by Pastor Cecil | May 16, 2018 | 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.”
I once read the recounting of a young girl’s thrilling act of faith. As she and her mother were getting ready to exit a store a rain downpour suddenly erupted. In the crowd that was waiting out the rain were some grumblers while others just stood in silence. Suddenly the young girl began to urge her mother to run through the rain to their car. But her mother wanted to wait for the rain to stop.
The mother patiently explained that they would get soaking wet if they ran through the rain. The girl protested that they wouldn’t and reminded her mother what she had said that very morning. “Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'”
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. Finally the mother answered. “Honey, you are absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain. If God lets us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing.” Then off they ran to their car smiling and laughing.
Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child’s life. We need to realize that innocent trust can be nurtured in order for it to bloom into faith.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 3, 2018 | 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.”
In college there were prerequisites by which you could not enroll in a particular course until you had successfully completed a (prerequisite) class or classes. In much the same way, God places certain prerequisites in our life’s journey serving Him.
In today’s passage we find one don’t, two do’s, and a promise. Let’s get the don’t out of the way first: We are advised not to lean on our own understanding. All too often we discover that people place too much emphasis on what they know. It is called pride! God hates pride and we need to heed His warning against it.
God gives us two do’s: First, we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart — that means our everything. Second, we are to acknowledge Him in all of our ways. Stop taking credit that rightfully belongs to the Lord.
The precious promise that God gives us in this passage is that He will direct our paths. That, to me, is better than any Global Positioning System GPS that man has ever developed.
Where do you find yourself in the process of meeting God’s conditional promises? I trust that you will learn along with me that God is better able to lead, guide, and direct than we will ever be.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 17, 2018 | Proverbs
Proverbs 12:15
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”
Since he had become a Christian, Al had always tried to do what was right. He read his Bible and prayed frequently. As he grew spiritually Al was able to see the hand of God at work in his life. Then something happened!
Al owned a classic automobile that he had restored from the ground up. When the restoration was finished he decided to sell it for a huge profit. Then he had a better plan (or so he reasoned). Al decided to keep all of the profits to buy an even more expensive auto that would bring even more profit so that he would be able to give more to the Lord.
But from the very beginning things began to go wrong. There were huge unforeseen costs that drained his money and embittered his heart. He focused all of his attentions inward instead of upward and it led to disaster.
Trying to please God on our own terms rather that doing what God requires is always doomed to failure and destruction. It is not how smart we are, or what wonderful position we fill, or how much money we make that counts with God. It is and always has been that we do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 5, 2018 | 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.”
When we graduated from high school in 1952 our class voted this hymn to be our class hymn to take with us. My dear wife Joyce always would brighten up when she heard the hymn and remind me it was our class hymn.
I did not know the story behind the hymn until I did a little investigation for this week’s hymn. The words were composed by Civilia Martin and the music by her husband W. Stillman Martin. One Sunday afternoon Civilia was ill and her husband was on a preaching assignment. She composed the words and when her husband returned he immediately sat at his organ and wrote the music.
This song is credited for transforming the life of James Cash Penney, founder of the American department store chain J. C. Penney. He heard it one morning in the chapel of the Kellogg Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he had been hospitalized with a severe case of shingles, as well as exhaustion and depression.
“GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU!”
- Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
Refrain: God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
- Through days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you.
Refrain: God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
- All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.
Refrain: God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
- No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you.
Refrain: God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
There is no video for this week. For other videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 28, 2017 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:18
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”
With a subscriber base that reaches around the globe, each day I receive reports of trials and persecution that the saints of God are experiencing. It is easy to feel true sympathy for these people.
As I pray and meditate about those who are experiencing persecution, I am immediately aware that we are to rejoice with these people. In today’s Scripture the Greek word for “blessed” is “makarios.” It means to be happy to the point of rejoicing.
Why on earth would someone who is experiencing lies, persecution, and insults rejoice? The reason we encounter harsh treatment is to demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
It is essential to examine our persecution to determine if the cause is the result of faith in Jesus Christ or because of some type of our misconduct on our part. We cannot claim to be persecuted for Christ’s sake if we are guilty of doing something wrong.
Here is the bottom line—if we encounter ordeals in our life that are not the result of our sinful actions, we are blessed. We are told to count it joy and even to rejoice in our trials. We don’t need to pity, we need to praise!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 27, 2017 | Proverbs
Proverbs 16:18
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
It is not necessary for us to deal with our own pride. God allows situations into our lives that make us realize we have nothing to be proud about. There are many embarrassing moments in my life. One that stands out in my memory happened years ago when I was teaching a class of young professionals. The class seemed to be very interested in everything I was saying, that is until I noticed that they all were looking down at my feet.
Finally one of the young women raised her hand and asked if there was a reason I was wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe? I dreaded looking down, knowing that in my haste earlier that morning I had made a blunder. The class exploded in laughter at my expense. After recovering from my initial embarrassment, I sheepishly told them, “As strange as it may seem, I have another pair at home just like this pair!”
One of the things I have learned from these “red-faced” situations is that pride needs to be dealt a blow. It is hard to act proud and aloof when you have on one brown shoe and one black shoe.
I earnestly pray that the Lord will continue to bring the “shoes” into my life any time I start to think more of myself than I ought. NOT ME—BUT CHRIST ONLY!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
