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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Live Like a Champion – Week 26
The Promise of Adoption!
Romans 8:14-25 (NAS95)
Adoption is the Holy Spirit’s ministry of the Father’s grace towards His lost children. Allow me to share an illustration of what grace is; I’ve shared this with you before, but it has been years since I have:
If a young man is killed through some random act of violence, and his father tracks down the guilty person and kills him, we would call that vengeance. If, however, the father calls the police and the murderer is arrested, tried, convicted, and executed, we’d call that justice. If, at the trials, the father pleads for the guilty man’s life to be spared and the judge and jury consent, we’d call that mercy. Now imagine this: in addition to pleading for the guilty one to be spared, the father appeals to the judge to release the offender into his custody and care. Miraculously gaining approval, the father takes the young man into his heart and home, adopts him, and raises him and loves him as his own son…that would be grace! (DeMoss & Grissom, Seeking Him, 86)
That is a beautiful image, but God’s grace goes one step further!
This adoption by the Father is made possible because God, our Heavenly Father, gave His only son Jesus Christ to take our death for us so that justice was satisfied through Jesus’ propitiation of God’s wrath. Jesus came so that all the sons and daughters could be bought back from the penalty of sin, for the wages of sin is death, and brought Home to God’s forever family through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!
This is a legal transaction! We move from alienation and estrangement from God to welcomed and cherished members of God’s large, forever family. Listen to John teach us this in 1 John 2:2, “[Jesus] Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the provision of the Father’s love that makes the Holy Spirit’s promise of adoption possible!
The Holy Spirit assures you of God’s grace in your life, forever. Because of the plan of the Father, the provision of the Son, and the promise of the Holy Spirit, you do not get what you deserve, but rather you receive grace upon grace through the ministry of adoption. Rather than being cast aside because of the sin that separates us from our heavenly Father, we are welcomed into a large, forever family. Adoption not only gives us a new heavenly Father, but it also gives us a large, forever family of brothers and sisters.
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Adoption is a part of God’s plan of salvation to redeem all things back to His rightful rule, what the Bible calls the Kingdom of God, which is often taught through the imagery of a family (“familial imagery”). While we are not yet in God’s eternal Kingdom, which will be in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21-22), we are in the age of God’s grace when it is through the promises of the Holy Spirit that the Church, the adopted people of God who have been grafted into Israel, to declare and make known the Kingdom of God through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in word and deed.
Until the Lord returns, this is our purpose as the children of God—the sons and daughters of the King of kings—with rights of inheritance to His presence, His power, and His promises! Amen!
Therefore, there is no reason to fear because you are no longer a slave to fear, but a son of God; you are a child of God with legal rights of inheritance to Jesus’ Victory! Paul proclaims in Galatians 4:4-7,
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
You are legally and forever adopted as a member of God’s household because of the plan of the Father, the provision of the Son, and the promise of the Holy Spirit! You are secured by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God! God lives in you—He has sealed you for the day of redemption, He has anointed you as His chosen possession, and He has given you power from the heavenlies to be His witnesses to all the wayward children of the nations.
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Seize the Moment – Day 466
Today’s Hymn Focus: This is the Day!
I chose to tell you about this hymn because it plays a foundational role in my daily walk with Jesus. While I am not gifted with Pastor Ken’s amazing singing ability, I love to worship God with joy in my heart.
That the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice,
And be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made.
While I don’t sing this song every day, I sing this song almost every day. It is a part of my daily devotional experience, just as much as saying the Lord’s Prayer, reciting the 23rd Psalm, reading a portion of God’s Word, meditating upon a passage, and praying my prayers.
Singing a song based on God’s Word is an important daily discipline to strengthen your spiritual vitality as you learn to walk in the easy yoke of Jesus Christ.
Seize the moment and face your day with joy in your heart remembering that it is a good day because every day is a gift from God. As Paul taught us in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” That’s another foundational hymn for a different Saturday.
Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you at First Baptist Church Sunday morning for 9 am Sunday School and 10:30 worship service!
God bless you!
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Seize the Moment – Day 465
God Leads for God’s Purposes!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 25.
Who is leading your life and to what end?
Exodus 13:17-18 enunciates an essential emphasis:
Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea…
God leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the upcoming journey that ultimately would take 40 years. Let’s be honest, Moses, like any human leader, would have been fired if it took 40 years to do what could be done in 11-days (Deuteronomy 1:2).
When we choose to follow God, it is always about the journey because the destination is already secured. God leads us so that we can learn to follow Him each step of the way! Because God’s leadership always has a higher purpose than any person’s leadership!
God’s purpose is for you “to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).
That’s why I love it when people claim Romans 8:28 amid their situations: “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
While what we want that to mean is for our lives to work out the way we want, God’s purpose is to lead us closer to Him every step of the way!
Seize the moment and trust God on life’s journey! Follow Him and He will make you become the best version of you to the glory of God!
God bless your day!
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Seize the Moment – Day 464
The Blood of the Passover Lamb!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 24.
Exodus 12 is a critical chapter to understanding the religious and social identity of Israel as the people of God and their most important festival—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, commonly known as the Passover.
This chapter is not only important for the Jewish community, but also Christians as it lays a critical foundation to better understand our religious and social identity in Jesus Christ. Apart from understanding the Passover, it is impossible to fully understand why Jesus Christ had to die on the Cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins, the propitiation of God’s wrath!
Listen to the LORD’s words from Exodus 12:12-13 as God summarizes His great deliverance of His people through the tenth plague:
For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood [of the Lamb] shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This story and the annual celebration of it illuminates the importance of why Jesus is called the perfect Passover Lamb. As John the Baptizer said in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Elder further explained in 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
These are the precious declarations of our Christian faith and are rooted in Exodus 12.
Seize the moment and know that your salvation has been won for you at a great cost—that cost was the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect Passover Lamb, the Savior of the World.
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Seize the Moment – Day 463
Throughout the Land of Egypt!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 23.
Exodus 11:4-7 is a very important passage in this short chapter that warns of the final and most horrific plague:
Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. ‘Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. ‘But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
There is a critical detail that is often missed in the teaching of the Passover: the tenth plague was a threat to “all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.” That means both Israelites and Egyptians were in danger equally from this plague.
This time and for all time forward, God makes a distinction between His people and other people by authorizing a specific way for them to be protected. The Israelites are no longer automatically protected, like they were in the first nine plagues, because now they must obey God’s authorized way to be safe. As we will learn in Exodus 12, it is only through the blood of the Passover Lamb that God’s people would be safe from God’s coming judgment.
The same is true today! Paul says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Seize the moment and trust God for your protection from His coming wrath—believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life.
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Seize the Moment – Day 462
Legacy Events!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 22.
What are the stories you tell the next generation? What legacy events from your life do you want talked about around the dinner table?
God adds the next generation to His motives behind His awesome display of power through the ten plagues. Not only is He rescuing the Israelites from Pharaoh, but He is also establishing a legacy event that will shape their new identity as God’s people. Listen to the LORD speak to Moses in Exodus 10:1-2,
Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.
God is directing Moses to teach His people to remember the ten plagues and how He demonstrated His absolute sovereignty and ultimate power over Pharaoh and Egypt’s pantheon of gods to rescue them from slavery and oppression. God was pointing out to them that this was not to be forgotten!
Are there moments from your life that should not be forgotten? Are there experiences with God or events and situations from your past that have shaped you into the person you are or have become defining moments for your family?
Seize the moment and reflect upon your life and the good that God has done for you. Write it down in a journal or record you telling the story in your own voice. Plan a family gathering when you can share some of these stories with the next generation. Ask God to reveal to you the legacy events of your life and how He would like you to tell the future generations about His greatness through your story.
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