by Pastor Cecil | Jul 10, 2009 | Acts
Acts 17:31
“Because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world righteously (justly) by a Man Whom He has destined and appointed for that task, and He has made this credible and given conviction and assurance and evidence to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” (Amplified Bible)
Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 hymns. She said about her blindness, “The first face ever to gladden my sight will be when I get to heaven and behold the face of the One who died for me… I verily believe that God intended that I should live my days in physical darkness so that I might be better prepared to sing His praise and lead others from spiritual darkness into eternal light. With sight I would have been too distracted to have written thousands of hymns.”
Fanny tells this one story about the hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” Mrs. Phoebe Fairchild Knapp, wife of the organizer of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, went to visit Fanny and get an opinion of a tune Mrs. Knapp had written. “What does it say to you, Fanny?” she asked. Fanny’s answer was “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.” And then a few minutes later she handed to Mrs. Knapp the completed lyrics of the hymn. Our hymn for this week is that wonderful hymn; “Blessed Assurance.”
“Blessed Assurance“
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God.
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Refrain:
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Refrain:
Fanny Crosby lived her life without physical eyes, but her spiritual eyes shone so bright that they still illuminate the lives of all who love her hymns.
To access Blessed Assurance, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/blessedassurance 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 | Jul 7, 2009 | Acts
Acts 9:15-16
“But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.’ ”
From time to time I reflect on the sacrifice that followers of Jesus have had to make across the years. In many cases prison and/or death was the common price for claiming Christ as your Savior.
Those who were the persecutors of Christians gave them opportunity to change their minds and recant their belief in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Their challenge was something like this: “Recant or you will die!” Some responded to their persecutors: “Repent or you will die!”
One thing that such persecution did was to weed out the namby-pamby half-hearted followers of the Lord. When your life was on the line, you made sure that you were ready to repent.
My great fear is that we have churches full of people who believe about Christ, who believe that He is the Son of God who came to die for our sins. They even go so far as to make a public profession of that statement. The problem is that this is not enough—There must be repentance!
Repentance is turning around and going the other way. In the verses before today’s Scripture, Saul (Paul) had been going to Damascus in order to persecute believers. On the road he was blinded by the presence of the Lord and his life suddenly turned around. Paul was blind and now this man, Ananias, was ordered to go and place his hands on him so he could see.
There is one phrase that we need to see: “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” Paul knew what was in store for him. He faced suffering and death, but there was a crown of righteousness waiting for him in glory!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 16, 2009 | Acts
Acts 26:20
“But made known openly first of all to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the whole land of Judea, and also among the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works and live lives consistent with and worthy of their repentance.” (The Amplified Bible)
I was saved when I was nine or ten years old. It’s been so long ago that I cannot remember my exact age. It is not essential to know my age, I just knew that I was not a Christian and the only way to become one was to confess my sins and invite Jesus into my heart.
There were about ten or fifteen other kids kneeling at that altar at the same time. The Pastor had told us to stand when we knew that Jesus had become our Savior and Lord. When I poured out my sins to the Lord and prayed for Him to come in, I knew that something had happened. I had been born again! When I stood I saw that all of the other kids were on their feet, I felt confused. But I knew what had just happened was real. I was now a born again Christian!
Did that mean that I could live any way I wanted? NO! Did it mean that I had to start the process of spiritual growth? Absolutely! Spiritual growth can never precede spiritual birth. Just as I had a lot of physical maturing ahead of me, so I had a lot of spiritual maturing to do.
There are some who have the sequence wrong. They hold to the view that we must do things to merit salvation. Beep! Not according to my Bible. Isaiah 64:6 says: “For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction].” (The Amplified Bible)
That does not sound like we can do anything to be justified by our good deeds or righteous actions. Spiritual birth must precede spiritual growth. It is only then that we learn and practice what it means to be a faithful born-again believer. The right sequence!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 3, 2009 | Acts
Acts 8:34-35
“The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”
I am 75 and therefore enjoy a lifetime of memories—many of which I share with you in the Daily-E-Votionals. I still remember the good old days of radio when our imaginations provided the scenes depicted by sounds.
As a boy we lived near the Pacific Coast and were always on alert for a possible invasion. There were blackouts, rationing and stars in windows to signify that a son or daughter was in the service or had died in the war.
The world had just passed through the great depression and many families were still experiencing hard times. It was a time when we needed to hear words of hope and encouragement.
That was the opening statement of radio broadcaster Gabriel Heater, back in the dark days of WWII. In the time of darkness and doubt, good news was desperately needed.
In today’s Scripture, a eunuch from Ethiopia was discouraged by his inability to understand a passage of Scripture from Isaiah 53. It was into this scene that Philip arrived and told him the good news about Jesus.
With every dismal and depressing circumstance in our life, we need to hear words of hope from God’s Word; “Ahhhhhh, my friends! There’s good news tonight!” Jesus is the good news, and we need to be the ones who hear that good news and also to bring the good news to others.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 2, 2008 | Acts
Acts 9:26-27
“When he came to Jerusalem, he (Saul, later called Paul) tried to see the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.”
I may be a nut, but this passage just sends me higher than a kite. Remember that the last time Scripture mentions anything about Barnabas is in Acts chapter 4. In the intervening chapters a significant number of events are mentioned—Stephen died a Martyr’s death; Saul was struck blind, became a believer, and had his sight restored by a faithful servant named Ananias, who swallowed his fear and placed his hands on him as the Lord had commanded.
Paul eventually came to Jerusalem and made an attempt to see the disciples. They were afraid of him and even questioned the reports that he was now a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Into this scene of fear and suspicion steps Barnabas, the “SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT.” Remember, that is the meaning of the name “Barnabas.” How Barnabas knew all of the information about Saul, we are not told. But he had done his research well. He also was willing to put his own life in jeopardy. He did not simply tell the disciples about Saul—notice that it says he “took” him to the disciples. His close proximity to this former enemy of the believers shows that he was willing to place himself in jeopardy to speak in support of Saul.
I am afraid that most of us are more prone to be disciples from a distance. We send reports about a person, but do not want to get too involved. This does not even involve our physical safety, but just our reputation, and still we distance ourselves from the one we support.
Barnabas took Saul with him and gave a complete account of Saul’s conversion and how he had been preaching Jesus fearlessly in Damascus. When I read this, I wonder why the other disciples had not been looking for such a good report?
The church at this time was quite large, but only Barnabas became Saul’s spokesman. It is also relevant that after Barnabas gave this positive affirmation about Saul, Saul had free access to the disciples. It speaks volumes as to the confidence that the disciples placed in the encouraging word that Barnabas gave.
BUT BARNABAS! It indicates that here was a man that stood alone. The rest of the believers were afraid and did not want to be in danger, BUT BARNABAS! The word may have reached—yes it had reached Jerusalem about his miraculous transformation—but what if it was all a hoax? BUT BARNABAS!
If there is ever a time that we need to get off our collective do-nothings and be involved, it is in our day and age. We are all too often the spiritual couch potatoes who can be counted on to stay where we are and never venture out of our comfort zone. We never volunteer to help out in our church. In fact we so seldom attend that the greeter wants to give us a visitor’s button when we show up. Wow! That sure is counting for Jesus isn’t it?!!
BUT BARNABAS! That’s it! We need more who will step forward and by their actions say, I do not care what the others say or do or think! I have determined that I will step forward and put my life on the line for the sake of the gospel! I urge all who read this to risk everything for the sake of Christ.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 30, 2008 | Acts
Acts 3:19-20
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.”
A close friend of ours was driving a rental car in Europe. While taking photos of some of the high mountains, he left the main road. He wanted to get back to the main road and decided to take a “short-cut.” (Men are famous for trying to find short-cuts). After a time he noticed that several cars were following after him, so he was sure it was a road that led back to the main road.
Suddenly he saw armed guards and a gate. It was the border to another country and he was not permitted to enter. He had to make a U-turn and go back and retrace the route he had come. As he now met the cars that were following him, the drivers glared in anger. They had been following him because they thought he knew where he was going.
There are two aspects to this true story. First, Ron was required to make a U-turn! He could not reach his destination without a U-turn. The word “repent” in today’s Scripture needs to be understood: “Repentance (metanoia, ‘change of mind’) involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness.”
It is not enough for us to mentally acknowledge God and Jesus Christ as Savior. The Word of God requires a turning from our old life and going God’s way.
The second aspect of this story is the effect we have on others. Many people are following us and, sad to say, we can very easily lead them down the wrong path. When we make the U-turn to go God’s way, with the blood of Jesus covering our sins, there will those who will follow us.
What am I saying here? It is that we have an influence! That influence can lead people in the wrong direction as well as in the right direction. What a sobering realization. People may spend eternity in hell because they were following us in the wrong direction.
When we repent and make that spiritual U-turn, we need to warn those who have been following us that there is danger ahead and they must make a U-turn and follow us to the right road. Heaven is just ahead!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
