Seize the Moment – Day 1233
Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, August 2.
It doesn’t take long to realize that today’s psalm continues to tell the story of Israel. For three psalms in a row, we have walked through three major movements of Israel’s history. Boyce highlights the relationship of these three psalms:
Thus Psalms 105, 106, and 107 form a trilogy. Psalm 105 recounts Israel’s experience from the time of God’s covenant with Abraham to the people’s entrance into the promised land; Psalm 106 tracks their unfaithfulness during that same time period and reflects the years of their exile to Babylon; and Psalm 107 thanks God for their deliverance from that exile.[1]
Psalm 107:2-3 begins with a command for all who have experienced God’s deliverance, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” To redeem means “to buy out,” specifically as in a slave being bought back from slavery. In the historical context of Psalm 107, God redeemed the people from Babylonian exile, bringing them back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls, restore the temple, and resume right worship.
For us today, we are redeemed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary (Matthew 20:28; 26:28; Romans 3:22-26; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 2:14; Revelation 1:5). We were in slavery to our sin, exiled from God’s presence, and destined for the second death through the wrath of God, but Jesus Christ came and rescued us from sin and death (Romans 6:22-23; Colossians 1:13-14).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 107, meditating upon your redemption story. Take time to reflect upon how God rescued you from sin and death through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Share your story with someone today – Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
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.
FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1232
The Father’s Discipline!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, August 1.
Parents use both positive and negative reinforcement. Paul exhorted Christian parents in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” The goal is the same for godly parents – to train their children “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which [they] have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). This is exemplified to us by God the Father.
Psalms 105-106 illustrate how God uses both positive and negative reinforcement. Whereas Psalm 105 emphasized more of His loving efforts throughout His children’s history, today’s psalm highlights the sins of Israel and how those choices led to His discipline. It’s almost as if God were saying to His children, “If My unconditional love and boundless grace are not enough to compel you to live according to My statutes and observe My laws (105), then you must experience the consequences of living outside of My blessings and protection (106).” Underneath today’s psalm, I can almost hear every godly parent’s lament at having to use negative reinforcement, “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” Psalm 106:13-14, 21, 44-45 summarize the cycle of discipline and instruction that God took the children of Israel through from the exodus to their exile:
They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. So He gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them. … They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, … Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 106, meditating upon the discipline of the Lord – “He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). Experience the Father’s love in His discipline.
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 1231
Remember and Rehearse!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 31.
Psalm 105 is a history lesson of what God did for Israel from the establishment of the covenant with Abraham in Genesis (8) to the conquest of the land after the Exodus in Joshua (44). Three times in Psalm 105 the psalmist commands the current generation to remember and rehearse God’s redemptive role in their history:
- “Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples” (1).
- “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders” (2).
- “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth” (5).
The history lesson abruptly ended with verse 45, “So that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws, praise the Lord!” Therein lies the motivation for why the psalmist was commanding the current generations of Israel to remember and rehearse their history, so that they would love and obey God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might (Deuteronomy 6:5).
It is difficult to love in the abstract! The generations of Israelites who grew up after the conquest of the land were not privy to the many miracles of God’s power and provision that led to them receiving their homeland. They did not see with their own eyes what God had done so they needed to be taught to remember and rehearse the miracles that displayed God’s love for His people. God desires for your obedience to flow from a place of love for Him and thanksgiving for what He has done for you; this is true worship!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 105, meditating upon the love of God, which compels us to share with others the good news of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Do you remember and rehearse what God has done for you? Pass on your story to the next generation 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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FBC Church Picnic
Sin, God’s Divine Mercy and Our Answer To It
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Outline of Message:
You can watch just the message by clicking HERE.
You can watch the entire worship service by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1229
Today’s hymn focus will be
The Longer I Serve Him
Deuteronomy 10:12 (NASB95)
“What does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows; the more that I love Him,
More love He bestows; Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows.
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.
We need to wake up and declare as our testimony the words of this song. To share with those around us just how great and wonderful our God is, knowing that through trials and triumphs, through valleys or on mountain tops, He has been with us every step of the way.
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:
The Longer I Serve Him
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Seize the Moment – Day 1228
The Focus of Meditation!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 28.
Meditation is a biblical way to experience God, like Bible study and prayer, but it has received a bad rap in the contemporary church. Like with the rainbow, we must never lose sight of God and what He has established in His Word (Genesis 9:9-17). Psalm 104 is a long, inspired poem praising God, meditating upon His power to create and sustain all things; it concludes in verse 34, “Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; as for me, I shall be glad in the Lord.” Spurgeon comments on this ancient practice of God’s people:
Meditation is the soul of religion. It is the tree of life in the midst of the garden of piety, and very refreshing is its fruit to the soul which feeds thereon. And as it is good towards man, so is it towards God. As the fat of the sacrifice was the Lord’s portion, so are our best meditations due to the Most High and are most acceptable to him. We ought, therefore, both for our own good and for the Lord’s honour [sic] to be much occupied with meditation, and that meditation should chiefly dwell upon the Lord himself: it should be “meditation of him.”[1]
The key to effective meditation is your focus on God, His works, and His attributes. Like David modeled for us in today’s psalm, the essential ingredient in all spiritual disciplines is not the practice itself, but God, the One on whom the praxis focuses your faith, hope, and love. As we are taught in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 104, meditating upon God, His works, and His attributes (Philippians 4:8).
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.
FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1227
The Benefits of Belonging!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 27.
“Membership has its privileges” has been a common advertising slogan for a popular credit card since the 1980s. For most of us, it’s not an uncommon question to wonder, “What’s in it for me?” The same is true when people become Christians and are invited to join a local church. What are the benefits of being a member of the body of Christ? David listed the benefits of belonging to God in Psalm 103:1-5:
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Wow! Have you experienced all these benefits of belonging to God? These promises are yours in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20-22). As a Christian, you are a member of the body of Christ, and this membership is the greatest privilege that could ever be bestowed upon you; it’s the privilege of belonging to God. Paul stated in Romans 12:4-5, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” It is the Holy Spirit who compels us, in obedience to God’s Word, to enjoy the benefits of being fellow members of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12-14).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 103, meditating upon the benefits of belonging to God – “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” (2 Peter 1:4). Take active steps to connecting with your local church 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 1226
When God is All You Have!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 26.
Have you ever called for help in a time of great pain and suffering? That is the situation with the psalmist, but he did not have a medical care system to call upon to assist him. His only 9-1-1 was prayer to God, and his emergency call was recorded in Psalm 102:1-2, “Hear my prayer, O Lord! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call answer me quickly.” As you continue to read today’s psalm, you will hear his suffering as he pleaded with God for relief. Unlike our contemporary culture today, he didn’t have immediate access to modern health care; God was his only hope for healing and pain relief.
It was the psalmist’s painful awareness of his own frailty which led him to make such an urgent petition, seeking hope from God during his time of need. Pointedly, the answer he received did not change his immediate circumstance, which is why the hope of Psalm 102:25-27 was quoted in Hebrews 1:10-12 as a messianic prophecy:
Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment; like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 102, meditating upon the living hope of Jesus Christ, in whom you can rejoice even when you are “distressed by various trials” (1 Peter 1:3-9). Pain does not have the last word, so train yourself to not let it consume your thoughts or hijack your life. When God is all you have, He is all you will ever need!
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 1225
Worship God by Obeying God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 25.
Whereas Psalm 100 is a psalm of thanksgiving to the God who is faithful to all generations, Psalm 101 is a commitment to act faithfully as one of God’s people. It is empty praise indeed when your life doesn’t reflect the God you say you worship! The truest form of worship is obedience, as we learned from Samuel’s rebuke of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”
Honestly, reading Psalm 101 right after 100 feels like whip lash, but both psalms reflect God’s heart. We serve a God who is full of truth and grace, and one cannot be compromised for the sake of the other! God calls us to a life of devotion, which is more than a devotional life; it is the wholehearted pursuit of holiness. Psalm 101:1-3 teaches us about true worship:
I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.
Your life sings God’s praises best when your Monday through Saturday words and deeds align with your Sunday worship. Jesus was clear to His disciples, saying without equivocation in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” The purest expression of worship is obedience!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 101, meditating upon the proof of your love for Jesus Christ – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-27). Obey 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 1224
Faithful to All Generations!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 24.
God is faithful to all generations! As I care for the older members of the congregation I serve, I do so with thanksgiving in my heart for the legacy of faith they have passed down to the next generation. From my perspective, apart from God’s faithfulness through them there would be no church for me to pastor. God uses people in every generation to demonstrate His faithfulness. We need to stop our incessant busyness and take time to thank the people from our families, churches, and communities who have been faithful in their generation to pass on their legacy of faith, hope, and love.
I have been on pastoral staff at two churches, and both times I helped the church celebrate their centennial. Both times, the theme verse came from today’s psalm, specifically Psalm 100:4-5, which proclaims, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” When a congregation looks back over a hundred years of gospel ministry, there is only one right emotion – thankfulness to the God who is faithful to all generations! How does a church make it to their centennial? From my experience, it takes faithfulness – His and ours! Who are the faithful people who have come before you? Thank them! Who are the faithful people in your generation? Be one of them and pass it on to the next generation of faithful followers of Jesus (2 Timothy 2:2)!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 100, meditating upon the faithfulness of God to all generations, giving thanks for all He has done in your family, church, and community. Take time today to reach out to an older person and tell them thank you for being faithful. Send a card. Make a phone call. Go and visit. Be faithful!
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:
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