were a few times when I was scared out of my wits by a huge shadow…only to discover it was a small cat walking in front of the headlights of my patrol car.
Death often casts a huge shadow, but it should hold no fear for the child of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:8 the Apostle Paul reminds us that“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” Death is our doorway into eternity. How fantastic!
As we consider the words of this song we should make it our prayer request. It should be our desire to walk closer to the Lord than ever before. It should not be just one time, but it should be our fervent desire to walk closer to Him with each passing day.
Just a Closer Walk With Thee
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long, as I walk,
let me walk close to Thee.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
When my feeble life is o’er,
time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er,
to Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
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May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 31, 2016 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Back in my college days (I can hardly remember that far back) there would be a class that I wanted to take. The problem was that in order to register for that class it was required to have taken another class.
There were other classes that were required in order to graduate. We had advisors that were assigned to insure that our class schedules included all of the required classes that would qualify us for graduation.
In the spiritual realm we often are faced with the question of what does God require of us? We know that we are not saved by any works that we do, but what does He require of us once we are saved? The answer is found in today’s Scripture. We are given four requirements:
1. We are to reverentially fear the Lord our God.
2. We are to walk in ALL His ways.
3. We are to love Him.
4. We are to serve Him with all our heart and all our soul.
How are you complying with God’s requirements?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 30, 2016 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 2:2
“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
In the 1984 Olympiad there was one scene that still lives vividly in my memory. It was not the victorious finish of a winner, but the conclusion of a determined Swiss marathon runner, Gabriela Andersen, who finished 37th.
I can still see her in my mind’s eye, staggering from the darkened tunnel into the bright sunlight of the Los Angeles Coliseum. There was only one lap to complete and the race would be over. She was so far behind it seemed foolish to complete that last lap, but finish she did. The ovation for her far exceeded that for the winner.
It is safe to say that each and every one of us is in a race. Sometimes it seems that we lack the strength to continue on … but we must. There is a prize to win at the end of the race. That prize is to hear the words from our Master — WELL DONE!
Determination always comes with a price. It means sacrificing the easy way in order to finish well. It means to keep on keeping on even when our get up and go, got up and went. We need more believers who are filled with determination.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 28, 2016 | Philippians
Philippians 4:19
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
You may have heard the story of the young woman who was hired by an uppity socialite to care for her small son. The nanny was told to give the child anything he wanted because he was going to be raised in an affluent society.
Shortly after she was hired, the young woman was watching the boy in the backyard and chided him for misbehaving. The boy’s mother rushed out and demanded that the nanny never speak that way to her son again.
It was only a short time later that the boy screamed out. His mother again rushed out in a rage and demanded why the nanny could not follow orders. The nanny replied, “Ma’am, I was following orders. The boy wanted to play with a bumblebee and I was prevented from stopping him.”
That is a silly story, but there are many times we are like that little boy. We want to play with things that are dangerous and will hurt us — and we do not want to be told to stay away from them.
God has promised us to take care of our needs. The problem all too often is that we have a list of wants that we feel we are entitled to. When we feel entitled to something, it is easy to make it a need rather than a want. Just trust God!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
