Seize the Moment – Day 1278
Today’s song focus will be
As The Deer
Psalm 42:1 (NASB95)
“As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
Written in 1981 while attending a summer session at Christ for the Nations
Institute in Dallas, TX, Marty Nystrom was on a quest to recover his joy. He had
been active in ministry while also teaching, but something was missing. His
roommate suggested that he go on a fast to help him recover his joy. So Marty
took the challenge and on the nineteenth day of his fast, he found himself sitting
at a piano, playing some chord progressions when he looked over and saw a
Bible on a music stand that was opened to Psalm 42. After reading through the
passage, he began to sing its message. The song was finished in a matter of
minutes:
As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship Thee.
We need to wake up and renew our hunger and thirst for more of God. It is not
something that anyone else can do for you. Just like you can lead a horse to water,
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:
As The Deer
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Seize the Moment – Day 1277
Search Me and Know Me!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, September 15.
The first time I had my neck adjusted by a doctor, I was a cadet at West Point. I was miserable from congestion, and upon examining me, the doctor adjusted me, bringing everything into proper alignment. I didn’t know what to expect, but I immediately felt better as a significant amount of pressure was released. God, our Mighty Physician, does the same thing for us through His Word when we come to Him in prayer. Psalm 139 is a prayer of examen, inviting the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth of what God already knows about us. You can hear the call of the Spirit from beginning to end in today’s psalm, starting in verses 1-4 and ending in verses 23-24:
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. … Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
I encourage you to start a daily practice of praying Psalm 139 in the evening, inviting the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths of your attitudes, relationships, and decisions, seeking to know the motives of why you did what you did throughout the day. Don’t be deceived, the hardest form of deception to root out is self-deception. Ask God to align you to His good, acceptable, and perfect will for your life today (ref. Romans 12:1-2).
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1276
The Promise of Completion!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 14.
When I was young, I used to enjoy the adrenaline of a good roller coaster ride. Not anymore, now I prefer the rest found in floating down a lazy river. I’m content to sit in my innertube, letting the current take me to my destination. I see too many people who are on a roller coaster ride with God, not knowing where they stand with Him on any given day because they experience God’s love based on their performance. Honestly, they don’t look like they are enjoying a single moment of it. It doesn’t have to be that way when your relationship with God is grace-based, focused on His promises and where He is taking you in life. Psalm 138 teaches us one of my favorite promises of God – the promise of completion, found in verses 7-8:
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; do not forsake the works of Your hands.
God is going to get you to the finish line of your faith! This promise is found in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Your relationship with God was bestowed upon you by God. It wasn’t your idea, and you didn’t initiate it! Your walk with God is not a religion you must maintain, but a relationship you get to have because He has chosen you to be part of His family. There is a world of difference between the two – religion and relationship, so choose wisely!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 138, meditating upon the relationship God has bestowed upon you (John 15:16; 1 John 3:1). Find rest for your soul, trusting God to get you Home (John 14:1-6).
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1275
Pray Real-Life Prayers!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, September 13. Please join me in wishing a happy birthday to Vinny Slover.
The psalms teach the faithful how to handle their real-life emotions. Psalm 137 captures the profound pain of Israel during Babylonian exile, starting in verses 1-4:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
What trauma and anguish it must cause to have witnessed your nation destroyed, with cities razed to the ground by your captors, and people murdered by your tormentors? What a horrific existence to then be demanded by those same people to sit by the edge of their home rivers, providing entertainment for them with the songs of your former happiness while all those memories stream on the big screen of your mind. Let us not judge the psalmist for the rage found in today’s psalm.
By the end of today’s heartbreaking psalm, as described in verses 8-9, the psalmist’s rage has crashed against his captors, like a tsunami plummeting down upon a coastal village, “O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, how blessed will be the one who repays you with the recompense with which you have repaid us. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.” It is painful to read these final words, experiencing the raw pain of the exiled. My heart breaks! I am appalled! I weep for the suffering of the abused throughout the world and cry out, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13). Where are any of us to go with such real-life emotions?
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1274
The Rhythm of Praise and Thanksgiving!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, September 12.
The greatest antidote to so many of life’s struggles is giving thanks – the spiritual discipline of counting your blessings. There is something liberating about an attitude of gratitude. Your perspective is elevated when you praise God and intentionally think about all the ways God is good. Paul commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” That’s a clear focus to live by! Psalm 136:1-4 introduces you to a twenty-six-verse template for the daily practice of counting your blessings:
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Every verse after this introduction combines a specific thanksgiving with the refrain of praise, “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” As you meditate upon today’s psalm, may you experience the powerful rhythm of praise and thanksgiving, liberating your soul from worry, and focusing your mind on the goodness of God. I encourage you to count your blessings every day by rewriting Psalm 136, letting this be your custom-made song of praise and thanksgiving to God for what He has done in your life. Most of the work is already done for you as you will keep the refrain the same, as well as the introduction verses. Prioritize time today to tell God how thankful you are for what He has done for you specifically. There is power in praising God and giving thanks!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 136, meditating upon the everlasting love of the Lord. Focus on God and all that He has done, and He will elevate your perspective no matter what you are facing 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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1273
The Everlasting Name!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 11.
There is power in a name! People love to hear their name spoken. If you want to get someone’s attention, use their name. Yelling random names across the room may draw people’s attention to you, but it most likely won’t get the attention of the person you are trying to communicate with. If you want to be in a relationship with someone, you need to learn their name. Names matter to God, and names should matter to us! Psalm 135 emphasizes the Old Testament’s usage of the everlasting name of God. Three times, the psalmist states:
- Verse 1a, “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord.”
- Verse 3b, “Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.”
- Verse 13, “Your name, O Lord, is everlasting, Your remembrance, O Lord, throughout all generations.”
The name of God captures His character and personal identity, proclaiming His existence. God revealed His everlasting name to Moses at the Burning Bush, establishing a personal relationship with him (Exodus 3:14); hence, Moses became known as the “friend of God” (Exodus 33:11). While God was given many names in the Old Testament, He has revealed to us the only name by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). In fact, the everlasting name of God was “bestowed on” Jesus for this very purpose (Philippians 2:9). Jesus took on the everlasting name of God, by which He saves us, as He prayed in John 17:11-12, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 135, meditating upon Jesus Christ, “the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9-10). Cry out to God using His everlasting name, for Jesus is the way to the Father (John 14:6). There is power in the name!
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.
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Ed Bell’s Testimony Sept 10, 2023
Ed Bell, Husband, Father, Farmer and Speaker.
Little things make a big impact!
Deb and I were dating and thinking about getting serious. She had a former boyfriend who couldn’t take no for an answer. Deb was a nurse and had moved into an apartment. She invited me over to see it.
My life was changed forever on Sept 5, 1982.
Her boyfriend shot at the apartment and drove off. The police came and told us to stay put. I had driven the farm truck that weekend and I had a 22 rifle and took it into the apartment. Her boyfriend came back and broke all the windows out of the truck. He climbed up to her balcony.
Deb hid in the closet and dialed 911. He kicked at the sliding glass door. He had a trench knife and a large pistol. He dropped the knife as he kicked. The door latch broke and he came in. He said, “Kill me, Ed.” Ed had his rifle and knew he had the right to kill him. Ed wouldn’t kill him. He grabbed Ed’s rifle and Ed heard a “boom”.
They continued to struggle. Ed shot him in the leg and it made him angrier. Ed fell over and he shot Ed point blank while he lay on the floor. Ed tried to shoot him but the rifle jammed. He shot Ed again and hit him in the collar shattering vertebrae paralyzing him. It was a 44 special hollow point. The blood was pouring out of his body (he lost half of his blood supply) and Ed could hear it hitting the floor.
He was passing out and could hardly breath. He was sure he was going to die. He could only think of all of his dreams. He feared for his parents’ reaction. He even wondered if his science teacher was right – there is nothing after death. But he said “NO!, I believe in Jesus”. His sins passed before his eyes. “No, I believe in Jesus! I’ve got nothing but Jesus!” I remembered the song, Jesus Loves Me. The blood stopped!
He had to learn to do things all over again.
God has called Ed to till the soil and cultivate people whenever he gets the chance.
Ed took the chance to challenge us…
Romans 15:28-29
Matthew 16:24-26
Galatians 2:20
Isaiah 57:11-13
“Get planted where you are, grow, make fruit. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind – and tell the world.
It’s that simple. Do it now. Repentance isn’t you crying. It’s you changing.
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1271
Today’s song focus will be
Rock of Ages
Psalm 62:1-2 (NASB95)
“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
In 1740, Augustus Toplady was the pastor in Somerset England, traveling along a road near Burrington Combe when an intense storm broke out. The rugged cliffs on one side and a deep gorge on the other, forced him to dash into a cave
for shelter. The words for the hymn began to form in his mind as he thought of the shelter being found in the rock of faith and it giving protection from the storms of life.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee
We need to wake up and acknowledge the words of this hymn! It is a solid testimony of the powerful sacrifice of Christ who is not only our Savior, but He is our source of protection and encouragement.
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.
Rock of Ages
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Seize the Moment – Day 1270
The Perspective of the Stars!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, September 8.
God has a sense of humor because I’m writing today’s devotion at one in the morning. Not because of any deadline, but because I couldn’t sleep. In response to my sleeplessness, I went outside to look at the stars. The night sky brought me into a place of wonder and worship of God, so I opened my Bible to Psalm 134, which declares, “Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, who serve by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.”
Looking at the stars never fails to recenter me on God, especially when I’m sleepless. As David expressed in Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” Whatever worry you may have had, it comes into perspective when you look to the stars and allow God to remind you of His sovereignty and immensity. When you can’t sleep, what do you do? Do you toss and turn, stare at the clock, and let your mind wander? Or do you focus your mind on the opportunity to pray, open the Scriptures, and worship God with the unique opportunities of the night?
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 134, meditating upon the beauty of a star-filled night sky and how it captures your attention, takes your breath away, and changes your perspective. Take time to marvel at the mysteries of God’s creation, proclaiming God’s handiwork by the way you shine His light to others in your everyday life – night and day. While you may never “serve by night in the house of the Lord,” you are called to be like those stars, which “appear as light in the world” (Philippians 2:14-15).
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1269
The Unity of Shared Purpose!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 7.
There is something powerful that happens when people go on a mission trip or a pilgrimage journey together – they unite as a family (or team). When people spend focused time together, they tend to unify around their shared experiences. Psalm 133 captures the purposeful unity of those who pilgrimage together to experience communion with God:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forever.
The fulfillment of today’s psalm is one of Jesus’ purposes for coming – to birth His church and build it through people, in the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4), as He prayed to the Father in John 17:20-23:
I do not ask on behalf of these [the original disciples] alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 133, meditating upon Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His church. What is causing division in your local assembly of believers? What steps can you take today to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:13)?
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.
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