Heed Wise Counsel!

Jeremiah 40

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, May 8.

With the deportation under way, a remnant was left behind with Gedaliah as the appointed governor of Judah. Jeremiah found favor with the Babylonian leadership because of his faithfulness as a prophet and was given the choice to come with them to be cared for favorably in exile or to remain in Mizpah as a member of the Jewish remnant. Unfortunately, Jeremiah’s decision to remain did not thwart the rebellious plot to kill the Babylonian’s appointed governor. While there is no record of the prophet’s intervention, Jeremiah 40:13-16 records the governor’s refusal to heed a warning from his top advisors:

Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

(Spoiler alert: Ishmael murders Gedaliah in the next chapter.) I have two questions about this historical narrative: Where was Jeremiah’s prophetic counsel? Why wouldn’t the newly appointed governor of Judah trust the counsel of his closest advisors? He thought he already knew, so he wasn’t listening to the kingly wisdom of Proverbs 15:22, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.”

Seize the moment and heed wisdom, especially when it is given by a trustworthy source. Don’t let your presuppositions prevent you from heeding wise counsel.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Faith Saves the Day!

Jeremiah 39

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 7.

The siege was successful, and the Babylonians breached the defenses of Jerusalem. While this historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem and the ensuing deportation of the people to Babylon is also told in 2 Kings 25, the prophet’s account emphasized God’s faithfulness to an Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-melech, who rescued him from the cistern in Jeremiah 38:7-13. While the story does not explicitly state it, Ebed-melech most likely put his life into God’s hands twice to accomplish this feat – first, by going before the king with the petition for Jeremiah’s life, and second, by putting himself at odds with the officials who opposed Jeremiah. In return for his courageous and compassionate action to preserve the life of the prophet, God spoke to the Ethiopian eunuch in Jeremiah 39:15-18:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,’ declares the Lord.”

God preserved the eunuch’s life, “because you have trusted in Me.” I love how God said that, because did we ever witness any declarations of faith from the Ethiopian court servant of Zedekiah? No, we are confronted with the biblical fact that our faith must be made manifest by our works, but it is not our works that save us, but the faith itself. As Paul emphasized in Romans 4:1-8, Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Seize the moment and put your faith into action through good works (James 2:14-26).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Real Hope Sets You Free!

Jeremiah 38

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, May 6.

Do you want people to tell you what you want to hear or what you need to hear? In Jeremiah 38, the military leaders of Jerusalem threw the prophet into a cistern; verses 4-5 explains why:

Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.”

Though the prophet was rescued from certain death at the muddy bottom of the cistern, he was kept under house arrest until his prophecy was fulfilled, as Jeremiah 38:28 explains, “So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.” When the king went to the discarded prophet, Jeremiah confronted him with his conundrum (14-23). He gave the truth to the weak king like a surgeon utilizes a scalpel for good, in hopes of removing cancer from a sick person’s body.

Real hope is meant to set you free from the sin nature that seeks to grip you in its unbridled pursuit of making for itself a personal utopia on Earth. Jesus came to rescue you so that you can live for God as eternal citizens of Heaven. You need to hear this truth, so that you can surrender to a real hope for the future. Like He did for King Zedekiah, God is giving you a choice to make – live by fear of what could be or live by faith of what will be.

Seize the moment and surrender to God and you shall have rest for your soul. In Christ, your glory days are always ahead of you!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Day 1509

Today’s song focus :

Nothing But The Blood

1 John 1:7 (NASB95)              

“but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,

we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow

No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus

We need to wake up and realize that it was for OUR SIN that Jesus shed His blood to provide the ultimate sacrifice. There is NOTHING that we could ever have done to restore our relationship with Father God. It is His precious blood that washes away our sin and makes us whole again. Thank Him for that gift today!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:

Nothing But The Blood

Prioritize Time to Listen!

Jeremiah 37

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, May 3.

The key to good communication is the ability to listen. If you are always talking and never listening, then you will never know another person. We must listen to the one we seek to understand, which is why God gave us two ears and one mouth. As James 1:19 teaches, “But everyone must be quick to hear.” In our spiritual disciplines, we must listen to God’s Word because He desires for us to know Him. That happens primarily through Bible intake through a daily reading or listening plan, but it also comes through the life of following Jesus, called Christian discipleship. If you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus, you must prioritize listening to Him!

Often people treat God like a cosmic vending machine. They really don’t want to get to know Him; they just want something from Him. Such people are always asking, but never listening. Their religion is yet another way to cope with or control their world. We see an example of this in Jeremiah 37:1-3:

Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.”

Zedekiah was willing to ask the prophet to pray on their behalf, but he was not willing to listen to God’s Word. There was no relationship, only his ambition to use God, and no one likes to be used!

Seize the moment and prioritize listening to God today! Mark your calendar with the times of your daily transformative practices of Christian discipleship.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Invest in Intentional Relationships!

Jeremiah 36

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, May 2.

Moses had Joshua. Elijah had Elisha. Jesus had the Twelve. Paul had Timothy, and he exhorted him in 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Life is hard and it’s not meant to be done alone. We are better together because the Kingdom of God is a relational kingdom. Who are the intentional people in your life who are strengthening your spiritual vitality and focusing your resolve to live on mission for Jesus?

Jeremiah had Baruch, and today’s chapter demonstrates what an important relationship it was to the prophet and his ministry. Although we caught a glimpse of Baruch previously in Jeremiah 32:12, it was not until Jeremiah 36:4-8 that we see his essential role as the prophet’s scribe and partner in the ministry:

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the Lord to the people in the Lord’s house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. ….” Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

We learn from Jeremiah’s ministry that none of us were designed to do life alone. You can’t accomplish the ministry God has for you all be yourself.

Seize the moment and do life together – invest in intentional relationships with people who strengthen your spiritual vitality and focus your resolve to live on mission for Jesus!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Give Your Family a Faith Legacy!

Jeremiah 35

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, May 1.

Have you ever used a well-known example from history to make your point? Of course you have, we all do this, and that is what the prophet was doing in Jeremiah 35. He contrasted the people’s duplicity from the previous chapter, with the faithfulness of the Rechabites, who refused to violate their founding father’s commands. To understand the zeal of the Rechabites, you need to understand the origin story of their founder, Jehonadab the son of Rechab, from 2 Kings 10:15-17:

Now when [Jehu, king of Israel] had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. He said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he made him ride in his chariot. When he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

Jehonadab continued with Jehu to destroy the temple of Baal and massacre all the priests. This would have been a formative experience for him, one which set the course of his house forever, so much so that they remained faithful to God even under tremendous pressure for generations to come. His house remained tried and true, and God promised that they would never “lack a man to stand before Me always” (Jeremiah 35:18-19). How do you help your household remain faithful for generations to come?

Seize the moment and give your family a legacy worth preserving by showing them your faith in how you handle the difficult circumstances today.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.