by Pastor Cecil | May 19, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Do you ever wonder if you are praying in the correct manner or for the correct thing? That was a question that Jesus’ disciples were concerned with.
It reminds me of a humorous story about a man who met a bear in the deep woods. He tried to run from the bear, but tripped and fell. As he lay on the ground waiting for the inevitable, he saw that the bear was kneeling in prayer. He was overjoyed that this was a Christian bear—that is until he heard the bear’s prayer: “Thank you Lord, for providing this food I am about to eat!”
Last week I received a wonderful look at The Lord’s Prayer from Barbara Nell in South Africa. I wrote and asked permission to use it, and she graciously said yes, but said that it was written by the famous author, Anonymous. Thank you Anonymous!
The Lord’s Prayer:
I cannot pray “OUR,” if my faith has no room for others and their need.
I cannot pray “FATHER,” if I do not demonstrate this relationship to God in my daily living.
I cannot pray “WHO ART IN HEAVEN,” if all of my interests and pursuits are in earthly things.
I cannot pray “HALLOWED BE THY NAME,” if I am not striving for God’s help to be holy.
I cannot pray “THY KINGDOM COME,” if I am unwilling to accept God’s rule in my life.
I cannot pray “THY WILL BE DONE,” if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life.
I cannot pray “IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN,” unless I am truly ready to give myself to God’s service here and now.
I cannot pray “GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD,” without expending honest effort for it or if I would withhold from my neighbor the bread I receive.
I cannot pray “FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US,” if I continue to harbor a grudge against anyone.
I cannot pray “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION,” if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am likely to be tempted.
I cannot pray “DELIVER US FROM EVIL,” if I am not prepared to fight with my life and my prayer.
I cannot pray “THINE IS THE KINGDOM,” if I am unwilling to obey the King.
I cannot pray “THINE IS THE POWER AND THE GLORY,” if I am seeking power for myself and my own glory first.I cannot pray “FOREVER AND EVER,” if I am too anxious about each day’s affairs.
I cannot pray “AMEN,” unless I honestly say “Not MY will, but THY will be done,” so let it be.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 16, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Jeremiah 30:21
“. . . I will bring him near and he will come close to Me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to Me?” declares the Lord.”
On May 12th I made this statement in my Daily-E-Votional: “My prayer is that Jesus might take me into His mighty arms, and whisper sweetly in my ear, ‘Hang on Cecil, you’re going for a ride!’ ‘Oh, please, dear Lord. Give me the thrill of a child, as I do the work that you have enabled me to perform. Never allow me to become like an adult who loses the thrill of a good ride!’”
I received a response from Cheryl Taul who creates “Taul Tales.” I asked her if I could use this article and she generously said yes:
Closer Than Before
Last week I pulled into the parking lot, got out of my car and headed toward the department store. Just a few steps behind me was a young couple with their daughter that looked to be about 5 years old. She was holding her father’s hand, forcing it to swing back and forth while grinning from ear-to ear. When I glanced back I saw her look up at him and ask, “Daddy, are you afraid?” The father replied, “Not when I’m with you.”
In 1991 I moved to Arizona and one of the first things I did was to climb a small mountain and throw a kiss to God. One day, to my surprise, I read in the Old Testament that David used to do the same thing. But my ‘in-love’ attitude with my Jesus eventually changed. I guess I let go of His hand and wandered away for a while thinking that I didn’t need Him as much anymore.
One night, during an exhausting trial in my life, I dreamt I was sitting on one of the four brilliant white steps that led to the Throne of God. My back was turned to Him, my head hanging down, my spirit crushed. God stepped down from His Throne, walked over to me, sat down on the step beside me, put His arm around me and said, “Cheryl, tell me what’s on your mind.” Then I woke up. For several years I tried to understand what that dream meant. Why would I tell God what was on my mind when He already knew, anyway? In time, the Lord taught me the meaning of my dream. . . .
He wants our attention and our love. He wants our time and our laughter. Our Father wants that same child-like love, joy and trust from us that we used to have when we were children. Yesterday, He reminded me that I have not thrown Him a kiss for a very long time.
Oh, if I could only have that dream back again I would treat God so differently. I would want to go for a walk and talk to Him. I’d take His hand and swing it back and forth grinning from ear-to-ear. If He were to ask me, “Cheryl, are you afraid?” I would look up at Him and say, “Not when I’m with You.”
© Copyright June 16, 2006, Cheryl Taul
I hope this blesses you as much as it has me. Have a glorious week-end and remember to enjoy being a child in the presence of the Lord.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 15, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
People worship in many different styles and forms. Some love to raise their hands when singing choruses, while others feel very uncomfortable with that style. What is the proper form of worship? According to this passage, Peter indicates that it is neither. It is death to self that is the true spiritual act of worship.
I recall a humorous story about a preacher who was preaching his lungs out. He urged the people to get on the gospel bus before it was too late. He preached hellfire and brimstone so powerfully that some of the people thought he had been born and raised there. He screamed out that he wanted to see everyone on the gospel bus headed for glory.
He called for the hands of all those who would be with him on the way to the Promised Land. Everyone raised their hand except one young boy about ten years of age. Finally the preacher came back and stood directly in front of the boy and demanded if he was going with them to heaven or not? The boy replied that he was, but he had no idea that the bus was leaving right after the service!
We can chuckle about such incidents, but what we see and what Scripture says, are so often very far apart. Peter says we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices. That means we continue to live, but we live a sacrificial life for Christ. That means a continuous dying to self in order to live for Him. It is spiritual, and holy, and it is what pleases God. That is what worship is all about. We do it in the morning, at noon, or in the middle of the night. But as often as we yield ourselves to God, we are involved in worship.
Peter gives us a warning in today’s Scripture. He says that we are not to be conformed to this world’s pattern. If we are not extremely careful, that is exactly what will happen. From time to time I watch emergency medical programs on T.V.
In certain head injuries, the brain swells. It is possible for the swelling to become so pronounced that it affects the shape of the skull. The only remedy is brain surgery. The surgeon removes a piece of the skull. When this is done you can see that the soft brain tissue has pressed against the skull and leaves indentations in it.
The bone has become conformed by the slow, steady pressure exerted upon it. If we stay close to the world, we are always in danger of being distorted and deformed from what is spiritually normal, to what is spiritually abnormal.
Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives the solution. Are you ready for it? He says we are to be transformed! Can you picture that? BAM!!
We are to have a new character and an entirely new way of behaving—which is only possible by the renewing of our mind. That is achieved by a new focus and direction of our thought process. It means spending time in God’s Word and making Jesus the Lord of our life. It does not require intelligence—but obedience.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 14, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Philippians 4:18-20
“I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Why do God’s people have to experience trials and tribulations? We know that God is the blessed controller of all things, so why does He allow His precious children to suffer and pass through the fires of adversity?
If you think I am going to be foolish enough to try and answer those questions you had better think again. But there is one thing that I have experienced in my own life and have observed in the lives of other believers; it is in the times of adversity that we are best able to see the hand of God at work.
I may have shared with you about an incident that happened to Joyce and I when I was in the US Air Force, attending a training school in Amarillo, Texas. As a low ranking airman, the money usually ran out before the month!
We had several days left in the month and absolutely no food. We prayed that God would somehow provide, but we didn’t see how. That Sunday evening after church, a couple invited us to come to their house for a bite to eat. Wow! We were more than ready!
During the lunch they heard about our situation. We did not know that this couple owned a small mom and pop grocery store. They said to come by the next day and they would provide the food to see us through the rest of the month.
I thought about that today when I happened upon a biography of a Nazarene missionary, Fairy Chism. I was shocked to learn that she had filled in for a few weeks at a church I had pastured in Burns, Oregon.
Prior to her leaving for the mission field in Africa, she had served in a couple of small churches in north central Oregon. Listen to this incident that she shared:
“In the dead of winter with the thermometer about twenty-four degrees below zero, Fairy’s supply of wood became exhausted. She put the last piece of wood into the little stove and, kneeling with her feet stove-ward, prayed something like this: ‘Lord Jesus, I am here because You brought me here. I can’t look to people to supply my needs because they aren’t responsible for my preaching Thy Word. If I could go out and cut down a tree for myself, I’d do it. But since I can’t, there’s nothing I can do but ask You to please send me some wood. I believe You will. In case You should fail, I will freeze to death, and in heaven I’ll have the distinction of being the only servant of the Lord on earth whom God was not able to care for. I thank You for all You have done for me thus far, and I do not believe for a moment that You have forgotten my needed wood. Amen.'”
Soon the room began to be very cold. Wishing to do all she could for herself, Fairy went to bed beneath every quilt and coat that she owned. It couldn’t have been more than half an hour later that she heard thud, thud, thud outside her window in the direction of the woodshed. Raising her head she said, “Sounds like wood!”
Bounding out of bed and slipping on the fur coat that had been so kindly provided for her, Fairy opened the door. There atop a big load of wood was a man from Carson, six miles away, vigorously unloading wood into her woodshed. Mr. Thompson had not been inside a church for thirty years.
Approaching the wagon, Fairy exclaimed excitedly, “Why, Mr. Thompson, why have you brought me this wood?” “Well I know you likely don’t need it, but early this morning something seemed to say, ‘You’d better take that little Nazarene preacher some wood.’ But I know your own members here are taking care of you. Then in the middle of the morning the same urge came again but I said, ‘Aw, it ain’t up to me.’ But at dinnertime I feel I just got to bring you some wood, the weather being so cold and all. So here it is.”
The adversity that Fairy faced gave God the opportunity to do something to reveal His power and glory. The wood was nothing—but the way God answered the fervent prayer of His servant was a tremendous testimony of God’s provision.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 13, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Genesis 4:6-7
“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.’ “
Contrary to popular principle and practice, anger is not a right and acceptable way to deal with the stresses of life. I have heard comments that it is better to explode in anger rather than to let it eat at you from the inside.
That may sound logical, but is it true? It is well to recall that it was shortly after God spoke these words to Cain that he slew his brother Abel. His anger led to his becoming guilty of the first murder in the history of mankind.
God speaks His wisdom concerning anger and resentment in His counsel to Cain: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” Of course the answer is, “Yes.” God is not pleased with our anger, He desires that we do what is right in God’s eyes.
I can almost hear screams of protest from readers who are experiencing the pressures and circumstances of your life. These tempt you to explode in anger. That is not justification for anger, but excuse making! God is not interested in your justification of the circumstances that cause explosive outbursts. He simply instructs us to do right.
As I think about the things in my own life that generate anger, it is most often times when people mistreat me or the ones I care about. Humans tend to be fragile creatures. (We pastors are no exception). We give of our life, time and careful concern to members of our flock, only to see them slip away from their walk with the Lord. It hurts when we think of all of the time and effort we have spent praying and working with these people.
The reality is that we have to deal with our personal anger and resentment. A pastor’s anger is no more justified that anyone else’s anger. What was it that God said to Cain? “Do what is right!” It applies to each and every one of us.
James gives a very clear word of instruction concerning this topic. James 1:19-22 says, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
That is the answer! We are to get the filth of the world out of our life and the Word of God into our life. When James uses the phrase; “which can save you,” he is not talking of personal salvation, but rather the saving of us from our anger.
James is writing to the “brothers” who know the Lord, but who allow the garbage of the world to cause an angry reaction. This should not be! James urges us to have more Word of God, less worldly filth and evil. That will result in a life that is under the control of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. I hope this does not make you angry!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 12, 2008 | Daily-E-Votionals
Romans 8:15-16
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
I hope you are not shocked by today’s title. Several years ago I was having a conversation with two clerks outside one of our local grocery stores. They were talking to me about prayer and how God works in the life of people. (That is worth shopping for groceries any old day).
One of them told this delightful story. Her sister’s boy was attending services in a Catholic church with his parents and grandparents. He was at the end of the pew, and after a time he had slipped down to the floor and was playing with a necklace with a cross attached.
It suddenly became very quiet in the church as the priest looked down to where the young boy was swinging the necklace around and around in a circle. To the utter embarrassment of his family, he shouted out loud, “Hang on Jesus, you’re going for a ride!”
We howled as we imagined the scene in the church that day. It made me think of the times that little ones have shown their sheer delight in the house of the Lord. One Sunday night many years ago, following the service, several of us were standing in the front of the church talking. Suddenly a young boy came down the center aisle doing summersaults.
His mother was in dismay. She apologized and turned to stop him. The pastor laughed and stopped her. He commented that he wished he had enough energy to do that and besides it was the most life he had seen in the church for a long time.
This is not to imply that we are to be sacrilegious in God’s House. But when you stop and think about it, the greatest sacrilege we can demonstrate is to ignore God. We can be so sanctimonious that it is hard to tell if we are alive or dead.
The term, “ABBA’, used in today’s passage of Scripture, is a term used by small children in Bible times to mean, daddy or dada. It identifies close personal relationship. It is that close personal relationship that God desires for us to have with Him.
It is not spiritual or desirable to act like we have been baptized in vinegar. God does not want us to become frozen ice cubes of spirituality. Jesus loved children, and I am sure that some of them that crowded onto His lap said and did things that embarrassed their parents. It had no effect on the Master. In fact He urged us to become like little children.
It is foolish to put on a facade (that’s a fancy word for false front), and act more spiritual than we really are. Jesus wants us to run headlong into His arms and be filled with the excitement of being with Him. I recall one of the little girls in our church surprised her family when they started up the driveway to our church. She laughed and pointed, and said, “Jesus lives there!” I want to be like that!
My prayer is that Jesus might take me into His mighty arms, and whisper sweetly in my ear, “Hang on Cecil, you’re going for a ride!” “Oh, please, dear Lord. Give me the thrill of a child, as I do the work that you have enabled me to perform. Never allow me to become like an adult who loses the thrill of a good ride!”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
