by Pastor Cecil | Apr 27, 2009 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 32:10
“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.”
Just recently I was introduced to a web camera focused on an eagle’s nest in Sydney B.C., Canada. It is my understanding that these same eagles have used this nest for several years. This year there are three eaglets in the nest.
A few days ago there was a marauder, another eagle, who swept down on the nest, and in a second had made off with the remains of a seagull that the mother eagle had been shredding in order to feed her hungry brood.
As I watched a video replay of the attack, I was amazed at how quickly it happened. The mother seemed to be aware that the intruder was near, and was more concerned for the safety of her chicks than for the scraps of seagull.
Prior to the attack she had laboriously herded the chicks under the safety of her wings. The oldest and largest was especially difficult to corral. He kept trying to get out from under her 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 we fall into the clutches of our enemy and wonder why God is not there to protect us.
The time to come under the protective wings of the Lord is before the marauder strikes. The Lord loves us and covers 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.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 2, 2008 | Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
In the final days of World War II, US forces in the Pacific were pushing steadily toward the Japanese homeland. The final island in their path was Okinawa. While previous battles had been fierce and deadly, at Okinawa things took on a terrible complexion.
Hundreds of Japanese pilots entered their planes for a one way trip to meet the United States naval ships. Their sole aim was to fly their planes into the decks of the ships and by committing suicide, wreak massive damage or the destruction of the ships.
Following the Japanese surrender, captured news reels pictured rows of these young men as they stood at attention, drank their last glass of sake, and entered their planes for their suicide mission. Why would so many be so willing to sacrifice themselves? It was not simply going into combat with a chance of being killed, it was intentional suicide.
In our own generation, we have seen horrifying images of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, and realize that there were young men on those planes who committed suicide in order to kill the maximum number of people.
Still more tragic are pictures of young children wearing explosive vests or belts and being taught that suicide for their god was what would bring the greatest joy to their mother and father. Why?
The answer lies in our understanding of the true nature of God as opposed to man’s self made gods. The gods of this world demand that those who worship them must die for them. In order to prove one’s sincerity and devotion it is required to punish oneself, experience pain and even prove their devotion to the point of dying by suicide.
How utterly heartbreaking, that gods of man’s own imagination become so demanding that the adherents must die in order to prove their devotion. Perhaps it is fear more than love which compels such sacrifice. From generation to generation, it is taught that suffering and death are the only ways to please these gods.
How is our worship of the one true God different than these gods? Our God, the maker of heaven and earth is the God who loved us so much that He died for us! What a contrast!
Our God has come in human flesh, suffered, bled and died in order that through Him we may have life. He died for us—rather than demanding that we die for Him. Our God has always desired the love and devotion of His people, not their suffering, pain and death.
What is it that our God desires of us? Moses gives us the answer here in Deuteronomy 10:12; “- – to fear the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” As I have mentioned before in connection with the use of the word fear, it is reverential fear, like awe and wonder rather than fear of punishment.
If God so loved us and sent His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sins, should we not love Him in return and spend our efforts in praising and worshipping Him? What makes us different from other religions? The answer is that we serve the One True God. Our God gives Himself for us by His great love. What a mighty God we serve!!!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
— Pastor Cecil
