by Pastor Cecil | Apr 4, 2012 | Revelation
Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
One aspect of growing older is the increase of pain and grief. That is right! We hurt in places we did not even know we had. But, it is not simply the pain of our physical body that hurts, our hearts are crushed by the loss of loved ones, rejection by those we love, the loss of employment, being misunderstood, or any number of other similar situations.
If the things of this world were all we had, we would certainly be miserable people. Stop what you are doing for a minute and consider what would make you feel satisfied. Some people live their life for retirement only to find that the lack of vitality and health leaves them with a hollow sense of accomplishment.
As we look down the road of our life—five, ten or even twenty years, it is well for us to be able to feel that we have made some bit of difference. Not only that, we need to have the confident assurance that as we breathe our last breath of air in this world, a new home in glory is waiting for us.
Heaven is a fantastic reality for every true believer. It will not be a place where we will sit on a cloud plucking away at a harp. On the contrary, it will be the most exciting and thrilling place that is far beyond our wildest imagination. No sickness, no pain, no worry, no grief, no fear, no emptiness and no death. We will live in our new home for all eternity. Until then we must allow our confidence of eternity with the Lord to help us go through the tough times with victory.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing to others!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jan 23, 2012 | Revelation
Revelation 3:15-16
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
There is no way that I want to suggest that we have endured anything like Paul suffered, but last week was a trying one for our area. Wednesday night we had 16 inches of snow and then Thursday night the temperature dropped and we were greeted with freezing rain. The ice continued to build up and as power lines fell due to the heavy coating and at 10:15 a.m. our power went out.
We had no idea how long we would be in the cold and dark, but we bundled up and tried to keep as warm as possible. Some of our dear friends had installed a powerful generator for just such emergencies and had previously invited us to stay with them. We did with great rejoicing.
I thought about the destructive nature of cold as I meditated on God’s Word in their comfortable home. Icy conditions are the result of the absence of heat. When you remove heat, cold rushes in and paralyzes.
It is a sad fact that many believers have allowed the heat of God’s love to slip out of their life. They gradually become cooler and cooler and spiritually become icy. We need to ignite the fire in our love and service for the Lord. He is the ultimate source of heat in the universe and beyond. Stay close to the fire!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 26, 2011 | Revelation
Revelation 19:20
Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, both great and small!” Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah!” For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Hallelujah! What a word of praise and adoration that is! I have heard that this word hallelujah, or the word, alleujah, is the same in all languages. It is a word that expresses sincere praise. Regardless of the time of year I especially enjoy Handel’s great oratorio, Messiah. One of the best loved parts of the Messiah is the Hallelujah Chorus.
It is interesting that the word appears in only four verses of Scripture and all of them are in the 19th chapter of Revelation. This glorious reverberation of praise is beyond any sound we have ever heard here on earth.
Thankfully I have never been in a tornado, but from what I am told, the noise is like a freight train passing nearby. You might think of the loudest noise you have ever heard and then multiply it by ten thousand. Not a harsh discordant sound, but praise beyond human imagination, all in praise of our God.
With this in mind, it is important that we become people of praise. It is not necessary to be in a large congregation or even have a voice. We can praise the Lord from deep within our hearts and know that our praise is in preparation for the ultimate Hallelujah in heaven.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
P.S. – You can find previous E-Votionals covering a variety of Scriptures and topics to help you in your walk with the Lord at www.Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Aug 11, 2010 | Revelation
Revelation 3:3
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
One Sunday my wife and I were traveling to southern California on I-5. We had planned to stop at some church for worship, but as time slipped away we knew that we would be late for any service where we stopped . . . but at least we would be in time for the message.
Sure enough, when we did arrive at a church, a soprano was wailing (sorry) through a special number in song. Mercifully she concluded and the pastor eagerly walked to the pulpit with a huge smile on his face. As I recall he said something like this: “Today we are blessed to have a special message by a Gideon Bible representative, so we will turn the service over to him.”
I think you know what is coming, don’t you?
He stared directly at me, as did about every eye in the church. I didn’t dare move a muscle, but stared back at the pastor. His smile faded and was replaced by a look of utter panic as he said, “Um, er, ah, I guess we do not have a Gideon representative with us after all.”
Folks, I want to say that he must not have been a Boy Scout in his youth, for he was not prepared. I wonder how many of us would be prepared to share something meaningful from God’s Word in such a situation. One more penetrating question . . . If Jesus were to call you home to be with Him right now, would you be prepared to give Him an answer for your life? Something to think about!
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 | Dec 18, 2009 | Revelation
Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'”
When I read passages like this, I really get homesick for heaven. The thought that everything that causes us pain here will be passed away is beyond our comprehension. All of us experience pain. Pain is of different types — physical, emotional, spiritual, to mention a few. Pain will end!
Our tolerance to pain is interesting to observe. It is always more interesting to observe pain in others than it is in ourselves! (I am very profound in these things, right?)
Many years ago I was volunteering to work on remodeling a church. There was a young man in his twenties who was also part of the work detail. Suddenly we heard this young man scream in obvious pain and rushed in to see if he may be fatally wounded. We discovered him holding his finger and dancing around in circles as he continued his loud screams. It was only a small sliver. We were not too sympathetic and gave an impromptu mimicry of his display. He was indignant and protested that there was even blood. We were not impressed!
In contrast I recall traveling with our high school football team the year after I graduated. I was standing on the sidelines when one of our players was tackled just a few feet from me. We were all cheering for him when I heard him softly mutter; “Rats, I just broke my arm!” It was so casual that we thought he might be teasing. We were wrong and he was right — it was broken!
What a difference in the manner in which people perceive the pain they experience. Pinprick-sized cuts can hurt and broken bones can hurt, and family conflicts can hurt, and being unappreciated can hurt, and being falsely accused can hurt, and being ill can hurt — we could go on for a long time. The bottom line is that pain is a reality of life.
Praise God, there is a light at the end of our tunnel of pain! Athletes, as well as others, are sometimes forced to work through their pain for the good of the desired objective. They know that the goal is worth the agony. We would do well to learn that lesson ourselves. But there is a time coming when pain will disappear!
I love the book of Revelation. It gives meaning and direction to everything else in Scripture. I heard of a noted Bible scholar who had been teaching an in-depth study of Revelation. An older man in the class came up to him following one of the last classes and said he could sum up the Book of Revelation in two words. The scholar scoffed until the old man said, “Jesus Wins!”
As long as we are alive we are almost certainly going to encounter pain. We have a choice of allowing the pain to become the focus of our attention, or to endure the pain in order to accomplish what Christ calls us to do for Him.
The hope and vision that propels us is that our pain will end. The Apostle Paul has already said it better than I could ever phrase it: 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 30, 2009 | Revelation
Revelation 3:1-2a
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
There are times when sleep is necessary and appropriate, but there comes a time when it is time to wake up. Back in my days as a jet aircraft mechanic, I left for work early in the morning and spent an exhausting day at work. Many times I would lay down for a nap after dinner. Joyce had been alone all day and eagerly awaited to spend quality time together.
I rode to work each morning with my crew chief, Anthony Urban. If I slept in a little too late, Joyce would hurry me up by shouting; “Cec, Urban is here!” It came to be like an electric shock to stir me to action.
One evening as I was enjoying my sweet catnap, I heard those feared words; “Cec! Wake up! Urban is here!” In a panic I pulled on my work uniform and was heading for the door when I saw her rolling with laughter! It cured me of napping!
There is no doubt that we live in a world that is being pulled more and more into a sense of spiritual lethargy. There is little emphasis on personal evangelism and far less on discipling new believers. The result is lukewarm or dead churches.
Being loud and animated does nothing to cover the reality of spiritual death. Many of our modern churches have seemingly been more concerned with show than the substance of life. I think it is safe to say that a large percentage who whoop and yell in church fail to spend any quality time in prayer and Bible study.
The prophets of old, Jesus in His earthly ministry, and the apostles after Him have called for all true believers to wake up while there is still time. Will you hear and heed the call?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
