by Pastor Cecil | Apr 23, 2015 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Think of a time in your life when you were all alone. It may be when as a youngster you were away at camp and surrounded by people you did not know. It was not that you were all by yourself, but you were separated from the familiar family and friends you relied upon for comfort and support.
Two times I experienced “alone time” — once in 1953 when I was in basic training, and again in 1962 when I was in Officer’s Training School. I was surrounded by other men I did not know who were just as miserable as I was. I guess you could say that we all felt like we were alone.
Experiencing the death of a cherished mate also makes us feel all alone. I am walking through that dark valley right now. No matter how many people surround me with love and support, it is not the same as being with the one who had been part of my flesh for over 60 years. I have felt a loneliness that makes me ache.
So what are we to do during these times of being alone. God’s Word gives us the answer. In today’s Scripture the Lord promises that He goes with us and will never leave us nor forsake us. That is His promise to us. Our part is to be strong, of good courage, and not be afraid. We are never alone for the Lord is with us! In the most lonely situation and darkest night we are never alone. HE IS WITH US!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 9, 2014 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 9:7
“Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord.”
Years ago I read a book by Major Ian Thomas called The Saving Life of Christ. I had almost forgotten it until a phrase crossed my mind from that book. A Day to Be Remembered, In a Land to Be Possessed. As I reflect on this phrase it reminds me of how very much we are like the children of Israel in the exodus.
The Israelites had been in bondage for over four hundred years. They were treated harshly and cried out to the Lord to deliver them. You recall the story of how Moses was sent as the one to challenge Pharaoh and proclaim curse after curse without being set free.
It was not the arguments of Moses that led to their release, but the tenth and final one in which the first born unless the blood of an innocent lamb was applied to the door posts where each family ate in haste.
It may be easy to remember the time we gave our heart to the Lord and were set free from sin and death. The important thing is that there is a land to be possessed. There is not only a day to be remembered, but there is a land to be possessed. The Lord wants us to live in victory. Are you wandering or possessing?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 7, 2014 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 32:11
As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.
A few years ago I was watching a web camera focused on an eagle’s nest in Sydney, B.C., Canada. There were three eaglets in the nest. I was enthralled as I sat here at my computer and observed the drama in the nest.
Once as I watched, a marauder (another eagle), swept down on the nest. In the blink of an eye, he made off with the remains of a seagull that the mother eagle had been shredding and feeding to her hungry brood.
A video replay of the attack demonstrated how quickly it happened. The mother seemed to be aware that the intruder was near, but was more concerned for the safety of her chicks than for the scraps of seagull. It was a matter of priorities. Prior to the attack she had laboriously herded her brood under the safety of her wings. The largest eaglet was especially difficult to control. He kept trying to get out from under her wings and do his own thing, unaware of the danger to his life.
How very much we are like that willful chick. We want to do our own thing with little or no thought of the consequences of our actions. The Lord desires to cover us with His protective wings, but we fight with all of our might to escape. Then when we fall into the clutches of our enemy we wonder why God was not there to protect us.
We need to come under the protective wings of the Lord before the marauder strikes. The Lord loves us and wants to cover us with His protective wings. Whatever is happening in your life at the present time, realize that His wings are there to cover and protect you.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 8, 2014 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 30:15-18
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Aren’t you glad we do not live in the day when people worshiped idols? Back then they created man-made idols of gold, wood, or stone to worship. These “gods” became so important to the people that their entire lives revolved around worshipping gods they themselves had made. It makes you wonder how they could have been so foolish.
Before we get carried away with the condemnation of people in past ages, we need to take a long look at our own day and age. We live in such a hedonistic society that most people give themselves over to anything that will give pleasure. We have erected modern day gods of the “stuff” of life. We bow at the shrine of everything that is new and modern because it will make us FEEL GOOD.
I fear that Christians have many times fallen into this same kind of tragic worship. Moses confronted the Israelites with a loud call to love the Lord and walk in obedience to His written word. We need to make the choice to serve the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all of our mind. MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 27, 2014 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 4:39-40
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
I can recall with a sad heart the times when people I thought could be trusted, just could not be trusted. The result was shattering and I must confess that it took a great deal of prayer and fasting before things returned to normal.
I have come to realize that there is a God in heaven and He loves us so much that He sent His own dear Son, Jesus, to suffer and die in order to ransom us from sin. Because of the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden we have been a fallen race. Satan lied to our original parents and they fell for his glib enticement.
I do not know where you are at this time moment in your life. It could be that you have faced betrayal and rejection. Those that promised you so much have turned out to be a bitter disappointment.
Where can we turn at times like this? As always the answer is the Word of God. It is the window into the heart of God and His everlasting faithfulness. It does not matter how many times people have failed us, we can place our trust in the Lord with the absolute confidence that He will never fail us. We can trust Him.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 5, 2014 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
As a young boy, it was common for the kids in our neighborhood to spend quite a bit of time playing outside. We had no sedate activities that involved handheld electronic devices or such. We played kick the can by actually kicking the can, and many other active games like hide and seek, and dodge ball.
As the sun began to set in the west, each kid intentionally attuned his ears to listen for the familiar call from his house: “Suppertime!” (I don’t know about you, but it was never dinner — we called it supper.) Each one knew the sound of his own mother’s voice as she called him home to eat supper.
As we make our way through this life, we need to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. If we listen for that still, small voice, we will be able to hear. Our spiritual ears will be much sharper if we take time to read God’s Word and commune with Him in personal prayer.
As you examine your walk with the Lord, are you inclining your ears to hear when He calls? When you appear before the Lord, will you be able to say that you gave Him the attention He so rightly deserves? Call Lord, your servant is listening.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
