Take the High Road!

Habakkuk 3

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

The final chapter of Habakkuk is a haunting song; it’s a petition for God’s deliverance from difficult circumstances, and it triumphantly concludes in Habakkuk 3:17-19:

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.

This closing song begs the question: Is success your god, or is God your strength? I know the right answer, but my practicing reality is often the former, to my own instability and exhaustion. I have a suspicion that I’m not alone. It is human to do so because we are affected adversely by our circumstances when they are not going our way, as we hear from the prophet in verse 16, “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us.” Can we agree that it’s hard work to wait quietly and trust God when things are not going well? The off-ramp to faith is to take matters into our own hands and do something about it. But that will only make matters worse! We are invited to wait quietly and trust in God’s strength, even when that feels passive, inconsequential, and unproductive. Even when our feelings betray us, we are to wait quietly upon the Lord, who is our strength and our stability.

Seize the moment and take the high road – Believe God (1 John 5:4-5)!

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.

Be a Faithful Watchman!

Habakkuk 2

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 30.

One of my favorite promises of God is Psalm 46:10, “Cease striving [Be still] and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” This promise was given in a more peaceful time than Habakkuk’s historical context, yet our faith calls us to believe that not a single word of God will fail, regardless of the circumstances. Even though the Babylonian threat was looming over Judah, we should not be surprised that the prophet yoked himself with the great prophetic tradition of Isaiah 62:6-7 (cf. Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17), by describing himself as a watchman on the wall in Habakkuk 2:1-3:

I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.”

The power of the prophet was not found within himself, but in the revelation given to him by God. Though Israel had been visibly decimated at the hands of the Assyrians and there was no known escape for Judah from the Babylonians, God assured His people of what they could not see through His faithful watchman in Habakkuk 2:20, “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

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.

Ask Honest Questions!

Habakkuk 1

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, September 28.

I’m not sure who the first person was to teach children that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but it may have been the prophet Habakkuk who tested the theory on God. After the fall of the Assyrians (read Nahum), the Babylonians had become the dominant power in the region, and by the end of the seventh century they were knocking on Jerusalem’s door. The prophet cries out to God in Habakkuk 1:2-3, “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness?” What profound questions to begin this short prophetic work by Habakkuk, a contemporary of Jeremiah.

After his introduction, the prophet records a troublesome revelation from God to the people of Judah in verses 4, “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans [Babylonians].” Why is God orchestrating calamity upon the surviving southern tribes of Israel after Assyria destroyed the northern ten tribes? For eight verses, God describes the Babylonians, then, in response to that, the prophet braves a series of honest questions to God in verses 12-17:

Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? … [Then] Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them? Will they therefore empty their net and continually slay nations without sparing?”

Seize the moment and ask God honest questions – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

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.

Clap your Hands in Celebration!

Nahum 3

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, September 27.

The desire for justice is built into the human psyche; it’s a God-given instinct, an aspect of what it means to be made in the image of God. I grew up watching old-fashioned Westerns. I loved it when the good guys won, and the bad guys got what was coming to them. Happy endings are satisfying, and when we get one, we clap our hands in celebration! The prophet concludes his oracle of judgment in Nahum 3:18-19, with concluding words of celebration – rejoice because evil has been vanquished and God has prevailed:

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; your nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains and there is no one to regather them. There is no relief for your breakdown, your wound is incurable. All who hear about you will clap their hands over you, for on whom has not your evil passed continually?

Assyria had been tried and found guilty in the divine court of God’s judgment, and the penalty for their sin was the death of their long-standing empire. All who had suffered under their evil regime breathed a collective sigh of relief and clapped their hands over their defeat. It was a good day because justice had been done. Anyone who has had a crime committed against them or knows of someone who has been the victim of injustice, knows the deep desire for a righteous judgment against the offender. We desire justice to be done and for it not be perverted. Our soul cries out for God to make all things right! This is the promise of Nahum!

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.

Destroy your Pride!

Nahum 2

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 26.

The pride of Assyria was Nineveh, their capital city, which was where the royal den resided, filled with the children of the royal family. The Assyrians were a massive military complex, and they loved lions, seeing themselves as a powerful and sleek people, seeking their next victim to devour (Isaiah 5:29-30; Jeremiah 50:17; cf. 1 Peter 5:8). After causing much suffering and distress, God destroyed the pride of Assyria, bringing judgment upon Nineveh, which the prophet appropriately described in Nahum 2:11-13:

Where is the den of the lions and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled, with nothing to disturb them? The lion tore enough for his cubs, killed enough for his lionesses, and filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh. “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Interestingly, the voice of the Assyrian messenger being alluded to here was most likely Rabshakeh’s, remembering his blasphemous words at the gate of Jerusalem in 2 Kings 18:28-35, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. … Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” In response to the messenger, Isaiah the prophet comforted Hezekiah, the king of Judah, with a promise from God, to protect Jerusalem from King Sennacherib, who soon thereafter died at the hands of his cubs in the lion’s den of Nineveh (2 Kings 19), proving that “God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Seize the moment and destroy your pride – “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10).

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:

Take Refuge!

Nahum 1

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, September 25.

Nahum was a Judean prophet to the Assyrian capital city of Ninevah during the seventh century BC (approximately 675-612). Whereas Jonah the prophet had already been sent to preach to the Ninevites, calling them to repentance, Nahum was commissioned to give them an oracle of judgment, declaring their coming destruction (Nahum 1:1, 8, 14). There was no place for repentance any longer, as that time had passed! In fact, in Nahum 1:2-7, the prophet describes God as the caring warrior who would bring justice to the nations, especially to the enemies of God’s people:

A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. … Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.

It was a harsh time in human history and warfare was brutal and dehumanizing. The judgment of Assyria would have been good news for Judah since Ephraim, the northern ten tribes of Israel, had been destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:6, 23). Ultimately, Nahum’s purpose in writing was to declare the power of God over Assyria, as explained in Nahum 1:13, “So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you, and I will tear off your shackles.” This may have been an oracle of judgment against Nineveh, but it was also a wake-up call to Judah – repent while there is still time!

Seize the moment and take refuge in the only One who can save you (Nahum 1:15; Psalm 91).

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:

Seek God with Faith!

Micah 7

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, September 24.

Where does your help come from? Israel had to keep learning the same lesson, so, in Micah 7:7-20, the prophet triumphantly concludes with a declaration of faith in the God who rescues and redeems according to His covenant faithfulness:

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. … Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old.

This is not the basis for cheap grace; rather, this the very definition of grace itself. Grace is God’s undeserved merit, and there is no amount of good works that can earn it. In fact, grace is opposed to earning, but it does call us to effort in seeking after Him. Just because there is no merit system in God’s economy, doesn’t mean we are not to work hard. That is the whole emphasis of Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” That is why Micah concludes with a declaration of faith, because he believes in God to bring about good works through His people.

Seize the moment and seek God with faith (Hebrews 11:6) – “My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).

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:

Walk Humbly with God!

Micah 6

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 23.

The most famous quote of Micah is found in the context of God’s legal case against Israel for violating His ancient covenant. God provided witnesses of His covenant faithfulness, then, in Micah 6:6-8, He reminded them of what He expected from them in return for saving them from death:

With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is more interested in the offeror than the offering. Micah was not rejecting the sacrificial system; rather, he was reminding them that sacrifices made to God must be subordinated to the ethics of living in a covenant relationship with God (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Isaiah 1:12-20; Amos 5:21-27). The sacrifice God has always been looking for is the character and behavior of how His people live with Him and one another (Romans 12:1-15:13). People are to act justly (James 1:27-2:13) and love faithfully (Matthew 22:37-40) by walking humbly with their God (James 4). We are conformed to the will of God through a right relationship with God because our transformation from death to life happens through faith, from the inside-out. There’s only one way for Micah 6:8 to be fulfilled in and through you, and that is to accept the invitation of Jesus Christ to find rest for your soul, and you will become like Him, “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Seize the moment and take upon you the custom-made (“easy”) yoke of Jesus, then, you will act justly and love faithfully because you will be like Him (Micah 6:8).

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.