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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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Seize the Moment – Day 403
Today’s hymn focus will be “Joy in Serving Jesus”
Psalm 100:1-2 (ESV)
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!”
Rev. Dr. Oswald J Smith was the pastor of the People’s Church in Toronto, Canada. The hymn began as a personal testimony, expressing the joy he experienced in serving Jesus. He wrote, “In spite of burdens and heartaches, in spite of challenges and difficulties, it should be our great delight to serve the King of kings.” He collaborated with B.D. Ackley in writing nearly a hundred songs. When this one was published in 1931, Ackley wrote back to Pastor Smith “I have a hunch this one is a winner!” and he was right!
Pastor Smith wrote:
There is joy in serving Jesus, as I journey on my way, joy that fills my heart with praises,
every hour of every day.
There is joy, joy, joy in serving Jesus, Joy that throbs within my heart
Every moment, every hour, As I draw upon His power, there is joy, joy
Joy that never shall depart.
We need to wake up and realize that joy is not a product of our circumstances. Joy is a product of our relationship with Jesus. Focus more time and energy on that relationship and ask him to restore the joy of sharing His love and His Word with others today!
YOUTUBE:
As I journey on my way,
Joy that fills the heart with praises,
Ev’ry hour and ev’ry day.
There is joy, joy,
Joy in serving Jesus,
Joy that throbs within my heart;
Ev’ry moment, ev’ry hour,
As I draw upon His power,
There is joy, joy,
Joy that never shall depart.
Joy that triumphs over pain,
Fills my soul with heaven’s music,
Till I join the glad refrain. [Refrain]
As I walk alone with God.
‘Tis the joy of Christ, my Savior,
Who the path of suffering trod. [Refrain]
Joy amid the darkest night,
For I’ve learned the wondrous secret,
And I’m walking in the light. [Refrain]
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Seize the Moment – Day 402
The Lord’s Compassionate Rescue!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 23.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is the classic judgment story! It is a hard story for modern people to comprehend, but as you read the story in Genesis 18:17 – 19:29, you will see that even in the pouring out of His wrath, God is compassionate.
Listen to God’s rescue of Lot in Genesis 19:15-16,
When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.
God sent His messengers to rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family from the impending destruction. This is not the first time Lot had gotten himself into a bind because of his desire to live in Sodom. The Lord was compassionate both times, the first time through Abram’s rescue of him and the second time through angelic intervention.
Yet, even so, Lot hesitated to accept God’s rescue, just like so many people in Jesus’ day through today have hesitated to accept God’s compassionate rescue through Jesus Christ.
As Jesus prepared His disciples to live on mission, Jesus referenced this judgment story in Matthew 10:14-15, “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (cf. Matthew 11:20-24).
Jesus is God’s compassionate rescue from the coming wrath.
Seize the moment and turn to God today. Put your faith in Jesus, “who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
YOUTUBE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 401
The Son of Laughter!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 22.
Have you ever been so surprised by God’s goodness and grace in your life that you laughed?
Not the laughter of a scoffer, but the laughter of amazement—the laughter that says, “Wow! Go God!”
Listen to one of the matriarchs of our faith laugh in Genesis 18:10-14,
He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
But Sarah wasn’t the only one to laugh. Abraham actually fell on his face and laughed for the same reason in Genesis 17:17. And in response to his laugh, God commanded them to name their son Isaac, which means, “he laughs” (Genesis 17:19).
I love that when God heard them laugh at the audacity of His promise He had them name their son a name that would remind them of His awesomeness! We all need reminders in our lives!
I recently heard a mom say to me that every time she looks at her baby, she thinks of Jesus!
What are some of God’s reminders to you that He has placed in your life to demonstrate how much bigger He is than our problems or our solutions?
Never forget Jesus’ words from Luke 18:27, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
Seize the moment and believe God for the impossible.
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Seize the Moment – Day 400
The Power of a New Name!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 21.
Have you ever noticed how often people’s names are changed in the Bible?
In the New Testament, we see Jesus changing the fisherman Simon’s name to Peter when Jesus invited him to become His follower (John 1:42). When God gives someone a special task to do, He doesn’t want anything to stand in their way, even a name.
There is power in a name. Sometimes keeping an old name can keep a person caught up in the old life and sometimes receiving a new name can free a person to fulfill God’s purposes for his or her life. This is what was happening in Genesis 17.
First, God changes Abram’s name in Genesis 17:3-5,
Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.
Second, God changes Sarai’s name in Genesis 17:15-16, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Is there anything standing in the way of you fulfilling God’s purposes for your life?
Seize the moment and walk in the new name of Christian. Jesus has placed His name on your life. May your life and legacy lift up the name of Jesus, the name above all names and the only name by which anyone can be saved.
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Seize the Moment – Day 399
Patience Wins the Day!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, April 20.
Have you ever taken matters into your own hands, only to make the situation worse?
That is exactly what happens in Genesis 16 and humanity is still dealing with the effects of this ancient couple’s impatience. The same is true in our lives—a momentary decision to take matters into our own hands can have an unexpected ripple effect.
The heart of the issue is trust! Abram and Sarai became impatient with God to keep His promise to provide a child for them, so Sarai invites her husband to be with Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, in hopes of her conceiving the child. They took matters into their own hands!
It worked, but at what cost? Their sin manifested in a broken community and marital strain. Their mistrust of God led to mistrust in one another.
Genesis 16:5-6 records the immediate effects:
And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
Hollywood has nothing on this epic story! This is soap opera material and it all comes down to this basic human issue: trust! Patience is the good fruit of our faith in God to do what He says He will do and to wait upon Him and learn that He is God and to remember that we are not.
Seize the moment and wait on God! This will save you a lot of headaches now and you never know how much heartache you will save your family, church, and community.
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Seize the Moment – Day 398
Abram’s Faith!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 19.
The Genesis story of Abram highlights the primary work of God’s grace and the essential importance of faith—the act of believing God for God’s promises.
Do you have a hard time believing the promises of God in the face of your everyday situations?
Abram had good reasons to doubt God’s promise to make his family into a great nation and through his family bless all the nations of the world. Abram was an older man and his wife was barren. To Abram, it seemed impossible that he would ever become a father. That is why his story is an essential part of the Bible and a critical connection between the Old and New Testaments. Listen to Genesis 15:1, 5-6,
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” … And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then [Abram] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
We are saved by faith and not by works so that no one can boast. The Apostle Paul proclaimed this to us in Ephesians 2:8-9. Paul strongly used the Abram story as the foundation for his gospel presentation in Romans 4. Paul said in verse 16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
It is only because of God’s grace that we now sing songs of faith about Father Abraham.
Seize the moment and believe God in the face of your everyday situations.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 16
The Promise of Transformation!
Romans 12:1-2 (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!
The play of the week is “The Promise of Transformation!” The memory verse for this promise is Romans 12:1-2, when Paul calls the church to respond to the gospel presentation of the first 11 chapters:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Today’s promise is directly connected to the Easter promise of John 11:25-26, “The Promise of Resurrection and Life!” and an essential follow up to last week’s promise from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “The Promise of a New Beginning!” As we walk through the Easter Season we are invited to not only believe our own message, but to live in the power of our hope! We are invited to live as the new creation of God, as the Holy Spirit transforms us through the renewal of our minds.
Last week we learned that as the “new creation” in Christ, we are to be compelled by God’s love—this is God’s “good and acceptable and perfect” will for our lives! Being made mature in God’s love—conformed to the image of Jesus—is the goal of the God-ordained transformation process, that you are compelled by love “so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Paul emphasized in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 that this can only happen through the Holy Spirit:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
To be transformed by the renewal of your mind is to have “the mind of Christ” and to appraise spiritually all things—to not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but to pray heaven to earth and work towards this prayer being answered in and through you. Thy will be done! This is a person’s ability to discern God’s will, “that which is good and acceptable and perfect,” as promised in Romans 12:2.
Discernment is the fruit of a person’s spiritual formation; which is the Holy Spirit’s work to transform you by the renewal of your mind as you learn how to be like Jesus by spending time with Him and His people through the spiritual disciplines of Christian discipleship and the spiritual practices of Christian community.
With that said, we need to be very clear about a specific word in today’s promise: “Prove.” Prove is not an invitation to live your life in insecurity and fear; like one child on the playground saying to another, “prove it!” or like me saying to myself, “I have to prove to others (or to myself) that I belong to God, that I really am a Christian.” Prove, by this thought process, is opposed to grace and of the flesh!
That is not how Paul used the word “prove.” It’s not the pressure cooker of performance! Paul said in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not [based on your religious performance], but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” If you are a new creation, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you and where Jesus reigns, there is righteousness, peace, and joy!
Spiritual disciplines in your personal life and spiritual practices in our community life are not performance; they are the unforced rhythms of grace in the easy yoke of Jesus. They are us walking in the character of Jesus Christ—gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29). The practices of faith, personally and in community, are the means by which we learn to work from grace and allow Him to carry our burdens.
“Prove” in Romans 12:2 means that God’s work of transformation in you will demonstrate who you are by your new life of love through your union with Jesus Christ, or as Paul said it, your giving of yourself to God as “a living and holy sacrifice” in response to His gospel invitation to Himself. Because of His mercy…
A new creation is obvious for all to see, like a light in a dark room, like spring flowers after winter, like a butterfly bursting forth as something completely new! New Creation makes the mystery of the resurrection visible for all to see that the Kingdom of God has come upon us.
Jesus is making all things new—can you see that in me?
The Greek word μεταμορφόω, translated “transformed” in Romans 12:2, is where we get the English word metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is “the process by which a caterpillar enters into the darkness of the cocoon in order to emerge, eventually, changed almost beyond recognition.”[1] This is the transformation—you become a new creature—from caterpillar to butterfly via the tomb!
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
“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.”
We have no life of our own! We must be infused, like life flowing through the vine into the branches.
Just think of Jesus’ teaching from John 15, that He is the vine and we are the branches and any branch that abides in Him will bear much fruit, but apart from Him you can do nothing. Listen to Jesus’ words from John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” You bear fruit because you abide in the Vine. That’s the Spirit flowing through the vine into you and forming you.
The fruit demonstrates your abiding in Jesus—your infused life! He proves His life through you! You are called to submit to Him and allow Him to do what He does best—He makes all things new!
Neither Jesus in John 15, nor Paul in Romans 12, are inviting you to live an insecure life of trying to earn God’s favor. Not all! Nothing like that! Rather, you are invited to rest in Him and trust that He will demonstrate His love in and through you.
God is in the process of transforming you from the inside out so don’t manage bad fruit; rather, get to the root and invite the Holy Spirit to renew your mind in the places you are not experiencing Christ’s righteousness, peace, or joy.
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.”
God’s will for each of us is to become a mature disciple of Jesus Christ—the transformation of our souls as yokefellows of Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of the Father. This is our spiritual service of worship; our acceptable response to God’s mercy!
We participate in this process through our personal faith practices, called spiritual disciplines, and our community faith practices. It is in these unforced rhythms of grace that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we represent Christ to the world as His Imager Bearers!
Donald Whitney states that the ultimate goal of these rhythms of grace is to transform us:
God has given us the Spiritual Disciplines as a means of receiving His grace and growing in Godliness. By them we place ourselves before God for Him to work in us. The Spiritual Disciplines are also like channels of God’s transforming grace. As we place ourselves in them to seek communion with Christ, His grace flows to us and we are changed.[2]
His grace flows to us and we are changed.
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
The Kingdom has come and the Kingdom is coming! Hallelujah! Come Lord Jesus and receive your bride unto yourself, holy and blameless, sanctified by your great love and prepared for your glory (Ephesians 5:25-27).
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms, 12.
[2] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 7.
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Seize the Moment – Day 396
Today’s hymn focus will be “Cleanse Me”
Romans 12:1-2 (NASB95)
“ Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The attitude of total surrender is seen in each verse, beginning with a prayer for revival to start first in our own heart, and there must be a fresh surrender to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us if we want revival to truly begin. The third verse says:
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine; fill my poor heart with
Thy great love divine; Take all my will, my passion, self and pride
I now surrender Lord, in me abide.
We need to wake up and make this song our daily prayer if we truly desire to see God move and bring about a new world-wide spiritual awakening…for Revival comes from Him!
YOUTUBE:
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from ev’ry sin and set me free.
Fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify thy name.
Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender: Lord, in me abide.
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Seize the Moment – Day 395
Pure Motives!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 16.
Do you ever struggle with selfish motives when having to make difficult decisions?
Abram demonstrated a resolve to defend his family in Genesis 14. In a rare moment, we see him put on the hat of a warrior-prince. Why? To rescue Lot, that nephew of his, the same one we saw Abram be so gracious and generous to in the previous chapter. Because Lot chose to live in Sodom he got caught up in a regional conflict and was captured. Abram rescued Lot and in the process he won a large and lucrative victory.
Would Abram’s motives remain pure when financial prosperity fell in his lap?
At this defining moment of Abram’s life, a new and important character is introduced in Genesis 14:18-20:
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” [Abram] gave him a tenth of all.
Abram willingly giving a tenth of all the plunder to Melchizedek, which means, “King of Righteousness.” This was a defining moment for Abram! It demonstrated that he did not rescue Lot or defeat this invading army for personal gain.
The victory belonged to God and Abram wanted to declare that with a sacrificial gift. Abram wanted God to get all the glory, not only from this military campaign, but in his life, and he did not let anything steal his heart—neither success nor prosperity.
Seize the moment and make sure your motives are pure and that you do all things for the glory of God! In the same way that gold is refined by fire, so often the motives of a person’s heart are refined by gold.
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
YOUTUBE:
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