by Pastor Cecil | Jun 27, 2011 | James
James 2:14-17
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Back in the days when I was a Juvenile Probation Officer, we had close contact with the local county deputy sheriffs. Tricks and pranks were often played to break the grim reality of their heavy responsibility. One night the Chief Deputy had a make-up artist make him look like a seedy and scraggly character. He then went into one of the small towns and began to act disoriented.
The County Sheriff lived in that area and he was sure it would be him that responded. Sure enough the Sheriff arrived and tried to reason with this unreasonable and very undesirable character. With no other recourse the Sheriff arrested him and started out for the county jail. As he was being booked in, he was asked for his full name and he finally identified himself. It took quite some time before the staff realized who it was. As I recall they thought about throwing him into one of the cells to get even.
As I think about this incident that occurred some forty-five years ago, I realize that we are prone to disguise ourselves to those around us. We do not want them to see what we are really like. In reality, what the world needs to see is the real us! They need to see that we are struggling to live a victorious life in the face of challenges of every kind. I for one want to be real at all times and never try to put on a super saint costume. That is why I try to share the reality of my life in these Daily-E-Votionals. Stay with me as we all look forward to that day when we see Jesus face to face.
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.com Please feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 23, 2011 | James
James 1:5-6
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
Over the past week I have received more responses on the series I did on the church than perhaps any other material I have produced. I shared personally with one of my dear friends this morning and just received a request that I put into writing what I had shared in person. I hope I will be able to do so, but that all depends upon the Holy Spirit giving me wisdom.
Some years ago I resigned a church that I loved very much and a body of believers that I felt loved me as their pastor. I could not understand where God was leading me other than to be able to spend more time on the Daily-E-Votional ministry. Within a short period of time it was evident that God wanted a new group started that would be what He wanted, not what any of us wanted.
As I prayed about the matter I was aware that many of our modern churches have been sold a bill of goods by the church growth concept. Most of us have come to feel that bigger is better and if our church is not growing, we must be doing something wrong. I think somewhere we lost sight of the fact that it was the Lord that added to the New Testament church. Now it has fallen upon every gimmick in the book to increase the size. Wild music and wild programs may have increased their size, but where is the spiritual growth?
In starting our new fellowship, I turned to Scripture and found in Acts 2:42 the pattern I feel God desires for His church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” I love that pattern. It is not what we do for the Lord, but what the Lord does for us. I would much rather see the deepening of the love for Jesus in individuals than in seeing more people walking through the door and not growing.
In those times when growth does come, many (if not most) congregations feel the pressure to build a large edifice. Most of the time there is huge debt incurred and immediately the church has violated God’s admonition about not going into debt.
I wonder if we truly recognize the Lord as the head of the church. If so, why don’t we spend more time inquiring of Him and then waiting for Him to answer? It is just very possible that by us being crowded out of the current facility someone will feel the call of God. They may see that there is a field “white unto the harvest” and know that this is the time for them to become involved in doing something significant for the Lord.
We pastors should increasingly spend more time preparing our people to call upon the Lord and seeking His direction than trying to tell them what to do ourselves. I want you to know that none of us is very good at playing Holy Spirit for other people. That is the function of the Holy Spirit and we need to stay clear of His role.
My counsel to us all is to spend more time on our knees and less time on a soap box. The world is dying without Christ and we need to be used by the Lord to win as many as possible.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil (360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can help! Please consider trying to get one other person to subscribe to the Daily-E-Votional. This worldwide ministry asks for no funds and is sent to glorify our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 21, 2011 | James
James 1:13-15
“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Those of us who have a background in law enforcement have seen the tragic effect that alcohol and/or drugs have on an individual. Within a few short years a person seems to age twenty or thirty years and often their downward spiral leads to death.
Today’s Scripture paints this sad and downward progression. It starts with temptation. Temptation is our desire to have or do something that we know to be wrong. James goes further and describes how our evil desire drags us away by way of enticement.
I once heard a counselor speak about his experience in working with men who had been unfaithful. When he asked them to describe in one word what they now felt, almost the always the answer was; “hell.” Temptation-desire-enticement, the next step is sin and when it is full-grown it leads to death.
But there is another type of desire. In Psalm 103 the Psalmist tells us that we are to praise the Lord from the very core of our being. In verse 5 we read these words: “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
That tells us that there are godly desires that are directed toward the Lord. The first four verses of Psalm 103, remind us of the things we are to praise God for. The result is that we can soar like the eagles. So we have two choices. Either the evil desires that lead to death or the godly desires that renew our youth and help us soar like the eagles. I choose the godly desires for my life. Please come and soar with me!
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.com Please feel free to forward this E-Votional on to your family and friends.
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 3, 2011 | James
James 4:8
“Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Joyce and I passed through a very difficult time in our life as our oldest daughter came closer and closer to passing into the arms of Jesus. We knew that her heart was right with the Lord and that the moment she took her last breath here on earth, her next would be in glory, but it still was a time we needed the Lord nearby.
Fanny J. Crosby lived from 1820 to 1915. This remarkable lady never let problems keep her away from the Lord. Her blindness as an infant meant that she spent her entire life without physical sight, but was blessed with a keen spiritual sight.
When she was only eight she wrote the following poem: “Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see! I am resolved that in this world contented I will be! How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t! So weep or sigh because I am blind, I cannot—nor I won’t.” The hymn, “Draw Me Nearer” seems to express her desire toward her blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Draw Me Nearer“
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
To access Draw Me Nearer, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Christian Music Hymns & Songs, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/drawmenearer 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 help! Please consider trying to get one other person to subscribe to the Daily-E-Votional. This worldwide ministry asks for no funds and is sent to glorify our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Have them go to https://dailyevotional.com/prior2020/subscribe and enter their email address.
by Pastor Cecil | May 23, 2011 | James
James 1:19-20
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
This afternoon we had a visit from a friend that Joyce once worked with. It was very interesting listening to the two of them as they reminisced about the people they had worked with and what they were doing now.
I was especially interested in a comment this friend shared about a co-worker. It seems that his wife has a serious medical condition. They had found it very hard to attend their church because of the comments made by people in the church. It seems that the people were “talking about her.”
Now they have had the best of motives, but it made the wife feel that she had to constantly explain her situation over and over again and could not feel that there was a true spiritual concern for her condition, but more just being, “Nosy.”
I have tried to examine myself since I heard this conversation. I wonder if I have been guilty of being nosy rather than reaching out in love. How many times have I asked for information instead of dropping by with a home cooked meal or some other means to help ease the load? Rather than pry, I want to ask the Holy Spirit to direct me in taking action under His control.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
(360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can help! Please consider trying to get one other person to subscribe to the Daily-E-Votional. This worldwide ministry asks for no funds and is sent to glorify our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
by Pastor Cecil | May 18, 2011 | James
James 1:21-22
“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Yesterday I wrote about controlling our tongue and listening before we speak. For some of us that is a full time job. It is so much easier to let our mouth run wild before our spiritual mind is in gear. It is not enough to remain silent, but it is what we do in this quiet time in order to accomplish the will of the Lord for our lives.
One of the things I love about the book of James is the way he gives graduated steps of action¯either positive or negative. In this instance he instructs us to do some spiritual housekeeping. Unfortunately this is an action that is all too often lacking. We live in a day when alternate lifestyles take precedent over biblical truth. Sad!
James admonishes his readers to get rid of the moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent. Wow, is that ever appropriate for each of us! Rather than confess and cleanse, we excuse and tolerate. May God forgive us!
What are the areas of your life that may be described as morally filthy or evil? It may be the things you watch, read or listen to. It may be the activities you participate in that are not edifying or pleasing to the Lord. God calls us to do a spiritual housecleaning to be in harmony with His will for our lives.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
(360) 570-0074
P.S. – You can help! Please consider trying to get one other person to subscribe to the Daily-E-Votional. This worldwide ministry asks for no funds and is sent to glorify our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
