by Pastor Cecil | Sep 21, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 33:1-3
“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
Fanny J. Crosby was a tiny woman. She stood under five feet and weighed less than 100 pounds. Because of being maltreated for an eye infection when she was only a few months old, she spent the remainder of her 95 years totally blind.
This tiny dynamo wrote over 8,000 poems and hymns during her lifetime. She composed her poems and hymns entirely in her mind and then dictated them to a stenographer. She was said to be able to work on as many as twelve hymns at once before dictating them all out.
Fanny felt that it was a special gift from God that she should be blind all of her life, and she thanked Him for that gift. She felt that when she arrived in heaven, the first face she desired to gladden her sight would be her precious Savior. It was in 1896 that she wrote the hymn selected for this week.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
1. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children,
in His arms He carries them all day long:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise him! Praise him ever in joyful song!
2. Praise him! Praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins he suffered, and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
love unbounded, wonderful deep and strong:
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
3. Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
crown Him! crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Refrain: Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!
To access the free inspirational video for this weeks, as well as other videos, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/praisehimpraisehim
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Sep 12, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 84:12-13
“O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You! As they pass through the Valley of Tears, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.”
In high school I worked part-time delivering milk door to door. We had an established route and each driver had detailed instructions on what each customer was to receive. No customer ever came to the door to thank me for coming into their lives to supply milk for them and their children.
If such an event had occurred I could not take the credit. Yes, I had faithfully delivered the milk, but who was ultimately responsible for the delivery? I think it may be safe to conclude it was the person who hired me, trained me, and supplied me with the milk to deliver. There is really no place for pride—I just delivered the milk as ordered.
Christians must never take pride in being used by the Lord. We share the Gospel, offer a prayer of faith and then leave the results up to God. Like delivering the milk, the One who sent us deserves the credit—we just make the delivery.
In today’s Scripture we are reminded that as we go through the valley of tears we have a delivery to make. Only God knows who is in that same valley waiting for the “milk” of God’s Word? Are you committed to deliver God’s “milk”?
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 28, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 37:39
“But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.”
Many of us who have traveled with children in the car remember the constant refrain from the back seat, “Are we there yet?” Hearing this over and over again can quickly become a source of irritation.
In the same way, we tend to expect God to act upon our requests in a more timely manner — but we need to remember that it is in His time (not ours) that His perfect will is accomplished. Think of Joseph or Job as excellent examples of what it means to wait upon the Lord.
Does God hear our prayers? If so, why does it take so long for us to see the results? Certainly the element of timing may be involved, but at the same time we need to understand that there are spiritual forces which we cannot see that are at work. Read Daniel chapter 10 for a good example of this type of warfare in the spirit realm.
Just because we do not receive answers when we want to receive them does not mean that God does not hear us, or that He is unconcerned about us. Remember that He is in absolute control and in His time the answer will come. Our part is to remain faithful and keep our eyes on Him, not on our request. “HE IS ALL WE NEED!”
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 17, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 23:4
“Even 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.”
Someone has observed that shadows are often larger than the real object. When I was a police officer there were a few times when I was scared out of my wits by a huge shadow…only to discover it was a small cat walking in front of the headlights of a car and creating a larger than life shadow.
Death often casts a huge shadow, but it should hold no fear for the child of God. In II Corinthians 5:8 the Apostle Paul reminds us that “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” Death is our doorway into eternity. How fantastic!
As we consider the words of this song we should make it our prayer request. It should be our desire to walk closer to the Lord than ever before. It should not be just one time, but it should be our fervent desire to walk closer to Him with each passing day.
Just a Closer Walk With Thee
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long, as I walk,
let me walk close to Thee.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
When my feeble life is o’er,
time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er,
to Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
To access the free inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/justacloserwalkwiththee/
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
— Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 8, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 143:8
“Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.”
Sometimes we get so caught up in the storms of life that we tend to lose our reference points. We lack a clear-cut direction for our life. Our modern culture has become so polluted with sin and an absence of moral absolutes, that we have mis-direction as well as no-direction.
So how do we find a reliable source of navigation in our life? Notice the first line of our Scripture today which gives us a key reference. It speaks of morning. I think it is essential that we call upon the Lord as early in the day as possible.We need the Great Navigator of all creation to have control of our life. “A day without God’s Word, makes one weak!”
I once read an account about how deliciously God directs our paths. A woman was waiting in line to process an application of some type. She became frustrated as the man behind her pushed his way in ahead of her. Part of the application process required him to show a picture of his mother. As he laid down the picture, the woman yelled out, “That’s not your mother, that’s my mother!” In a few minutes these two found a sibling they had no idea existed. GOD NAVIGATES WELL! He knows what lies ahead and can chart our course.
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 6, 2018 | Psalm
Psalm 84:5-6
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping), they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.”
Today’s Scripture just seems to sum up so much of the real meaning in life. We are all traveling along life’s pathway and none of us will remain. I can recall traveling across the country in an old car with running boards. (For you young people, those are things you could stand on while talking to people inside the car, or ride on when there was no more room inside the car, and you were just going two blocks anyway).
We stayed at motor camps along the way to our destination. These were places that were not much more than four walls and hopefully close to the public restrooms. It was in no way considered home, even though travelers might stay there for several days or even a couple of weeks while they earned enough money to move on to the next stopping place.
With this picture in mind, I ask this question: Would it be wise to make a lot of effort to fix up the dilapidated shack they were staying in for a few days? The answer is decidedly No! It was just a place of shelter as they were passing through. They were making provision for their new home. This was just a shanty along the roadway to their destination. Why do we spend so much time, energy, and effort to fix up something that is going to pass away?
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil
