by Pastor Cecil | Apr 5, 2013 | 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 recent years piracy on the high seas has increased dramatically. Huge oil tankers or cargo carriers have been boarded and the ship and crew have been held hostage until the price for their release has been met. THEY HAVE TO BE REDEEMED IN ORDER TO BE SET FREE!
The fact that Fanny J. Crosby wrote thousands of poems, many of which became favorite hymns is amazing. The fact that she was totally blind is even more remarkable. Our hymn this week is Redeemed.
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:
(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:
(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:
(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:
Notice verse four. It strikes me that 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!
To access Redeemed, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/redeemed/ 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
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 1, 2013 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
April first has long been recognized as April Fools Day in many countries around the world. It has been around since 1392 when Geoffrey Chaucer penned the Canterbury Tales.It is a day when practical jokes are the order of the day.
It was over sixty years ago, when I was a jet mechanic in the US Air Force, a few of us decided to play an April Fool prank on one of our co-workers. We called him and pretended to be from the finance company and demanding that he pay his past due account immediately. What we did not know was that he was indeed behind and began to beg for a little leniency. We quickly ended the call and never mentioned what we had done—until now!
There are many foolish people in the world and the most foolish are those who fail to make the choice to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Also it is foolish to spend our time and talents on the things of this world without coming to the realization that only one life and it soon will be past. Only what is done for Christ that will last.
The question for this first day of April is; are we wise or foolish? Have we made that eternal choice to confess our sins and invite the Lord Jesus Christ to come into our heart and become the Lord of our life? Are we living a life of obedience to His divine will for our life? Do not be an eternal fool!!!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 27, 2013 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
My cousin used to minister as a song evangelist going from church to church across the country with a preaching evangelist. He relates that the minister would begin the first service of the week by asking if anyone had every stolen anything—even anything as small as a pencil. Everyone raised their hand. He next asked who had ever told a lie— even just stretching the truth a little. Again every hand was raised. The evangelist would then make a point of sharing with the pastor that he had arrived just in time to preach to a church full of thieves and liars!
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul speaks about temptation. He goes so far as to say that any temptation you may encounter has been experienced by others. That is not to say that it is excusable, but it reveals that we all have a sinful nature.
It is interesting that immediately following the statement about temptations being a common affliction to all mankind, Paul says: God is faithful. What a fantastic statement. We may experience the lure of temptation, but God is faithful. God is faithful in so many ways that it is hard to speak of only one, but that is what I want to do: He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
In the book of Genesis we read about Joseph being tempted by the unfaithful wife of his master, Potiphar. Joseph sought the way out of the situation by avoiding her advances and evading any contact with her. You may recall how she falsely accused him leading to his confinement in prison. Let me let you in on a spiritual secret—the prison was a place of escape. Joseph was protected from this lecherous woman by the mighty hand of God. It may have seemed like punishment, but it was the means God used to protect and prepare Joseph.
Rather than becoming bitter by his false imprisonment, Joseph honed the organizational skills that God would later use to raise him up to a position that was second in authority over all of Egypt. Even when it seemed that God had forgotten him, God was faithful!
You may feel as if the situations of life are crushing you down. You may experience the temptation to become bitter because someone you trusted has betrayed you. I have a solemn word of warning for you: Watch out that you do not develop an unforgiving spirit.
Those who have cheated you have their own confessing to do, but your own battle is with the temptation to develop an unforgiving spirit. I trust that God will be your way of escape.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 11, 2013 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Back during my high school days, I worked weekends and summers for a concrete contractor. Believe me when I tell you that things were different back then. There was very little pre-mixed concrete that was delivered by large rotating carriers. We were the mixers! We had a pile of sand, another of gravel and sacks of concrete that we had to combine shovel by shovel and bag by bag, water was then added.
In order to get the sloppy concrete into the foundation, we had to deliver it by manual labor. We had large wheelbarrows that we filled then pushed to the point of delivery. In the building process a solid foundation was essential. A weakened foundation could lead to the building falling.
As we travel through this life we often see people that have not laid a foundation that will withstand the storms of life. Sadly when storms strike, their foundations fail. It is during the storms that we need the solid foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep us safe. John Rippon published this hymn in 1787.
How Firm a Foundation
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
To access How Firm a Foundation, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes Hymn Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/howfirmafoundation/ 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
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
P.S. – Check out my book, 100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations. The cost is $12.95 plus shipping. You can now order it online by going to https://dailyevotional.com/prior2020/book-by-pastor-cecil . . . You may want to consider this book as a thoughtful gift idea for those who do not have Internet access or as helpful sermon illustrations for your Pastor. You can also find a Kindle version at Amazon.com.
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 2, 2013 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.
I want to share with you that in the past few days I have been forced to compromise. While this is a confession, it deserves an explanation. No, I have not, nor will I ever compromise the essential tenets of the faith or my walk with the Lord, but it has to do with the creation of the Daily-E-Votional.
It seems like I have been fighting a battle for the past several years that I simply cannot win. It has to do with the creation of the text that I send to our Internet Service Provider, ReachONE Internet. They have been a tremendous blessing to this ministry for well over ten years now.
The problem has to do with certain punctuation marks. Quotations marks, apostrophes, and some symbols appear to some of the recipients as garbled symbols. Try as we might the problem remains. As a last resort I have determined to phrase things in such a manner that these offending symbols will not be used. That is where I have made the compromise.
Sadly there are far too many believers who compromise in the critical area of their walk with the Lord. Things of the spiritual realm that once were a vital part of their walk have been compromised to point that they no longer exist. If you have been compromising in this manner, I urge you to confess your sin and return to God.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 6, 2012 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
My cousin used to minister as a song evangelist going from church to church across the country with a preaching evangelist. He relates that one such preacher began the first service by asking if anyone had ever stolen anything, even as small as a pencil? Everyone raised their hand. He next asked who had ever told a lie, even just stretching the truth a little? Again every hand was raised. The evangelist turned to the pastor of the church and said: “Pastor, I am sure glad I am here to preach to this crowd. You have a church full of thieves and liars!”
In today’s Scripture, Paul speaks about temptation. He goes so far as to say that any temptation you may encounter has been experienced by others. That is not to say that it is excusable, but it reveals that we all have a sinful nature.
It is interesting that immediately following the statement about temptations being a common affliction to all mankind, Paul says, “God is faithful.” What a fantastic statement. We may experience the lure of temptation, but “God is faithful.” God is faithful in so many ways that it is hard to speak of only one, but that is what I want to do: “He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
In the book of Genesis we read about Joseph being tempted by Potiphar’s wife. Joseph sought the way out of the situation by avoiding her advances and evading any contact with her. You know the story about how she falsely accused him and he was confined to the prison. Let me tell you something .. . the prison was a place of escape. Joseph was protected from this lecherous woman by the mighty hand of God. It may have seemed punishment, but it was God’s protection.
Rather than becoming bitter by his false imprisonment, Joseph honed the organizational skills that God would use to raise him up to a position that was second in authority in all of Egypt. Even when it seemed that God had forgotten him, God was faithful!
You may feel as if the situations of life are crushing you down. You may experience the temptation to become bitter because someone you trusted has betrayed you. I have a solemn word of warning for you—watch out that you do not develop an unforgiving spirit.
Those who have cheated you have their own confessing to do, but your own battle is with the temptation to develop an unforgiving spirit. I trust that God will be your way of escape.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
