Seize the Moment – Day 1203
Where Righteousness and Peace Kiss!
Psalm 85
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 3.
When we speak of mercy and truth as well as righteousness and peace being reconciled in God because of the work of Jesus Christ, we imply that somehow they are in conflict. But the qualities in God are never in conflict, and the psalm is certainly not speaking of a conflict. On the contrary, love and faithfulness, righteousness and peace are always at home in God, and it is from this divine harmony that all other harmonies come. We have peace only when we rest in him.[1]
You can trust that the same God who sent His only begotten Son to save you from your sins will show up in your circumstances today. Whatever you are going through, don’t let doubt or fear cause you to become double-minded about God’s salvation. James 4:8 invites you, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Rest in God by trusting Jesus and His atoning sacrifice where righteousness and peace kiss in your life.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 85, meditating upon the perfection of God’s salvation on the Cross of Calvary.
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:
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 700.
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Grow Strong in God’s Grace (Wk 17)
The Fullness of the Blessings of the Gospel
I want to encourage you to be still and know that He is God. When we receive the Gospel, we receive a life changing power within us. That power begins to change us from the inside out. We sing songs of praise, and we sing of the blessings God gives us. Please know when we leave this place God allows us to live in the fullness of His blessings. We don’t need to leave the blessings here. We live in those blessings out there!
But out there, we get so caught up in the things of this world, politics, inflation, high prices, wars, civil unrest, LGBTQ++ issues in schools and at work, unrest with neighbors, friends, family the list goes on and on with all the things that distract us from the blessings of Christ.
The Gospel is God’s agent, it is His power. Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The Gospel is that which contains the purpose for your life. It is filled with His blessing. Just like Jesus came full of grace and truth, the Gospel comes with that, and it comes with the abundant grace of God. In the Gospel we have everything we need.
In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” My encouragement for us today is to focus on all we have in the Gospel. Let’s live in His abundance! Let’s live in the blessings He freely and generously gives us!
Now the blessings I am talking about here come from the inside out. These blessings come from believing and trusting in Jesus.
When you do, you can know you’re a child of God, bought with a price, living in His grace and mercy. The blessings I want to focus our attention on are found IN HIM, in a personal relationship with Jesus. These blessings are not found anywhere else. But the good news here is if you have that personal relationship with Jesus, you have all these blessings already. You can walk in them with confidence because of what Jesus has already done! Trust Him!
So let me ask a few questions to help you clarify your true understanding of what you have inside you (IF you know Jesus to be the payment for your sin) or what you CAN have today if you decide to trust Jesus as your payment today.
How do you see yourself? Prov 23:7, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” Do you see yourself as a person who has it all together? Someone who has no need of God because you can handle anything life throws at you.
Do you see yourself as a person who is so dirty and worthless that not even God can save you out of the pit, you’re in?
Both views are dead wrong!
God loves you as you are
Rom 8:38, 39: 1 Jn 4:9; 2 Thes 3:5. Jesus is your sacrifice your complete payment
How do you evaluate your circumstances? Are your circumstances all bigger than you? Do you feel like there’s no way out? Does it feel like the circumstances are bigger than God?
If we have those attitudes, we will not see the blessings that are staring us in the face because the blessing begins on the inside. The blessing is released from the inside. We get distracted and our faith waivers. The fulness of the blessing of the Gospel starts and ends with faith.
Jerry has been using the example of a farmer in his sermon series. Here is the seed of the Gospel being planted and it is planted only by faith.
The Gospel is a seed within us.
(To be incorruptible means not subject to death or decay it is eternal.)
The fullness in the Gospel of God carries all the life of God; it carries all the blessings of God; it carries all the promises of God. Everything God wants for you came in a seed. That seed is wanting to be released, but if we don’t live from that, if we don’t live from our spiritually renewed nature, if we live from our emotions and allow our own selfishness to rule, then we will miss out on the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of God. We miss out because we stop walking in faith and start looking at all the things around us for answers.
What I am encouraging you to do today is to allow this revelation, that we live in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel, to take over in your heart. I want to encourage you to truly realize the goodness of God and the fulness of His blessing. Realize your true new nature in Christ. When you do, you will begin to think differently, you will speak differently, and you will act differently. The blessing that is within you will come out in how you live your life.
So, what is the Gospel? Michael Rydelnik, the Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody, defines the Gospel in 25 words. He says,
“The wrong things we do separate us from God. Messiah Jesus died, taking our punishment, and rose again proving He is God. Trust in Him.”
It is the good news of God’s love for you. Rom 8:38, 39; 1 Jn 4:9; 2 Thes 3:5
It is the good news of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice for you. Mk 10:45; Heb 10:12
It is the good news of the promise of the Spirit. You have the very Spirit of God living inside you! That Spirit is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Rom 5:5; 8:9; 8:11; 2 Tim 1:14; 1 Cor 6:19;
It is the good news that you are reconciled to God. 2 Cor 5:18-20; Col 1:20, 22; Rom 5:10, 11
It is the good news that you are seated with God in heavenly places. You sit with Christ because Jesus took our place on the cross, thus we are in Him. Eph 2:6; Rev 20:4
It is the good news of an abundant life full of strength, not your strength but His strength in you. Eph 1:19, 3:16, 6:10; Col 1:11
It is the good news of the Gospel of peace. You can be involved in all kinds of turmoil around you but walk in the peace that passes understanding. Prov 3:5, 6; Mark 9:50; Rom 12:18; 2 Cor 13:11; 1 Thes 5:13
It is the Gospel of joy – the joy of the Lord is your strength. Walking in joy is where blessings begin. Ex 15:2; Psalm 21:1, 118:14,
It is the Gospel of walking in faith. Seeing the unseen and knowing that God is good enough to supply what you need. Heb 11:1
It is the Gospel of righteousness. There is nothing more powerful than understanding your right standing with God. Understand you are made righteous! You don’t have to feel guilty; you don’t have to walk in condemnation, you don’t need to feel unworthy. Jesus has made you free from guilt, free from condemnation. You are worthy when you are in Him. That is the Gospel! Rom 5:19; Gal 3:11
God wants you to realize these things are all part of the Gospel. Understand these things deep within your spirit, not just intellectually. Allow the blessings of the fullness of the Gospel into your life and let it change you from the inside out.
It is a Gospel of vision, a Gospel of purpose, a Gospel of freedom from fear. No one needs to be living in fear. No one needs to worry. They are contrary to faith and anti-Gospel. Living in the fullness of the Gospel gives no place to worry, fear, anxiety, depression or oh my what am I going to do?
You don’t need to live in a fallen state!
You have the ability in Christ to live in peace, live in the joy of the Lord. You have the fullness of the Gospel within you and that Gospel will impact your circumstances. It may not change what goes on in Washington, but it will change you personally. It will change what goes on in your house, within your sphere of influence. If you walk around with this blessing on the inside, it can’t help touching the circumstances and the people around you.
Let’s look at what David said in
Psalm 103:2, “Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all His benefits.”
It does not say benefit. It says all His benefits. It is plural. It looks like there are more than two. David doesn’t say both His benefits, he says all His benefits. It goes on to talk about forgiveness of sin and healing. David is looking ahead to what we are experiencing.
Let’s look at what Paul had to say in
Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Later in the chapter he says we are accepted in Christ. The Gospel has blessed us with everything. You get to experience all this the through the grace of God…
Here is a great definition of grace –
Definition of Grace: God’s abundant provision for every need you have, spirit, soul, and body.
There is nothing lacking. Nothing was left off of the cross. Everything that Adam’s sin unleashed, has been restored and then some through the blessing of the Gospel.
So, Paul says we have been blessed with every blessing in heavenly places. By faith you receive the blessings of God. They are where moth and rust cannot corrupt. Those blessings are yours now.
What does Peter say? Look at
1 Peter 3:9, “Knowing that you were called to this that you may inherit a blessing.”
If you were to find out that a rich Uncle, who had you in his will you would be excited about that. You would be anticipating that inheritance. You have something far greater than a rich Uncle! You have an inheritance, a blessing, Peter says.
Do you need peace? Does anyone have circumstances that are complicated? Do you want peace that passes understanding? Do you want joy unspeakable, full of glory? Do you want the wisdom of God and to know what to do?
All of that is your inheritance! That is the blessing of the Gospel that came to you in seed form and is basically waiting on you to accept that fact and to walk by faith in the fullness of the Gospel. This will change your life and the lives of those around you. This is powerful! It begins when we choose to believe it. When you choose to believe that God is for you and not against you. Believe that He will bless you and He will multiply you. Believe God is giving to you pressed down and running over.
Yes, Lord I believe that. This faith changes the way you think! When you trust in Jesus it will change the way you speak. Choose to believe God’s Word at face value.
The Gospel is about a transformed life. You became a new creation through the incorruptible seed of the Gospel. You became something that never existed before. You were spiritually separated from God, and you have been plugged back into God. You are one spirit with Him. You have a new life, a new creation life.
The Gospel is about being free from guilt and condemnation.
Please realize you do not need to live under a cloud of guilt! You have been released. You are free. You have victory. Let go of feeling unworthy. That is not living in the blessing of the Gospel. Jesus died on the cross to set you free from guilt and condemnation. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” Live in the joy of the Lord and in the presence of God in your life.
The Gospel is about loving as we have been loved.
The Gospel is about abounding in grace for every good work.
There are situations around you that God has placed you in and given you the grace to bring healing, to bring solutions, to bring wisdom, to bring help in time of need for the people around you, depending on what the circumstances may be, there is grace for that. Please realize God has placed you there and given you the grace needed for such a time as this. Be bold and get involved. Allow the blessing of the fullness of the Gospel to flow through you! You have the gifts that others desperately need. You are the only answer, in some cases, to people’s trauma or need. That is the power of the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel in you. Realize that power, agree with it, allow God to bless others through you and your giftedness. Let the blessing out.
The Gospel is about joy and peace.
Others will notice when you are walking in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel because they can see you responding to situations with grace and peace and having joy from within that is not touched by the circumstances around you. That doesn’t mean you are always laughing but you are not overwhelmed by negative things around you. You have the joy of the Lord and can minister from His strength in you.
Are you beginning to realize the power of this Gospel? Romans says it is the power of God.
The Gospel is about ceasing from your own works to earn salvation.
You can just give up trying to earn right standing with God. You cannot do anything to make God love you more and you cannot do anything that will cause God to love you less. That was all dealt with on the cross. You cannot earn anything from God. You can do something. You can believe and receive what He has already done and what He has already given.
2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God are in Him, yes and amen to the glory of God through us.”
All the promises of God reveal God’s heart for His people. All the promises in Him are yes and amen to the glory of God through us. Through us! Believe God is that good and He wants to bless your life. You get to bless others! God’s grace and His blessings are yes. We cannot keep this good news to ourselves! We get to tell His story!
If your life needs a major overhaul God is the one who wants to do it! God is the one who has grace for it to happen. God is the one who gave all these promises to begin with so we would have a place to go and a resource, so say, “Father, show me… “ Where will you find the promise? Not on TV. Only in the Word of God. That is where you will find your inheritance.
If I told you I hid a pot of gold in your back yard, would you invest in a shovel? Would you invest some time digging around to find it? You have a treasure in the Word of God. He tells us about all the promises. That is your inheritance that is the blessing of the fullness of the Gospel that is available to you. How much is it worth to you? Go after it!
Eph 3:20, “To Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.”
There it is again – in us. God wants to do exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or think.
So, the blessing of the Gospel is even bigger than we can comprehend, more than we can understand with our finite minds. But it is according to the power that works in us, so what is the power that works in you and me? Well in the scope of all the things we could talk about, it is, first of all, you agree that God wants you to have these blessings. God is good and He wants to bless His children!
But you say, I have too many things that have gone wrong in my life, too many hardships. It is hard for me to believe God has given me all these blessings, I can accept some of them but in my experience God does not or has not supplied.
Here is what I want to encourage you to do. Stop judging the Gospel through the lens of your experience. Look at and judge your experience through the lens of the Gospel. Stop allowing the experience to be your god. If you or someone you know is saying that didn’t work for me or that didn’t work for Aunt Mable and that IF it didn’t work for this person, nothing works. Well, if that’s the case then God’s a liar and we may as well pack up and go home.
But God is not a liar!! His Word is true. I encourage you to look at your experience through the lens of the blessings of the Gospel, knowing the Word of God is true. I encourage you to stop exalting your experience above what the Word says. Look at your experience through the magnifying glass of the Word.
Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare is own Son, but delivered Him up for us all how shall He not with him also freely give us all things.”
All things. If God gave you Jesus, why in the world would He withhold anything else? Why would He withhold any of His blessings? His victory? He has given you His name, His blood, His Spirit. He has given you His covenant, He has given you His promises, His armor, His authority. He has given you the sword of the Word, the keys of the Kingdom. He has given us the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel. When we accept Jesus as Savior and when we are born again, we get the whole package! Just think about that… If God gives us Jesus, why in the world would He withhold anything else?
The reality is God is not withholding anything. What’s happening is we are choosing to be fearful. Choosing to worry, choosing to doubt, choosing to feed our flesh with garbage. Choosing to do all those things means you are not choosing God and it is for that reason the blessings are being withheld.
Blessings come through faith and trust that Jesus is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. This is faith in the Gospel. I encourage you to get back to believing that you are the righteousness of Christ. He will reward you as you diligently seek Him.
James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
What that means is God does not change. God is not fickle. He doesn’t make up one set of rules for some and another set for someone else. There is no shadow of turning – there is no variation in God. Every good gift, every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation.
God is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. All this power, all this blessing of the Gospel comes from the inside. Please understand that God is good, God is for you, God’s mercies are new every morning. God has given you His promises, His name, His Spirit, His covenant His Word and on and on. God has given all of this because He wants you to be blessed. He delights in your blessing. As a parent and a grandparent I delight in seeing my children and grandchildren blessed. I don’t want to see them suffering. God is a much better parent than I am! He wants to see me blessed. He wants to see you blessed.
All this begins with our heart becoming convinced. First thing you must be convinced in is that Jesus is the Son of God and that His death was for you personally, His resurrection is your resurrection and His life is your life. Choose to believe that from your heart. Confess it with your mouth – Jesus is Lord.
Choose to believe His joy is your strength
Choose to believe you am accepted in Christ
Choose to believe all things are possible because you believe
Choose to believe you hear His voice
Choose to believe that His favor surrounds you as a shield (Psalm 5:12)
Choose to believe you are blessed in your going out and in your coming in
Choose to believe God – without faith it is impossible to please God
Choose to believe you live with Him in heavenly places
One more passage 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, “Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness. And the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him according to the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- A good farmer cultivates the soil of faith: Blessings of the fulness of the Gospel come from the inside out. You must believe by faith. You are bought with a price living in His grace and mercy. You have all these blessings because of what Jesus has already done! Trust Him!
- A good farmer sows the seed of the Gospel: The Gospel is a seed within us. The incorruptible seed of God’s Word comes into us when we get born again. That incorruptible seed carries all the fullness of the blessings of God.
- A good farmer cares for their plants: Realize your true new nature in Christ. When you do, you will begin to think differently, you will speak differently, and you will act differently. The blessing that is within you will come out.
- A good farmer reaps a harvest – the harvest of the fullness of the Gospel comes when we realize we get to live in God’s grace and His grace is what motivates us to share in His life.
Please hear me in what I say next. Are you listening? The world is trying to tell you that you are good in yourself. That is not what I am saying! We are fallen creatures, no one is righteous because of the good things they do. What I am saying is we live in His goodness. There is no one good but God. When we trust that Jesus paid the price for sin, we receive His goodness and righteousness in us.
When you accepted Jesus as Savior, you may have not realized everything that took place. As a boy I certainly didn’t. Now you know. Now you know what has been deposited in you. This is exciting!
We get to live in all the fullness of the Gospel!
We get to be a blessing in this world. Go live in fullness! Proclaim it freely to those around you. The world is in desperate need of the message of the fullness of the Gospel!
If you have never publicly proclaimed your faith is Jesus, today is the day. Come receive the blessings of the fullness of the Gospel for yourself!
Receive the blessings of the fullness of the Gospel today. Remember The wrong things we do separate us from God. Messiah Jesus died, taking our punishment, and rose again proving He is God. Trust in Him.”
You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1201
Today’s hymn focus will be “Sing to the King”
Psalm 96:1-2 (NASB95)
Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, all the bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.”
This hymn was originally written in the early 1900’s by Charles Sylvester Horne, the youngest child of Charles and Harriet. He grew up to become a renowned preacher and author, writing hymns that are still sung today.
This is where Billy Foote comes in. He began leading worship after graduating from East Texas Baptist University in 1990. Sadly, he was stricken with hyper-dysphonia, a condition that affected his vocal cords, around 2000, his wife Cindy took over the lead vocals as he continued to write worship songs. He took this classic hymn and gave it a modern style.
Sing to the King Who is coming to reign,
Glory to Jesus the Lamb that was slain
Life and salvation His empire shall bring,
And joy to the nations when Jesus is King
We need to wake up and lift up our voices every day in worship of the One that gave His everything so that we might have life and have it to the fullest. Billy may have lost his ability to sing, but he gave the church songs that remind us why we are to sing!
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:
Sing to the King
Glory to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain,
Life and salvation his empire shall bring
Joy to the nations when Jesus is King.
Come let us sing: Praise to our King,
Jesus our King, Jesus our King;
This is our song, who to Jesus belong:
Glory to Jesus, to Jesus our King.
Races long severed his love shall unite,
Justice and truth from his sceptre shall spring,
Wrong shall be ended when Jesus is King.
Freedom shall flourish and wisdom increase,
Foe shall be friend when his triumph we sing,
Sword shall be sickle when Jesus is King.
Doubt shall not darken his witness within,
Hell hath no terrors, and death hath no sting;
Love is victorious when Jesus is King.
Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day
When this new song thy creation shall sing,
Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1200
Practicing the Presence of God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 30.
Psalm 84:10 may sound familiar to you, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” It was transformed into a popular praise song by Matt Redman in 1995, and just reading today’s psalm caused my heart to sing out in praise to God – “Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere!” I love how so many of the psalms have been put to song, so that we can worship God, singing back to Him His Word.
From the first verses of today’s psalm, you feel the psalmist’s longing to be in the presence of God, “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God” (1-2). To find yourself in the presence of the Lord is a pearl of great price, as Jesus taught in Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” On the cross, Jesus paid the price for us to have His presence; He made the way for us to enter the courts of His kingdom for eternity.
We no longer follow the pilgrimage trail to Jerusalem to enter the courts of the Lord; rather, we follow Jesus, and the Holy Spirit leads us to the throne of grace. Psalm 84:5 prophesied of this way, “How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 84, meditating upon the presence of God – “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
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 1199
Dispel the Darkness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 29.
My grandfather, Captain John Glenn, flew fighters over Germany in World War II. He served on the side of good during a horrid war animated by evil and fueled by hatred. It was a time in our world’s history when today’s psalm was being acted out – the Jewish people were being systematically exterminated by the forces of evil. Asaph wrote about such evil in Psalm 83, starting in verses 1-4:
O God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
Nearly sixty years after the conclusion of World War II, I had the moving experience of visiting one of the Holocaust camps in Germany. Such horror must never be forgotten, and that is why Asaph wrote Psalm 83. We must never underestimate the importance of resisting evil, just as Edmund Burke famously said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”[1] This is true in every generation!
Evil is intolerant of good, striving to destroy anything which reflects the light of God. In John 12:46, Jesus calls forth the image bearers of God to defeat evil, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” You can dispel the darkness by shining Jesus’ Light into the world (Matthew 5:14-16). It’s amazing what a little bit of light can do to fight back the darkness!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 83, meditating upon the good works you can do in your community today to bring light to dark places (John 1:5; Philippians 2:15).
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 1198
The Urgency of Spiritual Warfare!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 28.
Psalm 82 opens our eyes to the urgency of spiritual warfare. Dr. Michael Heiser explains about why today’s psalm opened his eyes to the supernatural worldview of the Bible:
Psalm 82 is perhaps the clearest – and perhaps the most startling. … it’s the passage that opened my own eyes. The psalm refers to Yahweh’s administration as a council. The first verse reads: “God (elohim) stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods (elohim).” … A quick read of Psalm 82 informs us that God has called this council meeting to judge the elohim for corrupt rule of the nations. Verse 6 of the psalm declares that these elohim are sons of God. God says to them: “I have said, ‘You are gods [elohim], and sons of the Most High [beney elyon], all of you.’”[1]
Such a supernatural worldview is not new to you, even if you have never heard today’s psalm taught in this light. Jesus called Satan the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31, and Paul called him the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. Moreso, in Ephesians 6:11-12, Paul explained the urgency of spiritual warfare:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The ancient audiences of Jesus Christ understood that there were corrupt rulers of the nations, as Psalm 82 highlighted, which is why the early church understood the Great Commission to be more than a call to evangelism; it was a summons to spiritual warfare!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 82, meditating upon the rightful rule of Jesus Christ over all the nations – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
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:
[1] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 26-27. For further study, explore Deuteronomy 32:8-9, Job 1-2, and 1 Kings 22:19-23.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1197
The Sweet Balm of Joy!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 27.
Recently, an older man in our congregation reached out to me wanting to have a set apart time with me, celebrating the Lord’s Supper in a more formal way. He’s been going through a lot of medical issues, yet through this difficult season of his life he’s been drawing closer to God and wanted to experience the intimacy of partaking in this ordinance of the church (1 Corinthians 11:23-30). We met in the Chapel on a Thursday afternoon and walked through a formal liturgy of remembrance and celebration. We both felt the sweet balm of God’s healing presence, experiencing joy because of our shared time of worship. Truly, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)!
Psalm 81 is a corporate psalm of praise to God for rescuing Israel from Egyptian slavery at the Exodus. It was both a remembrance and a celebration; it began with a call to worship in verses 1-4:
Sing for joy to God our strength; shout joyfully to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, strike the timbrel, the sweet sounding lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
Today’s psalm was meant to be used as a part of a formal liturgy of worship, celebrating God’s rescue of Israel from slavery, formalized as an “ordinance” of God. In the same way, the church today is called to celebrate communion in remembrance of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 81, meditating upon the sweet balm of God’s joy, which comes from experiencing His presence through corporate worship (Psalm 16:11). Today’s psalm concludes with a promise, “with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:16b).
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 1196
The True Vine!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, June 26.
Agricultural imagery is rich in the Bible; it provides some of my favorite metaphors for the Christian life. As a master teacher, Jesus used agricultural imagery to connect with the Jewish peoples’ agrarian lifestyle, and to yoke His teachings with the fertile imagery of the Old Testament. An important example of this is found in Psalm 80:8-15:
You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow, and the cedars of God with its boughs. It was sending out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. Why have You broken down its hedges, so that all who pass that way pick its fruit? A boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it. O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine, even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, and on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.
We see this imagery also used in Ezekiel 15 and Isaiah 5:1-8, with Isaiah explaining the symbolism in verse 7, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant.” Derek Kidner hypothesized about the Old Testament’s vine imagery, “This may well have been the chief background to our Lord’s saying, ‘I am the true vine’. What Israel had only begun to be, he wholly was and is.”[1]
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 80, meditating upon Jesus as the true vine – “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
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.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 321.
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Grow Strong in God’s Grace (Wk 16)
Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
The Faith that Elevates You Out of the Pits!
Hebrews 11:22 (NASB)
God is in the business of transforming stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to grow strong in God’s grace as active participants in the world He created. God has entrusted His creation to His people to work as His Harvest workers – “All the world’s a field, and all the disciples of Jesus Christ merely farmers!” Therefore, let’s be faithful farmers by following the four-step strategy of a hard-working farmer: 1) cultivate people with faith; 2) sow the good seed of God’s grace (the gospel) into their hearts and minds; 3) care for them as their stories are transformed into fruit-bearing plants; and 4) reap a harvest of praise as the church of Jesus Christ.
This strategy must be empowered by the Holy Spirit because apart from God we cannot bear any good fruit (John 15:5)! Therefore, harvest workers of God’s kingdom are called to grow strong in God’s grace. Let’s take the first step by learning from the transforming stories of the Hall of Faith, found in Hebrews 11. Today’s story is about Joseph, found in Hebrews 11:22, “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.” To be clear, this passage in the New Testament is not referring to Joseph the husband of Mary; rather, it is pointing to one of the most famous Old Testament stories – the Genesis account of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob. His story inspired the long enduring Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Jacket.” This is a story that has found a bridge into our culture and has inspired generations of Jewish and Christian people to live with integrity and to put their trust in a sovereign God during injustice and suffering. The problem is that it has been made into a “feel good” story without revealing the true depth of the story. We need to look at the depths of Joseph’s story, in all its gore and glory, for it to be more than a moralistic platitude.
STEP #1 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CULTIVATE THE SOIL WITH FAITH
A decade ago, I was in Chicago at the Moody Bible Institute’s Pastors’ Conference when a celebrity pastor, who has since fallen from ministry notoriety because of toxic leadership practices, stated that every day in church ministry a pastor either becomes bitter or better. In that moment, the Holy Spirit convicted me: I had allowed myself to get bitter at some people and situations that had occurred over the years of my pastorate and that bitterness had started to form a hard, cynical place in me. It had started to inform the way I viewed people and situations, and those people and situations needed a fresh wind of God’s Spirit through me, not a stale wind of human hurt from me. In that moment, I did the only thing I could do, I honestly yielded to the Holy Spirit by crying out for God’s presence and power in me.
Each of us has a daily decision to make; it’s a choice: to choose better or to become bitter! The choice to allow bitterness to grow in our soul or to actively take steps to be transformed into a godly person through the circumstances of our lives is not just for pastors. The choice to embrace spiritual transformation is for every person who is faced with disappointment, discouragement, despair, and/or depression. This is for every person born under the sun, who experienced childhood, navigated friendships, went to school, has worked, has been a part of a church, has dated, has married, has kids, has faced medical issues. This is part of the human experience for all people regardless of human labels. This is about:
- A teenage boy who is ridiculed by his friends because he won’t follow the crowd when it comes to partying or compromising his Christian beliefs. He is starting to wonder if it really matters to hold strong in his beliefs.
- A college-age girl who has her heart broken because she won’t have sex with her boyfriend and then finds he has smeared her reputation at school. She is struggling to remain strong in her commitment to remain pure before marriage.
- A young man who won’t commit to anyone because of the heartache he has carried with him after watching his parent’s fight for years, before their divorce. He wonders if marriage is even a worthwhile option for his life.
- A professional woman who won’t forgive herself for the abortion her husband asked her to have when they were in college. Now, 20 years later, she is haunted by feelings of bitterness towards him as they are successful, but lonely as they never made time for kids and a pregnancy never just happened again. She presses into her career and works another long day to keep herself from thinking about him or her pain.
- An older man who has loyally worked 25 years for the same company finds himself suddenly out of work with no benefits and nothing to show for his dedication. He has no idea if he can start all over and give his best to a boss or company ever again.
- A widowed woman who is lonely as her children and grandchildren are too busy to care for her emotional or physical needs, and she doesn’t want to impose on them. She questions whether there is a purpose for her any longer and if life is worth living.
Brothers and sisters, you may not be able to control the situations and circumstances of your life, just as much as you cannot change your parents, control your grown children’s behavior, or change the medical diagnosis, but… God has given you – His beloved and chosen child – the ability to choose better over bitter in every circumstance; to choose FAITH! Hebrews 11:1-2 defines faith for us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” What we learn from Hebrews 11 and each of the transforming stories of God’s grace through faith, is that faith is a person’s God-given ability to trust God and His promises through every circumstance of life so that He can use you for His greater plan and eternal purposes. When we live by faith, we reap a harvest of praise, bringing glory to God in the ups and downs of life. Let’s take the second step to learn how this happens.
STEP #2 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: SOW THE GOOD SEED OF GOD’S GRACE
Joseph’s story is told in Genesis. His birth is recorded in chapter 30. Joseph’s story begins and ends in the dynamics of family: a very dysfunctional one! Joseph was born as the first son to Jacob’s favored wife Rachel (Genesis 30:22-24), but the eleventh son of his father’s four wives. You want to talk about the original blended family, this is even more complex because this was polygamy: One father and four competing wives who had a total of twelve sons and a daughter. Joseph’s childhood is marked by:
- His father’s relationship with Grandpa Laban fell apart which led to them moving. Along the way, his father got scared because Uncle Esau apparently didn’t feel much better about him than his Grandpa Laban (Genesis 30:25-33:20).
- Joseph wasn’t quite sure if his dad had lost his mind one day because he came across the river limping saying he wrestled with God all night and told everyone his name had been changed from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32:24-32; 35:9-15). Was dad for real or had the stress finally gotten to him?
- His sister Dinah’s rape and his brothers’ brutal retribution against the whole village (Genesis 34). Plus, the fact that one of his brothers slept with one of dad’s wives (Genesis 35:22).
- Heartbreakingly, Joseph lost his mom when she died giving birth to his little brother Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-20).
The legacy event of Joseph’s childhood was at the age of 17. It was caused by a mixture of his father’s favoritism, his brother’s hatred and jealousy of him, his own boastful and prideful ways, and a divine dose of providential circumstance. Joseph was a 17-year-old spoiled brat, his father’s favored child to his favored and deceased wife. Insanely jealous of Joseph’s favored position and blindly enraged by his boastful dreams, the older brothers plotted to kill Joseph; to throw him into a pit to be left for dead. But at the last minute they pulled him from the pit to sell him into slavery to a passing caravan of Ishmaelites headed through the fertile crescent to Egypt (Genesis 37:26-28). As the brothers go back and lie to their father about their little braggart of a brother, the Ishmaelites “sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard” (Genesis 37:36).
In that one decision of his older brothers, Joseph becomes a powerless victim of vicious circumstances! He is thrown in the pit. He is emptied of his status as favored son to become a feeble slave, but it is what happens next that has caused his story to be told for nearly four-thousand years. Joseph’s legacy was shaped not by the horror of his childhood and his brothers’ bitter choices, but by his own choice of how he would respond to his circumstances. The first pit most of us must work through is an imperfect upbringing – our family of origin and childhood experiences. Even the patriarchs of our faith were all messed up and so were their families.
We aren’t perfect people, nor do we have perfect families. Let’s be honest, there is no such thing on this side of Heaven. The church needs to come to grips with this reality, and instead of having impossible expectations of one another, what we need is to love with truth and grace as we imperfectly live with one another, trying to tell a better story of God’s work in our lives. The Bible is filled with flawed people and flawed families on purpose, so that we realize it is only by the power of God’s grace, the Spirit cultivating the soil of our lives and planting the good seed of God’s Word, that we can be transformed into fruit-bearing people that reflect Jesus Christ.
Do you need permission to get off the treadmill of performance, or to give up the anxiety of perfectionism? Learning to live strong in God’s Grace is the answer for you and your family, for us and our church, for our communities and nation! God loves you so much He gave His one and only Son so that your story would be transformed to tell His story!
Never forget that each of us has a daily decision to make; it’s a choice: to choose better or to become bitter! When life has thrown you harsh circumstances, what do you do? How do you handle the pits of childhood trauma and dysfunctional family systems? Just because you came from a broken family doesn’t mean you must be broken. Just because we have had traumatic experiences doesn’t mean we need to live like victims. Many people feel held back by an experience that happened in the early years of life, whether something that happened in our families or by someone who hurt, betrayed, and/or abandoned us.
The early years of our lives do have the power to shape us, but they don’t have the power to stop us from living the promised abundant life of Jesus Christ (John 10:10). That is why we must take the next action step of a hardworking farmer – there is a process of maturation that we must walk in. Your circumstances don’t shape you; your decisions in your circumstances do!
STEP #3 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CARE FOR THE MATURING PLANT
If having bad childhood experiences and a broken family of origin wasn’t enough, Joseph was rescued from the first pit only to be thrown into the second: difficult and disappointing adult life experiences. After being bought by Potiphar at the age of 17, Joseph becomes the all-star slave in Potiphar’s household, given charge over everything in Potiphar’s house except one thing, Potiphar’s wife. She was a cougar, but Joseph would not compromise, not even for momentary pleasures. When solicited, Joseph asked of Potiphar’s wife, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).
Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and Potiphar threw his young slave into prison to rot. Another pit! Another betrayal of his trust! Another abandonment by someone Joseph served with his whole heart! He finds himself as a powerless victim of injustice again! Did Joseph choose better or become bitter? In the pit of prison, Joseph stayed close to God and was transformed into the all-star prisoner, as Genesis 39:21-23 states:
But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.
Joseph makes me think of a diamond. Formed under years of pressure and showcased behind a black velvet backdrop to bring out its brilliance and beauty. Neither the years of pressure nor the darkness of the backstory is beautiful, but the diamond is priceless. “Simply put, diamond formation occurs when carbon deposits deep within the earth (approximately 90 to 125 miles below the surface) are subject to high temperature and pressure.”[1] Everyone wants to shine like a diamond, but no one wants to go through the process of becoming one!
Each of us has a daily decision to make; it’s a choice: to choose better or to become bitter! Your decisions while in the pits of hard adult circumstances shape you by forming your character and determining the direction of your life. Is there a situation in your life that is not going the way you planned? What is the circumstance you would change right now if you had the power to do so? What would you push fast forward on if you could? Maybe, just maybe, God cares more about your character than your circumstances, and in fact, is using your circumstances to shape your character. How can you choose better in your life so that you can reap a harvest or praise, bearing the good fruit of your relationship with Jesus Christ? That brings us to our final action step.
STEP #4 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: REAP A HARVEST OF PRAISE
You may find yourself in a pit, but that is where God does some of His best work to press you, shape you, prepare you to be showcased. God has a plan for your life and the pits you have experienced, are experiencing, and will experience, may be exactly what are necessary to prepare you for the palace that is ever before you. God wants to glorify His name through your life!
Earlier in his life, before his brothers abused him and betrayed his trust, we saw in Joseph a special connection with God through dreams (Genesis 37:5-11). His lack of maturity as a 17-year-old caused him to share his dreams without discretion or humility, but now that he has been put in the pressure cooker of life experience for a long enough period, this diamond in the rough was being shaped with the precision of a master gemcutter. This is a life-long process!
Then in Genesis 40, Joseph was given the ability to help two prisoners by interpreting their dreams and his interpretations proved correct. He asked them to remember him and to put in a good word for him, but “the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (Genesis 40:23). Forgotten in the pit again! Two whole years of being in the prison until one day, at the age of 30, after fourteen years of pressure cooking, something happens. Joseph had learned in the pits that spiritual gifts, leadership capacity, and physical charisma were not about him; his characteristics and giftings were all from God. The gifts of God are to be used for God by loving and serving other people. Joseph learned all this before we get to the climax of the story. These lessons were not words in a book study or classroom instruction, but experiences forged into his soul. Joseph was shaped like a diamond, then excavated from the depths of the pit, and then cut by a master gemcutter to be displayed on the backdrop of black velvet. Let’s watch him shine!
In a dramatic turn of events that only the Master Storyteller could orchestrate in the life of one of His faithful servants, Joseph goes from a condemned slave to a celebrated prime minister in the blink of an eye. Genesis 41 captures the pivotal moment. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, has been given a dream that no one in the land could interpret, but the king’s cupbearer remembers that Joseph could accurately interpret dreams. After being discarded in the pit, Joseph now stands before the most powerful man on earth. A condemned slave, sold by his own brothers who wanted him dead, forgotten by all but God Himself, stands before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. When Pharaoh asks Joseph if he can interpret his dream, what does Joseph say, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer” (Genesis 41:16). [emphasis added]
That is the climax of the story: At a moment when Joseph should have begged for mercy and told Pharaoh he was an innocent man sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, thrown into prison and forgotten about, what did Joseph do? He declared his faith in God: “My God, in whom I trust, can do anything!” Joseph put his whole trust in God and gave God glory! He chose faith when everyone would expect begging and bitterness!
God transforms Joseph’s character so that he can be a part of His plan to save many and shine His glory to the nations – to reap a harvest of praise! For the rest of the story, Joseph shines to God’s glory and the entire world sees and recognizes God in Joseph as many lives are saved through his leadership. It begins with the pronouncement of Pharaoh in Genesis 41:38-41:
Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
From this moment in Genesis 41 until the last recorded moment of Joseph’s life in Genesis 50 we see that Joseph is the real deal – he is a priceless diamond on display! In his old age, Joseph didn’t abuse his position of power for selfish ambition or vain conceit; rather, he chose to bless his family when they were dependent on his favor and forgiveness. He saw that the pit experiences and the palace experience weren’t about him at all. Joseph learned through it all that his life was about God being able to use every part of his story to tell His story of salvation! Joseph made this clear in his last recorded words from Genesis 50:19-21:
But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
For all time, Joseph’s story points to the importance of putting our faith in God through the pit and palace experiences of life – the ups and the downs! Along the way, Joseph had many off ramps to become who God made him to be. By God’s grace, in each crossroad moment, in each circumstance, in each forgotten moment in the pits of his life, Joseph had the choice: better or bitter! The difference between Joseph and others is found in a single word: Faith! Joseph seized the moment, trusted God and didn’t take the off ramp of bitterness. God placed Joseph into the palace because God knew he could trust Joseph with the power and authority. It was in fact his faith through the pit experiences that formed and shaped him for this great responsibility in the place, which was also the ultimate test of His character! God still does this today for those who will trust Him with their whole hearts and choose to get better.
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FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1194
Today’s modern-day hymn focus will be
O Come to the Altar
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB95)
“ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
Released in early 2016 from Elevation Worship, the musical group from Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, this song is a call to anyone to come to the loving arms of Jesus. They wanted people to know that Jesus came for the broken, the messy, the sinner and they are invited to meet Him at the altar. The altar is the place where anyone is able to find forgiveness from their sins and respite from their burdens. This song is a wonderful, powerful reminder of the comfort of the gospel.
O come to the altar The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ
We need to wake up and rejoice in the fact that because of Jesus and what He did for us, we are a new creation. We need to let others know of this treasure and that it is for anyone who would come to Him and receive this gift.
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:
O Come to the Altar
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