Seize the Moment – Day 1474

Today’s worship song focus :

House of the Lord

Psalm 122:1 (NASB95)     

“ I was glad when they said to me,

Written in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Phil Wickham created this powerful song of worship as an anthem for all believers. Wanting to connect the church to the heart of God with the invitation to experience his love and grace, Phil composed the beautiful lyrics, moving melody and powerful instrumentals to remind the church that it is more than just a physical building. It is to be a place where we gather to worship, be encouraged, and experience the presence of God.

There’s joy in the house of the Lord,

There’s joy in the house of the Lord today       

And we won’t be quiet, We shout out Your praise.                                               

There’s joy in the house of the Lord,

Our God is surely in this place                

And we won’t be quiet,

We shout out Your praise.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:

House of the Lord

That’s God’s Job!

Jeremiah 12

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 29.

The prophet cried out to God for justice against the evil nations, asking God why their wicked neighbors were prospering and living at ease. Jeremiah acknowledged that it was God who planted them and allowed them to bear fruit, but wanted to know how long He was going to allow them to remain. After lamenting the current crisis, God responded with an oracle of salvation in Jeremiah 12:14-17, referencing the agricultural imagery of Jeremiah’s observation that it was He who planted them:

Thus says the Lord concerning all My wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

This oracle of salvation reminds me of Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:24-30. While God promised to uproot evil from our midst one day, He was also very clear that we should trust Him for His ultimate justice in how we live our lives today. The only way of lasting peace with God is to swear by His name (Acts 4:12), so walk in the way of God’s justice by loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).

Seize the moment and trust God for justice; it’s His job to uproot, not yours!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Rejected and Despised!

Jeremiah 11

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 28.

Jesus was rejected and despised by the people of Nazareth, the hometown in which He grew up. In Matthew 13:57, Jesus said to those who took offense at His ministry, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” They could not believe that the man who had grown up amongst them was called to be a prophet, nevertheless, was the Son of God. Because of their unbelief, His hometown missed the blessing of God’s visitation (58).

Jesus’ response to Nazareth harkened back to the ancient prophets, illustrated by Jeremiah’s experience with his hometown of Anathoth, described in Jeremiah 11:20-23:

But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I committed my cause. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”; therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth – the year of their punishment.”

The people of Jeremiah’s hometown sought to kill him. It is one thing to be attacked by outsiders; it’s a completely different experience to be rejected and despised by the very people you were called to rescue from the coming wrath. His response to such betrayal foreshadowed that of Jesus Christ: Jeremiah committed Himself and the cause to which He was called to God, the righteous Judge of humanity.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Relent of Anger!

Jeremiah 10

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 27.

How do you respond to people when you are upset? Are you unjust and ungraceful in how you express your feelings? In marital counseling, I’ve heard people say vicious things to their spouse, far exceeding what needed to be said. Why do we character assassinate the people we love when we are upset? When people are hijacked by their anger, they more easily make bad decisions without regard for the long-term consequences of their words or actions. We must relent of our anger, inviting the Holy Spirit to govern our hearts and minds so that we do not sin in it and give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:26-27).

In Jeremiah 10:24, the prophet offered a profound prayer, in solidarity with the nation, petitioning God for their impending judgment, “Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.” David had made a similar petition to God in Psalm 6:1-4, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord – how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness.”

Loving parents discipline their children in love, refraining from doing it while they are still angry. Anger perverts justice and distorts love! Righteous justice is sober-minded, unintoxicated by anger, seeking the good for all while accurately disciplining the one in need of correction. As Hebrews 12:11 promises, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” It was for this result Jeremiah petitioned God.

Seize the moment and relent of your anger before you discipline someone you love.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

The Weeping Prophet!

Jeremiah 9

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 26.

Have you ever sat under a pastor who cried when proclaiming the goodness of God? I am profoundly touched by such a display of emotion when I discern it to be real, but I cringe if I believe it to be showmanship. Truly, only the Lord knows a person’s heart! Jeremiah was the real deal, giving him the reputation as the “weeping prophet.” We catch a glimpse of this in Jeremiah 9:1, “Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” His depth of concern for the well-being of God’s people reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s compassionate concern for the Jewish people, from whom he experienced rejection and ridicule. He said in Romans 9:1-3, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren.” Wow: that’s love!

The heartache of Jeremiah and Paul has another similarity, their proclamation of what it means to be Israel. Paul says in Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” The prophet explained that being a child of Israel was not about a nationality; it’s a condition of one’s heart, foreshadowing the necessity of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 9:25-26, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised – … for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

Seize the moment and ask the Lord to reveal the truth of your heart (Romans 2:28-29; Colossians 2:11). Does your heart break for the things that break God’s heart?

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Sorrow for Sin!

Jeremiah 8

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 25.

Sin destroys relationships and brings pain into your life, and into the lives of those you love. Jeremiah 8 is a heartbreaking chapter from a devastating time in Israel’s history. Honestly, it’s a tough chapter to meditate upon as it demonstrates to us the sorrow of sin. In Jeremiah 8:18, the prophet expresses his heartache over Judah’s sin, “My sorrow is beyond healing, my heart is faint within me!” A century prior, in Isaiah 22:4, the prophet expressed the same kind of godly sorrow over the impending judgment of Israel, “Turn your eyes away from me, let me weep bitterly, do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Lament is the right response to the pain and suffering caused by sin. We cannot whitewash the damaging effects sin has on our lives. Furthermore, we should not avoid lamenting over it, because godly sorrow leads to repentance. We even see Jesus, in Luke 19:41-44, respond with the same sorrow for sin as that of the prophets who came before Him:

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

While there is forgiveness for sin through the victory of Jesus Christ, there are still consequences for sin in our everyday lives. Have you experienced godly sorrow for your sin?

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Seize the Moment – Day 1467

Today’s worship song focus :

Hosanna (Praise is Rising)

Mark 11:8-10 (NASB95)

Inspired by a desire to write a song that expresses adoration and a surrender to God, Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown teamed up to create this powerful and impactful song. It encourages believers to be like those who proclaimed Jesus’s entry into the city, lifting up their voices in recognition and declaring who the Messiah is as the one who came to save us, our Lord and Savior!

We need to wake up and make this song one that we sing all week long as we prepare for Holy Week with the start of Palm Sunday tomorrow. Use this powerful song as part of your personal worship and express your love and adoration to God for sending us the Blessed Messiah! Let your praise rise up!

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Hosanna (Praising Rising)

Incantations vs. Prayers!

Jeremiah 7

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 22.

People frequently allow superstition to infiltrate their faith, treating the name of Jesus like an incantation, repeating it, and tacking it on to the end of their requests. But there is a significant difference between praying to God and performing an incantation. Jesus taught about prayer in Matthew 6:7, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” This is the exact practice God was rebuking through His prophet in Jeremiah 7:3-7:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”

Prayer is not a magical means of compelling God to do your bidding. Instead, prayer is a divine gift by which you can know and walk with God, as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:8, “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the authorized way to have intimacy with the Father (John 3:16; 14:6, 13-15; 16:23-28); He is not an incantation to be invoked.

Seize the moment and pray the Lord’s Prayer, taught by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13, as a means of grace to walk in covenant faithfulness to God in your daily life.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Find Rest for Your Soul!

Jeremiah 6

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 21.

Jesus intentionally created a clear connection between Himself and the Old Covenant prophet Jeremiah, as well as to the larger prophetic tradition of Israel. One of the clearest examples of this is found in Jeremiah 6:13-16:

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord. Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

Through Jeremiah, God was calling people to return to Him and His Covenant, which included the ancient promise of rest. Leaving no room for misunderstanding, Jesus focused the ancient paths of God from Jeremiah 6:16 on Himself by quoting this promise in Matthew 11:28-30. In coming to Jesus, a person is graciously invited to enter the rest of God and avoid the wrath of God that is upon all who do not walk in the ancient paths, as Jesus proclaimed over the apostate Jewish cities in Matthew 11:20-24. Jesus declared that the New Covenant was to be found in Him and that the rest of God was His to give to those who come to Him.

Seize the moment and “be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.