Seize the Moment – Day 448
A Happy Ending!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 8.
I love it when stories have happy endings!
Joseph’s life was epic; it was filled with great suffering, but every step of the way Joseph trusted God’s providence, especially with the ending of his story.
After Joseph’s father died, Joseph’s brothers became insecure about how Joseph would treat them. In many ways, they saw their father as their safety blanket, but it was in this dramatic moment that Joseph demonstrated that the forgiveness he had previously given his brothers in Genesis 45:4-15 was genuine.
Listen to Joseph speak to his brothers in Genesis 50:19-21,
“Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph gives God all the glory for anything good that has come from his life, including how God used those worst moments of his life.
Genesis ends with Joseph’s death in Egypt, but his final request to his brothers sets up the reader for the next book, the book of the Exodus. On his death bed, Joseph asked to be buried in the Promised Land with his father. Little did Joseph know that even though his story was coming to a happy ending, the epic story of the nation of Israel was about to dive deep into a very long and dark valley, as it would take over 400 years for Joseph’s request to be fulfilled by Moses (Exodus 13:19).
Seize the moment and trust God for the happy ending of your story and trust God for the ongoing epic story of His creation!
YOUTUBE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 447
Blessings and Curses!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, June 7.
Genesis 49 records the scene of Israel calling his twelve sons to his death bed so that he can bless them. Verse 28 summarizes, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.”
The phrase that is revealing is that each one received, “the blessing appropriate to him.”
When you read this chapter you realize that for some of the sons this was a moment of honor and for others this was a moment of shame. Whereas Judah and Joseph were given a lion’s share of Israel’s good fortune, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi received curses. It must have been a painful moment as these three were remembered by their father for their worst moment of life.
Can you imagine being remembered forever for the worst decision of your life? What horror!
The thought of that, for me, is deeply disturbing and it causes me to stop and ponder. Just like Jesus’ teaching about the goats and the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46 when the sheep are blessed and the goats are cursed based on the actions of their lives.
Can you imagine your eternity being based on the actions of your life? We all fall short of the glory of God!
Thank you God that eternal life is found in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. As Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, “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” (cf. John 3:14-18).
Seize the moment and choose blessings through a life of faith in Jesus Christ. Life and death, blessings and curses, are before us every day.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 23
The Promise of a Seal!
Ephesians 1:13c (NAS95)
Two weeks ago we celebrated Pentecost Sunday and the birth of the Church through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which historically occurred fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection in order to further and more deeply imbed God’s salvific work through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit with God’s work through Israel. We discussed the ancient and biblical doctrine of salvation and the importance of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternal life. The Holy Spirit is an essential part of your salvation and today we are going to learn more.
The play of the week is “The Promise of a Seal!” The memory verse for this promise is Ephesians 1:13c, “You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
The sealing happens when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are still dead in your sins and your spirit has not yet been quickened to life through this indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in you. As Paul said in Romans 8:9-11,
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
To understand today’s memory verse, let’s study the context of Paul’s words from Ephesians 1:3-14,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Amen! Let’s unpack this to reinforce the work of God in our salvation and what Paul is communicating to us about the partnership between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- God the Father is the great architect of God’s plan to create and redeem creation (Ephesians 1:3-6).
- The Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
- The Father chose us before the foundation of the world.
- In love, the Father predestined us and adopted us to be His children. He willed it and it was done!
- The Father freely bestows His grace on us; He lavishes the riches of His grace on us.
- God the Son makes the provision with His crucified and resurrected body to fulfill God’s plan (Ephesians 1:7-12).
- It is in the Son and through the Son that the Father blesses us and adopts us.
- The Son is the grace freely bestowed on us.
- It is through the Son’s shed blood on the Cross that we have redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses.
- The Son is the one who makes known the wisdom and insight of the mystery of God’s will.
- The Son is summing up all things, in heaven and on earth.
- The Son grants us access to our inheritance.
- God the Holy Spirit is the promised pledge, the seal, of God’s plan (Ephesians 1:13-14).
- The Holy Spirit seals us in Christ as the pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
What does it mean that the Holy Spirit seals us?
Here is a simple explanation of what a seal meant in Bible times. We all know that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Matthew 27:66 describes, “And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.” The seal they set on the stone “refers to pressing wax or clay between the stone and the tomb entrance and then stamping it with an imperial insignia.”[1] The seal on the tomb meant that if you rolled the stone away, you would incur the wrath of the Roman government. The stone blocked the way as it was heavy and cumbersome, but it was the power behind the seal that prevented people from removing the stone.
First, the promise of a seal secures our identity in Christ!
Think of all the software that’s out there that does facial recognition or thumbprint recognition. In the context of that image, it’s as if, when our identity is checked, the Holy Spirit’s presence in us allows us to be identified as Christ-like, and not as merely ourselves. We have the thumbprint of Christ in us because we have the Holy Spirit. Holiness is the Holy Spirit in you—God abiding in you—not that you are doing certain things, but that holy activities are flowing from God’s holy presence in you!
In 2 Corinthians 1:20-22
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
The Holy Spirit in our lives is like the seal on milk or drinks, like the seal on medicine. You know it is what it is promised to be when it is sealed. If you find something not sealed, you question whether it is what it says it is or wonder whether it has been tampered with.
This is why we cannot live the Christian life apart from the seal of the Holy Spirit. Just as the gifts of the Spirit demonstrate our ministry, the fruit of the Spirit authenticates that we are in Christ Jesus.
Second, the promise of a seal secures your eternal life with God!
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
When you think of the Holy Spirit, you can think of the mail or a carrier service you trust. We seal, address, and stamp a letter for the USPS expecting it to get to the address it was intended. It is a federal crime to tamper with the mail or impede its rightful delivery. A seal is a sign of both ownership and authorship! When something is sealed, you know who it came from and that they authored it.
The good news is that the Holy Spirit never misses a delivery! The seal of the Holy Spirit allows us to live with the security of God’s grace and love towards us in Christ Jesus! God is the author and finisher!
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Our security in Christ is because of the promise of the seal, which happens at our conversion, when we enter into eternal life. We are safe in God! Not from bombs, gunmen, cancer, financial woes, family heartache, accidents, betrayals, or any other messes that occur by living in a broken world, but we are securely embraced by God through His redemption plan for His creation.
We are not only invited and welcomed into a relationship with the Triune God, but the triumphant work of the Holy Spirit is to authenticate God’s presence in our lives by putting His seal on us. We are now a part of God’s redemption plan and how we live our lives matters in God’s plan.
The blood of Jesus Christ has covered all of our sins for eternity (the payment is made!) and the Holy Spirit has sealed us for eternity (the guarantee is given!). It is done!
Why? Because the Holy Spirit as the seal of God’s promise proves we belong to God as His children and authenticates us as His approved representatives to the world. As Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20,
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The Holy Spirit is the visible sign that we belong to God. And we are sent by God to do His will; we are under His authority! The Holy Spirit is the sign—the seal—of the authority and power by which we are authorized, and through which we are empowered, to accomplish God’s will. We are bound together with God and with one another as the body of Christ through the seal of the Holy Spirit.
Over the next two weeks, we are going to learn that the promise of the seal of God goes hand in hand with God’s promises of anointing and power in the Christian life. As we progress in the sanctification process, we have greater awareness and access to the Holy Spirit as He is activated within us, more and more.
While it is important that we feel secure in God’s love because of the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we must know that our security is so that we can go out into the world and shine God’s light and love with anointing and power as His ambassadors—we are His messengers, His image bearers!
You can listen to this message from Pastor Jerry here:
Or you can watch the video by clicking Here.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), Mt 27:66.
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Seize the Moment – Day 445
Today’s hymn focus will be “At the Cross”
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NLT)
“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!
But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”
These poetic verses were written by Isaac Watts, born in 1674 to Pastor Isaac & Sarah Watts. His father was considered a dissenter because he did not fall in line with the teachings of England’s Anglican Church. The younger Isaac showed exceptional intellectual abilities, learning Latin, Greek, French and Hebrew by the age of 13. At the age of 19, he joined his father in leading the Above Bar Congregational Church in Southampton, where he began writing hymns for the church to sing. He published this song in 1707 in a book entitled Hymns and Spiritual Songs.
Almost 150 years later, while singing this song in a revival service, Fanny Crosby (our blind hymnist from last week’s song) was converted to Christ. She said “my very soul was flooded with a celestial light.” So Isaac Watts played a part in her salvation.
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my
heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight, and now I am
happy all the day!
We need to wake up and realize that the power of written words and a beautiful melody do not just impact a few, but can continue to echo through the ages, affecting people’s lives for generations to come. Sing and proclaim this joyous song today!
YOUTUBE:
At the Cross
Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man, His creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears.
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.
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Seize the Moment – Day 444
Blessing the Next Generation!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 4.
Are you willing to have your name become less so that God’s will can be done through you?
Genesis 48:5 is a powerful moment in the life of Joseph as his father Israel makes Joseph’s two sons his own: “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.”
Amazingly, after the Exodus from Egypt and during the Conquest of the Promised Land, Joseph’s two sons each receive a full inheritance of land. It is not the tribe of Joseph, but rather the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. As Israel explains to Joseph in Genesis 48:22, “I give you one portion more than your brothers.”
Four hundred years later we see this fulfilled in Numbers 1:32-35, “Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, … their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. Of the sons of Manasseh, … their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.”
It is no longer Joseph’s tribe who would be counted, but Ephraim’s tribe and Manasseh’s tribe. Joseph was willing to say, “They must increase, but I must decrease.” To this day, take a look at a Bible map of the tribal allotments of land for Israel and you will see that the name of Joseph is not once shown; rather, you will see Ephraim and Manasseh.
Over a thousand years later, John the Baptist followed Joseph’s example and said about Jesus in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Seize the moment and humble yourself so that the next generation may come to know Jesus Christ and be used by God to do great things for God’s glory.
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Seize the Moment – Day 443
Egypt is not your Home!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 3.
As we approach the end of Genesis, God’s chosen people have finally found refuge from the famine in Egypt. The story now moves to Israel’s final sojourning towards death.
Observe a significant moment in Genesis 47:29-31:
When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” He said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.
Israel made a request of Joseph, that he not be buried in Egypt, but that he be returned to his own people in the land that God had promised them.
This is a strategic request because Israel was reminding his sons that Egypt is not Israel’s home! Joseph fulfills his promise in Genesis 50:13: “For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.”
Joseph gets the import of this and with his final words before death makes the same request of his brothers in Genesis 50:25. It would be nearly four hundred years before the people of Israel would keep this promise during the exodus out of Egypt, when God rescued them from slavery.
Seize the moment and remember that Egypt is not your true Home—you are set free in Christ as Paul said in Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free.”
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Seize the Moment – Day 442
The Joy of a Family Reunion!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 2.
What do you enjoy about family reunions? Is it the joy of seeing people you love who you haven’t seen in a long time?
Can you imagine what is must have been like for Joseph’s father to be reunited with his son after nearly two decades of thinking that his son had been killed by a wild animal? To not only know that he is alive, but to then, finally, be face to face with him. What joy!
Genesis 46:29-30 captures the scene, “Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.’”
Can you put yourself in Israel’s shoes? Getting your long-lost son back from the dead—what joy!
This makes me think of Easter Sunday. The excitement of those first believers who experienced the resurrection of Jesus in real time and not as a doctrinal statement thousands of years later.
Can you put yourself in the disciples’ shoes? Getting your Lord back from the dead—what joy!
Jesus is alive and whenever a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, there is a party in Heaven for that one lost family member who has been found.
From death to life—what joy!
Jesus captured this scene in the Parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:22-24, “‘Let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
Seize the moment and celebrate whenever a lost person is found! Rejoice and throw a party in anticipation of Heaven being the biggest and most joyful family reunion ever!
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Seize the Moment – Day 441
The Abundant God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 1.
There is a great turn of events in Genesis 45. Joseph, the ruler of Egypt, overcome with emotion announces to his brothers that he is their long-lost estranged brother. He offers reconciliation and then, in concert with Pharoah, showers gifts upon them. The brothers are being sent back to the Promised Land, not to stay, though, but to pick up their father and his household and to move everyone to Egypt, to the land of Goshen, for the five remaining years of famine.
Genesis 45:24 captures an interesting command by Joseph to his brothers, “So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel on the journey.’”
This got my attention because Paul warned believers in a similar way after he gave the promise of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:26, “Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”
Why is it necessary to warn both Joseph’s brothers and all Spirit-filled believers against quarrelling, boasting, challenging, and envying in the midst of receiving such blessings?
James 4:1-3 explains,
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Seize the moment and be generous with all that God has entrusted to you for your good, remembering that all that you have is from His gracious hand for His glory. The secret to the abundant life is being generous with God’s grace, lavishly poured out on you by Jesus!
YOUTUBE:
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Live Like a Champion – Week 22
The Promise of Partnership
I. Introduction to Partnership with God
Parents must be modeling Christ at home for their kids, otherwise church has little chance of getting through to them.
II. Jody Maddy, FBC Children’s Director
Our MISSION is to partner with parents to build a strong Biblical foundation in every child.
Mark 10:13-16 (NLT)
13 They brought little children to Jesus that He might put His hand on them. The followers spoke sharp words to those who brought them. 14 Jesus saw this and was angry with the followers. He said, “Let the little children come to Me. Do not stop them. The holy nation of God is made up of ones like these. 15 For sure, I tell you, whoever does not receive the holy nation of God as a little child does not go into it.” 16 He took the children in His arms. He put His hands on them and prayed that good would come to them.
III. Kevin King, FBC Youth Director
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.
Jody comments on a recent DtL Café that Kevin held with a Sci-fi theme.
God wants to partner with us so that we can share in the joy of partnering with Him!
IV. In Conclusion
30 I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.
How does God want you to partner with Him to share the Gospel?
You can listen to this message from Kevin & Jody here:
Or you can watch the video by clicking Here.
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Seize the Moment – Day 438
Today’s hymn focus will be “Blessed Assurance”
persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day”
In 1873, Fanny Crosby was staying with her friend, Phoebe Knapp. Phoebe owned a palatial mansion in Brooklyn, NY, where she had one of the finest collections of musical instruments in the country.
Phoebe invited her into the music room to play a tune that she had just written. As she sat at the piano and played the new composition, the blind hymnist listened. When she finished, Fanny clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Why, that song says ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!’”. She quickly wrote the words down and this great hymn was born.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long!
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long!
We need to wake up and realize that if we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are to live in the absolute conviction and triumphant faith that Paul wrote to Timothy about. AND we need to proclaim that story and praise Him all day long.
YOUTUBE:
Blessed Assurance
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
visions of rapture now burst on my sight.
Angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
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