by Pastor Cecil | Jan 13, 2012 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Years ago I heard a minister tell of an incident in a hospital elevator where he had just come from visiting a very ill patient. A young man overheard him speak about eternity and, perhaps wanting to mock his view, asked the minister where eternity was. The minister told the boy to place his hand on his chest to feel the beat of his heart. “Young man, eternity is one heartbeat away!” That may answer where eternity is or at least how close we are to it, but just how long is eternity?
Our daughter was in the hospital near death. One afternoon as the two of us spoke quietly, she said she felt she was cheated out of half of her life. She went on to say that grandpa was 74 when he died and here she was just 35.
That evening as I drove into the garage I noticed that the car had been bringing in sand. I took out a sheet of typing paper and swept up some of the sand. I then sat at the kitchen table and counted out 74 grains. Some were larger than others, but all of them were quite small. I placed the 74 grains of sand in a tiny sample perfume bottle.
The next day as I entered her room I placed the bottle on her bed. When she asked what it was I told her it was grandpa. I asked her to imagine the earth being nothing but fine sand. Each grain represented one year of eternity. The 74 grains in the bottle represented grandpa’s life. Compared to the entire globe of sand it was nothing. Whether a person’s life lasted long or short, compared to eternity it was nothing.
It is what we do with the years we are given that matters. We can choose to confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior or we can continue our own willful way and suffer the dreadful consequences prepared for the lost.
I pray that the video that accompanies today’s Daily-E-Votional will assist you in making the right choice. Please feel free to share it with others while there is still time.
To access The Sands of Eternity, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™, please go to: http://www.PastorCecil.com/ 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
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
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.
P.P.S. – My book, 100 of Pastor Cecil?s Select Illustrations, is now available on Kindle books. Just go to the Kindle store and type in Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations, or Pastor Cecil Thompson.
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 5, 2011 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Have you ever felt like time was against you? That you were at war with all of your busy schedules and demands? Do you feel like the comic strip character who once lamented, The hurrier I go, the behinder I get! It might be terrible grammar, but the truth is hard to deny.
When I was a boy (I can hardly remember those days of long ago) we had none of the labor and time saving devices of today. Even without all of these wonderful inventions there was time for visiting, sharing and relishing God’s presence.
Several times in my life I have prayed for the Lord to grant me more time to spend in His Word and meeting with Him in prayer. Once it was clearly revealed that my lunch hour was a precious time that I could commit to Him.
Since April I have come to cherish the early morning hours. I have discovered a wonderful time for prayer and study. It is around 5:00 a.m. It has become a time for me to enjoy my Lord as I reflect on His Word and lift my prayer to Him. I would highly recommend it to you. It will make your day!
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.comPlease feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 15, 2008 | Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 4:6
“Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”
Within the past 24 hours a major hurricane (“Ike”) has struck the coastline near Galveston, Texas. Millions are without power and even more have had their world turned upside down.
What are you encountering in your life at this time? Do you feel as if you are being churned in the middle of a storm? What will it take to bring peace and tranquility to your heart?
Every time I am tempted to feel that I am enduring too much turmoil in my life, I stop and consider the apostle, Paul. What did he endure for the sake of the gospel? 2 Corinthians 11:24-26, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.”
These are only a few of the things Paul endured, yet he endured them with a joy that can only come from the Lord. Tranquility is not that the storms will always be calm, but that we will find peace in the middle of the storms.
Paul prayed for the Lord to remove the thorns from his life, but here is what Paul says about it; 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Wow! That is powerful and provides the answer for us to find tranquility in the most violent of storms. It is not what we have done or must do—it is what Christ has already done for us.
The storms of life may take the form of actual weather, but more often they will be loss of health, wealth or personal relationships. Only you will know what storm you are experiencing.
Today’s Scripture speaks of tranquility in a manner that suggests contentment. Rather than seeking more and more of the “things” of life, we must seek more and more of the Lord. The answer to tranquility is always the same—Jesus!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
— Pastor Cecil
