by Pastor Cecil | Apr 4, 2014 | Ephesians
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
I suppose many of us have heard humorous stories about someone approaching the gates of heaven and being required to prove that their actions on earth merited entry into God’s heavenly kingdom. Beep! Wrong answer!
A person may do amazingly good works here on earth and still miss heaven. It is not what we do for God that determines where we will spend eternity—it is what He has done for us. When we repent of our sins and accept Him as Savior and Lord then—and only then—is our name is written down in glory.
The writer of this week’s hymn, Charlotte Elliot, was offended when someone asked her if she were a Christian. She told him to mind his own business. Later as she was contemplating his question, she began to wonder what it took to become a Christian. She called him and he explained to her the plan of salvation which she accepted. It was then that she wrote this hymn, “Just As I Am.”
“Just As I Am“
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
To access Just As I Am, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/justasiam 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 | Nov 20, 2013 | Ephesians
Ephesians 6:13
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
When is enough, enough? By that I do not mean to stop dealing with problems around us, but rather, when can we say we have done enough for the Lord? I have to confess that in school, even graduate school, I only did enough to get by. Just enough to get the grade I wanted or needed to achieve, no less, no more—just enough.
As I write this, my mind suddenly reflects on doing those things that are of interest to me. When I was in high school I loved to play football. The long practice sessions were no problem because I was doing what I enjoyed doing. The game day was just icing on the cake!
Then there is the love of my life, my precious wife, Joyce. We have been married for over 61 years and I never tire of doing things that please her and make things easier for her. There is no day too long for doing something special that will delight her. In a manner of speaking, there I can never do enough!
My walk with the Lord has progressed over seventy years now. I can honestly say that I love Him more and more each day. I will never be able to do enough for the precious Savior who did enough to provide my eternal salvation. Thank you Lord!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 8, 2013 | Ephesians
Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
There are gifts and then there are gifts! I am looking at a gift right now that is very precious to me. It is a counted cross stitch picture showing an eagle in flight and the words of Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
The value of this picture is not in the cost of materials, but in the love that went into producing it. It was a gift from our daughter, Brenda on my birthday in March 1991, before her death in July of that year. She had been working on it for months and wanted to live long enough to complete it. I WILL CHERISH THAT GIFT ALL MY LIFE! I cannot imagine being offered that gift and refusing it. It cost Brenda so much!
Jesus lived His life with the purpose of offering us the most precious gift of all time—eternal life. It is offered freely to us, but at the cost of His own life. As amazing as it may seem, most people reject this most precious of all gifts. If you have never received it yourself, I urge you to open your heart right now and invite Him in. If you need help . . . see PastorCecil.com.
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 28, 2013 | Ephesians
Ephesians 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Years ago I heard a favorite minister relate a heartbreaking story. It was one where a father had grieved his son terribly. It seems that the father had promised to take his son on a fishing trip. The boy was in eager anticipation for the time when just he and his father would be alone on a fish-filled lake. (Such lakes are more in the area of dreams than reality)!
The day of the trip had arrived and the son was eagerly packing all of his gear into the car. It was just then that the phone rang. The father went back into the house to take the call. After a few minutes the son followed his dad just in time to hear him tell the caller that he had nothing important planned for the day and would be right there.
The long awaited trip was off. Not only was there to be no fishing trip with his dad, but the dad had thought so little of it that he told the caller that he had nothing important planned for the day. The relationship between father and son was torn asunder that day and sadly was never restored.
I wonder how many times we may have been guilty of grieving those who had been anticipating spending quality time with us. How many promises have we broken that seemed small to us, but significant to another person? But much more important, how have we grieved the heart of God by failing to keep our promises that we made to Him? LET US KEEP OUR PROMISES!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 4, 2013 | Ephesians
Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Most Christians eagerly accept the wonderful truth that God forgives sinners. Even those who are guilty of terrible crimes have bowed before the Lord and confessed their sins. God graciously forgives them, not because of what they have done or not done, but what He has done to provide forgiveness.
If we were to ask these Christians if a terrible sinner had been forgiven, they would almost certainly respond in the affirmative. They rejoice in a God who loves the sinner so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for our sin.
Well, we are going along pretty well up to this point. Evil people can have their sins forgiven and we rejoice with them. Then we stop and consider those who have sinned against us. They have broken our trust and at the same time they have broken our heart. Rather than forgiving them, it is almost as if we place them on probation. We impose restrictions on them.
Are you ready for this? What we are saying when we fail to forgive those who repent and ask us for our forgiveness, is that it is okay for God to forgive you, but I refuse to do so. That is sad! We are told to forgive others the way the Lord has forgiven us. Are you doing so? I pray that you are.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 22, 2013 | Ephesians
Ephesians 6:10-11
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
I always loved to hear Paul Harvey on the radio. His comments were so penetrating and direct that it seemed as if he knew where we all lived. It was 47 years ago that he delivered the following message that seems somehow prophetic. I ask forgiveness for those few of you who receive the garbled symbols in place of apostrophes and quotation marks. Please bite the bullet and grasp what he is saying.
IF I WERE THE DEVIL by Paul Harvey (Broadcast April 3, 1965)
If I were the devil . . . if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness, and I would have a third of its real estate and fourth of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree . . . THEE!
So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is “square.” And the old I would teach to pray after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington.” And then I’d get organized.
I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.
If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, and churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves, until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.
If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions—just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in his own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.
If I were the devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. If I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what will you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as a way to get rich. I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be, and thus I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.
In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
