by Pastor Cecil | Apr 10, 2015 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
I once read about a forest service worker who was walking through an area that had just been ravaged by a forest fire. He saw a strange mound and stopped to check it out. To his astonishment it was a mother bird that had been killed by the fire. As he knelt to examine the bird, he heard a peep from under the pile of ashes. When he turned the bird over he found several chicks.
Instead of flying to save herself, the mother had sacrificed herself in order to protect her brood from the fire that was sweeping toward them. That is what Jesus has done for us. He wants to shelter us under His wings from the firestorm of life.
In 1896, William Cushing wrote the words and Ira Sankey composed the music to the hymn, Under His Wings. Enjoy this featured hymn from GloryScapes.
Under His Wings
Under His wings, I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild.
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child.
Refrain: Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
safely abide forever.
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed.
Refrain: Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
safely abide forever.
Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are over;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.
Refrain: Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
safely abide forever.
To access Under His Wings, this week’s free inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to:http://www.gloryscapes.com/underhiswings/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 13, 2015 | Proverbs
Proverbs 31:10-11
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
I have been asked to share the tribute I narrated at the memorial service for the best friend and sweetest wife a man could ever have. After sixty-six years, this will be the first Valentine’s Day without my precious Joyce — sixty-two of those as husband and wife.
MY TRIBUTE TO THE VITAL PART OF MY LIFE—MY WIFE!
After all of these years, how can I begin to explain the love I shared with Joyce? I began to discover the meaning of love when we were young and full of life. As near as I can recall, it was Sunday, August 22, 1948, in Nampa, Idaho, when I first saw Joyce. Sunday school class was about to start and, as usual, I was sitting next to my lifelong friend Jerry, when the door of that classroom opened and Joyce stepped in with her sister. She was wearing a white and yellow dress that just set off her pitch black hair. At that moment it seemed like my heart stopped beating. I turned to Jerry and said, “She’s the one!” I didn’t even know what that meant, but I knew that with one look she had stolen my heart.
A few weeks later there was a potluck dinner for several families who had moved from Camas, Washington, to Nampa. With my heart in my throat, I asked Joyce if she would like to go with me. I was sure that someone with her beauty would never have eyes for a clod like me. Amazingly, she said yes! I later learned that when we left the house that day, her mother commented, “Look at those two babies!”
At just fourteen years of age we appeared to be too young to know what love was…but we did! Nat King Cole had a hit song back then that became ours. It seemed to perfectly express our situation: “They Try to Tell Us We’re Too Young.”
They try to tell us we’re too young, too young to really be in love; They say that love’s a word, a word we’ve only heard but can’t begin to know the meaning of. And yet we’re not too young to know, this love will last though years may go, and then some day they may recall, we were not too young at all.
Looking back from this vantage point, I wonder that our parents gave us their blessing to our dating. That flicker of tender teenage love only grew stronger through our high school years. Other classmates would date for a time and then part for a new romance. All the while, Cec and Joyce never parted.
I still remember the sweet times we spent sharing our dreams with each other. Contrary to many modern couples, we waited to consummate our love after we were married.
Our wedding night was special in so many ways. It was blistering hot and our pastor was out of town, so a college professor performed the ceremony. There was an attempt to steal the keys of the car taking us on our honeymoon, but the plot failed and love prevailed. We were now beginning our wonderful new life as husband and wife.
It was not long before we experienced our first taste of military life. It gave us an opportunity to see places and meet people who became dear friends. It was during our first assignment in South Dakota that our dear Brenda was born. Oh, how we long to see her once again. The next time will be in eternity and there will be no sorrow, pain, or separation. We will see her healthy and happy beyond imagining. Our next two children, Dan and Lori, were both born in Nampa. They also have been such sources of joy. Even in the trials of life they have shown us love and respect and have always commented about the love they saw in their parents.
I am not sure when Joyce and I crossed the line from young people to middle age people, to mature people, to elderly people…but in every age we have passed through, we have loved each other completely.
Sensual love is something that novelists have tried to portray, but our love has been far deeper. During the darkest days of trial and testing, we have known the love of Jesus and the love of each other.
We have shed our tears at the passing of our precious Brenda and then through the transplant surgeries of our dear Lori. What a gift of love from a granddaughter, Jenna, who gave one of her kidneys to her aunt Lori. Not only have we shared our love for each other, we have felt that love surround us.
Across these years I watched the beautiful woman I first saw as a fourteen-year-old beauty who captured my heart on a Sunday morning grow more and more feeble. But her beauty and loveliness has never faded from my sight.
They say that your memory is going to gradually recede as you grow older. With my precious Joyce it was slipping far too rapidly. Many of her comments were just a little out of context. The doctors confirmed that she was suffering from Dementia with Lewy Bodies. We had never even heard of such an ailment before, but were now living with it.
Over these last few months, I knew that we were losing her. As I sat beside her bed I looked over the face of the gorgeous woman who has been beside me these many years. My heart ached.
We both knew the time was running out. In our quiet moments we tried to share just how precious we had been to each other. Not long ago you paid me the highest honor a wife could give a husband when you said, “Honey, you are love personified!” I will always be that for you, Dear Joyce. I LOVE YOU DEARLY. Wait for me I still have work to do here on earth!
Your devoted husband, Cec
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 9, 2015 | Proverbs
Proverbs 18:24
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
We really do need each other, and a true friend is one of the greatest possessions we can have. It is a sad and poor man who has no friends. Friends are different than companions. Companions may be close by, but are not sufficiently close that we can share our deepest feelings.
I have been blessed with a wealth of friends over the years. One of those friends is Chris Vosler. Chris and his wife, Pat, were members of the church I pastored in Burns, Oregon, almost forty years ago. When I resigned that pastorate, Chris gave me a plaque which I have looked at almost every day of my life since then. Here is what it says: “A friend is one who knows you as you are, understands where you’ve been, accepts who you’ve become, and still gently invites you to grow. Cecil, Thanks for being that friend. Chris”
There is one Friend who far exceeds all others. He is with us come rain or shine, good days or not so good days. Jesus Christ stays with us during the dark hours of the night. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is there beside us. When we receive devastating news, He is there to provide the comfort and solace to ease the pain. When we receive news that calls for rejoicing, He makes it even better for we have One who rejoices with us. At all times, and in every circumstance, our Dearest Friend makes our life worth living.
Having such a dear and precious Friend, He calls us to be the special friend to others. That will often mean getting out of our comfort zone and going the extra mile for someone else. Are you a TRUE FRIEND?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 3, 2015 | Proverbs
Proverbs 6:9-11
“How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”
It was generally not the intention of a person to become an out and out sinner, yet here they are entrenched in a life of sin. Some time ago I either read or heard about the devastating way a person drifts into a life of sin. Follow the flow:
THOUGHTS: What we think leads to the next step, WORDS.
WORDS: What we say is generated by our thoughts and leads ACTIONS.
ACTIONS: May seem insignificant at first, but they lead to HABITS.
HABITS: Without realizing it our habits become our CHARACTER.
CHARACTER: Who and what we are determines our DESTINY.
DESTINY: Our life on this earth will someday end. Our DESTINY starts with our thought life. How would you describe your thought life? It is very important to take evaluation while there is time.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 6, 2015 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
There was once a father and son who had taken a hike that took them far from camp. The son was excited about this new world he had heard about and was now experiencing. Repeatedly his father cautioned him about getting too far away.
Night was rapidly approaching and the son suddenly realized that he was in danger. He had crossed over a narrow path that was carved into a very steep and deep cliff. He had been so engrossed in the beauty and delight of the moment that he failed to notice that night and danger was approaching until it was too late.
At long last the son swallowed his pride and called out for his father for help. To his surprise, his father was very near. He had been watching his son and waiting for the moment when he knew he could not go further on his own. He told his son to follow in his exact steps. The path that seemed so threatening to the son had in fact been blazed by the father many years earlier. By following the boy was saved.
Now read Proverbs 3:5-6 once again. Can you see how very much like the son in the story we are? Anytime we feel our feet slipping or the darkness closing in on us, all we need to do is cry out to the Lord. He built the path to provide for our salvation! It requires trusting Him with all our heart and to acknowledge Him in all our ways. The promise He gives is that He will direct our paths. Praise the Lord!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 26, 2014 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:3
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”
Back in the 1970’s (Can you remember that far back?) I was working for the State of Idaho and because of my background I also taught night classes at Boise State in the fields of Criminal Justice and Sociology. We had to have at least 20 students enrolled for the class or it would not be offered. Several times I went to pick up my class roll and discovered there were not enough signed up.
One class I remember well. I went to the registrar’s office hoping to have enough students. I asked if there were enough and with a laugh I was told that there were 122 students. Wow! What was I going to do with that many students? I asked a friend who was a full time professor about my dilemma. He laughed and said; “Cecil, you will not be a teacher, you will be an entertainer!”
At the close of the first session I gave the class assignment. They were to state what was the most important thing to them and why. There were some grumbles, but when they came back to the following week I could detect a change. They had been thinking about what was most important to them and it made them smile.
As I reviewed their responses for the next class session, I was amazed. Most had listed LOVE as the most important thing. Second in importance was JOY and then came PEACE. Now remember that this was a state university, but I took out my Bible and read Galatians 5:22-23; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” I used their responses as the pattern to teach real meaning into our lives.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
