by Pastor Cecil | Nov 4, 2015 | Colossians
Colossians 3:16-17
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
In one of the churches I served I was helping to staff Bible classes. One teacher came with high credentials. After the first few weeks I was speaking with a man who attended that teacher’s class. He mentioned that when the Bible material was being taught it was like his head was opened and God’s Word was being poured in!
Wow! I thought that was the highest evaluation that could be given. I have so wanted to labor for the Lord in such a way that the hearts and minds of my hearers or readers would be opened and the pure Word of God poured in!
The first words of today’s Scripture seem to have this same concept: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you….” In order to have the Word of God dwell within us we must spend time in the Word.
How much time do we spend each day with the Bible? How much time do we spend each week? That gets pretty embarrassing doesn’t it? Some people go weeks or even months without reading their Bible.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 3, 2015 | 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?”
It only takes losing a significant number of pages of material due to a computer glitch to learn how important it is to save it. Over the past fifteen years I have written about 4,000 Daily-E-Votionals. Over that time I have had the sickening feeling of losing weeks of work because I did not save it.
Losing pages, or even months, of precious work is nothing . . . I mean nothing, compared with losing our relationship with God. Yes, it is essential to save our souls from a sinner’s hell, but we can also lose our intimacy with God!
Do you still have that sweet relationship with the Lord that you once had? Is your daily walk a joyful and meaningful experience that you eagerly anticipate as the sun rises each morning?
We can rekindle that flame of love for the Lord. He wants to save us from ourselves and draw us closer to Him with each passing day. It all begins with our choosing Him over the things of the world. Choose carefully, my precious friend!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 2, 2015 | Matthew
Matthew 7:24-25
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”
As I sit here writing today’s, BLESSINGS FROM THE HEART, I can hear the rain falling outside my window.
Yesterday as I watched the weather channel I was amazed at the excessive amounts of rain that had fallen in various parts of the world. The State of Texas went from extreme drought to no drought in one week’s time. In some areas there was over 20 inches of rain. The streets of Bagdad were running like rivers. It makes our soft rain seem as nothing.
Into every life rain will fall at one time or another. Sometimes the “rain” will be soft and gentle, while at other times it will be a deluge. Sometimes an umbrella will protect us from the rain, but if the storms of life beat too heavily, we need to seek the shelter.
Our shelter from the “rain” in our life is our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the only One who knows when the “rains” will come and will not only give us protection from them, but will allow us to provide protection for those around us. It is time to start singing in the rain!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 30, 2015 | Ephesians
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
I suppose many of us have heard humorous stories about someone approaching the gates of heaven and being required to prove that their actions on earth merited entry into God’s heavenly kingdom. Beep! Wrong answer!
A person may do amazingly good works here on earth and still miss heaven. It is not what we do for God that determines where we will spend eternity—it is what He has done for us. When we repent of our sins and accept Him as Savior and Lord then—and only then—is our name is written down in glory.
The writer of this week’s hymn, Charlotte Elliot, was offended when someone asked her if she was a Christian. She told him to mind his own business. Later as she was contemplating his question, she began to wonder what it took to become a Christian. She called him and he explained to her the plan of salvation which she accepted. It was then that she wrote this hymn, “Just As I Am.”
Just As I Am
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
To access Just As I Am, this week’s inspirational video fromGloryScapes.com, please go to:http://www.gloryscapes.com/justasiam in your browser or click on the image below.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 29, 2015 | Psalm
Psalm 5:11
“But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.”
I love to praise the Lord. Many times when I awake at night I will recite verses that I have memorized and praise the Lord for the way He has been with me all through my life. I rejoice and take joy in all that He does for me. It grieves me when I see other Christians that are so dismally sad. There is no rejoicing evident in them.
When we read the words of today’s Scripture we see that the psalmist David calls all of us to rejoice and find joy in the Lord. Not only does he call us to be joyful and rejoice, he also gives a reason for it. We find the reason in the middle of this verse: “…because You defend them.”
The Lord is our strength and He always does what is right. There are times when we may not see His hand at work in our life, but believe me, He is there!
We may never fully understand the ways and works of the Lord on this side of eternity. Our job is not to seek out the reason why, but to rejoice in the knowledge that God knows not only our todays but all of our tomorrows as well. Faith in God means trusting Him completely with joy in our hearts.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
