by Pastor Cecil | May 13, 2019 | John
John 3:17
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Frequently, when we are the most unlovable, we often need love the most. Because of the sinful nature within us, we often do and say things that are so ungodly that we attempt to deny our conduct…even to ourselves.
We can and should confess our indiscretions to the Lord, and we are assured that He will forgive us when we confess. But that still leaves us with a feeling of emptiness and alienation from others. At the time we need them the most, we often act like a riled porcupine and keep people far from us.
I recall that I was leading a small group Bible study years ago. One of the men in the group was a prominent business man with a reputation for being cantankerous. I felt uneasy having him in the class for fear that he would drive others away.
One night I encouraged members to share their need of love and prayer from the group. He was the first one to respond and confessed that he needed us to pray that the Lord would cleanse him and give him a new nature. As we prayed for him there was a spirit of love that transformed him completely. The man received pure love from part of the body of Christ. He was changed and his subsequent behavior reflected that change. If you need that kind of love God is ready to give it to you.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 9, 2019 | John
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
World War I, sometimes called the “Great War,” exacted a huge cost of human life. It has been calculated that some fifteen million people lost their lives in this terrible conflict. It was thought back then that peace would prevail and no more such wars would be fought—but it was barely twenty years before the even more devastating World War II broke out.
As we seek to find peace in our modern world it is important to get a picture of what peace means. It is the Hebrew word shalowm (shalom) and means completeness, soundness, welfare, and tranquility. The Hebraic concept of shalom is “nothing missing-nothing broken,” but figuratively it points to completeness. The word peace is found 429 times in Scripture and is a concept that is important to understand.
Over the centuries there have been many attempts to secure peace between individuals, families, communities, and nations. These human attempts have always failed because it is only the Lord who gives peace.
The wonderful thing is that the Lord gives us peace in the midst of the storms of life. His peace comes from the inside out rather than from the outside in. His peace passes all human understanding. May He grant you His “shalom”!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 8, 2019 | John
John 13:15-16
“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.”
It is impossible to change people by preaching at them. That may sound like a strange comment coming from a preacher, but I find it to be true. You cannot line people up and preach them into doing anything. Unfortunately, that is what we have been trying to do for years, both in our families as well as in our churches. It just does not work!
We become so focused upon changing the behavior of people that we resort to using our lungs as weapons.We yell and scream at them to quit yelling and screaming! Please read that last sentence over and over until you get the drift of what I am saying. It doesn’t work with our children or other people.
The reality is that we teach others by what we do much more than by what we say. We can quote Scriptures about the importance of telling the truth—but if those around us observe that we are stretching the truth, then we have revealed more by our actions rather than by our words. That is not good!
How can we become more like Jesus? By behaving like Him rather than just describing what He is like. Yes, we can use His life as an example, but our changed life will speak much louder than our words.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 25, 2019 | John
John 12:24
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
I have the privilege of living in the Pacific Northwest where salmon go through their life cycle. Many species of salmon spend several years at sea before returning to spawn, after which they die.
Think of that! They go through extreme ordeals to return to the place where they were hatched. That is where the female will lay hundreds of eggs. After the male fertilizes the eggs, both parents die. Through death there comes new life.
In today’s Scripture, Jesus is teaching a positive lesson about death to selfish ambitions. He was about to lay down His own life in order that others may inherit eternal life. He died that others may live.
It is possible to hold too tightly to one’s life rather than giving ourselves for others. We have family and friends who are observing our actions as well as hearing our words. Sadly they often see us living more for ourselves than for others. What does it mean to spiritually die for others?
- Always put Christ first in your life.
- Live outside of your comfort zone.
- Be willing to give until it hurts.
- Repeatedly affirm,“Not my will, but Christ’s be done!”— Then live it!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 10, 2019 | John
John 16:12-13
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
Sometimes we are prone to feel that God does not hear us when we pray. This may be due to our lack of attention to see where God is working in our life, or it may be due to our permitting wrong actions and attitudes. Here are some of the things that may cause a failure of God to respond to our prayers:
- Holding grudges against someone
- Having a critical spirit
- Desiring material things of the world rather than spiritual blessings
- Failure to spend time with God in prayer and reading His Word
- Failure to be faithful in worshipping with fellow believers
- Being preoccupied with emotional feelings instead of spiritual reality
- Permitting unconfessed sin in your life
There may be other conditions that could be included. We all need to spend more time listening to what God has to say to us rather than bombarding heaven with a list of things we want from Him. Are you listening? OPEN YOUR EARS!
Blessings dear hearts! Walk with God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 4, 2019 | John
John 16:33b
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
It is easy to focus on the promises of good things such as prosperity and contentment. It is not so easy when we are confronted with promises of evil and difficulties. We certainly like to minimize those conditions.
It is encouraging to discover that God’s people have shown good cheer regardless of the circumstances they face. It reminds me of the humorous story about a man asking his friend, “How are you doing?” to which he replied, “Pretty well, under the circumstances.” The first man then asked his friend, “What are you doing under there?”
I think it is a good practice for us to evaluate our personal life to determine if we are living under the circumstances in defeat or above the circumstances in victory and good cheer.
I want to be like the victorious saints across the ages that have faced the tribulations of life with victory and good cheer. If God be for us who can be against us? Praise God for victory in Jesus and the good cheer He promises!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
