Today’s worship song focus :

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Isaiah 58:11 (NASB95)     

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”

Today’s hymn was written in 1745 by William Williams, originally in Welsh, and later translated into the song we know today. Williams was studying to be a doctor when he encountered the preaching of Howell Harris, which led to his conversion. It was then that he gave up his studies to seek his ordination in the Established Church. He used the beautiful imagery of the Old Testament book of Exodus to show God’s guidance and provision through the strife and how it continues today.

              Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land.

              I am week, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

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.

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

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

No Peace for the Wicked!

Isaiah 48

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, February 16.

As a non-Christian youth of Generation X, of course I listened to Ozzy Osborne in the late 80s and early 90s. So, later in life, when I read Isaiah 48:22, where the Lord said, “There is no peace for the wicked” (cf. 57:21), I remembered the name of Ozzy’s 1988 album, “No rest for the wicked.” As per the album title, it included “Miracle Man,” the song which offered a scathing rebuke for the hypocrisy of the fallen televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who had been a vocal critic of the famed British music artist, but himself was currently caught up in multiple sex scandals that led to his disgrace and defrocking.

When Isaiah proclaimed, “There is no peace for the wicked,” he was declaring the need for all people’s  absolute need for God’s redemption – Babylon and Israel, Jimmy and Ozzy! We love to create us-them dichotomies, but the reality is that we all need the peace of God as promised in the following verses:

Seize the moment and share your faith by extending God’s gift of love and forgiveness. Be at peace with everyone, not through the hypocrisy of religion, but through the rest Jesus promises in His easy yoke (Romans 12:18; Matthew 11:28-30).

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.

Beware of Real Danger!

Isaiah 47

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, February 15.

Witchcraft and magic are real. The danger of dabbling with spells and sorceries is like playing with fire. You are going to get burned because the powers and principalities you are seeking to manipulate have their own agenda, and there is nothing innocent about any of it! We saw Pharoah’s magicians matching some of Moses’ miraculous signs in Exodus 7, and we watched Saul consult a medium in 1 Samuel 28. As God cast His judgment upon Babylon, He referenced their wicked use of witchcraft in Isaiah 47:9b-11:

In spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells. You felt secure in your wickedness and said, “No one sees me,” your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; for you have said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” But evil will come on you which you will not know how to charm away; and disaster will fall on you for which you cannot atone; and destruction about which you do not know will come on you suddenly.

Yahweh continued, saying that such supernatural means would not save Babylon from destruction; in fact, they would become like stubble burned in the fire. The use of spiritism and magic, commonly practiced by the ancients to manipulate their gods, was specifically forbidden for the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). The same is true for followers of Jesus; we are to turn away from all forms of evil (Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Peter 3:11; Revelation 21:8). Remove such things from your life because evil only wants “to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Don’t seek wisdom or power from below, but from God (James 3:15-17).

Seize the moment and stop seeking power through forbidden means – “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

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.

Anointed for Service!

Isaiah 45

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, February 13.

Did you know that God has anointed you for service? In Isaiah 44:28-45:1, God names Cyrus as His anointed one, who will not only deliver God’s people from Babylonian captivity, but will provide for them the means to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple:

It is I who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.” And he declares of Jerusalem, “She will be built,” and of the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.” Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut.

The Hebrew word used for Cyrus is mashiach; it means “the anointed one” and reflects the biblical tradition of selecting and equipping a person for service, such as the anointing of the kings by the prophets (e.g., 1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13; 1 Kings 19:15-16). Isaiah prophesied over a hundred years before Cyrus would come into power as the king of Persia to fulfill this prophecy, conquering Babylon in 539 BC and decreeing that that Jewish exiles could return home to rebuild the house of the Lord (Ezra 1:1-2; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of Cyrus as the anointed one, chosen and equipped by God for a specific work prepared in advance for him to fulfill.

God makes it clear that He is still in the business of anointing people for works of service to Him through His Holy Spirit. He now does it when people put their faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

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.

Be a Witness of God’s Redemption!

Isaiah 44

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, February 12.

In Acts 1:7-8, before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, He said to His disciples, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Alongside of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), this is considered the mission of the church – to be witnesses of God’s redemption, promised by the Father, provided by the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus, the Rock and Redeemer, gave these words in fulfillment of the Word of the Lord, from Isaiah 44:3-8:

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.” … Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.”

Seize the moment and be a witness of God’s redemption – “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:2b).

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.

Today’s worship song focus :

Everlasting God

Isaiah 40:31 (NASB95)     

“Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.”

Written in the summer of 2006 by Lincoln Brewster and Brenton Brown, this song was inspired by the passage in Isaiah 40 and a season of personal struggle in Brenton’s life. Carrying a powerful message of hope and encouragement, we, the worshipper, are reminded of God’s everlasting nature and His promise that He will provide the strength and renewal for us when we put our trust in Him.

You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God, You do not faint

You won’t grow weary, You’re the defender of the weak

You comfort those in need, You lift us up on wings like eagles.

We need to wake up and quit rushing through the day. Take the time to put God first and wait in His presence. Remember that resting in Him will provide you with His unwavering strength so that you are not relying on yourself and your strength alone.

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.

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

Everlasting God

Live Like the Redeemed!

Isaiah 43

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, February 9.

You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37-39), a chosen member of His family who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus (Acts 20:28; Titus 2:14). Now, live like it! As the nations raged against Jerusalem, God looked upon His people and said, “You are Mine,” giving them the assurance of their redemption in Isaiah 43:1-5:

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! … For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.”

What a promise in the middle of a big old hot mess! Israel suffered at the hands of Assyria and Babylon, only to be released from captivity by Persia. Yet, during that time, God promised to redeem the offspring of Israel from the four corners of the Earth. To this day, that is the mission of the church, as witnesses of God’s redemption (Isaiah 43:8-13; Acts 1:8), calling His people home through Jesus Christ, the One who paid the ransom (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Seize the moment and live as one who has been redeemed, no matter your circumstances today – “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south” (Psalm 107:2-3).

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.