by Pastor Cecil | Feb 4, 2014 | Isaiah
Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.
Recently I was reading Encouragement For Life, a book by Chuck Swindoll. I was impressed by one paragraph that I would like to share with you. There are times in life when you are brought face to face with spiritual reality, and that is what I felt when I read this statement:
“When you think biblically you focus first on God. Regardless of what you want, regardless of the circumstances you are under, regardless of what others say or think, regardless of how you feel. God and God alone is working out His great plan and in the final tally it will be fabulous.”
As a young boy, one of the first verses of scripture that I memorized was Isaiah 41:10. I am not sure which Sunday School teacher gave that as an assignment, but I praise her for doing so. It has been a beacon in my life in the darkest days I have had to face. I know it will continue to be so the rest of my days as well.
What is the beacon in your life? Are you interested in only what will please you? Are you waiting for the right circumstances? Are you influenced by the opinions of others? I urge you to make Isaiah 41:10 the beacon in your life!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 3, 2014 | Matthew
Matthew 24:36-37
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Yesterday, February 2nd, was celebrated as Groundhog Day. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are still almost seven weeks away from spring. Groundhog Day has become a good-natured way of breaking up the harsh reality of a frigid winter. Here in the U.S., Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, celebrates this day to the extreme. A groundhog is removed from the burrow, where it has supposedly been all winter. If it’s cloudy, Punxsutawney Phil won’t see his shadow, indicating it will be an early spring—if he sees his shadow, there will be seven more weeks of winter. RIGHT!
Basically, we humans want to know what is in the future. It causes me to shudder when I see people reading a horoscope from the newspaper to try to determine what their day holds. That stuff is poison to believers and should be avoided at all costs.
I am told that call-in psychic hotlines are kept busy spewing out bogus readings about what the future holds for the caller. If they are so accurate, why are they not able to determine what their own future holds?
The Lord knows what our future holds, and He alone is causing all things to work for our good and His glory. Our part in this is to trust and obey. There is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Sounds like a song!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 31, 2014 | Psalm
Psalm 90:1-2
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
O God, Our Help in Ages Past is a hymn by Isaac Watts and paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five and nine.
The hymn was originally part of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, published by Watts in 1719. It has often been sung for special occasions in England. It was sung in 1941, at a religious service on board HMS Prince of Wales attended by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the conference creating the Atlantic Charter. It was also sung at the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965.
Later composers subsequently incorporated the tune in their own works. For example, George Handel used the tune in an anthem entitled, O Praise the Lord.
Oh God, Our Help In Ages Past
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guide while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
To access Oh God, Our Help In Ages Past, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to:http://www.gloryscapes.com/ogodourhelpinagespast 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 | Jan 30, 2014 | Hebrews
Hebrews 3:12-11
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
One of the most feared words in the English language is the word cancer. Many of us have lost loved ones to that dread disease, and even though tremendous improvements have been made in treatment, it still is our enemy.
One of the members of our church family is a team captain for the Relay for Life. Here is her report: “We have only had 10 members for the past two years, and in our first year we raised $4,670; and our second year we raised $7,387! That makes a total of $12,057 we have raised to help destroy the MONSTER I CALL CANCER.” The loss of her sister-in-law to cancer a year ago motivates Cheri to continue the fight.
Many of us know friends or family members who have been impacted with this foul malady. But there is an even greater disease that affects the entire human race . . . SIN! We were all born with it, and without treatment, it is always fatal!
The only treatment for sin is salvation, which is not received by being good, attending church services, or giving money in the offering. While those may be good things, they do not treat sin. Salvation is found ONLY by the blood of Jesus Christ. He paid the price for our redemption on the cross. If you have never done so before, please confess you are a sinner, and accept Him as your personal Savior. The treatment is 100% successful!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 29, 2014 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 24:10-11
So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred. Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away.
The heat from a woodstove is comfy and comforting. Early in the morning before most people are awake, it is a joy to kindle a fire and watch as the flames from the kindling start to ignite the larger chunks of wood.
Perhaps I am a little strange, but I enjoy praying as I gaze into the flames. This morning as I meditated in front of my small woodstove, I noticed something. In order for the larger pieces of wood to burn, it was necessary to have a red hot bed of coals to support new wood that is added. It is inevitable that the coals will die out, but if more fuel is added, they pass the fire along.
It struck me that the Christian life is very much like that. If you do not have a bed of on-fire believers, it is difficult to produce believers who are on fire for Jesus. Perhaps that is why we often refer to some people as lukewarm Christians.
As you truthfully examine your walk with the Lord, where do you see yourself in relation to the fire? I want to be consumed by the fire of God in my life in order to make those who follow after me blaze brightly. Consume me Lord!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
