by Pastor Cecil | Feb 28, 2018 | Judges
Judges 13:20a
“It happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar!”
Here in Olympia we have a radio station that plays only old-time records, some as far back as the roaring 20’s. It is nostalgic to listen to the songs from the big band era, and yes, even the craziness of Spike Jones or the Hoosier Hotshots.
As I listened the other day I heard the Ink Spots begin to sing “A Flame in Your Heart.” The lyrics suddenly electrified me. It was like the Lord was giving these words of love to any who would hear.
I am not sure I can recall the words exactly, but I hope you get the idea: “I don’t want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your heart. In My heart there is but one desire, and that one is you! No other will do!”
My mind began to race with thoughts of the ways of God. We often talk and promote revival, but do we truly know what it means? I fear that the concept we have in our minds-eye is large groups of people loving and serving God. I think that is wrong! That is the result of revival, not the revival itself.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 28, 2014 | Judges
Judges 16:19-20
Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
As I sit here typing this message the frogs are singing a loud serenade at the end of our street. I am told that a group of researchers were experimenting on the reactions of frogs when exposed to hot water. They sat a shallow dish over heat and brought the temperature up to just under boiling. A frog placed in this hot water would immediately leap out of the dish onto the table.
They placed the same frog in cool water and observed as it swam around with no concern. As they gradually raised the temperature of the water the frog showed no concern and in fact remained in the water until it died in boiling water.
Here is where the lesson comes in. In today’s Scripture. God had given Samson a gift of power and might. There was a condition: He had to live as a Nazarite and never cut his hair. He must have known that Delilah was deceitful and was trying to discover the secret of his strength in order to tell her Philistine buddies, but he seemed to have lost touch with reality until it was too late.
We can sit in judgment over Samson and his foolishness, but before we do we need to stop and consider our own actions. In what way are we violating the things that God’s Word once convicted us about? How many times have we compromised God’s standards for our own desires? Something to think about isn’t it?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 6, 2014 | Judges
Judges 16:20
Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
I am told that a group of researchers were experimenting on the reactions of frogs when exposed to hot water. They sat a shallow dish over heat and brought the temperature up to just under boiling.
As a frog would be placed in this hot water, it would immediately leap out of the dish onto the table. Time after time each frog tested in this manner jumped to safety and no harm was done.
They placed a frog in cool water and observed as it swam around with no concern. They very gradually raised the temperature of the water. The frog showed no concern and in fact remained in the water until it died in boiling water.
Here is where the lesson comes in. In today’s Scripture, God had given Samson a gift of power and might. There was a condition: He had to live as a Nazarite and never cut his hair. He must have known that Delilah was deceitful and was trying to discover the secret of his strength in order to tell her Philistine buddies, but he seemed to have lost touch with reality until it was too late.
We can sit in judgment over Samson and his foolishness, but before we do we need to stop and consider our own actions. In what way are we violating the things that God’s Word once convicted us about? How many times have we compromised God’s standards for our own desires? Something to think about isn’t it?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 30, 2009 | Judges
Judges 16:19
“Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the LORD had left him.”
I am told that a group of researchers were experimenting on the reactions of frogs when exposed to hot water. They sat a shallow dish over heat and brought the temperature up to just under boiling.
As a frog would be placed in this hot water, it would immediately leap out of the dish onto the table. Time after time each frog tested in this manner jumped to safety and no harm was done.
They placed a frog in cool water and observed as it swam around with no concern. They very gradually raised the temperature of the water. The frog showed no concern and in fact remained in the water until it died in boiling water.
Here is where the lesson comes in. In today’s Scripture, God had given Samson a gift of power and might. There was a condition: He had to live as a Nazarite and never cut his hair. He must have known that Delilah was deceitful and was trying to discover the secret of his strength in order to tell her Philistine buddies, but he seemed to have lost touch with reality until it was too late.
We can sit in judgment over Samson and his foolishness, but before we do we need to stop and consider our own actions. In what way are we violating the things that God’s Word once convicted us about? How many times have we compromised God’s standards for our own desires? Something to think about isn’t it?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
