by Pastor Cecil | Dec 20, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 10:1
“The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to His mother.”
My heart soared this morning. I was sitting in the waiting room of a local hospital with my son and daughter-in-law. Their daughter, (our granddaughter) was in the operating room down the hall.
My son shared the concern his daughter had expressed just before she went into have the surgery. “Dad, what if I die?” Dan said he told her that if she did she would be in the presence of the Lord and would be free from all of the cares of this world. He went on to name all of the loved ones she would see.
I did not say anything to Dan, but I thought my heart would explode. What joy to have a dear son who loved the Lord with all of his heart and was sharing the truth of God’s gracious love for us, even when we are near death’s door. By the way, the surgery was successful and now it is a period of recovery.
Dan did not skirt the reality of death―it is always a present possibility. He was wise in that he knew Melinda had been born again and for the believer, the end of our earthly life is the entrance into our wonderful eternal life that will never pass away. We need to remind ourselves of this reality for the believer. Not only was I pleased with my son, I know the Lord was also pleased. Well done Dan!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com.
P.P.S. – I have completed my first book, 100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations. The cost is $12.95 plus shipping. You can now order it online by going to https://dailyevotional.com/prior2020/book-by-pastor-cecil . . . You may want to consider this book as a thoughtful gift idea for those who do not have Internet access or as helpful sermon illustrations for your Pastor.
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by Pastor Cecil | Oct 29, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 14:26-27
“He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.”
Robert Robinson who lived from 1735 to 1790, was saved while attending a service conducted by the famous evangelist George Whitefield. Following his conversion he entered the Christian ministry, but like so many, he would lose his fervor for God.
The words of the hymn Come Thou Fount were written to express his own need for a closer walk with the Lord. His prayer is that his heart may be re-tuned to be in perfect harmony with the will of God.
In stanza two he speaks of his conversion. The word “Ebenezer” refers to a time and place when he actually received the Lord into his life as personal Savior and Lord. He goes on to remind himself and others that it is necessary to daily remind ourselves what a debt we owe to the Lord for our salvation at His expense.
“Come Thou Fount“
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount-I’m fixed upon it
-mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wand’ring heart to Thee;
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
seal it for Thy courts above.
To access Come Thou Fount, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes™ Christian Music Videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/comethoufount 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
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com.
P.P.S. – I have completed my first book, 100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations. The cost is $12.95 plus shipping. You can now order it online by going to https://dailyevotional.com/prior2020/book-by-pastor-cecil . . . You may want to consider this book as a thoughtful gift idea for those who do not have Internet access or as helpful sermon illustrations for your Pastor.
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by Pastor Cecil | Oct 11, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
Sometimes you inherit situations that you would just as soon not receive. Some of these situations are a thorn in your side and force you to trust in the Lord since you are not able to handle it by yourself.
I once was called to be pastor of a church that had a janitor who had been a former member. I never was able to determine why she and her family stopped attending the church, and they were not open to my invitation to attend. I had been at the church for about a year or so when one of our families informed me that this young lady had been hired by a local business. They offered to clean the church free of charge as part of their ministry to the Lord.
I called the woman to ask if she intended to continue as our janitor when she started her new job. This is where the trouble started. As I started to ask about her plans when I heard her brother in the background say, “He’s going to fire you!” I assured her that I was not calling to fire her, but to simply ask what her plans were.
It was not long before the entire family was at the door of the parsonage in an uproar. They were irate that I did not have the decency to fire her in person rather than by phone. As hard as I tried to convince them that she was not fired, they could not be dissuaded. After giving a piece of their mind (that they couldn’t afford to lose) they stormed out in a rage. In their eyes I had been found “Guilty as presumed!”
We can learn a lesson from this type of encounter. We must examine our actions and attitudes to determine if the Lord is pleased. Having done this we can only let go and let God deal with those who have accused us without justification.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 29, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:18-19
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
Sometimes you are treated to people who are honest enough to really confess their foibles and faults. I once heard a song evangelist share a humorous, but revealing, insight into his life.
He shared that following a service when he had sung his heart out and people were showering him with compliments, one lady commented, “Thank you so much for that wonderful song. You have one of the most mellow voices I have ever heard.” After he returned home he went to his office to look up the meaning of the word “mellow” so he could savor her compliment. To his dismay it read: “Mellow: ripe and getting rotten.”
I only wish that we could all be greeted with that type of definition any time we think too highly of ourselves. As a matter of fact, we should make every effort to pursue a spirit of humility.
How do we accomplish this? It is a life-long endeavor. It is far too easy to accept the praises of others. Both Joseph before Pharaoh and Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar refused to take credit for interpretation of dreams or visions. It was only God who was responsible. It is the same for us. Any little thing that we do should always be done for the Lord. To Him be the glory!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com
Special Note: I have completed a book, “100 of Pastor Cecil’s Select Illustrations.” Information on ordering copies will be sent out in the next few days. It may be a thoughtful gift idea for those who do not have Internet access.
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 30, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:18
“Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
When I was a teenager my mother was a cook in the dining hall at Northwest Nazarene College. The cooks would serve the meals family style to the students who were seated at tables.
At the end of the shift the cooks would generally have food remaining, the same food the students had been served. They would fill cans with the leftovers and take them home for their families to eat.
One of our acquaintances was a man who seldom was able to support his family, yet had a huge amount of pride. I can still recall him driving down the street and when he recognized you, he would simply raise his index finger without taking his hand off of the steering wheel. His index finger!
This proud man would quietly ask my mom if she could spare some of the food. It became a regular thing to take food to his family, but he made it clear that he did not want other people to know about it.
What makes us proud? Why do we often try to put on an appearance of something other than we are? Reality of life is very important to a true believer. By that I mean that we should live in such a transparent manner that people will see what we are really like . . . warts and all! Is that the way you are living?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 12, 2010 | Proverbs
Proverbs 14:12
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”
It was just after midnight on a spring day back in 1954. I was working nights as a jet mechanic in the USAF in Rapid City, South Dakota. For those of you who do not recall the ancient of days when the USAF used F-84 aircraft, the wings were straight, not swept back. On the tip of each wing was a 225 gallon fuel tank.
We were ordered to bring one of the F-84 jets from the flight-line into the hangar for periodic maintenance. There were two of us assigned to bring the fighter jet into the hangar. I was in the cockpit to apply the brakes and the other airman was driving the tow vehicle. The procedure for towing planes was that all battery power had to be disconnected.
We had just started toward the hangar when I saw car lights approaching at a rapid rate of speed. Automatically I tried to turn on the landing lights, but of course there were none since the battery was disconnected. The driver on the tow vehicle flashed his lights on and off but the car kept coming. It was a helpless feeling to know an accident was about to happen and yet could do nothing about it.
The driver was a young pilot in our squadron who should not have been driving on the ramp area. He saw the left landing gear and swerved to miss it, but the large wing tank sliced into the top of his new car between the driver and passenger. He roared out his anger at me for not letting him know we were there. I was a lowly enlisted man and he was a “mighty” officer. He wanted me to know that I was in big trouble!
It is interesting that the next day it was the officer who was in serious trouble and we “lowly” enlisted men were commended for following correct procedure. In like manner we encounter self-opinionated people in our life that reject the claims of the Gospel and no matter how much we “flash our warning lights” they ignore and belittle us. The only thing we can do is keep on doing what we are instructed to do and hope we can save some from destruction.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
