Sieze the Moment – Day 1054
Today’s song focus will be
Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me
Galatians 2:20 (NASB95)
“ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Similar to the times of the writing of some of our favorite hymns, there is some question as to what defines a true hymn? Is it the music style, the instruments used, or the rhyming of the lyrics. Something could be said for all of these, but I find that when you are taking the lyrics from scripture, you can never go wrong. Such is the case of this modern hymn written in 2018 by Johnny Robinson, Rich Thompson and Michael Farren. These men write their songs with a commitment to the authority of Scripture, a personal relationship with Jesus, and a focus on mission, sharing the gospel both home and abroad.
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:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwc2d1Xt8gM
Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me
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Seize the Moment – Day 1053
Get a Bigger Perspective!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, February 3.
Do you ever struggle with the world because life doesn’t make sense from your perspective? As a righteous man suffering, Job refuted his three friends’ theological argument that had oversimplified the issue of suffering as the logical consequence of a person’s sin. Job observed from his life experiences that the good do not always receive rewards for their righteousness and the wicked do not always receive punishment for their sin. Job asked a pointed question in Job 21:18, “Are they as straw before the wind, and like chaff which the storm carries away?” This truth is famously stated in Psalms 1:1-4; 35:5; and 83:13; as well as in the prophets Isaiah 17:13 and Hosea 13:3.
It is unrefutably true, but couldn’t we ask the same question based on our observations of the world today? Can we agree that things are not always as neat and orderly as we would like them to be? Faith is not living in denial to reality, nor is it sticking your head in the sand to evil and injustice in the world! There’s something more to it than that – there’s an implied paradigm shift that must come with faith!
While life under the sun doesn’t always make sense, here is one truth you can take the bank about the wicked and the righteous alike, found in Hebrews 9:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” While this may sound like a sad reality; it’s not! This is our ultimate belief that what has not made sense throughout our lives will be made right by our righteous and sovereign God. When life doesn’t make sense because you’ve lost sight of the forest through the trees, ascend to a higher vista, and get a bigger perspective!
Seize the moment and live at peace with God and all people because vengeance belongs to the Lord (Romans 12:18-21) – Jesus promises to make all things new (Revelation 21:5-8). Faith is trusting God that His perspective is always right!
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 1052
Satisfying your Insatiable Appetite!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, February 2.
In Zophar’s second and final speech, he spent most of his time talking about the wicked and their ultimate punishment. He lost focus on his purpose of comforting Job and started chasing a squirrel instead. Has that ever happened to you?
In Job 20:20-21, Zophar described the wicked in a way that is a haunting description of our culture in America today, “Because he knew no quiet within him, he does not retain anything he desires. Nothing remains for him to devour, therefore his prosperity does not endure.” This depicts the insatiable appetite of a person who cannot be satisfied. When our lives are not being lived in submission to God, then we find ourselves enslaved to the insatiable desires of our flesh.
This is a human problem, as described in Proverbs 27:20b, “nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.” John D. Rockefeller summarized the situation for us when he was asked how much money is enough; he responded, “just a little bit more.” Obviously, this is not a new phenomenon, but we must recognize how loud this soundtrack plays within us if we are to ever have the hope of experiencing the quiet of a sated soul.
What is the solution for those of us who are caught in the net of this cultural malaise? It is to learn contentment! Paul testified to this in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” As you’ve heard me teach before, “If you are not content with God, then you will never [be satisfied]. Your passions are in control if God isn’t the one shepherding your heart.”[1]
Seize the moment and invite the Good Shepherd of your soul to satisfy your insatiable appetites – “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Seek Him first, because until Christ is enough, nothing will satisfy!
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.
FOOTNOTES:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1051
By the Skin of your Teeth!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, February 1.
Have you ever made it through a situation by the skin of your teeth? This is an idiom we use to express a narrow miss, to describe something that almost didn’t happen. For example, the security line at the airport took forever and I made it to my airplane by the skin of me teeth.
Job believed before there was evidence for such a faith! You may feel like you are not going to get out of this life alive, but with faith the size of a mustard seed (Luke 17:6), you will be saved (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21; 4:12). Even if only by the skin of your teeth!
Seize the moment and find hope for today in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer who lives – He has risen! We will rise with Him (Romans 6:5)!
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1050
Walk in the Light!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 31.
Have you ever stubbed or broken your toe because you were walking in the dark? I have, and sadly, I have done so in my own home. Regardless of the circumstances, it is hard to find your way where there is no light. This is not only true in the physical world, but also in the spiritual realm of life.
Bildad explains of the wicked in Job 18:5-6, “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, and the flame of his fire gives no light. The light in his tent is darkened, and his lamp goes out above him.” As you continue to read Job 18, Bildad amplifies the effect of the darkness on the wicked – their steps are shortened (7), they are thrown in a net, (8) seized in a snare (9), snagged in a trap (10), they become scared (11), weakened (12), and weary (13). He summarized the state of those who are outside of the light in verse 18, “this is the place of him who does not know God.”
This distinctive imagery (motif) of darkness and light is found throughout the Bible. Solomon used it to capture the same contrast between the righteous and the wicked in Proverbs 13:9, “The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked goes out.” Understandably, Jesus described Himself in John 8:12, using this same motif, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” Furthermore, Jesus invites us accordingly in John 12:36a, “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
Seize the moment and walk in the Light that cannot be extinguished and whose source will never fail to lead you in the way of life – “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5; cf. 1 John 1:5-10).
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1049
Living with a Guarantee!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 30.
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you weren’t going to make it out alive? It’s a scary place to be! Job was there, in a perfect storm of chronic pain, profound grief, and social rejection. He petitioned God in Job 17:1-3:
My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me. Surely mockers are with me, and my eye gazes on their provocation. Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself; who is there that will be my guarantor?
Job made a legal request of God – to put down a pledge, to publicly stand with him, as proof of his innocence. With no one else to turn to, Job petitioned God to secure a favorable outcome with a guarantee. If God would not respond to his hopeful request, he would be left alone in his presumed guilt awaiting Sheol (Job 17:15-16).
The same is true for us – we, too, need an advocate! God responded to our need, as promised by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:4-5:
For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
In Live Like a Champion Today, I explained, “The Holy Spirit is the ‘pledge of our inheritance,’ meaning that the Holy Spirit guarantees delivery to the intended destination of Heaven (Ephesians 4:30).”[1] This promise brings us comfort and hope as we experience suffering and face death – to persevere with courage (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Seize the moment and live with the hopeful confidence that God has guaranteed your eternal life by giving you the pledge of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:20-22; Ephesians 1:13-14).
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.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Jerry D. Ingalls, Live Like a Champion Today: The 40 Promises in 40 Days Challenge! (New Castle, IN: AGF Publishing LLC, 2022), 43.
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Train to Live on Mission – Week 41
Battle Drill #41:
Manage your Household Well!
Proverbs 31:25-31 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn Battle Drill #41 – “Manage your Household Well!” Interestingly, this is one of the requirements of church leadership. As Paul taught his protégé in 1 Timothy 3:5, “but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” Before you complain that this is coming from a West Pointer and former military officer, I forthrightly acknowledge that I am bent this way in my personality type and professional training. I assure you though that this is a biblical exhortation and an important battle drill as you will see from today’s teaching of Proverbs 31.
Allow me to explain by using another example from my days as a paratrooper. Last week, Pastor Ken closed out the service talking about how those who jump out of airplanes trust the people who pack their parachutes. What he probably doesn’t know is that the soldiers who pack our parachutes are called Riggers. They are a special group of paratroopers, but do you know why we trust them with our chutes? Is it because they have a title, wear cool red hats, or have special training? Partly, but titles, education, cool clothes, and training are not enough to trust someone with your life! There is only one reason we paratroopers trust them; it’s because their Commander requires them to regularly jump their own parachutes, randomly selected from all the parachutes they have personally packed. They have an awesome responsibility, for which the Army has given them authority and recognition, but then holds them accountable to ensure they are willing to put their own lives on the line, just as we are asked to do. Their willingness to submit to their Commander builds trust with the rest of the paratrooper family!
The same thing is true in the church! James 3:1 emphasizes, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” While you may appreciate my specialized training, high levels of education, two decades of pastoral experience, and various titles and recognitions, what truly matters is that I submit myself to God, the Commander, for what I teach from the pulpit, how I conduct my ministry, and live my life. I must jump my own chute every day – my Commander requires it of me! Am I teaching the Field Manual accurately? Am I walking the talk and living up to the Field Manual myself? I will incur a stricter judgment. That should never be forgotten nor taken lightly by me or you – that’s part of me counting the cost in answering the call! Have you counted the cost of your calling?
Christian leaders must live lives that are worth following! Over thirty years ago, when I was learning about leadership as a plebe at West Point, I was taught this simple rule of leadership – “Look over your shoulder, if no one is following you, then you are not a leader!” After three decades of holding various leadership positions in numerous organizations I have found this to be true, but especially in the church. If your Christianity is not worth following, then no one is going to be convinced to follow the Jesus you preach. This is nowhere more visible than in our households, at home and in the church, so let’s learn how to manage our households well.
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
We know what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.
- You will be a person of character (25a).
- You will face the future with hopeful confidence (25b).
- Your will not only live wisely, but your words will be wise (26a).
- You will be a kind person (26b).
- You will manage your household well (27a).
- You will bring value and meaning to the work you do (27b).
- You will be a blessing to your children (28a).
- You will be faithful and praiseworthy to your spouse (28b-29).
- You will bear the good fruit of God that comes from fearing the Lord (30).
- You will leave a godly legacy (31).
As verse 31 concludes of the book of Proverbs, “Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” You will reap what you sow! Your life will reflect that which you were devoted and the works of your life’s devotion that survive you will proclaim that truth.
Proverbs 31 is emphasizing the role of a wife and mother to her family, and the blessing that her well-managed household is on the entire community. She represents a life in submission to God. This passage demonstrates how we are to answer God’s call on our lives as a Proverbs 31 people. The Proverbs 31 woman is an embodied picture (a metaphor) of a faithful life. Some of my favorite biblical imagery about our relationship with God, and how we are to live, is found in this kind of familial language – we are the children of God! This family-oriented imagery cultivates a deep security of identity and a profound motivation for managing our lives according to His wisdom, as the beloved of Jesus communicated in 1 John 3:1-3:
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
There is a deep intimacy to be had with God when we understand Him through terms of such endearment, which is why Proverbs 31 leverages the image of a Jewish wife and mother, the one who manages her beloved household. A similar usage of embodied wisdom is Proverbs 6:20-23:
My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life.
Clearly, the foundational unit of God’s household is the home. This is the tried-and-true way of God’s people, generation to generation, generation after generation, as instructed through the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
This is God’s intent for each of our households. Our households are a training ground for the mission of God by learning from Proverbs 31 parents how to become Proverbs 31 people. Let’s now turn to the third action step.
Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.
How does a baby bond with its mother? How do children learn to trust their parents? Why is it parents or grandparents expect to have influence over their children and grandchildren? It’s all about building trust by first responding to their cries, then providing for their needs, then discerning their wants. The proper management of your household is about relationships because the Kingdom of God is a relational kingdom! We see the priority of relationships in the New Testament’s household codes for God’s family. There is clear teaching on marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33 and Colossians 3:18-19. These passages are immediately followed by clear instruction on parenting, emphasizing the parent-child relationship in Ephesians 6:1-4:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (cf. Colossians 3:20-21)
Parents, before you apply this to your children, you must first ask yourself if you are a Proverbs 31 person – are you submitted to the Commander in your mission? You must apply the household codes to your relationship with God as your Father, where you are the child, and He is the Father. His will for your life is that you mature in the discipline and the instruction of His Word for His glory! Therefore, you must learn to observe all His commandments, just as you expect your kids to know your expectations and obey. The people of God, as the children of God, shall not forsake the Word of their heavenly Father, but memorize it, meditate upon it, and apply it to their everyday lives. As we’ve seen, this is learned in the household of God – at home and in the church! Are you reaping at home what you are sowing with your heavenly Father? The same question can be asked of us as a church family.
This is the power of the Bible’s familial imagery – it is an embodied metaphor that helps us experience the security of our identity as God’s children and the motivation of living as loyal participants of God’s covenantal love. As one author explained of the household codes:
Relationships within the household thus become a concrete expression of what it means to live under the lordship of Christ. … It gives mundane household relationships an entirely new focus and motivation; the way Christians behave toward others is an outworking of Christ’s lordship over the community (Col 3:17).[1]
The Christian household is where mission begins – to manage one’s household well is to live on mission because you are training up your children to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ! A child’s god-ordained chance at life and blessing is to live according to the training their parents give them. Are you managing your household according to God’s priorities? Just like a child honors his or her parents by obeying them, we are to seek our Commander’s approval by managing our lives, and the church, according to His Word so that we may live on mission for God. That leads us into our final action step.
Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Why this familial language in the book of Proverbs and throughout the Bible? Because children represent their parents – you are image bearers of God (Genesis 1:27)! We are commanded to train ourselves to live on mission for God and the only way to do that is to put ourselves willingly and wholeheartedly under the instruction and discipline of the Lord, just as children are commanded to put themselves under the authority of their parents. There is a rightful authority that flows from Heaven to Earth, through parents to children. With this authority comes the responsibility to do so as a men and women under submission, who are willing to be held accountable to how they managed their households.
We are to be the mature adults who can do this, which is why the embodiment of wisdom, as given to us in Proverbs 31, is of a Jewish wife and mother who manages her household well. The church is the household of God on earth and our mission is to invite all who will listen and accept all who receive, but we don’t stop there because we are then to help the family mature in Christ so that we can live on mission together. This process of raising up new Christians into spiritual maturity follows the example of the family, which requires the same anguishing hard work and commitment to the family. This is the calling of every member of the body of Christ. We all, at one time, were little children in the faith, but we must grow up and pass on what we were given to others who will grow up and pass it on (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the mission!
When we live according to this battle drill, then we, like the Proverbs 31 woman, will leave a faith legacy of praise to the One who called us to Himself. As Revelation 14:13 declares over the life that is lived on mission for God, “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them,’”
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FOOTNOTE:
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Seize the Moment – Day 1047
Today’s worship song focus will be
King of My Heart
Romans 8:28 (NASB95)
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Written in 2015 by John and Sarah McMillan, this modern-day hymn is a declaration, giving praise to the goodness of God and that He is our refuge and salvation. With all that is going on in our world, it is easy to lose our focus. This song brings us back to the facts that God is with us and greater than all the evil that may be around us. He is good, faithful, and will never let us down.
Let the King of my heart be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from, Oh, He is my song…
We need to wake up to that fact that God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good…even when we may not be feeling it. Like Katie told us last week, we need to get on our faces before God and declare to ourselves and believe that He is trustworthy and good!
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.
King of My Heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh, He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh, He is my song
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
Be the wind inside my sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh oh, He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the fire inside my veins
The echo of my days
Oh oh, He is my song
Be the wind inside my sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh oh, He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the fire inside my veins
The echo of my days
Oh, He is my song
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You’re never gonna let me down
And You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You are good, oh oh
‘Cause You are good
You are good, oh oh
‘Cause You are good
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
You’re never gonna let me down
You are good, oh oh
You are good
You are good, oh oh
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Seize the Moment – Day 1046
The Spirit is My Witness and My Advocate!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 27.
Job responded directly to Eliphaz’s last speech with a rebuke, “Sorry comforters are you all” (Job 16:2b). Clearly, Eliphaz’s desire to bring words of consolation to his friend had fallen short. Rather than Job being comforted by his friends’ words, he felt accused and judged by them. Have you ever felt that way?
After rebuking his friends, Job returned his attention to God. He knew that his only hope for vindication (or comfort) would come from God, as he explained in Job 16:19-20, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers; my eye weeps to God.” [emphasis added]
Did you know that Job was using legal terms? A witness testifies to what they know or have seen. An advocate acts as a representative on behalf of a person or cause. Jesus used these same legal concepts when He taught the disciples about the Holy Spirit in John 15:26-27:
When the Helper [Advocate] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify [bear witness] about Me, and you will testify [bear witness] also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. [emphasis added]
Job cried out to God to be his witness and his advocate because his friends had tried him and found him guilty of being a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Whereas, Jesus, our “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1), testifies to us through the Spirit that we are already “saved through Him” (John 3:17).
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 1045
The Promise of Comfort!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 26.
Have you ever experienced the consolations of God? The Lord desires to comfort His people like a mother who cares for her children (Psalm 131:2). In Isaiah 66:13, the prophet Isaiah gave a consoling word from God to Israel during their despair, “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem” (cf. Isaiah 40:1-3). In your times of disappointment and suffering, God promises to console you with His presence.
Job 15 begins the second cycle of the dialogue between Job and his three friends. In Job 15:11, Eliphaz asked a piercing question of Job, “Are the consolations of God too small for you, even the word spoken gently with you?” Eliphaz sincerely believed that God had sent him with a word of consolation for his friend Job during his time of suffering. His goal in coming to sit with his friend and talk with him was to bring comfort to his friend. As I wrote in my book on the promises of God, Live Like a Champion Today:
To comfort means to alleviate sorrow, to relieve distress, to give emotional strength. To comfort someone is an activity of love from one person to another. God incarnates this promise to us, and then between us, from one person to another.[1]
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Paul commands us to comfort one another according to the consolations of God:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Seize the moment and comfort someone who is suffering today – bring hope to despair, shine light into darkness, and resurrect victory from defeat!
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.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Jerry D. Ingalls, Live Like a Champion Today: The 40 Promises in 40 Days Challenge! (New Castle, IN: AGF Publishing, 2022), 90.
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