Seize the Moment – Day 1162
Praying Peace over Past Trauma!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 23.
Have you ever had a traumatic experience that keeps replaying in your head, like a bad scene from a horror movie? When a trauma happens in a person’s life, the brain is flooded with adrenaline and other neurochemicals that causes that memory to be forged into the brain. Simply, this is why people can be easily triggered into a trauma response.
David had some traumatic experiences in his life, which he kept replaying in his head. Psalm 56 is from the time when David was in peril at the hands of the Philistines, specifically “when [they] seized him in Gath” (title). This event is recorded immediately after Doeg saw David with the priest Ahimelech, who later betrayed him to Saul, the historical context for Psalm 52. Additionally, David’s rescue from Abimelech [Achish king of Gath] was the setting for Psalm 34. First Samuel 21:12 records, “David … greatly feared Achish king of Gath.”
How did David deal with the memories of his past traumas? David processed his memories through the writing of these three psalms. He brought it all to God, as recorded in Psalm 56:3-4, 9-11:
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? … Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; this I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 56, meditating upon the peace of God – “You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.”[1]
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1161
The Deep Pain of a Friend’s Betrayal
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, May 22.
When I was in the military, we trained hard to protect against friendly fire. To avoid shooting at their comrades or allies, we instilled into the soldiers the importance of situational awareness, fire discipline, and target acquisition. It is demoralizing to soldiers to learn that their own army was responsible for the damage and death. David experienced friendly fire at a very personal level, as attested in Psalm 55:12-14:
For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it; nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend; we who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng.
David was experiencing the attacks of a close friend, the deep pain of a friend’s betrayal. David expressed how the friendly fire affected him personally in today’s psalm:
- Verse 2, “I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted.”
- Verse 4, “My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.”
- Verse 5, “Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.”
How did David respond to the deep pain of a friend’s betrayal? He passed on his response in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” The final words of today’s psalm give us the victory, “But I will trust in You.” (vs 23) When those closest to you cause you the most pain, turn to God, the One who will never betray you (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5-6)!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 55, meditating upon God as your safe place in times of conflict – “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
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.
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Next Gen Ministries
Graduation Video
The Kidz Zone: Time Machine
A video about the Time Machine ((0:30)
Q & A with Cindi (6:45)
Children’s Ministry (15:00)
AWANA
Youth Ministry (29:50)
Leading By Example
The Orange Method
You can watch this video by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1159
Today’s modern hymn focus will be
Great Things
Psalm 40:5 (NASB95)
“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count.”
Come let us worship our King Come let us bow at His feet
He has done great things. See what our Savior has done
See how His love overcomes He has done great things
He has done great things
We need to wake up to the fact that God has been, is, and always will be faithful and to put our full trust in Him. God is bigger than all our problems, fears and situations and He will be there every step of the way with us.
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 Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1158
Pray for God’s Protection!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, May 19.
David wrote this psalm at a time of betrayal by the Ziphites (Psalm 54:title), and the ensuing mortal danger at the hand of King Saul (1 Samuel 23:19-29; 26:1-14). Both times David’s life was preserved. His is a powerful example to us about why we need to include God in our rapid response plans, because, as Christians, it’s not enough to do “whatever it takes” to survive. We must demonstrate our allegiance to God in how we respond to betrayals and dangers. Paul set a clear example in Acts 20:22-24:
And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. (cf. Acts 21:11-14)
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 54, meditating upon God as your protector – “For He has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies” (Psalm 54:7).
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1157
Pray Honestly!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, May 18.
Have you ever wondered why Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are nearly identical? Spurgeon explained the repetitive nature of these two psalms:
The evil nature of man is here brought before our view a second time, in almost the same inspired words. All repetitions are not vain repetitions. We are slow to learn, and need line upon line. David after a long life, found men no better than they were in his youth. Holy Writ never repeats itself needlessly, there is good cause for the second copy of this Psalm; let us read it with more profound attention than before. If our age has advanced from fourteen to fifty-three, we shall find the doctrine of this Psalm more evident than in our youth.[1]
If you are tempted to call the language of total depravity hyperbole, granting David a poetic license to illustrate his point, but not really believing his doctrine, then you are deceived by the very seductions of your flesh that you are discounting. David is not making an exaggerated statement; rather, he is accurately diagnosing our human condition. The mortal taint of sin is incurable by man’s vain efforts; sin is a universal struggle – all people wrestle with their own self-will, the flesh, as Psalm 53:1-3 diagnoses:
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 53, meditating upon your absolute need for a Savior – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1156
The Importance of a Lightning Rod!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, May 17.
Praying while you are angry can serve the same purpose as a lightning rod in a storm! While it doesn’t prevent lightning from striking, it does divert its destructive power to ground.
The title of Psalm 52 gives us the historical context for today’s psalm, “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’” From 1 Samuel 22:6-23, we learn that Doeg’s report of David’s activity led to Saul ordering the massacre of eighty-five priests – Ahimelech and his father’s household. Doeg’s heinous crime was on David’s mind when he penned Psalm 52:1-5:
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long. Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.
David’s anger burned against Doeg, but there is no record of him seeking revenge. Instead, the story culminated with this prayer. David expressed his grief and his anger to God, entrusting vengeance to the Lord. This is a powerful illustration of Romans 12:19, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Easier said than done! May today’s psalm serve as an example of how to prayerfully trust God in times of pain and anger. Don’t gossip or take matters into your own hands; rather, petition God for His lovingkindness in your circumstances. Otherwise, the anger will consume you!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 52, meditating upon the power of God to ground all your pain and anger. Trust God to be your lightning rod today!
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1155
Plead the Blood of Jesus!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 16.
There is power in saying, “Yes, I did it. I’m guilty of the crime.” If you want to experience true freedom, then you must confess your sins as rebellion against God. It’s not a bad choice or a phase of life; it’s sin! God used Nathan the prophet to call out David for his crimes against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 11-12). There was no getting around it; David knew he was guilty of murder and adultery, deserving of God’s righteous judgment.
David petitioned God for the forgiveness of sin in Psalm 51:2-4, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.” Furthermore, David pleaded the blood in verse 7, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (cf. Isaiah 1:16-18). David’s request invokes the Exodus and the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (ref. Exodus 12:21-22). David confessed his guilt and knew that he was not able to forgive himself, nor cleanse himself from his unrighteousness, so he petitioned God.
The way to forgiveness was made through Jesus Christ – “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The blood of the Lamb provides the propitiation of God’s wrath for humanity’s rebellion against Him. In simple words, Jesus satisfied God’s righteous judgment through the shedding of His own blood (1 Peter 1:18-19; Hebrews 9:22; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 3:21-25).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 51, meditating upon David’s confession; plead the blood of Jesus – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1154
Pray in the Day of Trouble!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, May 15.
What loving parents do not wish for their children to call upon them in their day of trouble? When you need to be rescued, to whom do you turn? God desires for it to be Him, as He invites His children to do in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” What a beautiful promise from your Heavenly Father – God wants you to cry out to Him when you are in distress. He wants you to trust Him and to rely upon Him to be there for you in your day of trouble. We find this call for intimacy with God in Psalm 91:14-16:
Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.
Like any loving parent, God would like to protect you from the day of trouble, by showing you how to avoid it in the first place. This is why children are taught to obey and honor their parents in Ephesians 6:1-4 – to avoid the pitfalls of life by learning how to live in the way of blessing! This is the way of a right relationship with God, as taught in Psalm 50:23, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” Obey and honor God as your Heavenly Father, and you will walk in His way.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 50, meditating upon God as your Heavenly Father who desires to rescue you from the day of trouble and put your feet back on solid rock.
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Grow Strong in God’s Grace – Wk 12
Grow Strong in God’s Grace: Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
The Faith that Bears Fruit! (Cont.)
Hebrews 11:11-12 (NASB)
STEP #3 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CARE FOR THE MATURING PLANT
Sarah was a real woman, with real faith, in real history, and her story began with a faith that pleased God. Her transforming story is recorded in Hebrews 11:11-12:
By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
To experience the promises of God we must learn how to care for the maturing plant of our faith through the storms and tribulations of this life. Genesis 21:1-8 tells us how long Abraham and Sarah had to wait to experience God’s promise in their lives:
Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
If you read more about Abraham and Sarah’s transforming story of faith in Genesis, you will see that they went through many trials and tribulations. While they blessed the nations through their faith, they had to live by faith to bear the good fruit of the promises of God to them. We are now going to turn to the New Testament, learning from the biblical pattern of Paul’s life so that we can learn how to live strong in God’s grace as an heir of the promise of Abraham. Let us learn from the fruit of Sarah’s womb how we are to live as those who have inherited the promise of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul said in Galatians 4:28, to those who believe in Jesus Christ, “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” This is how Paul saw himself and this is how we should see ourselves.
There are four practical steps we can learn from Paul about how to live as children of promise. First, Paul started by claiming the promises of God in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” As we have previously learned in my Live like a Champion Today sermon series, the Bible is filled with the promises of God that will lead you to living the victorious life of Jesus Christ. For example, you may think, “If I am not successful in this situation, then my life will fall apart.” The natural result of such catastrophic, slippery-slope thinking is anxiety and doubt. Replace that faulty logic with the promise of God, “Even if I am not successful in every situation, God, who began a good work in me, will bring me through this tribulation and bring me to completion.” This promise will decrease the anxiety-inducing, self-focused thinking, and keep your mind focused on the power of God to fulfill the promises of God, in and through you!
Second, Paul taught us to pray the promises of God in Philippians 1:9-11:
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
The Bible is filled with prayers that are effective and in accordance with God’s will: pray these prayers! The Psalms were Jesus’ prayer book; the Bible has example after example of prayers God has already declared as prayers He will answer. Memorize them, cultivate them into your heart and mind, plant them as seeds of grace, so that in your 9-1-1 moments your communion with God will be unbreakable by neither of the normal fleshly responses caused by your autonomic nervous system: adrenaline rush (fight) or detached retreat (flight). To illustrate this form my life experience, Psalm 23 is my personal go-to prayer. I have memorized it and I walk through my days with it for three reasons:
- It relaxes me – rest for my soul in His green pastures and beside quiet waters
- It reminds me of who God is – the Good Shepherd of my soul, in whom I shall not want
- It focuses me on God’s promises for my life and eternity – He walks with me all the days of my life and I will dwell with Him always
Paul then gives us the right perspective on our circumstances in Philippians 1:12-14:
Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
Our circumstances overwhelm us so often that we lose perspective on what is true and real in life from God’s reality. Yes, it is true that our perception shapes how we view what is real to us, but it is not true that my perception is true reality. Paul claimed God’s promises, he then prayed them, and then he gained an accurate assessment of reality. God gave Paul his perspective: what has happened to me, though difficult, has served a greater purpose. In life, we are going to suffer, but will our suffering have meaning, purpose, and hope attached to it. It is a right perspective of life that shapes our contentment and ability to rejoice in all circumstances. It is how we walk through these circumstances that often shapes our witness to those around us and proclaims the transforming power of faith to all who are watching us. This is the good fruit of God’s grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ – live strong in God’s grace today!
That brings us to the last thing we are going to learn from Paul in how to care for the maturing plant so that it grows strong enough to bear good fruit. Paul teaches us to seize the moment and execute God’s plan for our lives in Philippians 1:21-24:
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
Paul’s life was built on the promises of God, he prayed effective prayers from the Word of God, and he kept a right perspective on his circumstance, so that he could seize the moment for the plan of God in his daily life. God used Paul’s life as a descendent of Sarah’s womb, an heir of Abraham’s promise – Paul was a blessing to the nations as the Apostle to the Gentiles! We are to do the same in our lives as children of the promise – we are called to bless the nations as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). Just as Sarah’s faith bore good fruit, so should our lives reap a harvest of praise. That brings us to the last action step.
STEP #4 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: REAP A HARVEST OF PRAISE
Living strong in God’s grace leads to a harvest of praise because it is the empowered life of the Holy Spirit! In a life that reaps a harvest of praise, all four of the elements we learned from Paul’s life are important: a promise to claim; a prayer to pray; the right perspective on circumstances; and a plan to execute. Without one of these you may find yourself overridden with an anxious or fearful heart, aimless in your life, and buried in your circumstances. If you were to examine the life of Abraham and Sarah, you will see the damaging effects of not trusting God for the promises of God (Genesis 16). Whereas the flesh produced Ishmael, the Spirit of God birthed the good fruit of Isaac (Galatians 4:21-31). Paul emphasized this part of the Abraham-Sarah story in Galatians 4:31-5:1, to illustrate why we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to walk by the Spirit, “So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman [Hagar who gave birth to Ishmael], but of the free woman [Sarah who gave birth to Isaac]. It was for freedom [from sin] that Christ set us free [to live for God through faith]; therefore keep standing firm [by faith through the Spirit] and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [the flesh].”
It is my desire to help you choose the better way, the way of living by the power of the Holy Spirit, who promises to reap a harvest of praise in and through your life, learning to trust God’s promises and obeying Him in all that you do. This is the life of faith – live strong in God’s grace! Jesus taught about the empowered life of the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-21:
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
To keep Jesus’ commandments is to obey the God you worship. True worship is not empty praise from unbelieving lips; it is a life whose actions and attitudes flow out of what you believe about God. This is what Jesus intended when He said in John 4:23-24, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Are you worshipping in spirit and truth?
What do you believe about God? Faith is reckoned to you as righteousness! What does your life say you believe about God? Faith in God leads to a life that proclaims the very character of God through the fruit bearing of the Holy Spirit, as promised in Galatians 5:22-23, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” This is the harvest of praise that will spread the seed of Abraham, the fruit of Sarah’s barren womb, to all the nations because you obeyed God’s voice in your life. This is the miracle of God’s grace as it grows in you – from Sarah’ barren womb came the child of promise, Isaac, just as from the seed of faith, God grows the fruit of the good news of Jesus Christ – God’s righteousness for all the nations. Be fruitful for the kingdom of God!
Abraham and Sarah’s transforming story of faith strengthens our faith, gives us hope, and gives us the courage to tell a better story with our stories. To make visible that which is invisible – the kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven! May we reap a harvest of praise as our stories are transformed through the gospel of Jesus Christ!
You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
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