by Pastor Cecil | Oct 4, 2018 | 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 5:6
“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.”
We never know how close we are to eternity! In 1953 I had completed basic training in California. Approximately fifty of us new Airmen were being flown to Amarillo, Texas in an outdated military transport plane left over from World War II.
One of the flight crew notified us that we would be making a stop in New Mexico. Just as we landed, one of the two propellers stopped. We were stranded there for several hours while the necessary repairs were made. One of the mechanics happened to mention that it was fortunate we were near the airbase when the trouble hit. Yikes!
Thinking about it now, I realize that we could very easily have crashed and I would have been ushered into eternity! I have had other close calls that reveal to me that we are just a heartbeat from eternity!
I want to live in such a way that others will see Christ in me. Not only did Paul express his commitment to live only for Christ, he demonstrated it by the way he lived. If ever there was an example of a sold-out Christian life, it was the apostle Paul. Let me close for today with Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 3, 2018 | Daily-E-Votionals
Matthew 5:11-12
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I think it would be safe to say that most of us are whiners rather than winners. We cry like babies when someone steps on our spiritual toes. The words Jesus speaks in the Beatitudes stand as a sharp contrast to that way of thinking.
To be honest, none of us enjoy painful experiences. We do everything we can to negate the pangs of pain, but let’s face it — there are times when pain is unavoidable and we have to deal with it. That is when spiritual living becomes real.
Jesus says that we are to consider times of reviling, persecution, and false accusations for standing strong for His sake as blessings. Wow! What a revolutionary thought! It is a clarion call to true discipleship. Amazingly, Jesus tells us to REJOICE!
The spiritual justification Jesus gives for this revolutionary reaction is that our reward is not necessarily on this earth, but awaits us in heaven. Secondly, it helps us to identify with the prophets of old who endured with courage and determination. It says to me that we are to EMBRACE PERSECUTION when it comes our way!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 2, 2018 | 1 Chronicles
1 Corinthians 5:1
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
I have enjoyed many nights camping out in a tent, but I must confess that I was always eager to return to my own home and comfy bed. The apostle Paul was a tent-maker by trade. I can almost visualize his calloused fingers and hands. They would almost certainly have been the marks from years of stretching and stitching the fabric to create or repair tents.
In today’s Scripture, Paul uses his profession as a tent-maker to illustrate a spiritual truth: This human body of ours is not going to survive. There are those who try to reverse the aging process in various ways, but nothing is going to keep us from coming to the end of our life and entering eternity.
It is sad that most of us spend far too much time and effort on things that will pass away. By spending so much time on earthly things we neglect the things that really count—those things that have eternal value.
Spending time with God in prayer and reading His Word will prepare us for that heavenly home that will never pass away. What home are you spending your time and effort to build?
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 1, 2018 | Daniel
Daniel 9:25
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”
I must confess that I am not a mathematician. I have often wished I could return to my early grades and grasp the fundamentals in order to be able to comprehend the beauty of mathematics. I can’t do that, so I will allow others to ply their skill.
In 1895, Sir Robert Anderson, a gifted biblical scholar and mathematician, was head of Scotland Yard. He wrote an article in which he calculated the amount of days necessary to fulfill this prophecy in Daniel 9. It came to 173,880 days.
Here is where we need to fasten our spiritual seat belts and observe the fantastic beauty of God’s intricate timing. Starting with 3/14/445 B.C. and going 173,880 days we come to April 6, 32 A.D. Do you know what day that was? The first “Palm Sunday” when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the praises of His followers.
Throughout this week I would like to examine the deeper meaning of what this week of weeks means to the true believer of Jesus Christ. Let us begin by meditating on the fantastic fulfillment of prophecy given to Daniel over ninety years before the decree was issued on March 14, 445 B.C. WOW!!!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 28, 2018 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. “
In 1969 the U.S. Embassy in Iran was overpowered and the Americans inside were held hostage for 444 days. They lived in terror for over a year not knowing if they would live to see another day, be it prisoner or free. They were finally redeemed and allowed to go free, but what scars they carried with them into freedom!
Forgetting that particular incident and thinking of our redemption from sin, what is the worth of the human soul? The Lord Jesus paid the price for our redemption, and I am so grateful that we have been set free from the penalty of sin!
The writer of this hymn, Fanny Crosby, was eagerly looking forward to that day when her Redeemer would appear and her blinded eyes would be opened and she would behold the most beautiful sight she could ever imagine—Jesus!
Redeemed
(1) Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.
REFRAIN: Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.
(2) Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence,
With me doth continually dwell.
REFRAIN: Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.
(3) I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.
REFRAIN: Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.
(4) I know I shall see in His beauty,
The King in whose law I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.
REFRAIN: Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.
(5) I know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In yonder bright mansion for me,
And soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At home with the Lord I shall be.
REFRAIN: Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.
Enjoy this free inspirational video from GloryScapes.com. To access Redeemed, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/redeemed/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
