by Pastor Cecil | Oct 10, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
William Walford did not allow the fact that he was blind limit his service for his Lord. He was frequently called upon to preach in a small country church. He composed the sermons in his head and also was able to quote large portions of Scripture from memory. Some people thought he had memorized the entire Bible. He also composed verses as the Lord laid the words upon his heart. Above all—he was a man of prayer.
In the mid 1800’s, Thomas Salmon was visiting in England and became acquainted with Pastor Walford. As they were visiting one day the blind pastor quoted a few pieces he had composed. Since he had no one to write them down he had kept them treasured in the storehouse of his mind.
One of the verses he related to Mr. Salmon was, Sweet Hour of Prayer.Mr. Salmon eagerly scribbled the words down on a scrap of paper. When he returned to New York he sent the verses to the Observerand asked if they thought them worth preserving. The Observer did think them worthy and published them on September 13, 1845. The music was added by William Bradbury in 1861.
Sweet Hour of Prayer
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
‘Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!’
To access Sweet Hour of Prayer please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/sweethourofprayer 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
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 6, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 1:21-24
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Someone has made a very profound observation: “The percentage of death is 100%.” That may be profound, but it is not at all original. It reminds me of an old song called “Little Jimmy Brown.” It spoke of the birth, marriage, and death of a man just known as Jimmy Brown.
As we make our way through this life we need to be aware that we are all destined to die (unless the Lord calls us home in the Rapture). So — how many years will we live? None of us has the answer that question. Having turned 80 this year, I am well that I am in the zone. But then I stop and remember that I had grandparents and one parent who lived into their 90’s. Only God knows how long I will remain.
You know what? That does not distress me. The Lord has given me a meaningful ministry and be it a few days or many years I am content in trusting myself into the arms of my Savior. I can honestly say EITHER WAY!
When I use the term either way, I do not want to imply a flippant attitude, but that is truly the way I feel. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways that I could never count them all. As Paul says in today’s Scripture; “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” EITHER WAY!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 20, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 1:20-21
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
We never know how close we are to eternity! In 1953 I had completed basic training in California and was being transported to Texas. Approximately fifty of us were flying on an older model military transport plane—an old one! It was left over from World War II.
We made an interim stop in New Mexico, and just as we landed, one of the two propellers stopped. As we waited for the repairs to be made, a mechanic mentioned that we were just fortunate—if we had been in the air when the propeller stopped, we might not be there. Yikes!
Thinking about it now I realize that we could very easily have crashed, and I could have been ushered into eternity! I have had other close calls that reveal to me that we are just a heartbeat from eternity!
All of us walk through life on borrowed time. Unfortunately, many of us are prone to behave as if we would go on living for many more years. We cling onto life with our every breath and scream bloody murder at the thought of our death—for what? Not for what we can do for the Lord or to serve Him, but just to live a little longer.
I want to live in such a way that others will see Christ in me. Not only did Paul express his commitment to live only for Christ, he demonstrated it by the way he lived. If ever there was an example of a sold-out Christian life, it was the apostle Paul. Let me close for today with Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:20: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 2, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 1:20-21
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Way back in the 1960’s I was an Air Force Personnel Officer stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana. The church we attended had a guest speaker who was a professor at a well known seminary. The Sahara Desert could not have been any dryer than this man’s message. He seemed to delight in using terms that even the most learned would find difficult to understand. The best thing about his message was the Amen at the close!
Many years later I had become an ordained minister and attended a pastor’s conference in Portland, Oregon. As I reviewed the program there were many wonderful sessions with speakers I was eager to hear. Then I looked further and to my shock I saw that the same dull seminary professor was speaking at all of the general sessions. How could the organizers do this to us?!
As the professor began to speak he assumed the person of the character he wanted to highlight. The first character was Joseph. He spoke as if he were actually Joseph. To a room filled with pastors and their wives he became Joseph. He expressed the thoughts Joseph must have felt at all the stages of his life. It was incredible that we were all leaning forward to listen to him live out the inner feelings that Joseph must have experienced.
We could hardly wait for the next session when he lived out another Bible character. In like manner the Bible should come alive. We need to experience it in such a way that it is alive. LIVE IT!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 9, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I have worn glasses all of my life because of astigmatism in my left eye. I once worked for a Probate Judge who was near-sighted — he could see things close up, but was extremely impaired in seeing things at a distance. At some point Ed decided to have an eye examination.
The optometrist was shocked at the Judge’s inability to see at a distance and immediately prescribed glasses to correct the problem. It was hilarious hearing Ed exclaim delightedly over all of the things he could now see that were not seen before. He was astounded that it was possible to even read house numbers from the street!
As believers, we often suffer from limited vision in the spiritual realm. We are so focused on the things of this world that we fail to have our spiritual vision checked in order to be able to see things as God desires.
I want to have my own spiritual vision clear enough that I will be able to see the hand of God at work so that I can become a part of His Master Plan. The way to do this is to dive into the Word of God and constantly seek to discover the things God wants me to see. OPEN MY EYES, LORD!
God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 28, 2014 | Philippians
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I have a confession to make. The words that I write down five days each week for this E-Votional do not come easily. My mind is always searching for an inspiration from the Lord as to what to write. Many times (if not most of the time) my inspiration comes from a passage of Scripture I have read; other times it springs from a memory of things long past, and still others come from observation of events that happen around me.
Do you know what the hardest part is? Simply to GET STARTED! There are always so many distractions and demands on my time that it is easy to put off the more essential tasks. (I am sure you have never had that problem. Cough! Cough!) If by chance you have suffered the same malady, there is hope for all of us.
I see at least two things that Paul urges us to do in order to get started in our walk with the Lord. The first is to forget. Amazing isn’t it? He wants us to forget the things that are past. I think that is because we cannot relive them, and to spend time dwelling on them will only take our minds off our spiritual objective: to please the Lord.
The second thing Paul urges is for us to strain for what is ahead. In your mind you can visualize a runner straining to reach the goal line, his body leaning forward to be able to cross the finish line victoriously. GET STARTED!
God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
