Seize the Moment – Day 1065
Walk in God’s Friendship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, February 15.
Are you walking in God’s friendship? Job resumed his speech by looking back at his life before the many losses and grave suffering he had endured. He summarized how his friendship with God had brought blessing to his life in Job 29:2-5a:
Oh that I were as in months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone over my head, and by His light I walked through darkness; as I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God was over my tent; when the Almighty was yet with me.
Then, for the remainder of Job 29, Job reflected upon all the good he had done during his life. God’s favor had truly rested upon Job, as we previously learned from Job 1:8, when God said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
Job was blessed to be a blessing! No doubt about that but let us realize the order of that statement is important. First comes the blessing of God, His friendship through grace, then comes the lifestyle of blessing, the works that flow from grace (Ephesians 2:8-10)! Can God be your friend while you are still a sinner? Let’s see what we can learn from Jesus’ ministry – the Pharisees called Jesus a “friend of sinners” in Matthew 11:19 because Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). In Matthew 9:13, Jesus went as far as to say, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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 1064
Seek the Way of Wisdom!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, February 14. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Are you seeking out wisdom for your daily life?
Twice in Job 28, Job asked, “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” (12, 20). This chapter reads more like an editorial interlude than a continuation of the dialogue between Job and his three friends, as Job poetically pondered the mysteries of wisdom. In Job 28:23-28, Job answered his own questions:
God understands [wisdom’s] way, and He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure, when He set a limit for the rain and a course for the thunderbolt, then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
In Proverbs 8, we experience the personification of wisdom, who expresses the importance of finding her (wisdom) in verse 35, “For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” The conclusion of the matter remains the same throughout the Bible, God made a way for each of us to find wisdom:
- Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”
- Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (cf. Proverbs 1:7).
- Ecclesiastes 12:13, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
Seize the moment and find wisdom by seeking God first (Matthew 6:33)! Don’t know where to find Him? Jesus is the fulfillment of wisdom personified, and He declared, “I am the way” (John 14:6).
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 1063
Anchor your Hope!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, February 13.
My superpower is hope! Once-upon-a-time, I went through a dark season of my soul because I had lost hope, and without hope I went adrift during that stormy season. I learned from that experience that I needed to secure my hope to the finished work of Jesus Christ because hope is “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19a).
Job continued his speech by discussing the state of the godless. He contrasted his own life with that of a godless person in Job 27:8, “For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God requires his life?” The implied answer is that the godless person has no hope in God; therefore, they are cut off, without an anchor! But there is more to hope than wishful thinking for favorable outcomes in our lives. This is emphasized by Job in verse 14, when he further described the fate of a godless person, “Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword.” From an outside perspective that’s what happened to Job’s children as they were all killed (Job 1:18-19), but Job did not curse God and become hopeless in the face of his life’s circumstances. Job never lost his faith.
Hope is the certainty of our faith in God, and that He will keep His promises, regardless of our present circumstances. It’s not faith in ourselves, in other people, or even in our circumstances. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” Job’s hope was secure, even when his life was in shambles, because his hope was anchored to his faith in God, as he said in Job 19:25, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
Seize the moment and anchor your hope by putting your faith in Jesus Christ; He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26)!
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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Grow Strong in God’s Grace – Wk 1
Grow Strong in God’s Grace:
Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!
Grow Strong in God’s Grace! (Introduction)
2 Timothy 2:1-6 (NAS95)
Please open your Bible to 2 Timothy 2:1-6 and let us begin our new sermon series with the reading of God’s Word and prayer:
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
Even as we start a new sermon series for 2023, this is not a new passage of Scripture for us to dive into. In fact, just over a year ago, throughout the month of January 2022, I spent four weeks walking you through 2 Timothy 2:1-4, verse by verse. That was in preparation for our previous sermon series, “Train to Live on Mission Today: The Battle Drills of a Christian Soldier’s Life.” I encourage you to go back and either listen to or read those sermons on our church’s webpage. In that sermon series I emphasized the soldier imagery of the Bible to learn how to apply every Word of God to our everyday lives, to train to live on mission, as according to the battle drills of the book of Proverbs, from the Bible, our Field Manual. The year prior, in 2021, I emphasized the athletic imagery of the Bible, including 2 Timothy 2:5, to learn how to live like a champion, according to the promises of God just like an athlete learns how to live according to the Coach’s playbook as a member of a championship team. That work was together into a book called, Live Like a Champion Today: The 40 Promises in 40 Days Challenge! This year, we are going to emphasize 2 Timothy 2:6, which is why that specific verse is on the cover art of this year’s sermon series – in 2023 we are going to learn how we are to work hard for the harvest like a farmer. If a soldier’s life taught us dedication, and an athlete’s life modeled for us discipline, then a farmer’s life demonstrates to us diligence. As Pastor Ray Stedman wrote:
Paul uses a number of word pictures to describe what it means to be strong in the Lord. First, we are to be strong as a soldier is strong – that is, we are to be utterly dedicated to the task. Second, we are to be strong as an athlete is strong – that is, we are to be disciplined and we are to abide by the rules of the Christian life so that we can compete to the utmost. Third, we are to be strong as a farmer is strong – and that means we are to be diligent in our work, not slowing down or slacking off, because we know that only if we work hard planting and cultivating will we be able to harvest. Dedication, discipline, and diligence – these are the key to strength as described by Paul in this visual job description of the Christian.[1]
I love how Paul gave us three metaphors for the Christian life by grabbing from culture these three occupations – the athlete, the soldier, and the farmer. As most of you know, I’ve been the first two, but I’ve never been the third, though I have now lived amongst farmers here in New Castle, Indiana for 13 years. During this sermon series, it will be my hope to learn from the farmers in my midst, so if you are a farmer or the son or daughter of a farmer, then please share with me your real-life insights that can only be gained by practically working the ground through the seasons of the year, year after year, generation after generation. Only a farmer can truly understand what Paul is emphasizing to us at a personal level, but we can all glean truth from it and apply it to our lives. Personally, I struggle to keep a cactus alive in my office and I struggled to keep the weeds out of my small garden at home. So, what I am doing with this year’s sermon series – I’m shooting for a hattrick – a third series of sermons on the Christian life, according to Paul’s occupational metaphors of the Christian life found in 2 Timothy 2:1-6. I want to teach accurately how we are to live the Christian life in the same relevant way Paul did. And as a rural Indiana community with a rich history in farming, I believe this will be helpful for us to learn.
Today’s message serves as an overview of this new sermon series on the life of a hard-working farmer, and in doing so, I am going to tie together what we have already learned over the last two years, based upon this passage, with what we will be doing throughout this new sermon series called, “Grow Strong in God’s Grace: Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!” Let’s start with three overviews of the soldier, athlete, farmer imagery found in 2 Timothy 2:1-6:
- Paul now uses three dramatic metaphors, portraying the qualities required in those called to endure hardness. The soldier portrays a sense of dedication. The athlete models discipline. The farmer is the pattern of perseverance. Christian discipleship and ministry require all three. As the soldier must leave all other pursuits, so the disciple must place his or her self at complete disposal to the kingdom of God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). As the athlete must keep all feelings, instincts, and reactions under control in order to compete according to the rules, so the disciple must live life under orders and within boundaries. As the farmer must work long and hard, often under adverse conditions, so the disciple must persevere, perhaps for long times with little reward for the sake of being faithful to Jesus as Lord.[2]
- The final image is that of a farmer. The language puts an emphasis on the word hardworking, in contrast with idle, lazy workers. The diligence Paul has just described in each case has its reward (cf. vv. 11–12): A diligent soldier gains the approval of his commanding officer; a diligent athlete wins the victory; a diligent farmer wins the first … share of the crops. The three illustrations have in common the point that success is achieved through discipline (cf. 1:7), hard work, and single-mindedness.[3]
- Finally, the third example of the hardworking farmer is introduced in v. 6. This traditional example was applied to illustrate two main points. On the one hand, the farmer’s right to enjoy the produce of the field he worked was often the basis for the broader claim that one had a right to enjoy the fruit of whatever one had done (Deut 20:6; Prov 27:18; 1 Cor 9:7). On the other hand, the diligent farmer exemplified hard work; it was this kind of effort that promised to return a crop (Prov 20:4). In this application of the stock example, Paul allows both aspects to converge. The activity of “hard work” connects with the themes of single-mindedness (the soldier) and discipline (the athlete), so that once again the example does not endorse just any kind of activity but specifically diligent and focused activity. … Taken together, the illustrations function loosely but nevertheless forcefully to convey a consistent theme. Each links disciplined, diligent performance to the obtaining of a valuable goal. And as the pictures unfold, the concept of goal develops from the implicit to the explicit promise of reward. While the reality of the suffering Timothy is to face calls forth the repetition of examples to emphasize unswerving commitment, it is the goal (from pleasing the Lord to the promise of reward) that supplies the motivation.[4]
With those overviews in mind, I want to remind you that God’s will for your life is that you would be transformed into His image, restoring you to be the image bearer you were designed to be from the beginning (Genesis 1:27), as Paul explained in Romans 8:28-30:
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. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
In other words, God is going to bring you to maturity in His time, just as Paul promised in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” If you’ve ever purchased seeds, the packet has a “days to maturity” number on it. I looked up what that was all about and read this:
The “days to maturity” number describes the average number of days from planting until it’s time to harvest. For seeds sown directly in the ground, that means from seeding to maturity. For those started inside, the days start from the time of transplanting outside. The length is not set in stone because the time it takes plants to mature is influenced by ambient and soil temperature, time of year, soil fertility, available moisture and sun exposure.[5]
You may have good seed, but God commands us to diligently apply ourselves to work hard as yokefellows to His will, not as passive spectators, but as active participants in bringing about the fruit of that good seed, as explained in Philippians 2:12-13:
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Remember, God’s good pleasure is for you to mature in Christ, which according to John 15:16 is for you to harvest eternal fruit – “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain.” This is why God put His good seed into you! Again, in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” Prove means that you will manifest according to what the seed type He put into you; it’s a spiritual law just as much as it’s a natural law that farmers have taken to the bank and produced from the land year after year, just like Jesus taught in Matthew 12:33, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.”
But just like with farmers, it’s not enough to simply to have good seed; there’s more to it than that, and we are going to be learning all about that this year. According to these passages, we grow according to the spiritual laws of God’s grace, just like farmer works his fields according to the natural laws of God’s creation! A farmer at once must be hard working, diligent to the tasks that give him every chance for a larger crop yield at harvest, while simultaneously trusting that only God can grow anything truly. In the same way, each of us must learn the hard work that we must be diligent in to be brought to maturity as Christians. We must participate in the work of God’s grace (i.e., “Grow Strong in God’s Grace”) if we are going to experience Christlikeness in our own lives, as well as participate in the hard work of seeing a large crop yield in God’s harvest fields (2 Peter 1:2-11).
A farmer doesn’t sit back and do nothing because of the mysteries of the conditions of the soil, the weather including available moisture and sun exposure, the seed itself and under what conditions (inside or outside) that it is planted, and the work of the harvesting that must be done to reap what has been sown, but rather a farmer learns his part while yielding to God that there can be no harvest outside the mystery of God’s grace! The farmer must become a yokefellow with God in the hard work of farming because farming is not for the weak of body or faint of spirit; it takes hard work, diligent effort, and perseverance of faith to be one of God’s farmers!
Paul knew this, which is why he invited Timothy to be like the “the hard-working farmer.” I am going to close today’s sermon with a quote from Pastor Ray Stedman that I will expand upon in next week’s message with when we dive deeper into the farmer imagery of God’s Word:
The emphasis there is upon the word, hard-working. …Yet, the attitude of many Christians today is, “I’ve become a Christian in order to get God to bless me, and work for me. If he doesn’t do it the way I want, I’m ready to quit. I don’t want anything to do with Christianity when it gets difficult.” That’s the very thing the apostle is warning against in this passage. Being a Christian takes long hours of labor. … Like a farmer, we might have to rise up early and work hard, we do so in expectation of a harvest. … Some of you may be saying, “If it is like that, count me out! Why should I give up many of life’s pleasures for that kind of a grueling experience?” … Yes, it will be hard. It will mean saying “No.” It will mean working hard at times; but it has some tremendous, positive blessings that go along with it.[6]
Are you willing to accept the calling upon your life to be a faithful farmer for God’s Harvest? Come back next week to learn more how you can grow strong in God’s grace!
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You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring through the Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to the Entire Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1997), 672.
[2] Gary W. Demarest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, 1, 2 Thessalonians / 1, 2 Timothy / Titus, vol. 32, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1984), 261.
[3] A. Duane Litfin, “2 Timothy,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 753.
[4] Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006), 494–495.
[5] OSU Extension Service, “What does ‘harvest date’ mean on my seed packets?” https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-expert/featured/what-does-harvest-date-mean-my-seed-packets (Accessed February 9, 2022).
[6] Ray C. Stedman, “Soldiers, Athletes, and Farmers” https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/timothy/soldiers-athletes-and-farmers (Accessed February 9, 2022).
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Seize the Moment – Day 1061
Today’s song focus will be
“Great I Am”
Exodus 3:14 (NASB95)
“ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
In the Hebrew language, ‘I Am’ is Yahweh (YHWH), the holiest of names for God in the Old Testament. This name is in the present tense, showing that God is personal and desires to have a real relationship with mankind. In 2011, Jared Anderson felt an ache, an urgency to be a part of the great big story of what God is doing, wanting to be a part of the action and not sitting on the sidelines observing, but truly participating. He wanted the church to feel like they are joining with the hosts of heavens as we declare our worship to the Almighty God.
Hallelujah, holy, holy God Almighty, the great I AM
Who is worthy, none beside Thee, God Almighty, the great I AM
We need to wake up to the fact that this is a daily choice that each of us has to make. We choose to be happy or mad. We choose to be joyful or sad. We choose to be good or bad. That’s why we need to choose to start our day by worshiping the One who had given us life, and loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
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:
Great I Am
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Seize the Moment – Day 1060
How Great is our God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, February 10.
Job began a long speech describing the greatness of our God. He first described God’s supremacy over the realm of the dead – the underworld (“under the waters”) known as Sheol and Abaddon (5-6). Next, he praised God’s majesty over the sky (7-11). Finally, to demonstrate God’s preeminence over what is between, Job referenced the ancient sea monster of Rahab in verses 12-13, “He quieted the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.”
Rahab, described by Job as “the fleeing serpent,” is found in the books of Job, Psalms, and Isaiah. The sea monster was used by the ancients to represent the chaos within creation, which only God had dominion over (Psalm 89:9-11), as well as to later describe the dominion of Egypt, which God defeated to bring about Israel’s freedom (Isaiah 30:7; 51:9; Psalm 87:4). The usage in Job was closely related to the former because Job was praising God for His rule over the chaos that is within creation – above, below, and on the earth. From the beginning, it is God who brought order to the chaos and then filled it with what is good (Genesis 1).
Interestingly, this same ancient cosmology is referenced in the New Testament to describe Jesus’ preeminence over all things in Philippians 2:9-11:
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [emphasis added]
Jesus came to defeat the chaos of creation once and for all – “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16; cf. John 1:3; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:10).
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.
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Seize the Moment – Day 1059
Rescued from Destruction!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, February 9.
Bildad had the final word of Job’s three friends, and during his short closing speech in Job 25:4a, he reiterated the main question of the book, “How then can a man be just with God?” As I emphasized in my devotion on Job 1, “The major question posed by Satan of Job, and of all humanity, was whether it was possible for a single person to truly be righteous, offering God a pure devotion that is not dependent on God’s blessings.” This is touched upon by Eliphaz in Job 4:17a, “Can mankind be just before God?” Job even conceded this point in Job 9:2, “In truth I know that this is so; but how can a man be in the right before God?”
Does this mean there is no hope for Job or for any of us? Even though no new material was offered in the final speech of Job’s three friends, and no forward progress was made in Job’s search for answers in why he was suffering, unbeknownst to them, the heavenly wager between God and Satan was still at hand (Job 2:3-6). While the question remained of whether it was possible for a person to be rescued from his “low estate,” the faithfulness of God was never in question (Psalm 136:23).
Jesus was always God’s Plan A – “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57)! Jesus rescued us from our hopeless status before God – “He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:2-3).
Seize the moment and sing the praises of the One whose victory you will enjoy for all eternity!
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 1058
Live with Hope!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, February 8.
Have you ever felt like God was slow in executing judgment upon the wicked and bringing justice to the poor and oppressed? In Job 24:1, Job asked a question that set the stage for the second half of his response to Eliphaz, “Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him not see His days?” In other words, why can’t we see God carry out His justice?
In 2 Peter 3:7-9, Peter presented an answer to this dilemma from the perspective of the fulfillment of God’s promise:
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
The promises of God give us the certainty of what will be, even when we are confronted daily with the reality of what is. Yes, there is evil in the world, but Jesus has defeated it (Colossians 2:15) and all things will be brought “under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Your perspective on God’s justice will shape your effectiveness in this life. None of us are exempt from suffering, but will you focus on the brokenness of the world and allow yourself to become discouraged by it? Or will you be “looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness reigns… [and] be diligent to be found by Him in peace” (2 Peter 3:13-14)?
Seize the moment and live with hope for the fulfillment of the promises of God – all things will be made new in His time (Revelation 21:5)!
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 1057
The Heavy Hand of God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, February 7.
Have you ever experienced what has been described as the heavy hand of God? In Job 23:2-3, Job responded to Eliphaz’s accusations, “Even today my complaint is rebellion; His hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat!” Even though Job suffered under His heavy hand, Job wanted an opportunity to plead his case with God face-to-face. Job’s desire was to approach the mercy seat of God!
Let’s look at two other usages of the heavy hand of God to gain some biblical context. The first is found in 1 Samuel 5:6 when God’s judgment came upon the Philistines who took the ark of the Lord and put it in the temple of Dagon – “Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.” Satan’s prodigious efforts to provoke Job to curse God was a corruption of God’s righteous affliction (Job 2:7).
The second usage is when David described the effects of unconfessed sin in Psalm 32:4, “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.” Once again, we see how Satan accursed Job with the same effects on his body that God used for unconfessed sin.
It is the desire of every child’s heart to be in the protective arms of her loving father when she is suffering. Seek the face of God, even as you are experiencing His heavy hand. Don’t let your pain prevent you from approaching His mercy seat, the place where Jesus has covered your sins and made a way to the Father through His propitiation of your sins (Romans 3:24-25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10)!
Seize the moment and “let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
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 1056
Don’t Fret Over False Accusations!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, February 6.
Have you ever been falsely accused? In his final speech, Eliphaz directly accused Job of sinning, not in a general sense against God, but in specific ways against people. Here is an example of the gut-wrenching accusations he made of Job in Job 22:5-9:
Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquities without end? For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause, and stripped men naked. To the weary you have given no water to drink, and from the hungry you have withheld bread. … You have sent widows away empty, and the strength of the orphans has been crushed.
OUCH! Can you imagine a close friend saying that to you? It is one thing to be called a sinner – that’s obviously true with a dash of humility! The Bible teaches in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned.” But if someone came up to me and thought they could start reading my mail to me, then, honestly, I would be asking God if He had brought a talking donkey into my path?
Could I give a godly response to a false accusation? Could you? It would require the anointing of the Holy Spirit because I am not capable of such temperance, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
In situations where you are being falsely accused, respond by crucifying your flesh instead of the person who is accusing you (Galatians 2:20). Paul teaches in Romans 12:17-18, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. … If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”
Seize the moment and “cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing”(Psalm 37:8). Jesus commands us when people falsely accuse us to “rejoice and be glad, for [our] reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12).
God bless you!
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