by Pastor Cecil | Jun 18, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 23:4
“Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.” (The Amplified Bible)
There is a lot of fear going around these days. Fear of the failing economy, fear of medical difficulties, fear of what people will think, fear of failing, fear of tomorrow, fear of the unknown—you name it—and we can and do develop a fearful attitude.
I especially like the way The Amplified Bible uses numerous nuances of the original Hebrew text in order to clarify the meaning. We should read that first phrase over and over again: “Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you.”
We may want to argue with others that our situation is different and that we really have something to fear, but God says we don’t. The reason that we need not fear is that He is with us.
If we go back into the Old Testament and read of the way God delivers His people, we find that He is able to protect and lead. It was only when people rejected His leadership and control of their lives that they faced defeat.
Just think of the way God led His people out of Egypt. He provided a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God’s presence in the clouds both gave the direction to travel and also stood between His people and the enemy.
Trust Him to lead and protect you and you will never need to fear!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 15, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 23:4
“Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.” (The Amplified Bible)
As you may recall, I served as a police officer while attending college. From time to time I would discover an unlocked door at a business. You would never know whether it was just an over-sight, or a possible burglary in progress.
The policy was to search the business carefully with your gun drawn in one hand and your flashlight in the other hand. One of the most frightening things was to turn a corner and see someone with a drawn gun and flashlight facing you! It was a moment of panic until you realized that you were facing a full length mirror and you were seeing your own refection.
The image in the mirror was just that—an image. But it was terrifying! In like manner, the fear of death is an image. In fact it is a magnified image. Shadows are always larger than the real thing.
As I have read the accounts of God’s people who have been tortured to death across the ages since Jesus was here, I find that they die well. Think of Stephen who was stoned to death. He had such joy in the Lord that he preached a mighty sermon to his executioners and fell asleep with the vision of heaven in his eyes.
The next time you are tempted to fear death, stop and remind yourself that you are just passing through a valley filled with the shadow of death. The reason we need not fear is that the Lord is right there with us. Praise the Lord!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 27, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 28:6-8
“Praise the LORD, for He has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song. The LORD is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.”
There is always a time for singing. It is when the heart is in communion with the Lord. This can be during times of stress, pain, trial or on the other hand, when we are experiencing great joy. It is a choice of the heart that seeks to be in harmony with the gracious goodness of the Lord.
I recall reading Pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s book Tortured For the Faith. During the cold war years, communist oppression of Christians was intense. He had been confined to prison because he was a Christian. The guards were cruel and sadistic in their torture of the radiant believers. It had such an impact upon some of the guards that a few accepted Christ as their Savior and subsequently became prisoners alongside the men they had once tortured.
One night in the darkness of that prison, one of the new guards ordered the prisoners to lie on the floor of their cell with bare backs. He then proceeded to stomp back and forth with spiked boots on his feet. Pastor Wurmbrand was in great pain and was crying out inwardly to the Lord and feeling that he could not take much more of the torture.
At that moment, a man, who was formerly one of the prison guards, nudged Pastor Wurmbrand. He whispered, “Wurmbrand! I have composed a hymn!” Richard Wurmbrand asked the Lord to forgive him for his lapse of trust.
That was years ago that I read that, and still I marvel at the joy which can be experienced, even in times of suffering. Here were men who were going through a painful ordeal, yet they chose to sing a song of praise to the Lord. So what about my life? Do I turn to the Lord in all situations and find my joy in Him? Do you?
When the Lord is real in our life, we commune with Him at all times. It is not a good morning prayer, an uttering of thanks before our meals and a bedtime prayer— it is constant talking with Him. It is laughing with him as we see His hand at work. It is feeling His arm around our shoulders to comfort us in times of sorrow.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 21, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 63:1-2
“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.”
Joyce and I have been like hand and glove since we were fourteen. In case you are interested, that is sixty-one years. I think of the times I have been apart from her and our family due to military assignments—I missed them so bad it hurt.
A friend just shared with me that he was talking on the phone with his sweetheart who is many miles away. She mentioned that she missed him but did not miss the Lord so much. He asked her if she was spending time reading the Bible and talking with the Lord. She confessed that she wasn’t. He commented; “Well, there is your answer.”
After he shared this conversation with me he suggested that I should use this topic for a Daily-E-Votional. This led me to search out today’s Scripture. David was in the desert of Judah when he wrote these words. Perhaps you feel like you are in a spiritual desert.
It is always well for us to cry out in longing to the Lord when we experience the desert times of our life. It is important to realize that the Lord is more anxious to come near to us than we are to come near to Him. The parable that Jesus told of the prodigal son reveals that our heavenly Father is always waiting to welcome us back when we make our way back home.
Do you miss Him? If there is a lack of thirst for the presence of the living God in your life, spend time reading and meditating on His Word. Tell Him where you are and how much you miss Him. He is waiting to welcome you home!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 12, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 65:5-7
“You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.”
Do you sometimes feel like you would like to get away from it all? The rat race, I mean. You long for peace and tranquility which will settle your stress and frustration. Public television has shown a program called, Alone In the Wilderness. It chronicles the year in the life of a man who left civilization and built a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness.
As idyllic as the scenes of the program might be, isolation is not the answer to the hustle and chaos of daily living. Man is by his very nature created to have interaction with others. There may be recluses that cut themselves off from other people—but by their actions they are revealing that there are problems which have not been resolved.
In Mark chapter four we find the story of Jesus who was surrounded by a huge crowd of people. The crowd was so large that He got into a boat and sat in it as He taught the people who were on the shore. At evening He told His disciples to cross over to the other side of the lake.
Jesus was asleep on a cushion when a furious squall came up and threatened the boat He was in. Remember that many of these disciples were seasoned fishermen who had spent their lives out on this lake in all kinds of weather, but this was a storm that threatened to swamp them.
In their fear and alarm they called out to Jesus. It seemed impossible that He could sleep through such a storm. The men woke Jesus and asked Him if He didn’t care if they were about to drown. It is then that we read the quiet words of power which He proclaimed in Mark 4:39; “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! (peace) Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”
I want to remind you once more that these men were not simple recreational boaters. They had spent their lives in all kinds of weather conditions and if they felt that the situation was desperate, it really was. They had almost come to the conclusion that all was hopeless and that they would never reach shore again. It seems that they called out to Jesus in order to announce their hopeless situation.
I feel that they woke Jesus to have Him prepare for the inevitable drowning. Jesus shocked them when He demonstrated that His power was great enough to control the forces of nature.
You may be facing situations that are threatening to swamp your boat. Now is the time to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that it is Jesus who has the power to calm the storms in your life.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 6, 2009 | Psalm
Psalm 14:1-2
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.”
Last week I was sitting with my granddaughter in a coffee shop. We were near a table where three men were cynically discussing religion. I think their comments were intended for my ears since I had witnessed to them about the Lord.
Professing to be wise, they were systematically tearing down churches, Christians, the Bible, repentance and justification by faith. These so-called wise men rested their eternal destiny on their good deeds or imagined intellect.
I have thought long and hard since hearing their conversation and have come to a few conclusions: What if they are right? What if the Bible is wrong and the necessity of repentance is wrong?
Here are my observations: I have never known a cynical person who is a happy or contented person. As a matter of fact they are the most miserable people I have ever met. They search for something to satisfy their inner longing but never are able to find it.
As I consider my own life and the life of other Christians, I see a vivid contrast. There is joy and contentment that the cynics can never experience. Even if there is no heaven to gain we have a joy that the world can never know. When faced with tragedy or pain we have the comfort that only God can give.
But what if these cynics are wrong? (I am convinced they are!) The tragic reality is that there is much more than the temporal feelings of this world at stake. There is eternity stretching out before us. The cynics will come face to face with the Judge of the universe who will pass eternal judgment against their failure to accept His wonderful offer of salvation.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
