Seize the Moment – Day 1400
The Response to Judgment!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 16.
Isaiah 25 shows the response of God’s people to the righteous judgment of God, foretold in Isaiah 24. Their response was pregnant with the hope of the coming Messiah, as described in Isaiah 25:6-9:
The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
Jesus bursts forth from Isaiah’s prophecy. God was not surprised by humanity’s sin; He always intended to send His Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior to provide for us His salvation, removing the veil, swallowing death, wiping away our tears, and removing the reproach of death. In Paul’s triumphant description of the resurrection of Jesus, he quotes Isaiah 25:8 in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54:
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. … But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Seize the moment and declare the victory of Jesus Christ in how you live your life – “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1399
The City of Chaos!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 15.
Instead of being a place of peace, Isaiah described the Earth as, “the city of chaos” where “every house is shut up so that none may enter” (Isaiah 24:10). What God designed to be His dwelling place with humanity has been mutilated by mankind’s mismanagement. Isaiah 24 describes the coming judgment, which will be reminiscent of the catastrophic flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 6-8), beginning in verses 3-6:
The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
God has desired for His people to join Him in the work of cultivating the Earth into a place of peace. Often, as we see in Matthew 21:12-13, God’s judgment is in response to how we fall short: “Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a robbers’ den.’” God’s judgments are to restore people, and the creation we are called to steward, back to His original design – to be the place where God rules with righteousness and justice.
Seize the moment and invite Jesus to bring peace to “the city of chaos” within you, so that you may bring God’s presence to the world. Trust Jesus to transform you into a house of prayer 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.
Read more...
Everyday Discipleship Wk 2
Everyday Discipleship with Real People
Teaching #2: The First of the Big Three:
The Importance of Bible Intake & Reflection!
The First of the Big Three:
The Importance of Bible Intake & Reflection!
2) Have you started a journal? Did you bring it with you?
A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ. Last week, you were asked to memorize Mark 1:17. Did you memorize God’s Word?
+ The Promise = “I will make you become…”
+ Read 1 John 5:3-4.
Are you experiencing His commands as burdensome?
Do you have a Bible you can understand? YES or NO
Are you willing to listen and obey? YES or NO
IF SO, what do you do with your Bible? GET A GRIP ON GOD’S WORD!
1. Hear (pinky finger)– Romans 10:17 & Galatians 1:3-5
2. Read (ring finger) – Revelation 1:3 & 2 Timothy 3:16-17
4. Memorize (pointer finger) – Psalm 119:9-11, 105-106
5. Meditate (thumb) – Psalm 1:2-3 & Joshua 1:8
Seize the Moment
Action Items for this week:
3) Pray through this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.
If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1397
Strong God
phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
Strong God
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1396
The Urgency to Respond!
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1395
The Valley of Vision!
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1394
The Heavy Burden of Bad News!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 10.
I have had to deliver the hardest of news to people; it can be heart wrenching to carry the heavy burden of bad news. The same was true for the prophets of God who had to deliver time-sensitive oracles of judgment from God. If they failed to obey, they would incur the judgment of God upon themselves (Ezekiel 3:18-19). In Isaiah 21:2-5, the prophet contrasts his experience as the bearer of bad news, for he was to deliver an oracle of judgment against Babylon, with those for whom the oracle was given:
A harsh vision has been shown to me; the treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. … For this reason my loins are full of anguish; pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; …
God gives to His messengers the revelation of His Word to bring people to repentance. The gospel of Jesus Christ confronts people with the heavy burden of bad news – “For the wages of sin is death … .” As an ambassador of Christ and minister of reconciliation, you must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
Seize the moment and recognize your absolute need for a Savior. The gospel is only good news when it also tells the truth about the bad news of sin and death. If there is no real need for a Savior in the first place, then there would have never been a Christmas or Easter to celebrate.
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1393
Naked and Barefoot!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 9.
You have heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Recently, a major news source carried a picture from the Middle East, capturing the surrender of a large group of militants. The men were barefoot and stripped down to their underwear as a man walked forward with his hands up. Their nakedness symbolized their humiliation as a defeated army. While this picture has caused a stir in modern days; it was a common site in ancient days. So much so, that Isaiah was commanded by God to walk around without his sandals, and without his outer garment, for three years to symbolize the coming defeat of Egypt and Cush by the Assyrian Empire. In Isaiah 20:3-6, God spoke to the people, using Isaiah’s obedience as an illustration to them:
Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, “Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?”
Isaiah was commanded to provide a shocking prophetic sign to the people of Judah – do not depend on an alliance with any other nation for your victory. Do not put your hope in men who can so easily be humiliated and made defenseless; trust in God who can deliver you in this evil day.
Seize the moment and put your faith in God for His victory in your circumstances – “the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1392
A Savior and a Champion!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 8.
Our culture loves superheroes. At least, we love to be entertained by the concept of a hero who will fly in and rescue us. The marketplace is saturated with so many books, shows, and movies that express our inborn desire for a savior and a champion. Don’t be surprised by this insatiable hunger to be rescued, because evil is real and our need to be saved from it is valid. We most certainly need to be rescued, but not by someone wearing tights and a cape. In Isaiah 19:20-22, God promises to send “a Savior and a Champion” to Egypt:
It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
Once again, we see the heart of the Father in this passage – the purpose of His judgments is the healing of the nations, so they will return to His rightful rule as the Sovereign. Never forget that God loves all the peoples of the planet, and not just “you and yours.” He is not ethnocentric, nor xenophobic, as John testified in 1 John 4:14, “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”
Seize the moment and participate in God’s Great Rescue through Jesus Christ by praying for all the nations (Matthew 5:43-46; 28:18-20) and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40; Galatians 5:14).
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.
Read more...
Everyday Discipleship Wk 1
Everyday Discipleship with Real People
Teaching #1: “The Journey to Christlikeness!”
Teaching #1: “The Journey to Christlikeness!”
Christian Discipleship is the intentional journey to Christlikeness!
Read Romans 8:29:
+ “predestined to become”
+ “conformed to the image of His Son”
God chose you to look like Jesus!
Look at the context. Read Romans 8:26-28:
+ “according to the will of God” (27)
+ “to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (28).
What is that purpose? “To become conformed to the image of His Son – to be God’s “image bearer” (Genesis 1:26-28).
Read Colossians 1:15.
+ “the image of the invisible God”
When we look like Jesus – Christlikeness – we do that which Christ came to do (Luke 19:10 & Matthew 28:18-20)!
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
+ The Call = “Follow Me”
Discipleship is the life-long journey of learning and manifesting who you are as a “disciple” through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ.
FOCUS: The call of discipleship requires you to “follow” Jesus. The promise of discipleship requires you to trust the work of the Holy Spirit to “make you become.”
Read Philippians 2:12-13.
+ “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”
+ “it is God at work in you … for His good pleasure”
Christian Discipleship is a BOTH-AND: Hard work + a lot of trusting God! This journey is a long obedience in the same direction of Christlikeness (Matthew 11:28-30)!
Read 1 Timothy 4:7b-8.
+ “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness”
+ “godliness is profitable for all things”
We are to train ourselves according to godliness – the pattern of Jesus’ life (“godliness” = “Christlikeness”).
Action Items for this week:
1) Start the 90-Day New Testament Reading Challenge, reading Matthew 1-21 this week. Pick up a reading plan.
2) Start a notebook or journal about your reading plan. Bring it next week as I will teach you how to write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day.
3) Pray through this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.
If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.
Read more...