Seize the Moment – Day 913
Don’t Miss Opportunities for Peace!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, September 16.
Are you missing opportunities for peace? One of the most damaging things we do to our peace of mind, and relational well-being, is impute wrong motives onto people – we read into people’s words, and we judge them because we presume to know their motives. If you do this, you are projecting the anxiety and fear of your own mind and heart onto others.
If you find yourself frequently in hostilities with others, whether real or perceived, it’s because you are losing on the battlefield of your own mind. When you are expending energy on an internal war, how do you expect to have the energy to “be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50; cf. Romans 12:18). That is exactly what we see happening in 1 Chronicles 19:1-3:
Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him. But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”
Nahash imputed evil motives on David’s peaceful actions, and, in doing so, missed an opportunity for peace. You don’t have to make the same mistake!
Seize the moment and invite the Holy Spirit to guard your heart and mind with the peace of Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:6-7). Peace with others flows from peace with yourself, both of which are made possible by letting “the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15-17).
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 912
Rest on Every Side!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 15. Please join me in wishing a happy birthday to Layla McKnight.
Do you struggle to rest? Whether it is getting good sleep, turning off your worry, living at peace with your family, being content at work, or ceasing your ambition, do you struggle to enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:11)?
Are you experiencing the righteous rule of King Jesus and his gracious offer of “rest for your soul” (Matthew 11:28-30)? Is the peace of God which surpasses all human comprehension guarding your heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)?
With God’s help, you can experience rest on every side of your life! Twice, in 1 Chronicles 18:6 & 13, the Chronicler emphasized that it was the Lord who was helping King David, “And the Lord helped David wherever he went.” In the same way, today, it is Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who brings His kingdom of “justice and righteousness” into your life – rest in Him.
Seize the moment and diligently strive to enter the rest offered to you through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:11; Matthew 11:28-30).
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] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), Je 22:3.
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Seize the Moment – Day 911
The Foundation of God’s House!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, September 14.
The building of a house is a beautiful metaphor for God’s people,[1] and we first find it in God’s promise to David in 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12-16):
When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.
God’s covenant with David illuminates the crucial theological concept of adoption, on which the foundation for God’s house is built. God adopted David and his future family to be His family, and David’s household would be God’s dwelling place, His home forever.
God’s promise to David was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is the Rock on which our lives are built. Like God promised to David, the foundation of our house is built upon God’s adoption of us, as Paul taught in Romans 8:15, “you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” Our adoption into the family of God is our induction into His kingdom forever, which is the fulfillment of the promise of God to David.
God is building His home in us, as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16).
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.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Pastor Daniel Lepley is in the process of writing, Building Church. His new book explores this metaphor and its applications to how we can revitalize our churches. I have been honored to be one of his advance readers, and I believe it will be an important read for church leaders.
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Seize the Moment – Day 910
When it’s time to Party – Let’s Eat!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, September 13.
As an ordained Baptist minister, and as an active member of a local Baptist congregation, I can attest to you that we love to eat. Nothing makes a party successful quite like good food, and lots of it!
David agreed! He was singing and dancing as the ark of the covenant was brought home (1 Chronicles 15:26-29), and then he had a big party, described in 1 Chronicles 16:1-3:
And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. He distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake.
At this party, David served up a huge amount of food, not just to those in attendance, but as verse 3 states, “he distributed to everyone of Israel.” Wow! That is a lot of sacrifices to provide that much meat. This was not your typical church pitch-in, this was a fully catered meal, with the Levites on the barbeque.
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 909
Learn from your Mistakes!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 12.
Wisdom is applied knowledge, and most often it is learned through good old-fashioned OJT, on-the-job training through the ups and downs of daily life. We must be humble enough to be able to learn from our mistakes. A wise person doesn’t keep repeating the same mistake, expecting different results; only a prideful, or insane, person would expect that!
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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Train to Live on Mission – Week 29
Battle Drill #29:
Prioritize Peace!
Proverbs 20:3 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Prioritize Peace!”
Nothing will lose a battle quicker than friendly fire! It’s demoralizing to the army when soldiers are taken away from accomplishing the mission by either intentional or unintentional friendly fire. Unfortunately, and to the detriment of our mission success, the Church of Jesus Christ has had to learn this lesson repeatedly, throughout our two-millennia history, but we must continue to learn it afresh in every generation, and on a more frequent basis within our local assemblies. The strife and division caused by infighting, and the quarrelling that comes with it must be dealt with directly by their fellow members of the body, and when people won’t listen to their brothers and sisters, then by church leaders. Just like when the blood cells in a person’s body turn against other blood cells, a congregation that turns against itself will become unhealthy, and, if not treated, will die.
It is one thing to discuss, and even debate, ideas on what the Bible teaches about different topics, but to assassinate people’s character and attack them because they don’t agree with your perspective is completely another. You see, it is ok to disagree (at least it should be!) and it’s even okay to debate the weightier issues of life and godliness, but to quarrel is never acceptable for the children of God. We, as the people of God, just like we, as Americans, have lost the civility (and humility) to prioritize peace over our own opinions and perspectives.
There is hope – the hope that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, who gives us peace with God, offers us His Holy Spirit who guards our minds and hearts with God’s peace, and invites us to live on mission as His peacemakers to all people. These are the precious and magnificent promises, and we covered all these promises of peace, in detail last year – vertical peace, internal peace, and horizontal/external peace – and this is the purpose for Christ coming and it is our mission! [To learn more about this, you can find them in my study on the Promises of God, Live Like a Champion Today: The 40 Promises in 40 Days Challenge!] Let’s learn how to train today’s battle drill, “Prioritize Peace,” by seeing what the Field Manual has to say about it.
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
We will yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” when we submit ourselves to the discipline of our Heavenly Father, and that includes whenever we find ourselves quarreling with our brothers and sisters, in thought, word, or deed (Hebrews 12:11). No good parent finds joy in watching his kids fight, but, rather, good parents desire to see their children cultivating a lifelong friendship. Let’s be honest, children of God, we reap what we sow! If you want to be a peacemaker during your week, in the hard places of work and life, then you must prioritize peace in here, with your church family. We are off mission whenever we quarrel.
Paul gave the following instructions about prioritizing peace in their ministries to the church to both of his famous protégés:
- Titus 3:1-11. “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”
- 2 Timothy 2:14-26. “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.’ Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”
Paul requires us to train ourselves according to the will of God, and the will of God is for us to become like His Son Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. This requires discipline. I have repeatedly told the elders of our church that they are not allowed to be quarrelsome, but to be listeners and to be people of prayer. That if they are to speak, they do not speak from political ideology or personal perspectives, but from the Word of God. This is a hard discipline to be under, and all church leaders fail at it because we are all human, but we must prioritize peace, especially the Gospel of Peace. That means we must deal with our own heart and mind issues that war against the Prince of Peace and His Cross. We can’t give the world what we first don’t carry ourselves. That takes us into the third action step of a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.
Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
Abraham avoided a quarrel by giving up the chance to seize the best portion for himself. After all, he is the one called by God, and Lot was a just a tag along. Why should he allow, nevertheless offer Lot the first choice of the land? And that question is the crux of the matter; there is our heart issue – it’s why Jesus Christ came as a servant (Philippians 2:3-11)! We are always looking out for #1 and trying to make our lives work out for us according to our own desires. Humanity, from the beginning, has proven to be a bunch of schemers, who are willing to rebel against God, and one another, to get ahead. We orchestrate events in our best interest, so that we can be the masters of our own destinies! Oh, don’t get me wrong, we give lip service to worshipping God and living for Him and His will (“take the wheel God”), but ultimately, every single person in this room has already proven that they would sell their birthright as a child of God to gain worldly happiness or comfort – it’s called sin, and according to Romans 3:23, every single one of us is guilty, deserving of judgment.
This is why Jesus Christ came – to rescue us from the grip of our selfish ambition and vain conceit, the sin that seeks our own desires (Philippians 2:3-4). Apart from Jesus Christ, we are not at peace with God; therefore, we cannot be at peace with ourselves, or with others. While we can orchestrate a cease fire, which only works as long as it benefits everyone according to their own desires (well, at least until someone feels like they get a better deal by breaking the cease fire). That’s the peace the world has to offer; it is a counterfeit of what God offers us through Jesus Christ. Jesus promised in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
As you already know, every promise of God comes with a praxis, and the praxis of peace comes with a hard discipline – the discipline of crucifixion, to carry one’s cross. In the same way Jesus had to be crucified to bring us peace with God, you must crucify your own rights to be a peacemaker. The gospel invites you to carry your cross; listen to how Jesus invited His followers to follow Him in Matthew 16:24-26:
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
So go ahead and justify your quarreling with your pompous self-righteousness and arrogant pride, but don’t be deceived, God will not be mocked even if you are swimming in da-Nile (denial), the Bible exposes the real issues that your quarreling exposes; it cuts to the heart, as diagnosed by Jesus’ half-brother, in James 4:1-4:
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [Open your Bible and read the rest of the chapter; it’s relevant!]
With the heart condition of today’s battle drill diagnosed, and your training regimen established through Paul’s exhortations to Timothy and Titus, let’s conclude by looking at the final action step.
Action Step #4) Live on mission.
In my opinion, there is only one thing that I should ever do that is offensive to you and that is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to you without compromise, declaring that the wages of your personal sin is your death, the second death of eternal torment in Hell. There is a coming judgment, and the only solution is to humbly yourself, confess your sin, repent of it, and cry out to God for His peace through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the only way to receive God’s peace, because it was Jesus Christ who came to take away God’s quarrel with you and, in His place, gives you His righteousness. The Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, saved you to be peacemaker who proclaims the Gospel of God’s love with grace. Therefore, there is no place or time for you to wage a war that has already been won on the Cross of Jesus Christ. You are to declare it in word and deed; therefore, you are to prioritize peace as your way of life – vertically with God, internally within your own mind and heart, and in your relationships as you extend the gospel peace of Jesus Christ to all people, regardless of their ideologies and perspectives (Philippians 2:14-15).
I dream of peace within the people of God. While it feels like a pipe dream in today’s world, nonetheless, I pray for it, and I prioritize working together with God’s people, His Church, to fulfill the angelic proclamation that accompanied the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Peace is the good fruit of the Christmas miracle!
We are the branches upon which we are to bear that fruit! It is the Holy Spirit who brings peace to the nations through the coming of the Messiah. That is the promise of Isaiah 9:6-7:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
The Holy Spirit works through the people of God to accomplish this purpose for the coming of Jesus Christ. God is bringing the world under His peace, through the Church’s faithful proclamation of the Gospel of Peace, in preparation for the Messianic Kingdom. This is what He has saved you for, He bestowed love and grace upon you, to give you peace and reconciliation, to enlist you for His peace-making mission. As Paul stated in Romans 5:8-11:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Prioritize peace today. I pray Paul’s words from Colossians 3:15 over you, “[may] the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
Make this battle drill a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Therefore, live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.
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Seize the Moment – Day 907
Today’s hymn focus will be
Wonderful Peace
Philippians 4:7 (NASB95)
“ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
This hymn expressing several thoughts about the peace of God was written ‘by accident’ in 1889 at a camp meeting in West Bend, Wisconsin. Rev. Warren D Cornell was seated in the tent, and after a time of deep introspection, began writing the words reflecting the thoughts in his heart. Unknowingly, he left the paper in the tent when he left.
An hour or so later, Rev. William Cooper came to the tent and discovered the paper. Fascinated by the theme of the chorus and the accompanying verses as they reflected some of his own current thoughts, he finished the poem and sat down at the organ and composed the melody that we sing today.
Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of love.
We need to wake up to the fact that He is the giver of peace. It is not something that we strive for, but rather surrender complete control to…to God as He leads and directs our paths each and every day.
YOUTUBE:
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Wonderful Peace
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.
Peace! Peace! wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above;
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,
In fathomless billows of love.
Buried deep in the heart of my soul;
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll. (Refrain)
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul. (Refrain)
Where the Author of peace I shall see,
That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing,
In that heavenly kingdom shall be: (Refrain)
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
Oh, accept this sweet peace so sublime. (Refrain)
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Seize the Moment – Day 906
Culturally Acceptable Sin Has Consequences!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, September 9.
Do you tend to idealize the people you look up to? We look at our heroes through rose-colored glasses. From the beginning to the end of 1 Chronicles 14, the Chronicler’s purpose was to exalt David, as expressed in verse 2, “David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.” This sentiment was amplified in verse 17, “Then the fame of David went out into all the lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him on all the nations.”
Now, I don’t want to be nitpicky, and I’m not standing in judgment of David, the Bible does say he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), but something bothers me about the story of David. The very thing that is so troublesome to me was being used by the Chronicler to establish David’s throne. It was his polygamy, stated in verse 3, as a response to verse 2 and David’s realization that God had established his kingship, “Then David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David became the father of more sons and daughters.” Yes, I know it was culturally acceptable for ancient kings to amass a large harem, but it was in direct violation of God’s Word for Israel’s kings, “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away” (Deuteronomy 17:17a).
No person, even an exalted king, is above the Law of God, nor is immune to the promises of God. The generational consequences of David’s disobedience led to Solomon’s moral corruption and the division of David’s kingdom (1 Kings 11:1-13).
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 905
Leaders Convene for God’s Glory!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 8.
While leaders provide clear direction, they cannot accomplish the task without the people buying into the vision and applying themselves to the task. That is what the Chronicler was emphasizing in 1 Chronicles 13:1-4:
Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us; and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
He was retelling an important story from David’s kingship, an action that, according to the Chronicler, set him apart from Saul’s leadership – the retrieval of the ark (2 Samuel 6:1-11). In doing so, David modeled for his people, and us today, an effective decision-making process for bringing about a God-sized vision:
- Seek the Lord (2).
- Consult with the leaders (1).
- Convene the congregation (2-4).
Leaders want to do great things, and while that is good, it can also be dangerous if there is not a process that invites all parties involved to seek the Lord’s will together. Leaders should not run ahead of their people, just like people should not stonewall their leaders. We are all members of the one body of Christ seeking to fulfill God’s will by each of us doing our own part, as given to us by the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11-16).
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:
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
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Seize the Moment – Day 904
Pass the Peace!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, September 7.
To illustrate God’s direct involvement in this process, the Chronicler references the work of the Spirit to gather the people to David (18). It is the Holy Spirit who brings peace to the nations through God’s salvation (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Spirit works through the people to pass the peace until all people are brought under God’s banner of love (Song of Solomon 2:4) through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9-11).
Illustratively, David’s army is described in verse 22 as being “like the army of God,” which means we are rescued from our own agendas (made free by the Spirit as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 3:17) and unified as good soldiers of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4), under the authority of the One who brought God’s peace to the world (John 14:27; 16:33; Romans 5:1). You have been saved for a peace-making mission!
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.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] John Goldingay, 1 and 2 Chronicles for Everyone, Old Testament for Everyone (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2012), 30.
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