by Pastor Cecil | Jun 30, 2017 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
I would dare to say that almost all of us experienced some sort of trial in our life. It could be the loss of health, a financial meltdown, death of a mate or child or any number of catastrophic events. It is not whether or not we will encounter these trials, but rather what we will do when they arise.
The phrase, “Praise to the Lord” occurs in at least 155 verses in the Bible. That indicates to me that we need to spend far more time praising the Lord than we do. It would be well to replace our complaints with words of praise to the Lord.
Over 300 years ago, Joachim Neander was a hymn writer for the German Reform church. He was going through a time of trial and testing in his life. He would take long walks and pour his heart out to the Lord. It was on one of these walks that he came to the realization that it was not his strength that would give him victory and peace, but rather the powerful God he served. It was in that state of mind that he composed this week’s featured hymn.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath not He bought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee!
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video from Gloryscapes.com. You may also access it by going to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisetothelordthealmighty/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 15, 2017 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
I once held the position of Deputy Director of the Idaho Law Enforcement Planning Commission. We were tasked with the responsibility of allocating Federal and State funds to upgrade the Criminal Justice System.
Various jurisdictions had to apply for the grant, but before they were approved to receive the funds they had to submit a plan as to how the upgrade would improve the efficiency of their operation. In a manner of speaking, we wanted to bless them by providing the money to accomplish an objective they could not attain without it.
Unfortunately there were some groups who failed to see that our objective was to help them. They seemed to think that we were stepping on their toes by demanding that they follow their own guidelines.
In the spiritual realm we sometimes overlook the fact that God has plans for us that are for our own good and His glory. It is vital that we slow down and spend time alone with the Lord to discover the precious plans He has to bring us peace, a future, and a hope.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 19, 2016 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 33:6
“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.”
It was way back in 1955 when an incident occurred that taught me a lesson about divine healing. I was serving in the Air Force as a jet mechanic in Rapid City, South Dakota. The young son of the pastor and wife of the church we attended had Down’s syndrome. We all loved Chucky and continuously prayed for his healing.
We were at a service during the summer when a healing service was conducted. The visiting minister placed his hands on Chucky’s head and prayed for God’s healing touch. It was like electricity and those of us in attendance felt that God had heard. Though we did not see immediate results, we watched carefully over the next few weeks in anticipation of a complete healing.
It was no more than a month later that Chucky died unexpectedly. We all were stunned, but none more than his grieving parents. The minister who had placed his hands on Chucky sent this message: “When we felt that God had healed little Chucky, we had no idea that He would heal him so perfectly!”
Wow! When we lost our own daughter years later, we recalled the reality of this truth. It is important to remember that physical healing in this world is always and forever just temporary. This world is not our home―we are just passing through!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 29, 2016 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 31:25
“For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
In my 82 years of life I have experienced a lot of physical weariness, especially through the labors of mixing and hauling concrete, digging ditches with a shovel, and pounding hardwood floors until I felt my arm would drop off. I have also labored mentally in college and graduate school while working full time. Do you feel sorry for me yet? HA!
There have been times of deep emotional sorrow in the loss of family members and dear friends. The loss of father, mother, brother, daughter, and dear wife, was more draining than any day of physical labor I ever experienced.
We all go through a mind-numbing weariness at some point in our lives. That is part of the human experience we were born into. Some may try to tell us that we can use mind-numbing drugs to cope, but that never works, does it?
There is an answer. It is drawing close to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah provides us with a glimpse into the promises of God. Here we have the comfort that God brings rest and peace to our weary souls. If you feel you are at the point where you are ready to drop, call on the Lord. He will replenish you through His inexhaustible supply.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 15, 2016 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 33:3
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
From time to time we hear of people who have not called their loved ones for years. You may even have some in your own family who are like that. It hurts when they do not call, but they are the ones who are hurt the most. By cutting themselves off they become isolated.
Isolating ourselves from God is even more devastating. He is the One who loves us most and the One who has given freely of the fountain of living water. His invitation to come and freely receive eternal life from Him is always open.
An open invitation means that we are free to receive it at any time. Other invitations may come with limitations such as cost or an expiration date. God’s invitation is always there waiting for us to respond.
Jeremiah shows us the true nature of God’s invitation. Any time we call to Him, He promises to answer. Not only that, He has promised us great and mighty things we cannot even imagine. MAKE THE CALL!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 24, 2016 | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 17:9-10
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
My daughter made a comment a few days ago that was like a slap in the face. It was in no way disrespectful, but it confronted me with something I was not aware even existed in my life.
She had been to the dentist and while there she commented to the dental hygienist that I never used any type of deadening when I had dental work done. She went on to tell her that I was PROUD of it. WOW!
As I have thought about her statement I have come to realize that I have been taking pride in a silly thing like not using Novocain. Many times we think of only the big areas of pride in our life and overlook the small, but just as deadly sources of pride.
I have prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me for this sin of pride. I am also searching for other hidden things that demonstrate pride. My desire is to search and confess each time I discover some area of pride I have overlooked.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
