by Pastor Cecil | Jul 14, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 19:14
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
One day I had a young man come to my office for counseling. He and his wife were experiencing difficulties, and he wanted me to assist in trying to patch up the damage that had been done in their relationship.
As this young man related the conversations with his wife and her negative reaction to his words, it was clear that he wanted me to take his side in the conflict (which, by the way, I never do). As a matter of fact, it has been my experience that the one who does most of the complaining is usually the one causing most of the problem.
For thirty or forty minutes he ranted about how this wife of his was totally to blame for their conflicts. He recounted the things he said to her (in a soft and loving voice) and how she would respond (in a resentful tone).
The young man left my office, but returned a short time later — something had happened to him. The Lord had convicted him of what he had related to me. He said that the words he spoke were accurate, but admitted that wasn’t the way he said it or how she had responded. Once he took the blame, healing took place.
The words of our mouth can bring about comfort and healing or bitterness and conflict. Think about the tone of your voice when you are speaking. Does the tone match the spirit that Christ wants you to have?
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 | Jul 12, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 91:15
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”
A popular seminary professor tells the story of a married seminary student with three children who was struggling to make ends meet while in school. The family had a boy named Timmy, age six, who grew out of his shirt and there was just no money for a new one.
His wise parents suggested that the family make it a matter of prayer and allow God to provide a new shirt for Timmy, size seven. Each evening as the family gathered for devotions, Timmy would remind whoever prayed to be sure and pray for a new shirt—size seven.
Several weeks went by and the Christian owner of a clothing store was getting rid of a line of shirts. He called Timmy’s parents and asked if they happened to have a need for any size seven shirts since he had three of them. That night when Timmy reminded his dad to pray for a size seven shirt, he told Timmy they wouldn’t be praying that prayer any longer. Timmy was confused until his brother and sister brought out his new shirts all size seven.
Wise parents indeed! They took the opportunity of laying a need before the Lord and in so doing they taught their family that God delights in providing for His children, even the little ones, size seven.
What specific needs do you have in your life that you are asking God for?
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 | Jun 30, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 89:47-48
“Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility You have created all men! What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave.”
A few days ago I was traveling down the freeway, a few miles from home. I was following the car ahead of me at a safe distance. All of the traffic was moving at generally the same speed and there was no threat of mishap.
I noticed in my rearview mirror a car approaching rapidly. There was a truck in the lane next to me about 50 feet ahead of me. I thought that he would have to slow down and wait for a chance to merge into my lane. Wrong! He suddenly swerved in front of me, missing me by only a few feet. (That really gets your adrenaline flowing!)
As I watched this car pull the same maneuver in and out of traffic ahead of me, I was aware of an interesting thing—he was not gaining ground! As recklessly as he was driving he hardly gained any ground at all. As I came to my exit, here he was just ahead of me. Wheeee!
Sometimes we feel as if we have to fly through life at a breakneck pace. Instead of resting in the loving care of or dear Savior, we try to do things ourselves. Like that reckless driver we hurdle through life thinking that our actions will get us ahead and gain favor with God. It is not what we do for Him that counts, but what He has done for us! Thank you Jesus!
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 | Jun 8, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 19:14
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
I felt like I had been struck with a heavy blow! The woman sitting across from me had asked for an appointment and what she said changed my view of our church Prayer Chain. “I am the woman!” I tried to not act as confused as I was and asked her to explain. “Don’t you have a Prayer Chain at your church, and aren’t you praying about the affair one of your former members is having with me?”
It was the first I had heard of the matter and asked her to explain. She related that the word had come to her that some of the churches in our community had been told of the so-called affair and their Prayer Chains were praying against the evil woman. There was no affair and she wanted me to know that there was no such thing was going on.
Wow! I immediately called the Captain of our Prayer Chain and she assured me that nothing of the sort was happening. From that moment on we established a rigid policy that we would never accept prayer requests without careful examination and following biblical patterns of dealing with sinful actions.
I came to realize that we can spiritualize gossip by simply saying that we are concerned and want to pray about a matter. Gossip is gossip whether it is in a coffee shop or a cathedral–a staff room or a sanctuary. Our words should always be pure and holy in order to be able to give a good report whenever possible. By the way, that woman went away from our meeting with a thankful heart that our church had not drug her name through the mud!
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 | Jun 3, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 22:22
“I will declare Your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise You.”
Over the years of my walk with the Lord, I have heard many expressions of praise. Some of them were directed directly to the Lord, but I fear, unfortunately, that some were for show.
In one church that we attended, there was a lady who remained silent most services, but when a visiting minister came to the church, she would put on quite a show of praising and waving her handkerchief. It was so apparent that we all knew when she was going to put on her display.
In contrast was our visit to the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. There was an elderly pastor in attendance who had a spirit that impressed all of us. When he was moved by a song or some truth that was being presented, he would shout; “My! My! My!” His sincere expression was a sheer delight.
At the concluding session he was called upon to come forward to pronounce the closing benediction. It was a blessed and sweet prayer that revealed that he was talking directly to his Savior. As he concluded, the several hundred pastors, wives and staff members reverberated; “MY! MY! MY!”
I am sure that by this time the dear saint is with his Lord. I look forward to meeting him once more in glory and as we view the sights of heaven we will say together; “MY! MY! MY!” Will you join us?
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 | May 26, 2010 | Psalm
Psalm 32:8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
I was stopped at a traffic light in the downtown area last week. As I looked ahead of me I saw that the traffic lights were at different sequences. Some were red, some green and there was the short pause when the lights were amber before changing from green to red. (Aren’t you impressed with my great power of observation?)
It reminded me once again of our walk with the Lord. Over the years I have been asked by people how to know how to follow the Lord? We can dedicate ourselves to follow closely to the Lord, but how do we know what His will is for our life?
My response to those who seek the Lord’s plan for their life is to sincerely desire to discover and follow His plan. Let me repeat that: It is to sincerely desire to discover and follow God’s plan and purpose for our life.
This to me is where the traffic light illustration comes into play. When we pray and let the Lord know we are serious about following Him, look for the lights! If we get a green light―go forward until we see and amber or red light. Amber does not mean step on the gas before the light changes―it means slow down and be prepared to stop. Red means stop everything and go to the Lord in prayer to determine what comes next.
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
