Seize the Moment – Day 1187
This is Amazing Grace
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin
might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we
died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.”
In 2010, Josh Farro reached out to Phil Wickham about getting together to write a worship song. The met up, sang some songs together in worship, then shared their ideas and concepts and that became the bones for the song. In about 20
minutes time, they had come up with the chorus and some verse ideas. But it wasn’t until their friend Jeremy Riddle of Bethel Church heard it and asked If he could rework it that the song became what it is today…a celebration anthem of
This is amazing grace, this is unfailing love
That You would take my place, that You would bear my cross
You laid down Your life that I would be set free
Oh, Jesus I sing for all that You’ve done for me.
We need to wake up and rework our worship, making it into an anthem of praise to Jesus for all that He has, is and is going to do in our lives. When the world hears this message of grace and love, it is sure to be contagious and they will want to know more.
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:
This is Amazing Grace
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Seize the Moment – Day 1186
Pray for the Persecuted Church!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 16.
Praying for the persecuted church is a powerful way to support those who are suffering for the gospel of Jesus. Through organizations such as The Voice of the Martyrs, you can join with others to stand with the persecuted church in prayer. While prayer is the most powerful way most of us will lock arms with them, the Holy Spirit may lead you, and your local church, to assist your brothers and sisters who are suffering in other practical ways.
Psalm 74 has been memorized, prayed, and sung by countless believers who have experienced persecution. James Montgomery Boice shares an example from church history:
Singing psalms was very important to the Huguenots, those persecuted Protestants who were driven out of France in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The power of the psalms to bless and fortify them must have been especially feared by their persecutors, for under Louis XIII and Louis XIV many edicts were passed forbidding their use of the Psalter. Nevertheless, these brave people merely hid their books while carrying on their singing in mountain caves or forests, since they knew the psalms by heart.[1]
Psalm 74 is one of the psalms they memorized, meditated upon, and sang to find strength through their times of suffering. The first two verses capture their anguish, and that of all who suffer, “O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; and this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 74, meditating upon the suffering of the saints throughout the world – “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). Pray for the persecuted church today! Go to www.persecution.com to learn more.
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 1185
The Corruption of Envy and Bitterness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 15.
You can have faith in God and hope in His glorious return, but still be hijacked by your emotions and hoodwinked by your flesh. Even as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), you are still living in a “tent” that is vulnerable to a full range of human realities (2 Corinthians 5:1-8). Don’t be deceived, you are susceptible to the corruption of envy and bitterness, as Psalm 73:1-3 and 21-22 accurately diagnosed:
Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. … When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
As a child of God, you are so much more that a beast! Therefore, pay careful attention to what Asaph is teaching you in today’s psalm: envy and bitterness can cause you to become senseless and to stumble out of the way of God. He then gives you the solution – don’t lose sight of God and His call upon your life (ref. 23-28). You do this by continually listening to His counsel, rigorously maintaining a sober heart and clear sight by meditating upon His Word and praying in His Spirit. Paul taught in Ephesians 4:22-24, “You lay aside the old self … that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 73, meditating upon the power of God to transform your story – “My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26, emphasis added).
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 1184
Praises to the King of Kings!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 14.
Can you name all the presidents of the United States? Do you remember the great conquerors of world history? While these names are taught and forgot, the name of the King of kings remains ever present on your mind and in your heart. Psalm 72 is a royal psalm, capturing the succession between King David and his son, King Solomon. The title declares it to be, “The Psalm of Solomon,” yet the last verse concludes, “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended” (20).
This royal psalm points to the Messianic King, who shall reign on the throne of David forever, as Psalm 72:17 declares, “May his name endure forever; may his name increase as long as the sun shines; and let men bless themselves by him; let all nations call him blessed.” As you pray through the description of the king’s reign in Psalm 72, you will find yourself elevated by its descriptions of the king and reminded of the prophet’s proclamation of the coming Messiah in Isaiah 11:1-5 and Isaiah 60-62. Charles Hodge wrote in his Systematic Theology:
The seventy-second Psalm contains a description of an exalted king, and of the blessings of his reign. These blessings are of such a nature as to prove that the subject of the psalm must be a divine person. (1.) His kingdom is to be everlasting. (2.) Universal. (3.) It secures perfect peace with God and good-will among men. (4.) All men are to be brought to submit to Him through love. (5.) In Him all the nations of the earth are to be blessed; … The subject of this psalm, is therefore, the Redeemer of the world.[1]
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 71, meditating upon the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ – “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
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:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 491–492.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1183
The Prayer of the Aged Believer!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 13.
We live in a culture where influencers are determined by their youth and beauty. Is there a place for the wisdom of the aged in our world today? More than ever, we need the perspective and experiences of our elders. How should the senior saints pray? David modeled for us the prayer of the aged believer in Psalm 71, overtly petitioning God in verse 9, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Spurgeon insightfully commented on David’s prayer, “Old age robs us of personal beauty, and deprives us of strength for active service; but it does not lower us in the love and favour [sic] of God.”[1]
First, pray with confidence! Even if you, as an aged believer, don’t feel valued by our culture in your old age, never forget that your sufficiency is found in God’s inexhaustible grace, not the energy of your fleeting youth. Second, pray with conviction! David continued in Psalm 71:17-19, calling all senior saints to persevere in the mission of God:
O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come. For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 71, meditating upon the reward of your faith – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
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.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 209.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1182
Be a Person of Blessing!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, June 12.
Do you find yourself cursing people and complaining about the state of the world? Psalm 70:2 should serve as a warning, “Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life; let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt.” No matter how much in the right you think you are, you should not curse another person, in thought, word, or deed (Matthew 5:21-26). Be a person of blessing, not cursing (James 3:9-10).
David teaches us the way in verse 5, “But I am afflicted and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.” While this may not sound like the prayer of a mighty warrior or conquering king; it is! David was powerful amongst men because he knew intimately the truth that Jesus taught in John 15:5, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Until you understand this, you are far weaker and more vulnerable than you can imagine.
God is not a crutch for weak people; He is the way of victory for all people! We walk with God when we realize that oppressing others is never the way of victory. The way of God is seeking the liberation of all – freedom from sin! You cannot bless and curse a person at the same time. It’s impossible!
John 3:16-17 explains why Jesus came from Heaven to Earth, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” The rescue mission of Jesus is “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Are you living as a hope-bearer or are you being a doomsdayer?
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 70, meditating upon the great rescue mission of Jesus Christ – “O God, hasten to deliver me; O Lord, hasten to my help!” (Psalm 70:1).
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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Grow Strong in God’s Grace (Wk 14)
Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
The Faith that Blesses!
Hebrews 11:20 (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! 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.
STEP #1 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CULTIVATE THE SOIL WITH FAITH
Today, we are telling the story of Isaac, based on Hebrews 11:20, which says, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.”[1] From Isaac’s story, we are going to learn the faith that blesses.
How did you come into the faith? What is the starting point of your transforming story? Kimberly and I both came to know Jesus through outreach ministries to the military; we were both young adults out of high school and in the beginning of our military service. Maybe you were blessed to come from a home filled with godliness and faith, and you have been a Christian as long as you can remember. What a privilege and joy! That is our prayer for our three children and for all the children of our congregation. Regardless of how or when your story began, in Christ we each have the power to bless another generation. Though the story of Isaac and his twin sons, Jacob and Esau, we are going to learn the power and choice of blessing people by planting the good seed of God’s grace in their lives through faith.
STEP #2 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: SOW THE GOOD SEED OF GOD’S GRACE
The context of this whole Hebrews 11 passage is that one word: faith! Hebrews 11:1 teaches us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It means to put your whole trust in someone or something. In this case, and throughout the Bible the object of our faith is in God, who is trustworthy and true. In fact, the purpose of highlighting the people and their stories is to teach us more about who God is and that He is faithful. God is worthy to put all our weight on Him, just as we learned last week through the Abraham-Isaac story. The stories bring to life these doctrinal truths through illustration, illumination, and inspiration!
We have been learning about the faith and obedience of Isaac’s parents, Abraham and Sarah. Though far from perfect as a man and woman, above all they modeled a real relationship with God. Truly, they imperfectly put their full trust in God and God’s grace perfectly sustained them. They believed and they acted upon this belief because they are people of the promise, and Isaac’s very life was the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. We learned of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness through the very existence of Isaac. Isaac was a miracle baby!
Here is what we know about Isaac: his birth was foretold, longed for, and miraculous (Genesis 21:1-3). He was circumcised by the very hand of his father Abraham on the eighth day as a sign of the covenant that God had personally made with Abraham (Genesis 21:4). Isaac’s mom died at 127 years old, when he was approximately thirty-seven years old, since he was born when she was 90 (Genesis 23:1). She died approximately twenty years after the climactic event of Genesis 22, when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son as an act of worship (check out last week’s teaching). I can only imagine how for thirty-seven years Sarah loved Isaac and spoke of why he was named, “Laughter.” With a smile on her face, she would recount her own lack of faith in God’s plan to give her a baby at 90, and how Isaac shouldn’t make the same mistake: God had proven time and time again, through Isaac’s birth, his experience with her crazy husband on the mount in Moriah as a teenager, that God is a great provider and worthy of all his trust. This would have been a mother on a mission to make sure her son knew he was a miracle, chosen by God, and blessed by his parents, for a purpose.
What is amazing about Isaac is his rich faith heritage. When many focus on the speculation of his psychological damage caused by being a teenage boy who was almost slaughtered at the hands of his father Abraham, their musings miss out on the one thing that is the point of this ongoing story of the people of God’s promise; that is the powerful influence of one generation’s faith on the next generation. Isaac’s family blessed him to be a blessing to others! That is the promise of Genesis 12:2-3, given to Abraham, passed on to Isaac, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing… in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
How can your home be a place of faith where the next generation is not indulged, but rather blessed so that they will be a blessing to others? When I serve my children, I tell them that I do it so that they will learn to serve others. I bless them so that they will learn to be a blessing to others! That takes us to our next action step.
STEP #3 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CARE FOR THE MATURING PLANT
Isaac may have been a second-generation follower of God, but he believed in God’s promises for himself. His father’s God was His God. His mother’s God was His God. His faith was His own! Isaac was blessed to live in a family with faith, but even as a member of that community, he had to know God for himself. The promise of Genesis 12 had to become his own, just as all the promises of God through Jesus Christ must become our own. The faith of the previous generation is passed on to us so that we can make it our own, passing it on to the next generation.
God provided a faithful wife to Isaac in Rebekah (see Genesis 24). Isaac was 40 when he was married and 60 when Abraham died. Before his death, God blessed Isaac with great abundance; Genesis 25:5 says, “Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.” Interestingly, the Bible makes it clear in Genesis 25:11 who was really doing the blessing, “It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac.” After Abraham died, God adopted Isaac as his own son; He did not leave Isaac as an orphan! Jesus said in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans.” God tends to the maturing plant through the presence and power of His Spirit!
So, like Abraham before him, Isaac was blessed with everything, except the one thing that was necessary to keep passing on the legacy – a child! For twenty years they had tried to conceive a child (Genesis 25:26), then when Isaac was 60, God blessed them as Genesis 25:21 records, “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.” Isaac had a faith that blessed! He learned this from his mom and dad, but he had to make it his own!
Every generation must embrace faith as their own because God does not have grandchildren; He has children! In the same way that Abraham and Sarah wandered through the nothingness of infertility, so did Isaac and Rebekah. For twenty years, they had to wrestle with their own faith and trust in God; to believe God to keep His promises. To learn that God is good! Faith becomes your own when you have personally had to put your full weight into God. You see, you can’t bless someone with a future promise that you yourself don’t believe in. Sure, you can give them a family name and maybe some money and stuff in an estate, but you can’t pass on to the next generation what you don’t have yourself! Brothers and sisters, what matters is that you pass on the name of Jesus! The name that you have learned through life’s hardest circumstances is trustworthy and true! It is only by the name of Jesus you will have an eternal legacy.
Do you believe? One day, when each of us must stand before God to give an account for our lives, it will be just you and Him. No pastors, no parents, no excuses, no ATMs, just God and you… Do you know Him? Do you trust Him? Are you reaping the good fruit of a life of faith by having plenty of seed-rich fruit to hand to those in your life? That brings us to our last action step in the hard-working farmer’s strategy.
STEP #4 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: REAP A HARVEST OF PRAISE
Jacob and Esau are real people in real history; they are the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, the grandchildren of Abraham and Sarah. These miracle babies, a set of twins that Jacob blessed according to Hebrews 11:20, represent so much more than who they are. We cannot spend as much time with these brothers as I would like, and prefer as a Bible teacher, but for today’s purposes allow me to draw an important contrast between them. Genesis 25:27-34 says a lot in a short space:
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Here is the contrast: Jacob highly valued the birthright of the promise of God and Esau despised his because of his own foolish decisions. Jacob and Esau both have some glaring character flaws, but what matters is that they both made a choice: Jacob for the promise of God and Esau for the pleasures of the world.
You have a choice: every generation must choose whether they will be a Jacob or Esau.
Esau violated the covenant of God, married many foreign wives (Hittites and an Ishmaelite) representing his compromises away from the promises of God and yoking with the world, and he fathered nations who war against God’s people, just like Ishmael fathered great nations who still war against God’s people. Listen to the summary of Esau’s bitterness at rejecting his own birthright and choosing foreign wives, from Genesis 26:35, “They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (ESV). “Esau” passes on bitterness and grief (NASB), generation after generation.
Bitterness begets bitterness! What are some examples in our everyday lives of how we choose Esau: the bitterness of the world? To put it plainly; it happens when we choose to be doomsdayers! When you choose to be negative and nitpicky, as if you are always looking for what is wrong rather than choosing to see what is right, on the verge of anger most of the time, ready to go on the defensive and build a case for your own point of view, living in blame and accusation, critical of others instead of looking for ways to build up and edify, never satisfied rather than living in contentment, never trusting another, but putting yourself first because your worldview as a doomsdayer demands that you protect the glass house you have constructed.
There is a way out of bitterness and the consequences of choosing the mindset and lifestyle of a doomsdayer. Jesus sets the prisoners free; He heals the brokenhearted; and He uproots bitter roots! In short, Jesus is our living hope and transforms us from being doomsdayers to being hope-bearers! Church, we are the hope of the world! We are to reap a harvest of praise – declaring the hope of the blessing of God, given to us through Jesus Christ!
Jacob’s legacy is the twelve tribes of Israel through whom the Savior – Jesus Christ – was born to carry the promise of Genesis 12 to all the nations. Jacob passed on to us blessings and peace. Genesis 28:3-4 records Isaac’s blessing to Jacob when he sends him back to Rebekah’s people to find a wife and to protect him from his enraged brother Esau, “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”
Blessing begets blessing! What are some examples in our everyday lives of how we can choose Jacob: the blessings of God? This is where you declare, right now, out loud for everyone to hear you: I AM A HOPE-BEARER! God has called you to be a person of faith, hope, and love! God has given you the sufficiency of His grace so that you can live strong in God’s grace! God has given you forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ so that you can forgive others as God first forgave you. God has given you the Holy Spirit, so that you may reap the fruit of the Spirit for all taste and seed that God is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). A hope-bearer endures to the end, show resiliency when knocked down, is faithful to God and His mission, and is humble – reaping a harvest of praise to the glory of God!
It’s a choice! I present to you today a choice between generational blessings and generational curses. Jacob and Esau’s sibling rivalry has become regional and national conflict today, millennia later, continuing to breed bitterness and grief. But they also represent the choice each person must make to receive between the blessings of God and the bitterness of the world. Hebrews 12:15-17 confronts us with this choice of bitterness or blessing:
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
Do you want to have a transforming story? It’s a choice between blessing and bitterness. The time ran out for Esau; it was too late to get back what he had rejected for the world! But you are here today, there is breath in your lungs, and there is still time for repentance: REJECT BITTERNESS! Don’t be a doomsdayer! Grow strong in God’s grace and live your life as a hope-bearer! God’s grace is available to you today personally. Until the Lord Jesus returns or you take your last breath on this earth, you can receive the promises of God as yours through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus came into the world as the light of God to show the way to God’s blessings. The gospel invites you today to accept Jesus Christ and to receive the promises of God, as John 1:11-13 promises:
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
You cannot rest on your parents’ faith, your faith heritage, or you church affiliation. The most important decision of your life is what you do with Jesus Christ. This is a holy moment of decision. Today can be the first day of your eternal legacy… Today, you are being invited to receive the faith that blesses. It will bless you, then it will bless through you!
You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1180
Today’s modern hymn focus will be
Jesus Paid it All
Isaiah 1:18 (NASB95)
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.”
This hymn, written in 1865, came to Elvina M Hall while she was sitting in the choir loft of Monument Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore. The story is told that one Sunday morning, with an extremely long pastoral prayer and a continuous sermon, Elvina’s thoughts began to wander. She wrote down this poem in the blank flyleaf of her hymnal. She later showed them to the pastor,
who, unbeknownst to her, has been met with the church organist John Grape earlier in the week who had given him a musical score that had no words, but thought he might be able to use in the future. When Reverend Schrick placed two together, they fit like a hand in a glove.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
We need to wake up and realize that this song reminds us that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Jesus gave His all in order for us to have it all… Life, Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, and have it to the fullest.
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Jesus Paid It All
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
I’ll rejoice with all my might,
I am now divinely blest.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1179
The Prayer of the Weary!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 9.
There is an exhaustion that goes beyond being physically tired; it is being weary! David spoke of his weariness in Psalm 69:3, “I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God.” David expressed himself in a similar way in Psalm 6:6, “I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.”
Have you brought your weariness to God? Jesus invites you to do so in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The Greek word translated “weary” is κοπιάω; it’s used twenty-three times in the New Testament. It’s even used to describe Jesus in John 4:6, “Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well.” Jesus experienced weariness because it is a reality for all people. Exhaustion is a part of the human condition that requires more than a daily dose of caffeine or an occasional getaway. The older you get the more you realize that the solution goes beyond a simple life hack.
The answer is found in learning to live in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. Jesus gives us unhindered access to the rest of God through His easy yoke, where we become like Him, “gentle and humble in heart.” David concluded in Psalm 69:32-33a, “The humble have seen it and are glad; you who seek God, let your heart revive. For the Lord hears the needy.” True rest comes by putting your hope in Christ alone!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 69, meditating upon the God who promises to give you rest; only Jesus can restore you at the deepest places of your neediness.
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1178
Kingdom Plunder!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 8.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
Interestingly, in Psalm 68, the Conqueror received gifts, but in Ephesians 4, He gave gifts. Dr. Michael Heiser explained this disparity:
In the ancient world the conqueror would parade the captives and demand tribute for himself. Jesus is the conqueror of Psalm 68, and the booty does indeed rightfully belong to him. But booty was also distributed after a conquest. Paul knows that. He quotes Psalm 68:18 to make the point that after Jesus conquered his demonic enemies, he distributed the benefits of the conquest to his people, believers. Specifically, those benefits are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11).[1]
Jesus gave the kingdom plunder of the enemy to His church, through the Holy Spirit, to equip and empower the saints to grow in love and do good works (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 68, meditating upon the victory of Jesus Christ – “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Colossians 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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 293.
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