by Pastor Cecil | Dec 30, 2019 | Luke
Luke 12:35-36
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.”
One of the major elements in defending against aggression is being on alert at all times. I can still recall the long night hours when I was on alert for any sign of threat to our nation. Thankfully, we were never attacked, but there were many simulated threats to insure our readiness to react.
When you are wide awake and expectant, it is much easier to react quickly and appropriately. When the night hours slip by and your eyes feel like they are filled with sand, it is necessary to react in a professional manner that comes from long hours of training.
In our spiritual walk we never know when the enemy will mount an attack. We can almost be certain that this attack will occur when we are weary and worn. If we have not spent the time in self examination, prayer, and Bible study, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attack.
There is one thing we can be sure about: We will meet our Lord face to face. It may be at the moment our eyes close in death or it may be when the trumpet sounds and we are called up to meet the Lord in the air. Either way, we must be on the alert with our lamps burning bright. Are you on the alert?
May God richly bless you by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 23, 2019 | Luke
Luke 1:17
“He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
In today’s Scripture, four hundred years of silence was broken and now an obscure priest from the hill country of Judea was the recipient of a Divine revelation. It was made by none other than the archangel Gabriel.
He announced that this old couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth, were going to have a son and his name was to be John. Gabriel bridged that gap from the Old Testament book of Malachi and told Zacharias that this special son would be given the spirit of Elijah. He would lead a dramatic revival of spirituality, but even a greater purpose would be to announce the arrival of the promised Messiah,.
As a boy I never imagined that God could use me. I was always out of step with the others. I believed them when they said I was a remedial student. To me that meant that I was a dummy and fit for only a menial occupation. In high school I was confronted with the reality that I could use this brain of mine.
I am convinced that the Lord has a purpose for each of us. You may feel that you lack the requirements to be used of God, but that is none of your business. It is God’s business and all you and I have to do is find God’s purpose for each and every day and then walk in expectancy. Go for it!!
May God richly bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 20, 2019 | Luke
Luke 2:8-10
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.’”
Several years ago our church had finished a wonderful Christmas Eve service. Earlier there had been candles placed inside white lunch bags that lined the driveway leading to the church.
My wife Joyce and I had volunteered to extinguish the candles after everyone had left. It had snowed a few days earlier and there were still a few inches on the ground. The temperature was below freezing when we crunched through the snow to the far end of the driveway. It was so quiet and beautiful that we were moved in our spirit with the beauty of God’s creation and the carol Silent Night.
The words of this well loved carol were written in 1818 by Josef Mohr after he had seen a play about the birth of Jesus. He was in a reflective mood and walked to a hill overlooking his village in the Austrian Alps. The view of the snow covered village reminded him of a poem he had written a few years earlier. The poem was about the night the angel announced the birth of Jesus.
The next day he took the words of his poem to Franz Gruber, who had just composed a melody. He re-worked the melody to match the words to the poem Mohr written. Our beloved carol, “Silent Night” was born.
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Savior is born
Christ, the Savior is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video, “Silent Night” from Gloryscapes.com by going to: https://gloryscapes.com/silentnight/
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 16, 2019 | Luke
Luke 2:26
“And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
God had spoken through His prophets across the ages that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and to a virgin. It seemed to be an impossible occurrence and there were far more skeptics than believers. Most of the religious leaders of that day were more interested in their own position than they were in listening to God. They were not prepared when God sent His Son in accordance with prophecy.
There were two exceptions – Simeon and Anna. Both expectantly spent their time in the Temple waiting for the promised Messiah. When Joseph and Mary appeared on the eighth day to have Jesus circumcised and named, they were prepared and found joy that their preparation was not in vain.
It was tragic that others in Israel were so filled with themselves that they could not have an open heart to welcome the Savior of the world. It is time to evaluate our own life to be able to determine if we are prepared to welcome the Lord. He came once and He is coming again. It is time to be prepared!
The Boy Scout motto is – BE PREPARED! – It means to be expectant and with the necessary equipment or techniques to meet any type of unexpected event. Let us be expectant to welcome Jesus into our lives!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 6, 2019 | Luke
Luke 2:15
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'”
The beloved Carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was originally written in Latin (Adeste Fideles). The words were written by an Englishman, John Wade who had originally intended it as a hymn.
The music to “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was composed by fellow Englishman John Reading in the early 1700s. In 1841, Rev. Frederick Oakley revised the lyrics of “Adeste Fideles.”
While it would be an appropriate hymn at any time of the year, it has become a cherished Christmas Carol. Let us all come and adore, Christ the Lord.
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Oh Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, Oh come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
Oh Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
All Hail Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
Oh Jesus for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Oh come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” from Gloryscapes.com by going to: https://gloryscapes.com/ocomeallyefaithful/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 3, 2019 | Luke
Luke 12:19-20
“And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’”
There once was a young couple who were on fire for the Lord. They read their Bible, prayed, attended church, and even were a part of a couple’s Bible study group. Sadly, over time they became discontented with their own home. They began searching for a new house that would be just right for them. Then the new house grew more important than just about anything in their life. They stopped their prayer life, Bible study, and even church attendance. Conflicts erupted between them and their marriage suffered.
What was the cause of it all? Was it the house? The answer is to be found in today’s Scripture. The man in the parable that Jesus taught was focused on the things of this world as if they would last forever—they don’t!
What a tragedy that some people spend their entire life striving for things that are temporary and have little or no eternal value.The chorus from an old hymn gives us the proper perspective of what is temporal and what is eternal: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
