Seize the Moment – Day 477
The Law of Retaliation!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 7.
Have you ever wanted to get even with someone?
Immediately following the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses in Exodus 20, God started giving His new people the covenant code. The covenant code is the body of Law within God’s covenant with Israel. It is the content of what Moses called the “book of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7) and it would take the next three chapters to record it.
Exodus 21:23-25 captures the legal precedence of the code: “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
This passage “illustrates the principle of lex talionis, the idea that punishment must be meted out in exact equivalence to the crime (see Lev 24:17–22; Deut 19:18–19).”[1]
It is the law of retaliation and it was prominent throughout ancient law, but Jesus transformed the covenant code by replacing the legal precedent behind it—from retaliation to generosity!
Listen to Jesus give the way of the new covenant in Matthew 5:38-41,
You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”
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[1] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ex 21:24.
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Seize the Moment – Day 476
From Grace Flows Good Works!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 6.
When my kids attended preschool, it was a big deal when they were the class line leader. It meant they got to go first. In the Christian life, there is always a designated line leader.
Grace goes first! The work of God precedes human efforts. God rescues us to live our lives for Him, solely by His choice and apart from our merit.
It has always been this way. Exodus 20 is an important chapter in the Old Testament because it contains the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Listen to the first words of God to Moses in Exodus 20:2, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Before God gives the Law, He reminds them that He is the One who rescued them. Grace led them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai as a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. Grace came first!
The Ten Commandments were not the means by which they came into a right relationship with God, but the signs of their rescue by the God who rescued them.
The same principle of grace is true for us today in Christ!
Paul explains this clearly in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
God’s grace frees us from sin, for good works!
Seize the moment and rest in the unforced rhythms of grace. Invite Jesus to lead your life today.
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Seize the Moment – Day 475
The Presence of the Lord Prepares Human Hearts!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 5.
Have you ever had an encounter with the presence of God in a discernable way that deeply affected you for the rest of your life?
I did and it was in a situation and place that forever directed my steps. The presence of the Lord came upon me and I responded to His grace. Later, I learned that the Spirit of God did this to prepare my heart to be His throne.
In Exodus 19, God is about to give His covenant with the Israelites through Moses. In order to prepare their hearts, He manifests His presence to them. The scene unfolds in Exodus 19:18-20:
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Bible teachers call this event a theophany—an event where God reveals Himself in a way that people can discern! God revealed Himself to the Israelites because of His previously stated desire to make them “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (v. 6).
God’s presence prepares human hearts for God’s purposes and glory!
Theophanies set the precedent for God’s revelation of Himself to us in Jesus Christ. John testified to the incarnation in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (cf. Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).
Seize the moment and respond to the glory of God in your life. God’s presence prepares your heart to be His throne.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 27
The Promise of Freedom!
Galatians 5:1 (NAS95)
Pastor Jerry Ingalls of New Castle First Baptist Church on July 4, 2021
I. The Yoke Imagery.
The yoke concept within the Hebrew literary traditions is strongly related to the idea of the Sovereignty Covenant. God laid his yoke on his people. His people either bore the yoke (an obedient, proper relationship) or broke off the yoke (a relationship of rebellion). God’s people might choose to attempt to wear the yokes of other gods, which was the same as throwing off the yoke of Israel’s god. Obviously, one could not wear two yokes at the same time. The wearing of the yoke as viewed in Hebrew scripture was the outward sign of an inward relationship. Thus one might bring the offerings and do all of the things of religion and still not be bearing the yoke in terms of attitudes and relationships. Hebrew scriptures can thus view the bearing of the yoke of God’s sovereignty as joy, honor, and privilege rather than tragedy, hardship, and sorrow.[1]
God is passionate about upholding His covenant with His people as we read in Jeremiah 2:20, “For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill and under every green tree you have lain down as a harlot.” God continues in Jeremiah 5:5-6,
“I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord and ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke and burst the bonds. Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, a wolf of the deserts will destroy them, a leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.
This connection to the concept of the yoke as God’s sovereign rule over His chosen people, as opposed to their bondage to idols and false gods cannot be lost, nor ignored. Jesus aligned His usage of yoke with the Old Testament, as seen in Matthew 11:28-30 when viewed in context with His declaration of the people’s apostasy in verses 20-24.
The yoke imagery would not have been lost on the original New Testament audience. Jeremiah Garrett explains in the Lexham Bible Dictionary, “Some New Testament Letters seem to rely on the Old Testament understanding of yoke as an instrument of slavery (e.g., Gal 5:1; 1 Tim 6:1).”[2]
You are either in the yoke of faith (trust and obedience to God and His ways) or in the yoke of slavery (rebellion against God’s plan and ways)!
II. The Context of the Promise
That transitions us to our second point of the lesson. Let’s now understand our memory verse and the Holy Spirit’s promise of freedom within its original context by reading Galatians 4:21-31 & 5:1:
Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate Than of the one who has a husband.” And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman. It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Obviously, Paul just gave us an Old Testament lesson to help us understand his teaching on the freedom Jesus has given us. This promise of God is birthed in the ancient Genesis story of the first Patriarch couple—Abraham and Sarah. I will paraphrase this story from Genesis 15—21.
God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child and through that child their descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. God promised that rulers of nations would come through Sarah’s womb, but into a very old age her womb remained closed. In a desperate moment, they took matters into their own hands and Sarah, the “free woman” gave Abraham Hagar, her handmaiden or as Paul called her, “the bondwoman,” to conceive a child. In this moment of fear and anxiety, Ishmael was born, and the results have been disastrous to God’s people and the world ever since! You hear about it nearly every day!
Let’s now connect that story to Paul’s teaching in Galatians 4. Ishmael is the “son by the bondwoman [who] was born according to the flesh.” Later, God performed a miracle and though Sarah was well beyond her biological capability to have a baby, her and Abraham conceived Isaac and he is called the “son by the free woman through the promise.” Paul says that these two women and their respective babies allegorically correspond to two different covenants: (1) Ishmael and his offspring are the slaves to the Law of flesh and death, corresponding to Mount Sinai and “the present Jerusalem” (that is the Old Covenant based on the Mosaic Law) and (2) Isaac and his offspring are the “children of promise” who correspond to “the Jerusalem above” and are born according to the Holy Spirit (that is the New Covenant based on Jesus Christ and His promised baptism of the Spirit, that we have discussed so often over the last month).
III. The Application
The yoke is easy because God has made a way for you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus’ own relationship with the Father, and the burden is light because God gives you everything you need for life and godliness through your baptism of the Holy Spirit!
As Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:1-10,
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
What is very interesting is that after both Galatians 5:1 and Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul contrasts the distinction between those who are circumcised of the flesh (Old Covenant) and those who are in the Spirit (New Covenant), once again reinforcing today’s teaching and the importance of understanding the New Covenant through Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Covenant requirements and the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost.
Here is the invitation: Believe God, rest in Jesus, and walk in the Spirit. This is the yoke of faith. This is the Covenant of the Spirit—the easy yoke of Jesus shatters all other yokes! The Fear of the Lord drives out all other fears! Greater is the Spirit of God who is in me than he who is in the world!
You must choose today which yoke you will put on and walk in. The yoke of slavery or the yoke of freedom!
The hard yoke of Law is all about you taking matters into your own hands and producing an Ishmael with devastating results to you and others. It is when you strive to make life work out for you the way you think it should work out.
The easy yoke of Jesus leads to freedom through trust in God for His plans and His ways to bring about what He promises you—Isaac! Jesus promises you freedom from the anxiety and fear that tell you that you must take control of your life if you want to see God’s abundance! We can rest in God’s promises!
I conclude with a powerful call to strive to live this life of rest. From Hebrews 4:8-11,
For if Joshua [the Old Covenant] had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that [the New Covenant]. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Strive to enter God’s rest by taking the yoke of Jesus Christ on to yourself and become like Him, gentle and humble in heart! You will believe God and His promises, and you will experience the fulfillment of all God’s promises. Walk in the Spirit who has given you everything you need for life and godliness.
How do we stand firm and resist the yoke of slavery? We do as the psalmist commands each of us in Psalm 46:10, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Charles L. Tyer, “Yoke,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1992), 1026.
[2] Jeremiah K. Garrett, “Yoke,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
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Seize the Moment – Day 473
Today’s hymn focus: “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Helen Howarth Lemmel was born in England to a Wesleyan minister who migrated to America when she was a child. She loved music and her parents provided her with the best vocal teachers they could find. She eventually went to Germany to study vocal music. It was there that she married a wealthy European, but he left her when she became blind. She faced many heartaches during her midlife.
But at the age of 55, she heard a statement that moved her: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”
She later said, “I stood still, and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.”
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.”
We need to wake up and keep our focus on Jesus. His look of love, hope, peace and grace will help us face whatever situation is in front of us. Look to Him today!
YOUTUBE:
Turn You Eyes Upon Jesus
soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conqu’rors we are!
His Word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
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Seize the Moment – Day 472
Share the Heavy Load!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 2.
Leadership can feel like a heavy burden of responsibility! There is something about that word that changes the weight of work. Responsibility doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself.
Moses was being crushed by the yoke of leading God’s people. His father-in-law, Jethro, had a word of mentorship for Moses that would forever change Moses’ life for the better, but has also changed my life for the better, and will transform any leader’s life who will listen and learn.
Listen to selections from Exodus 18:17-21 as Jethro speaks to Moses:
The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. … You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.
We call this delegation! Moses learned it, Jesus modeled it and Paul mobilized the church with it! Good leaders don’t try to do it all; they share the load!
If you are a leader, then pray and ask God to show you who you can delegate and empower to serve alongside of you to fulfill the responsibilities of God in your life. If you are not currently in a leadership position, then pray and ask God where you can get involved to lend a helping hand.
Seize the moment and carry one another’s burdens.
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Seize the Moment – Day 471
Spiritual Friendship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 1.
We all need people around us. Spiritual friends who hold up our arms by helping us in times where we are overwhelmed. They pray for us, come along side of us, and help in practical ways.
We see two new people in today’s chapter in the ongoing saga of God’s people: Joshua and Hur. While Joshua becomes a main character, Hur is only in this one scene, but will always be remembered as the “friend of Moses.”[1]
Exodus 17:9-12 gives us a powerful image of spiritual friendship:
So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” … So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.
Can you see this picture of spiritual friendship in your mind’s eye?
While Joshua commanded the army in battle, Aaron and Hur were on either side of Moses. For whatever reason, the army fought to victory only when Moses was able to keep the staff of God raised up, but Moses physically couldn’t keep the staff raised over his head. Aaron and Hur supported Moses and raised up his hands for him.
That is a beautiful picture of spiritual friendship!
Seize the moment and help raise up the arms of the people in your life. You never know what victory will come from supporting another person.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] John D. Barry et al., eds., “Hur the Friend of Moses,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
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Seize the Moment – Day 470
God’s Powerful Provision!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 30.
Have you ever had food or water insecurity? Do you know what it is like to not know where your next meal or drink will come from?
God had rescued the Israelites with powerful signs and wonders! There was no doubt of God’s power because He has put it on display for all to know and see. But life went on from the big moments and the ordinary needs of the daily journey into the desert started to become a reality, such as their daily need for food and water. When their needs weren’t being met, the people grumbled against their leaders.
Listen to Exodus 16:6-7 as Moses and Aaron gave them God’s answer: “At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”
God responded with awesome displays of His sufficiency: the quail covered the camp in the evening (v. 13) and manna covered the ground in the morning (vv. 14-21). The people learned that they could trust God to take care of their ordinary day-to-day needs.
God would provide for them this manna throughout their long desert journey. Listen to verse 35, “The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.”
No matter the length of your journey through the difficulties of this life, Jesus invites you to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
Seize the moment and trust God for your daily bread! God cares for His children. He is our sufficiency! Reach out to ask Him today.
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Seize the Moment – Day 469
Worship in Truth and Spirit!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 29.
Have you ever written a song or poem about who God is and what God has done in your life?
Moses did! That is what Exodus 15:1-18 records. Listen to the first three and last two verses of his song,
I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will extol Him. The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name. … You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.
Moses is singing a new song! A song that he wrote after God demonstrated His miraculous power to rescue Israel through the ten plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea.
Moses’ song praises God for who He is, what Has done in the past, and what He will do in the future. His song is filled with both faith and hope!
This is the heart of worship: to praise God for who He is and to declare what God has done, is doing, and will do. When we do this, whether in a song or poem or dance or some other medium of art and self-expression, we are worshipping God in truth and spirit.
Jesus said in John 4:23-24, “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.”
Seize the moment and express your faith in a song or poem or art form today. Worship God in truth and spirit.
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Seize the Moment – Day 468
Every Crisis is an Opportunity!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, June 28.
Do you have a situation that is too big for you to tackle by yourself? Are you inviting the Lord to fight this battle for you?
Exodus 14 narrates Israel’s escape from Egypt after the Passover. Shortly after Israel’s departure, Pharaoh forms his army to chase after and capture his escaping slaves. Verses 10-14 describes the Hebrews response:
They became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? … But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today … The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”
In the urgency of this new crisis, the Israelites quickly forgot God’s displays of power in the ten plagues and the Passover. They fell into despair and were willing to put themselves back into slavery without a fight!
Moses called them to trust God, who would fight the battle for them! In fact, three times we hear this phrase in Exodus 14, God declares “I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army” (verses 4, 17, 18).
Where people saw only crisis and defeat, God saw victory through His people’s faith!
As we learn in 1 John 5:4, “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Seize the moment and invite the LORD into your circumstances. Through the eyes of faith, every crisis is transformed into an opportunity for God’s glory!
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