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Seize the Moment – Day 1123
Praise God in the Storm!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 14.
I write today’s devotion during the spring storm season in Indiana, a time of frequent and powerful storms rolling across the Midwest. Whether it is the roaring sound of thunder, the electrifying display of lightening, or the sheer terror of a tornado, storms are powerful reminders of just how little control we have in our lives. Psalm 29 captures the power of God through the imagery of a storm, as verses 3-5 describe:
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
Today’s psalm is considered one of the finest poems in the Bible. The imagery is exquisite; it captures the majesty of God in the power of a storm. Spurgeon described the beauty of Psalm 29:
Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight, when the stars are bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of elements. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of his presence.[1]
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 29, meditating upon the power of praising God in your storms – “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in holy array” (2). The next time you are experiencing a storm, read this psalm out loud to yourself and to your family.
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 1122
Persevere in Prayer!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 13.
Have you ever felt discouraged in your prayer life? I want to encourage you to never give up, no matter what, keep praying with a faith that can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Jesus illustrated this point with a parable in Luke 18, which started with this introduction in verse 1, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” In the parable, Jesus shared about a persistent widow who was able to move a wicked judge to give her legal protection through her tenacity. Jesus summarized the point in verse 7, “will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” Jesus’ parable instructs us to pray at “all times … day and night.” As Paul commands in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”
It requires faith in God to persevere in prayer. As Hebrews 11:6 teaches, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” If you don’t believe God will respond to your prayer, you will falter in your resolve and quit asking. Your faith in Him compels your perseverance! David learned this through personal experience with God, as he testified in Psalm 28:6-7, “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 28, meditating upon David’s perseverance in prayer. “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).
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 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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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.
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