Seize the Moment – Day 413
When the Forecast is Dire, Faith Gives us Hope!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 4.
The situation has become dire for God’s people as a famine has come upon the Promised Land. The new and inexperienced family leader, Isaac, was feeling the heavy weight of responsibility ever since his father Abraham had died. He needs clear instructions on what to do so that his wife and twin boys—Jacob and Esau—won’t perish in the desperate days of famine.
Will God keep His promise to Isaac and his family?
The Lord both reassures and commands Isaac in Genesis 26:3, “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.”
From his time with God, Isaac trusts God and makes a go at it. It takes great courage to live out your faith and trust God for your family and future in such a heavy circumstance.
While the forecast looked desperate, his faith kept him hopeful. He trusted God’s Word!
Listen to how Isaac responds to God’s great provision in Genesis 26:25, “So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.”
Isaac worshipped the Lord by building an altar to worship God and to remember God’s power and provision to keep His promises. When we are faced with a dire forecast and finding it difficult to trust the promises of God, remember how God has come through for you and your family time and time again in the past. He will do so, again and again, in the future.
Seize the moment and trust God’s power and provision for you and your family.
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Seize the Moment – Day 412
Comfort in Grieving!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, May 3.
As many of you know, I officiate and participate in a lot of funerals. It is a part of my calling to provide pastoral care for the congregation and as an outreach ministry to the community. What a joy it is to give people hope in a time of such grief and sorrow.
There is a powerful sentence about Abraham’s death in Genesis 25:8 that deeply struck me this morning, especially as a I prepare the message for Donna Jarvis’ funeral this afternoon: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.”
God blessed Abraham with a long fruitful life and then he was gathered with the saints who had gone to be with God before him. What else could we ask for?
Psalm 116:15 proclaims, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”
Revelation 14:13 declares, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”
One of the great gifts of our faith in Jesus Christ, is the peace God’s presence gives us in the face of life’s trials and temptations, to include the trial of dying and as we or our loved ones face death. The Lord has not only given us a heavenly peace, but also a certain assurance that we will join with Jesus in His resurrection; that the death of this body does not have the final word!
Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Seize the moment and believe in Jesus Christ. Because He lives, you can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 18
The Promise of Being Discipled
Mark 1:17 (NAS95)
In this sermon series, we are learning how to live like a champion by learning how to live according to the victory of the promises of God. Our guiding image for this series is being a member of an NFL team who wins the Superbowl. We live like champions so that others will come to know the One who gave us His Victory—Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again!
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’”
You are invited!
Everything pertaining to life and godliness, to wholeness and holiness, comes down to hearing this invitation. Not just a once-upon-a-time invitation commonly called justification or being saved, but the every-day-every-moment invitations which are the call of the Spirit for our sanctification.
Our responsibility is to listen for the call of Jesus to “Follow Me” and then respond with integrity.
The promise of being discipled is a promise that you never again have to do life by yourself. Jesus is inviting you to do life with Him, for eternity, which, oh by the way, includes every day of this life.
You are invited!
The life of a Christian is a lifestyle defined and determined by the response to this invitation—an invitation that is ongoing in the Christian’s life. Salvation is an all-encompassing reality—it may begin with your initial acceptance of this invitation and end with the fulfillment of it, but it also shapes your daily life.
Are you hearing God’s invitations in your everyday life to follow Him and become like Him in everything you do?
“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
That is a promise! Salvation is an ongoing work and your part is to respond to the invitation to follow Jesus and trust that He will keep His promises. This is the life of believing God!
“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”
You are to learn all that Jesus Christ wants you to learn because we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2)!
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
You are to do all that Jesus wants you to do because as a fisher of people you are taking on Jesus’ mission to make disciples of all nations—His ambassador; His witness; His light in the darkness!
The promise of being discipled is the promise of becoming like Jesus Christ in your very character—gentle and humble in heart—and conformed to His Image as God intended you from the beginning. Paul said in Romans 8:29-30, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
You are to become all Jesus wants you to be! You are a redeemed Image Bearer of God!
The promise of being discipled is the promise of the Holy Spirit producing fruit on your branch and demonstrating to the world that you are His and represent Him. Jesus said in John 15:8-11,
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
You are the dwelling place of God on this earth—a temple of the Holy Spirit—and a holy priesthood mediating God’s presence. Until He makes all things new, you are His new creation upon this earth.
All of these are the promises of being discipled—the work of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
With all of these promises of God, you only have one calling—one praxis that you are responsible for in this great exchange! We call it living by faith!
“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence”
Now that you know what God has promised to do with you and in you and for you, let’s now focus on the invitation of this promise: You are invited to trust God by following Jesus!
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus’ invitations to “Follow Me” and to “Come to Me” are the same call with the same promise of God. The Greek word δεῦτε is a translation of the important Hebrew word הלך (hālakh). For the Jewish people, this Hebrew word took on the meaning of habitually practicing or walking in a certain lifestyle as the way of fulfilling God’s invitation of covenant relationship.
Listen to how this concept is built into the covenant call of Isaiah 2:1-5:
The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths’ [italics added]. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord [italics added].
Based on Jesus’ word choice, this invitation to “Follow” or “Come” is not a one-time action, but an ongoing journey of following Jesus through the “habitual practice” of His way of life. This is a word the Jewish rabbis used when inviting students to learn their teaching of Torah and walk in their way of fulfilling the Mosaic Law. Jesus was being very intentional in His invitation; He was essentially saying—I am the way!
This was unmistakable to His original audience, which is why Jesus was so controversial! But such nuances are easily missed by us today: Jesus was directly aligning Himself to the ancient promises of Yahweh’s redeemed rule over all nations and the Messiah’s eternal reign over all of God’s creation.
“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
You are invited! Yes, this is an invitation that each of must decide how we will respond once and for all, but it also an invitation for each and every moment of our everyday lives. This is the way!
In Christ’s mind, the mind of God, your invitation to salvation, “Follow Me,” comes with everything you need for life and godliness, wholeness and holiness. It includes your call to not only becoming like Him, but to also partner with Him in the mission of Jesus Christ. Because there is only one invitation, one calling, and it is for each of us to answer. It is the invitation to faith, trusting that He will do the rest so that you can find rest for your soul.
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 410
Today’s hymn focus will be “I Love to Tell the Story”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
“ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey
all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.”
After her recovery Major General Russell read the poem at the international YMCA convention. It inspired William Doane to take part of it and compose “Tell Me the Old, Old Story” and William G. Fischer took a part and composed our hymn for today:
I love to tell the story! Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story. Of Jesus and His love.
We need to wake up and realize that it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to share the story of Jesus and His love and help make disciples. We can never grow tired of sharing this message of love and hope.
YOUTUBE:
I Love to Tell the Story
of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true.
It satisfies my longings as nothing else could do.
I love to tell the story,
’twill be my theme in glory,
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love.
what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
the message of salvation from God’s own holy word.
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it, like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
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Seize the Moment – Day 409
The Servant’s Prayer!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 30.
It is important to know who you are talking to when you are praying because prayer is neither a pep talk nor a pity party; it is a direct communication with God, who desires a relationship with you.
Genesis 24:12-14 records one of the ancient prayers of God’s people—Abraham’s servant who was sent on a mission to find a wife for Isaac:
He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”
As we listen to the servant’s prayer and the conversation between Abraham and his servant prior to this prayer, we learn that they believed in both God’s providence and God’s direct involvement in their daily affairs. This is the same faith we hold today—God is sovereign and God is personal.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God according to these same truths. Listen to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13,
Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy Name
Thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread, and
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen
Seize the moment and pray in this way every day as you grow in God’s sovereign grace and seek His will in your daily life.
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Seize the Moment – Day 408
Deep Roots in the Promises of God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 29.
Do you have deep roots in the promises of God?
Abraham’s wife Sarah passed away at the beginning of Genesis 23. In verse 2, it is recorded, “Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.”
The rest of the chapter is about a real estate transaction for her burial site in the promised land (verse 3-20). The story focuses more on the negotiations for the purchase of land than on the death and burial itself. Why?
Because there was no going back! Abraham was purchasing the family burial plot in the promise land of Canaan, rather than going back to where they came from. In the face of death, Abraham was literally planting their roots deeply into the promises of God by placing his wife into the Promise Land itself.
This was a loud statement of faith!
This real estate transaction was a big deal! That is why the chapter is bookended by statements of geographical location. Genesis 23:19-20 ends the chapter, “After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave that is in it, were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.”
Upon Sarah’s death, Abraham was declaring to Isaac and to all successive generations that God’s promise of this land had been secured—this land is God’s land by His promise and now God’s people through Abraham and Sarah have a foothold in it through this legal transaction and the burial of the matriarch in the land itself.
Seize the moment and stake your claim in the promises of God! It may not be through a real estate transaction, but how does your lifestyle today plant seeds and how does your estate plans for the future declare your deep roots in the promises of God to your future generations?
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Seize the Moment – Day 407
The Life of Sacrifice!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 28.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to let go of an important relationship and entrust it to God? What did it feel like to make that sacrifice?
Genesis 22:15-18 describes God’s reward to Abraham for his faithfulness to let go of his most prized person, his son Isaac, the unique child of promise:
Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
While this ancient story has much in it that is confusing and upsetting to our modern sensibilities, the emphasis of the story is on God’s faithfulness to provide for His promise and for His people to trust Him, no matter what is asked of us.
The life of sacrifice can feel confusing and upsetting when we begin it, but as you learn to trust God, you truly learn of His faithfulness! It is not until you are willing to follow Jesus and obey Him that you learn of the greater rewards of the life of sacrifice.
Jesus invites you from Mark 8:34-35, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Seize the moment and trust God with whatever it is you are clinging to. There are great blessings in a life of sacrifice.
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Seize the Moment – Day 406
A Child of Promise!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, April 27.
Did you know that every believer in Jesus Christ is a child of the promise of God?
Genesis 21:1-3 begins the story of what it means to be a child of promise:
Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
The ancient story of Abraham’s son Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael is used to describe who Christians become because of the work of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. In Galatians 4:28, Paul contrasts being a child of promise and being a child of the flesh, “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise” (cf. Romans 9:8).
We become children of promise by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who grafts us into the family tree of God’s people (Romans 8:15-17; 11:17-24; cf. Galatians 3:29; 1 John 3:1).
We are like Isaac, the children of promise! This is why Jesus Christ came from Heaven to earth, as John taught in John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
This is what it means to be born again, not of flesh, but of God, in order to be transformed from a child of the flesh to a child of the promise!
Seize the moment and put your faith in Jesus Christ.
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Seize the Moment – Day 405
Honesty is the Best Policy!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 26.
Honesty is the best policy!
I think it is safe to say that at some point in all of our lives, we have been in situations where we felt it would easier, if not better, to give a half-truth or an outright lie, than it was to be truthful.
Whether or not this moral dilemma has happened to you more than one time I don’t know, but I do know that the great patriarch of our faith, Father Abraham, was in that situation over and over again in his life. According to Genesis 20:13, Abraham asked Sarah to consistently lie by giving a half-truth about their relationship: “When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
Genesis 20 is the second time that Abraham’s policy of deception has caused a problem. Genesis 20:2-3 begins the story, “Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.’”
There is much in this story that is alien to us because it happened thousands of years ago in an ancient culture with different cultural values and social norms, but what can we learn from it and apply to our lives today?
Honesty is the best policy! Don’t make situations more complicated than they need to be. Bring light to the darkness and walk in the truth, trusting God every step of the way!
Seize the moment and speak the truth in love; be gentle and walk in the light of God’s love as you live in the Way of Jesus through your daily life.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 17
“The Promise of Joy”
John 15:9-17 (NLT)
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
This Week’s Memory verse: John 15:11:
INTRODUCTION:
Minister and author Samuel D. Gordon says joy is defined as:
“distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, to matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy. He had joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross.” (from his ‘Quiet Talks’ series of books)
I. I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Joy Down in My Heart!
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (ESV)
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
~Be Alert
~Be faithful
~Be a mature adult
~Be strong
~Be loving (do all in love…EVERYTHING)
Motivational speaker and author Jim Rohn made this statement regarding love and joy and how they work together:
“Nothing can bring more joy to life than beautifully fulfilling relationships.”
II. The Joy Source
John 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
But also demonstrates who is our source.
“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon
WHY? So it would be a testimony to others who are watching!
III. Is Joy conditional?
“ Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”
(ESV) says to “count it all joy…when trials come~grumblings, murmuring, sarcasm?
Shannon, Kenny & Kenton Rose. One of my ‘kids’ in youth group and close with whole family. (Easter 2021)
Her momma wrote: Don’t think for one second that because she is sweet and compassionate that she is weak. Oh No! This girl can break a horse, train a dog, drive a boat, pull a four horse trailer and back it up wherever it needs to go. She can load and unload 50 bales of hay without complaint….She is strong and she is a fighter… She recently received a diagnosis of metastatic cancer in her breast, ovary, and a 5.9cm tumor in the bone of her shoulder. She is currently having a bone scan to see if the cancer has “camped” anywhere else. During this most devastating news, she has maintained her resolve to do whatever it takes to be victorious in this journey.
She has not let this diagnosis steal her joy. She was asked to be a part of a clinical trial study at Duke Cancer Institute that is showing great promise.
Quote from Kenny when I told him our church would be praying: Ken, Thank you buddy! We are giving this to God daily and trusting in him for healing! Thank you for the prayers! I’m believing that this will become a beautiful story to help someone down the road!
They are facing this trial knowing that through it all, God will be glorified.
“And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Nehemiah was there to encourage the people.
Not to be a ‘Debbie Downer’ or a ‘Negative Nancy’
Recently while listening to KLOVE radio, the hosts of the afternoon show were talking about having a good time, laughing and enjoying time together when someone came in and they were in a bad mood. They had a choice to let that person influence them, or they could try to encourage and boost the spirits of that person.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
CONCLUSION:
God’s Word tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from His love, but He still gives us the choice in what we are going to do with it. What are you going to choose to do with it?
We are told that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), so are your words reflecting His love for Him and for others?
Child’s song: Jesus and Others and You
“J” is for Jesus for He has first place, “O” is for others you meet face to face,
“Y” is for you, in whatever you do, Put your self third and spell JOY.
In this self-centered, me first, and what’s in it for me world we live in, it is our job to shine the light of God’s love and joy. They have to see the hope, the grace and the mercy that flows out of God’s love. And it must be shown in the way we live our lives. We can say it all we want, but unless we show it in our actions, all we are is noise makers.
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
So as the worship team comes, we are going to open up the altars.
- Maybe you have lost your joy. Jesus wants to meet you here and restore the joy of your salvation (process we have to work on daily…justification, sanctification, glorification)
- Maybe you are feeling weak from all the things the world has been throwing at you lately. Jesus wants to meet you here and let you know that His Joy will be your strength as you cast all your cares on Him.
- Maybe the devil has put a cork in your fountain of joy by filling your mind with distractions and lies. Jesus wants you to let go and let God do the work in you!
“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.”
He is calling forth a team to go out and share this message of joy that this world so desperately needs!
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
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