Seize the Moment – Day 1121
This One Thing is Necessary!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 12.
One of the greatest disciplines a person can learn is to prioritize the important over the urgent – to remain focused on what matters most. Do you know the difference between what is urgent and what is important? An easy example of this is lived out every morning of your life. Do you choose to pray, and read your Bible, before you check your emails, scan the social media feeds, or search the news headlines? How do you guard your heart and mind from all that has been designed to capture your attention?
David learned how to prioritize the important over the urgent. He petitioned God accordingly in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” This is not only something David asked of God, but as we learn in verse 8, it was what God asked of him, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.’”
This was a lesson two sisters had to learn from an encounter with Jesus. After welcoming Jesus into their home, Martha scurried about to make sure everything was just right; she was the ideal hostess. Mary was the opposite; she sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His teachings. Martha grew impatient with her sister, so she sought support from Jesus; surprisingly, He responded in Luke 10:41-42, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 27, meditating upon the one thing that is necessary – “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33a).
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 1120
Pray for Stability in All Your Ways!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, April 11.
Are you stable in all your ways? Praying Psalm 26 will help you strengthen your mental health and emotional well-being. God’s desire for your stability is expressed in the first and last verses of today’s psalm. Verse 1 begins, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” Verse 12 concludes, “My foot stands on a level place; in the congregations I shall bless the Lord.” Pastor James Montgomery Boice explained of these bookends, “they unify the psalm, teaching that the one who trusts God will have a level foundation on which to build a life, while the one who does not trust God is on steep, slippery terrain.”[1]
Elsewhere in the Scriptures, we read about the stability found through obeying God’s Word. Habakkuk 3:19 portrays the life of faith, “The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (cf. Psalm 18:33). This is the imagery of standing firm upon the rock, as found in Psalm 40:2, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” Jesus used this language in Matthew 7:24, for those who build their lives on obedience to His teachings, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” This is how you find stability in all your ways – by listening to and obeying Jesus’ commands! Your mental health and emotional well-being are intimately yoked to your spiritual vitality (Matthew 11:28-30).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 26, meditating upon the firm foundation of your faith, “which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
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:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1119
Pray through the Alphabet!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 10.
Psalm 25 is a twenty-two-verse acrostic poem, just like Psalm 119 is a twenty-two-stanza acrostic, both walk us through the twenty-two characters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 25:4-5 emphasizes David’s purpose in doing so, “Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day.” He said it twice – “teach me.” The acrostic formatting was intended to be a learning device to assist in the memorization of this psalm.
God is our teacher, and His Word is the primary text from which He teaches us how to follow His ways. God desires for us to learn how to be in a relationship with Him – to learn from Him and to trust Him in every situation of our lives. David expressed this in verses 8-9, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way.”
This is why Jesus Christ came from Heaven to Earth – to show us the way to the Father (John 14:6) and to teach us how to walk in His ways (1 John 2:5-6). Jesus not only provides access to God through the forgiveness of our sins, but He lived before us the ways of God. Jesus’ life is a teaching tool greater than any acrostic poem; in fact, Jesus is the alpha and the omega (Revelation 22:13), the A to Z of what it looks like to live a life that pleases God. We must study His life and learn to walk in His ways.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 25, meditating upon God’s goodness through every letter of the alphabet. Pray from A to Z, thank God for all the people, places, and things that come to your mind.
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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Easter Sunday 2023
The Easter Proclamation!
Luke 24:1-7 & John 11:25-26 (NAS95)
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
Let us pray.
Before Easter Sunday, Jesus promised in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our hope, not only for eternal life, but for today. In Romans 5:1-5, Paul taught us that this hope comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I don’t know about you, but I have had periods of hopelessness in my life, and those seasons have been dark and dangerous at times. I have found it to be a critical part of my faith to train the hope of the resurrection into my bones. It’s not enough to know about it and affirm it once a year on Easter Sunday; to experience its victory in your everyday life, you must believe and trust it with every ounce of your being, as if your very life depended on it. I invite you today, on Easter Sunday, to anchor yourself – heart, mind, body, and soul – to the hope we have from Jesus Christ’s victory. As Hebrews 6:19 teaches us to do, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”
Hope is not wishful thinking – Christian hope is the certainty of the resurrection and life of Jesus Christ, which provides you stability during the trials and tribulations of today. It is an anchor when storms come, and they will come when we you least expect them to come! We need to find stability in something greater than ourselves – the victory of Jesus Christ who has overcome death! John stated this in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” You can have hope in your most difficult circumstances, moments filled with hopelessness and situations marked by despair because Jesus lives – He has overcome! Paul taught us in 1 Corinthians 15:20-26:
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
While there is still sickness and death in this world, Jesus says that this sin-sick world will not end in death, but all things will be made new for the glory of God. He proclaimed this in Revelation 21:3-5:
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
We must believe our own Easter story in our everyday lives – Jesus is making all things new! Don’t forget – grip tight to that which we believe! God commands us to live out the implications of the promise of the resurrection and life in our everyday lives: to unbind the captives, set free the oppressed, give sight to the blind, and preach the gospel in word and deed. We see this in Jesus’ miracle of resuscitating Lazarus in in John 11:39-44:
Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
This is our work to do today: to “unbind [them], and let [them] go,” just as God, in Christ Jesus, has set each of us free! Jesus said in John 8:36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” We must encourage and embolden one another with the hope of the resurrection! Paul taught us this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.”
We all need courage and comfort in these dark days. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, just like the final victory revealed to us in the New Heaven and New Earth, is given to us to give us hope when hope feels forlorn. Have courage, and face your day, knowing the victory is won – there is hope! There is a certainty of that which cannot be seen – there is the promise of resurrection and life!
To solidify today’s message, we are going to do two things in response: 1) we are going to make a declaration of our faith. 2) We are going to participate in communion together a sign of our unity in Christ’s Victory!
Therefore, hear the Word of God for the church of Jesus Christ from 1 Corinthians 15:50-58:
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Beloved church of Jesus Christ, my brethren, we come to the Lord’s Table on this Easter Sunday as a declaration that God has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. The victory of God is the defeat over the evil forces of hell, of sin, and of the final enemy, death. Paul declared in Colossians 3:12-15:
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Jesus declared in Revelation 1:17-18, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
- Do you believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, who took your death on the Cross of Calvary, which every person deserves as the wages for sin, so that you may experience forgiveness for sin through the sufficiency of God’s grace?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ, defeated death, experiencing the resurrection from the dead after three days in the grave, revealed himself in His resurrected body to His followers for forty days, and is now ascended to the right hand of God where He intercedes for you today?
- Do you believe that God loves you and has chosen to make His dwelling place in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has sealed you for the day of redemption?
- Do you believe that even now you have eternal life through the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ will come again, soon, to bring His people to Himself and restore justice to the nations through His iron rod of judgment?
- Do you believe that on the Day of the Lord, Jesus Christ will make all things new and restore on the earth the dwelling place of God with humanity, in the New Heaven and New Earth?
This is our faith, and this is our victory, bestowed upon us through the love of God in Jesus Christ! Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is our faith in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return of Jesus Christ that is our victory because it is through faith that we take on the life of God through the forgiveness of our sins and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
As a regular practice of our faith and as a proclamation of our unity as the people of God, we declare the victory of God through the partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper – the bread represents His body, and the cup of the New Covenant symbolizes His blood. Our participation in this commemoration meal causes us to yearn for the abundance of the great wedding feast we will enjoy together in the very presence of Jesus Christ in Heaven—our union with Him and reunion with those who are in Him throughout all time.
Hear now the words of institution over the elements of this ancient ordinance of the church, as given to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-33:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Prayer of examen
Let us, the one body of Christ, in concert with the church of Jesus Christ throughout the world and throughout time, partake of the elements together as a sign of our unity:
- His body broken for you…
- His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sin…
This is the eternal covenant of God with humanity, which is for the forgiveness of your sin and the eternal union of your soul with God. May God have mercy on His people and may you find rest for your soul in the easy yoke of Jesus Christ. May this partaking of the Lord’s Supper remind you of your baptismal vows to God and your forsaking of the devil, the flesh, and of the world. The Cross before you, the world behind you, no turning back! Empowered by the Holy Spirit, through the grace of God, may you live the life of faith – to declare the victory of Jesus Christ through His resurrection from the dead!
Allow me to pray over you the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 4:1-6 & 1 Corinthians 15:58:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. … Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
I dedicate you to Jesus Christ and His righteousness and may all your days left upon this earth be in the service to the King of kings and His eternal kingdom. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1117
Today’s hymn focus will be
Christ Arose
Matthew 27:64(NASB95)
“Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
The Chief priests and the Pharisees were playing the political game by going to Pilate to have him post guards and seal the tomb to prevent anyone from coming to take His body in order to fake His resurrection. There was distrust.
Imagine being there with the disciples, friends, and family of Jesus as they are in the second day of mourning His death. It was the sabbath day, so they could not do anything to care for His body because of Jewish laws and customs. All they could do was wait. There was despair.
However, the hymnist Robert Lowry describes a different point of view where there is hope. He painted a picture that would thrill an audience with his vivid descriptions, inspiring people with the thoughts that inspired him.
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior! Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!
Vainly they watched His bed, Jesus my Savior! Vainly they sealed the dead,
Jesus my Lord!
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:
Christ Arose
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! [Refrain]
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! [Refrain]
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Seize the Moment – Day 1116
Praise God for His Triumphal Entry!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 7. Today is Good Friday. You are invited to tonight’s Good Friday Service at 6:30 PM.
Psalm 24 was originally written by David for when he brought the ark of the covenant – the Presence of God – to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). This was the occasion that David was observed unashamedly leaping and dancing before the Lord in a great exhibition of praise to God before all the people (12-23). As you read Psalm 24:7-10, you can see and hear the ark’s triumphal entry:
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
There was another triumphal entry, a thousand years later, which David’s psalm points to – the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44). On this day, the crowds praised God, unashamedly declaring of Jesus in Luke 19:38: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Just like David’s wife, Michal the daughter of Saul, rebuked David for his praise at the first triumphal entry, so the religious leaders were scandalized by the people for declaring Jesus to be the coming King. Jesus responded to their rebuke in Luke 19:40, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 24, meditating upon the second coming of the Lord – “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1115
Write a Love Letter to God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 6. Today is Maundy Thursday. You are invited to tonight’s Holy Thursday Communion Service at 6:30 PM.
Trust is your love letter to God! Psalm 23 is David’s love letter to God, describing his intimacy with God. He started in verse 1, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” David had everything he needed through his relationship with God, just like a sheep who was being cared for by a good shepherd.
From beginning to end, Jesus uniquely fulfilled Psalm 23. He proclaimed in John 10:10-11, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Jesus pointed to His substitutionary death on the Cross, which protect us, the sheep of His pasture, from evil and restores us back to a relationship with God. Do you trust Jesus to be the good shepherd of your soul?
David ends his love letter, in verse 6, with a powerful promise, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Jesus promised His disciples in John 14:1-3:
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 23, meditating upon Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of every promise of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). Write a love letter to God demonstrating your trust in Jesus as the good shepherd of your soul.
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 1114
Meditate on the Cross!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 5.
One of my favorite Good Fridays was when I was serving in pastoral ministry in Sunnyvale, California. I spent the day memorizing Psalm 22, while hiking in the beautiful foothills above the Silicon Valley. Why did I choose Psalm 22 to meditate upon? There is no better person to explain the majesty of “The Psalm of the Cross” than C. H. Spurgeon:
[Psalm 22] may have been actually repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and ends, according to some, in the original with “It is finished.” … It is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours, the record of his dying words, the lachrymatory of his last tears, the memorial of his expiring joys. … Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this Psalm.[1]
I invite you to prioritize time becoming familiar with Psalm 22, and while doing so to turn to its fulfillment in the Gospel of Matthew 27:33-56. May your soul ascend to the heavens as you praise God for the passion of the Christ.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 22, meditating upon the crucifixion of Jesus Christ – “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
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:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1113
Pray for our Leaders!
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1112
Boast in the Lord!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 3.
David declared the victory of the Lord in Psalm 20:7, “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.” This truth is expressed again by Solomon in Proverbs 21:31, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.” David and Solomon knew this truth and declared it, while simultaneously building up mighty armies in defense of their nation. In fact, David had so much blood on his hands from fighting in battles, that God would not allow him to build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:7-8).
While Israel’s leaders were responsible for the good of the people, their only hope for victory was in God. Moses knew this and boasted in the victory of God, recorded in Exodus 15:2-3, after Pharaoh’s army of chariots were swallowed in the Red Sea:
I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name.
In God we trust! This is the only hope for our nation – to believe in Him, to boast in His name, and to trust in what He has done to secure our victory! If we boast in our economic prosperity, our powerful military, our social justice, or our technological advancement, we will surely perish in our pride. While leaders must act to ensure the protection and prosperity of their people, they should never forget who gets all the glory! This is where our nation has gone astray, and we must repent!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 20, meditating upon the victory of God in Jesus Christ – boast in His nail-scared hands, not in the works of your own hands (Galatians 6:14).
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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