by Pastor Cecil | Dec 31, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 23:4
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Back when I was in high school (in the dark ages), I read a poem that rattled my cage. I cut it out and carried it around for many years before losing it. I have wished many times that I still had it. I hope you enjoy what I recall. It went something like this:
When skies are blue and songbirds sing;
When flowers bloom, their fragrance bring;
When friends abound and funds abound;
When health and love are easily found;
It doesn’t take a lot of sand to shout and sing, to beat the band.
BUT – – –
When things go wrong—as they often do;
When skies suddenly lose their azure blue;
When well laid plans fall into a crumpled heap;
When weary eyes scream out for peaceful sleep;
THEN – – –
Is the time to take our stand, it’s the time to walk by faith and take God’s hand!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 26, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 143:10
“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.”
As hard as it may be to believe, I have taught many university classes. It reminds me of the old joke about an obviously unlearned man who said he has just been to a prominent university. When asked what he had studied he replied, “Oh, I didn’t study, they were studying me!”
One particular course I taught was a huge class of over 120 students. As I stood at the podium and looked out at the sea of faces, I realized that there were all sorts of thoughts going on in their brains and I had a very limited amount of time to get them focused on learning the principles I wanted them to grasp.
I frequently feel as if I am in need of getting back to the basic principles of being a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. I certainly do not feel that I have all of the answers. In fact I often find myself searching for the questions!
One thing I will strive for in the days the Lord chooses to bless me with is to be more and more committed to searching out some of the answers to the basics. I hope you will join with me as we devote our time to discover God’s answers to today’s problems.
May God richly bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 13, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 98:4
“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.”
Throughout scripture we are called upon to make a joyful noise before the Lord. In Psalm 98, all of creation is called upon to make a joyful noise before God. All around us we see the hand of a loving God who cared enough about us to send His own dear Son into the world to provide us with salvation.
This beautiful hymn was written by Isaac Watts. As we read and listen to the words of this moving Christmas hymn, we need to stop and ask ourselves if we are making a joyful noise before the Lord or just noise.
Joy to the World
Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart Prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing;
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and angels sing
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods; rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy;
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, Repeat, the sounding joy
No more will sins and sorrows grow;
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow;
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace;
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love;
And wonders of His love;
And wonders, wonders of His love.
Enjoy this week’s free inspirational video, “Joy To the World” from GloryScapes.com by going to: https://gloryscapes.com/joytotheworld/
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 12, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 103:1, 4
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! – – Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”
Way back in 1952 I went to a jewelry store and selected an engagement and wedding ring set for the woman (then a girl of 18) of my dreams. It was a small set with hearts on either side of a diamond.The hearts were a symbol of our love for each other.
I did not have much money so I put them on lay-a-way. For those of you who are rich and have never heard of the term “lay-a-way,” it is reserving the item and paying on it a little at a time until you have met the price.You may then REDEEM your item.
The Hebrew word for redeem as used in Psalm 103:4 is the word ga’al. In addition to redeem something, it also means to ransom someone.Many of you may have read about modern-day pirates taking over large vessels and holding the ship and crew until their ransom demands have been met.
Each and every one of us born into this world is held hostage to sin. We do not have to learn how to sin—it comes naturally.It is the common characteristic of each and every human. The blessed thing is that we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus. He paid the price and we have been REDEEMED!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 11, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 103:2
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
Suppose someone blessed you with a cash gift of $10,000. Can you imagine what your reaction would be?What would your attitude be toward the one who gave you $10,000? Would you have a feeling of elation? How long do you suppose that gift would last?
In the very next verse (Ps 103:3) we are told that the Lord forgives all our sins and heals all of our diseases. We may not be able to visualize our complete healing, but through the eyes of faith we can know that God has healed us from the inside out!
Anytime I consider the concept of God’s forgiveness I immediately think of I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Without an acknowledgement of our sins and confessing them before the Lord, there can be no forgiveness. We also need to forgive others and praise the Lord in the process. If we desire God to heal us from the inside out, there is no way other than doing what His Word commands. Are you praising the Lord for His forgiveness and giving you the grace to forgive others?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 27, 2019 | Psalm
Psalm 57:7
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise.”
Steadfast! The Hebrew word is Niphal. It means: to be set up, be established, be fixed, to be firmly established, be stable, be secure, be enduring, securely determined, to be directed aright, be fixed aright, be steadfast (in the moral sense).
Just because a person gives a glowing testimony does not insure a steadfast walk with the Lord. I have known some yo-yo Christians—on fire for the Lord one moment and cold as a cucumber the next. One of the problems with yo-yo Christians is that their lack of spiritual steadfastness makes witnessing difficult for faithful Christians. That is why it is sometimes essential to spend years of steadfast living before certain non-Christians will be willing to listen to the gospel message.
Having spent many years in the criminal justice field as well as a military career, I have heard the disparaging comments from the world crowd. Believe me, they did not candy coat their feelings! Hypocritical (or yo-yo) Christians were called names I will not repeat here.
Would you describe yourself as a steadfast Christian or a yo-yo Christian? If you desire to have a steadfast walk with the Lord, start right now by making a covenant to be faithful and true to Him in all that you do—then do it!
May God richly bless you by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
