by Pastor Cecil | May 30, 2013 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 26:16
But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
I must admit that I have never had trouble with pride. I have received so much more than I deserve that I count each moment of each day as another undeserved gift from God. Two wonderful examples of men whose hearts stayed true to the Lord all the days of their lives are Joseph and Daniel. Regrettably, there are characters in the Bible that started out as God’s heroes, but ended up as zeroes because of their pride—Saul, David, Samson, as well as many others. Sadly, we must include Uzziah.
Our modern-day church scene is littered by the wreckage of ministers who started out with humility and total commitment to the Lord, but came to destruction when they grew popular and failed to rely totally on the Lord.
As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, he was able to subdue his enemies and be God’s man in leading Judah to subdue her enemies. But somewhere along the line, he began to think that it was his own ability that brought victory. That is always the beginning of the end for anyone. His success caused him to take his eyes off of the Lord and on himself. He blew it!
I have no idea what was in Uzziah thoughts when he entered the temple to offer incense to the Lord. I do know the consequences of his action—leprosy! Failing to rely on the Lord doomed him to a life of humiliation and separation. You have to feel sorry for this man who started with such great promise, but ended with such shame—FROM PRIDE TO PITY!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 1, 2013 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 7:14-15
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
One of my greatest battlegrounds is the area of prayer. Thursday, May 2nd has been designated as the National Day of Prayer. I know that many Christians, including myself, will be praying that day. In preparation I have been considering what true and effectual prayer really is.
In this familiar Scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15, we have a clear and concise pattern to follow. I want us to fully understand that there are NO SHORT CUTS in this process. If you are like me, you will find yourself praying for results rather than reading the instructions. Thank the Lord that they are provided.
HUMBLE OURSELVES: That means giving over our rights to the Lord and allowing Him to be the Lord of our life.
PRAY: This is not a casual recital of high sounding platitudes, but a heart-felt plea for the Lord to show us the plans He has for us.
SEEK HIS FACE: We need to strive to establish that intimate relationship with the Lord in order to insure that we are becoming more like Him each day.
TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS: Seek to discover what the Lord counts as sin and confess it immediately. Revival starts with us. Before we can see others change, we must change!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 17, 2012 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Once again we have witnessed the senseless slaughter of innocent lives in the state of Connecticut. It is possible that the reason for this rampage will never be known this side of eternity. There is one thing certain—sin has been allowed to rule our nation in just about every venue.
Decision makers have made the choice to shut God out of our schools and other public institutions. Somehow they have deluded themselves into thinking that this is an educated policy and everyone should see the wisdom of their actions.
Sad to say, this dangerous action has laid the groundwork for more violence than we have ever seen. The tragedy is that we will no doubt see more and more of the same sort of violence. It is impossible to reject God without suffering many of these devastating consequences.
As believers we are charged to take action. The action is not to protest or rant and rave about those rotten sinners. According to the Scripture I have quoted, we need to fall on our faces and deal with our own sin. As God revives us, we will be the catalysts to bring about a real revival in our land. Please join me to pray that we may see a renewal in our lives.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing to others!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 8, 2012 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 7:14
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I once knew a lady who spent a great deal of effort in trying to get unbelievers to act like believers. The result of her efforts? She was exhausted by her fruitless attempts and created such animosity among the unsaved that they became resistant to the Gospel.
In reading today’s Scripture, I immediately notice something in the first few words. God is speaking to His own people about their own need of being revived. Why is it so important for us to grasp who the Lord is speaking to? It is because we are the ones who need to be revived. The unsaved need to be . . . vived! I know there is no such word, but I hope you understand my meaning. They need to experience salvation. We believers are the ones who need reviving!
When we pray for the Lord to heal our land, there must be a revival of the people of God. We believers need to fall in humility on our face and cry out to the Lord to forgive us for losing our first love—the love of Christ.
We must demonstrate our humility by confessing that we have strayed from God’s way and have gone our own willful way by loose living and indifference to the things of God. May God hear our prayers and bring life through faith in Jesus Christ to those who are spiritually dead.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 27, 2012 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 26:4-5
“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.”
Since he had become a Christian, Al had always tried to do what was right. He read his Bible and prayed frequently . . . and as he grew spiritually, Al was able to see the hand of God at work in his life.
But then something happened! Al owned a classic automobile that he had restored from the ground up. When it was finished he decided he was going to sell it for a huge profit. Al had been given counsel to honor God with a portion of the profits. He agreed, but thought he had a better plan—keep all of the profits, buy an even more expensive auto to restore that would bring even more profit—then he would be able to give more.
Al rejected the counsel and kept all of the profits with which he bought his new classic car to restore. But, from the very beginning things began to go wrong. There were huge unforeseen costs that drained his money and embittered his heart.
In today’s Scripture we are introduced to a young man who became King of Israel when he was only sixteen. His name was Uzziah. The significant thing that stands out in this passage is that, “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.”
Wouldn’t that be a wonderful description to be said of you, or me—not how smart we are, or what wonderful position we fill, or how much money we make? I would much rather be remembered as a person who does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing to others!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 11, 2011 | 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 25:27
From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.
Back when I was a Juvenile Probation Officer (It is amazing that I can recall that far back) I was continually dealing with dropouts from school. The reason that most gave was that they just didn’t like school. The fact of the matter is that they were too lazy to apply themselves to the discipline of learning.
As a pastor for many years I have been aware of this same type of behavior. As a matter of fact, there are many who never get started. They make promises about how they are going to serve the Lord, but it is just a bunch of hot air. I guess we could say that they dropout on their promises.
Dependability and reliability are qualities that we rest upon. When we step inside an airliner for a flight, we rely upon the mechanics who built the plane. Flying at 30,000 feet, we depend upon the pilot and crew to safely fly the plane to our destination.
When I was flying from Seattle to Boise to conduct my brother’s memorial service, we were met with extreme fog over the Boise Airport. We circled for over an hour waiting for a clearing that would allow us to land. At last the pilot announced that we were going to attempt to land, but if the conditions were not favorable we would have to return to Seattle since there was only enough fuel to make just the one attempted landing. It was no time for the pilot to dropout. Praise the Lord we were able to land in time for me to conduct the service. Are you a dropout?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
(360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com.
Special News! My book, 100 of Pastor Cecil?s Select Illustrations, is now available on Kindle books. Just go the the Kindle store and type in Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations, or Pastor Cecil Thompson.
