by Pastor Cecil | Aug 23, 2018 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 33:32
“Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.”
It seems that the message the Lord was sharing with Ezekiel was that there will be people who attend services for reasons that are not spiritual. It may be that they want to impress people with their seemingly righteous life.
Let’s take it out of the area of church attendance and apply it to other Christian activities. When you listen to Christian music is it to worship God in the beauty of holiness or to be entertained?
Remember that God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. In Psalm 139:4 we read: “Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD.” It may be possible to fool the preacher, those sitting next to you, or even yourself, but you will never be able to fool God.
My prayer is that we will come closer and closer to the Lord. I pray that we will have a sincerity that does not put on a show of spirituality, but that we will come to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 15, 2015 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 24:17
“Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”
Have you ever been around someone who sighs all the time? I have known family members who seemed to feel it was their duty to let people know how hard their lot in life was by constantly sighing. (To tell you the truth, the sigh-ers made me sigh.)
I decided to look up the Hebrew word translated “sigh.” It is damam. As strange as it sounds, it means to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb. That is what we read here in Ezekiel 24.
Back in 1991, when our daughter was very near death, we were comforted by the words “for every sigh there is a Psalm.” What our words can never comfort, the words of the Psalmist can. In Brenda’s last minutes here on earth I sat beside her bed and read Psalm after Psalm. I can still hear her soft words of praise as I would finish a Psalm. She would say, “I loved that one, Dad, read another.”
I read our daughter into eternity. There is no doubt about where she is right now. In my mind’s eye I can visualize her welcoming her mother, Joyce, into that wonderful place of peace and rest. What a time of rejoicing they must be having right now.
The next time you are carrying a heavy load of the burdens of life, rest quietly in the Lord and read from the book of Psalms. You, too, will discover that for every sigh there is indeed a Psalm.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 27, 2014 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 40:4
And the man said to me, ‘Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.’
A dear friend of mine was out pheasant hunting on a crisp October day. As he was walking along an irrigation bank moving from one field to the next, he noticed two people approaching. As they grew closer, he saw that it was a father leading his son who was blind.
While my friend was talking with the father, he noticed the son was listening to the sounds of his hunting dog. Being a perceptive person, he asked the boy if he would like to SEE his dog. Wow! I would never have thought of that, but the boy knelt down and began to use his sensitive fingertips to SEE the dog. It made the blind boy’s day! It made my friend’s day as well. Eyes are not necessary for seeing nor ears for hearing. Our mind is capable of using our other senses to comprehend.
I thought of this when I received an e-mail from one of our subscribers who shared a picture of a four-legged beauty named Godiva. She is a guide dog who provides eyes for her owner, Bill Haddon.
It is a joy to have several blind subscribers to the Daily-E-Votional. They seem to have a sensitivity to the things of God and are able to SEE with their heart and HEAR with their spirit the things God has for them. May they be blessed!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 10, 2014 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 3:27
But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.
Day in and day out I am constantly praying and watching for topics that I can use for the Daily-E-Votional. Let’s face it, after writing over 3,000 issues over the past 12 years you need divine guidance for what to write.
As I think over this issue I am once again reminded that this ministry does not belong to me, but belongs to God. This is confirmed by the large number of people who have responded to something that I sent out months earlier. It was just what they they needed for that day.
So I will just continue to pray and wait on the Lord. He is the One who will open my memory bank to recall incidents in the past or passages of Scripture that come alive with the power of God.
I would much rather stutter and stammer relying on the Lord than proclaiming with great eloquence in my own abilities. For you precious souls who read this I want you to know that my prayer is for God to strengthen you in your walk with Him.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 24, 2014 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 18:20
The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
Perhaps all of us have loved ones who have rejected the Word of God and walk in rebellion to the things of eternal value. What are we to do and how are we to treat these individuals?
I think the best example we have on the situation is the family of Jesus. If ever there were siblings that should have eagerly followed the faith of their parents and older brother, it should have been His own family. The truth of the matter was that they did not come to faith until after His death and resurrection.
Jesus never saw His own brothers and sisters come to accept Him as their personal Savior. I am quick to add that, as the Son of God, He saw this, but not from a human perspective. So how did Jesus deal with unbelieving family members?
The answer is that Jesus lived His faith all the way to the cross and beyond. It is far too easy for us to drive our loved ones away from us by a continual barrage of sermonizing. We should rather love them into the Kingdom of God by our faithful walk with the Lord. Watch for opportunities to lead others to the Lord. You may be the answer to another’s prayer.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 29, 2014 | Ezekiel
Ezekiel 24:10-11
So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred. Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away.
The heat from a woodstove is comfy and comforting. Early in the morning before most people are awake, it is a joy to kindle a fire and watch as the flames from the kindling start to ignite the larger chunks of wood.
Perhaps I am a little strange, but I enjoy praying as I gaze into the flames. This morning as I meditated in front of my small woodstove, I noticed something. In order for the larger pieces of wood to burn, it was necessary to have a red hot bed of coals to support new wood that is added. It is inevitable that the coals will die out, but if more fuel is added, they pass the fire along.
It struck me that the Christian life is very much like that. If you do not have a bed of on-fire believers, it is difficult to produce believers who are on fire for Jesus. Perhaps that is why we often refer to some people as lukewarm Christians.
As you truthfully examine your walk with the Lord, where do you see yourself in relation to the fire? I want to be consumed by the fire of God in my life in order to make those who follow after me blaze brightly. Consume me Lord!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
