by Pastor Cecil | Oct 15, 2009 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 15:34
“Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.”
I have no idea how I get into these situations, but I was in one earlier today. I had an appointment at a café that was attached to a super market. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I noticed a young man starting to back out with a gallon of milk on the top of his car.
I stopped behind him and honked my horn. He seemed to be unaware of what I was trying to tell him. I honked again and motioned for him to roll down his window. Again he failed to understand. Other people were now honking and trying to get his attention.
Suddenly he put his car in reverse and began to back toward me. I was sure he would run into the side of my car. Just as he was about to hit my car he started forward and tried to drive through the opening to his left.
At that moment someone ran up to his window, grabbed the gallon of milk and showed it to him. Disaster was diverted and the man was able to return home with the milk that had come so close to falling on the ground.
I have been thinking about the incident all afternoon and evening. The honking did not work. The shouting did not work. It was not until someone took the milk and handed it to the driver that he stopped and received it.
All around us there are folks who leave the milk of God’s Word outside their lives. It is heartbreaking to observe as they refuse to heed our warning. Perhaps it is because we stay too far away and fail to get close enough to hand the milk to them.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 28, 2009 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1:18
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What is so important about the cross? The answer is that without the cross there would not be the atonement for our sins. Just as the blood was required to be applied on the doorposts of the Israelites in Egypt to escape death, so the blood of Jesus must be applied to the heart of every truly repentant sinner for our salvation.
In 1913, Rev. George Bennard, an evangelist in the Methodist/Episcopal church was praying for a full understanding of the cross and its plan in Christianity. Over a period of time he studied more and more about the cross. He prayed and meditated on the cross of Christ, until one day he was able to say, “I saw the Christ of the Cross as if I were seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form and act out the meaning of redemption.”
Through this experience and others in his life he penned the words and wrote the tune to our hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross.”
“The Old Rugged Cross“
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
Refrain:
In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
Refrain:
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
Refrain:
To access The Old Rugged Cross, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/theoldruggedcross 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 | Jun 5, 2009 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 13:12
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
The words for “Face to Face” were written by Carrie Breck in 1889. She could not carry a tune in a bushel basket (we must be related) and had no sense of pitch. She was friends with a song writer, Grant Tuller.
Carrie composed the words of today’s hymn and sent them to Grant to see if he might be able to put them to music. As it so happened, the very evening before he had composed music to another song and he discovered that it was a match!
As Paul Harvey might have said, here is the rest of the story. A few years after it was published, God used today’s song to spare the lives of a missionary couple in China. Terrorists had taken them captive, led them to a lonely spot on a hill and told them that this would be the place of their death.
When the executioner raised his long knife to slay them the couple began singing this song. When he heard it, the man lowered his knife and released the couple. They returned to Shanghai and told the story many times. It was Grant Tullar’s and Carrie Breck’s “accidental” collaboration that God used to save the missionaries?
“Face To Face“
Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ Who died for me?
Refrain: Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkened veil between,
But a blessèd day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
Refrain:
What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
When the crooked ways are straightened,
And the dark things shall be plain.
Refrain:
Face to face—oh, blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ Who loves me so.
Refrain:
To access Face To Face, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/facetoface 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 | Apr 1, 2009 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 3:18-20
“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. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness.'”
April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day, although not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors—or sending them on a fool’s errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
Traditionally, in some countries (UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) the jokes only last until noon; someone who plays a trick after noon is called an “April Fool.” Elsewhere (such as in Ireland, France, and the USA) the jokes last all day.
Harmless deception may elicit laughter, but in the spiritual realm we are faced with deception that has eternal consequences. There are evil minded people who have no qualms about leading others down a slippery path to hell.
They do this by saying that you can be assured of heaven by being baptized, attending church, performing good works, giving money to worthy causes or other such deceiving advice.
The truth of the matter is that there is only one way by which we may be saved and that is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 9:22 the writer says: “Without shedding of blood there is no remission.” In verse 26 we read: “He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
There are a great many people who know about Jesus, even profess faith in Him, but have never repented of their sins and turned their life over to Him. There must be a broken grief for our sins and allowing our sins to be cleansed as we receive His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.
The best way to prevent being deceived by Satan is by getting into the Word of God and letting the Word of God get into us. Remember that in the wilderness, Jesus repelled Satan’s temptations by accurately quoting Scripture.
Satan used the “devised version” of Scripture to tempt Jesus, but Jesus knew the full Word of God and thus was able to defeat Satan’s subterfuge. We also can and should use God’s Word against the enemy.
The simple truth is that we cannot use what we do not know. Make this April 1st a new beginning to read, study and hide God’s Word in your heart. Then the next time you are deceitfully attacked by Satan, pull out the Word and repeat it over and over. Victory will be yours. Praise the Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 12, 2008 | 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 stretching the truth? 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
NOTE: “If you’re looking for inspirational Christmas gifts, please consider GloryScapes.com. Russ & Janelle Hansen, a husband & wife team from Centralia, WA, have put together 9 different inspirational DVD video programs that offer beautiful hymns for music, Scriptures or hymn lyrics, nature sounds, and beautiful video scenes that combine for a truly inspirational viewing experience. Russ helps me send out my Daily-E-Votionals to all of you and updates the Daily-E-Votional.com web site on a regular basis.”
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 24, 2008 | 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1:27-30
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
I am not sure if I am the only one who makes mistakes, but I sure do. This morning Joyce and I had just finished a relaxing time in the food court of a local super market. As we rose to leave, I was the “gentleman” and picked up her cup, my cup, a croissant and a sack of trash. As we passed the trash bin I dropped the trash in and we walked out to the car.
Everything was going well until I opened the door for Joyce and looked down at what I had in my hand. It was not the croissant, but the trash bag. Yep! You have it right—I had thrown the croissant away and kept the trash! Brilliant!
I have thought about this today and realize that we are prone to make the same blunder when it comes to spiritual values in our life. We presume to know more about what is good and what is bad in our life than God knows.
Remember a man in the Bible named Job? God boasted to Satan that Job was the most righteous man in all the earth. This God fearing man had no idea that there was a battle in heaven over his integrity. He only knew that calamity after calamity crashed over him.
In his misery he began to question the goodness of God. How could his righteous God allow such evil things to blast away the very fabric of his being? Have you ever been in situations that made you want to question the righteousness of God?
In Job 38, God responds to Job. Notice that God ignores the attacks of Job’s accusers. In verse 2 He asks Job this question; “Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge?” How would you like to be confronted by the Lord like that? Be careful how you answer. There will come a day when we all will have to answer that question!
In Job 42:5-6, we read of Job’s answer to God’s interrogation: “My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” That is the response that the Lord is looking for in all of us.
God knows that we are not perfect. He knows our every thought and the motive behind each and every action we take. This is why we need to make sure that we do not throw out the precious things of God and find ourselves holding onto the worthless trash of this world. What are you holding in your hands?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
— Pastor Cecil
