Seize the Moment – Day 888
The Seed of Hope!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, August 22.
Have you ever felt forlorn, only to be surprised by a glimmer of hope? A small ray of sunshine can make a big splash in dark circumstances, transforming your attitude, and giving you a more positive outlook.
The book of 2 Kings ends with the same story as the book of Jeremiah. Do you know why? Because the people of God felt all hope was gone after the destruction of Jerusalem and their exile to Babylon, so God gave them a glimmer of hope in the form of a seed. That seed is explained in 2 Kings 25:27-30:
Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life (cf. Jeremiah 52:31-34).
Jehoiachin was of the seed of David! The story of his release from prison was a declaration of hope that not all was lost because the royal line of David was being preserved. God was keeping His covenant promise, found in 2 Samuel 7:13, “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” There was a seed of hope because God is faithful to keep His promises!
Seize the moment and put your hope in Jesus Christ, the son of David, the fulfiller of God’s promises (Romans 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 1:20).
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Train to Live on Mission – Week 26
Battle Drill #26:
“Apply First Aid – The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!”
Proverbs 17:22 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Apply First Aid – The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!”
When I was a soldier, we were required to learn first aid and CPR. Why? Because the potential is high that a soldier, whether in training or on a battlefield, will need to apply first aid. In the same way, and for the same reasons, the good soldiers of Jesus Christ must train themselves to be able to apply first aid in all circumstances. God has provided a great medicine for our soul – the sweet balm of joy! There is much suffering and many tribulations in this life; therefore, we must build our lives upon the sure foundation of what Christ has given to us – His joy!
There is great joy found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is not only the joy of our eternal salvation, secured through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but this is the work of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of God’s presence in and though our lives that gives us a joy that will empower us through the mountaintops and valleys of our emotions and life experiences. Nehemiah 8:10 commands and promises, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Let me be clear from the beginning that the joy of the Lord is not a response to your circumstances, it is the posture of your heart in your circumstances, it is the firm foundation upon which you can biblically respond to your circumstances as a good soldier of Jesus! The strength of your joy is found in none other than the Rock of your Salvation – Jesus Christ! Let’s take the first action step of a soldier’s training routine to live on mission.
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ “Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
An exceedingly great army came to life because God breathed His Holy Spirit upon a bunch of dry, lifeless bones. Ezekiel described the bones as “very dry,” as if to say, “there’s absolutely no life left in these bones, and there hasn’t been for a long time.” And how similar is the experience of a broken spirit? A broken spirit dries up the bones! The decay is not instant, but the longer the spirit remains broken, the more apparent it becomes that there has been no joy in that person’s spirit for a long time.
Have you lost your smile? Do you feel dried up by the circumstances of your life – weary from this life and heavy-burdened by sin? The answer to your dry-bones condition is the balm of joy through a relationship with Jesus Christ because a joyful heart causes good healing!
As I shared with you at our worship in the park service in Memorial Park a few weeks ago, my favorite song to start off the day is from Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This verse both reminds me and exhorts me to live according to what is true. One of the greatest ways to train this battle drill is through singing, so let us sing together this wonderfully simple, yet powerful hymn from Psalm 118:
This is the day (this is the day).
That the Lord has made (that the Lord has made).
We will rejoice (we will rejoice),
And be glad in it (and be glad in it).
This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day (this is the day)
That the Lord has made.
The reason this verse, and its corresponding song, are so powerful to me is the context of the passage, found in Psalm 118:20-23:
This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
We rejoice and are glad because Jesus Christ has come and brought life to our dry bones! Jesus told us in John 10:7-11 that He is the gate of the Lord:
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Additionally, after Pentecost, in Acts 4:8-12, Peter preached that Jesus is the chief corner stone which the builders rejected:
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Holy Spirit brought life to the Church on Pentecost, raising up a new exceedingly great army for God. In the same way that the dry bones of Israel needed the Spirit of God to bring life and raise them up for a purpose as God’s army, so do you and I, today, as His Church, need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our dry bones. Like the first Pentecost nearly two thousand years ago, God calls forth life to our dry-bones condition on purpose! He’s doing the same today, in and through us! Let us now take the third action step of a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.
Paul invites us to join him in Philippians 2:18, “You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” Later, Paul commands in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” You can declare this in song, just like we did with Psalm 118:24, but you are to apply this to every circumstances. This decision, whether you rejoice, or not, has significant implications on your emotional stability, mental health, and spiritual vitality.
We see this truth laid out for us in Proverbs 15:13-16:
- Emotional stability is expressed in Proverbs 15:13, “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.”
- Mental health is communicated in Proverbs 15:14, “The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.”
- Spiritual vitality is proclaimed in Proverbs 15:15-16, “All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it.”
The joy of the Lord is your strength! God is at work in and through you in every circumstance you face, but you must choose to walk with Him and in His strength – to rejoice in His presence being with you! I often say to people when I counsel, “You choose to get better, or you become bitter – your choice!” It’s about faith in your Commander, not about your feelings (emotional), perspectives (mental), or interpretations (spiritual) of your circumstances. Let’s walk through five Scriptures to demonstrate this spiritual truth about joy from God:
- Psalm 16:11. “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
- John 17:13. “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”
- Romans 15:13. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
- Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
- 1 Peter 1:3-9. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
Joy is not about our ever-changing circumstances, but our unwavering trust in God and His promises – our rejoicing in Him and His power to perform every promise, on time, every time, in us and through us! How many of would “rejoice always” if we walked under own strength. It’s impossible! Our joy comes from knowing that the resources at our disposal are not limited to the inadequacy of our humanity, but rather the resources we have access to flow from the fountain of grace that brings us salvation and the power to walk confidently and securely in all our circumstances – the Holy Spirit! In His power, we live on mission for God. This brings us to the final action step of our training regimen.
Action Step #4) Live on mission.
We live on mission by reflecting the heart of Jesus Christ in how we live our lives and in how we conduct our business. This is our calling as image bearers of God – to reflect Jesus by living our lives as He did His. Jesus was motivated by the joy of the Lord, and went to the Cross for His joy to be made full in us, as promised in John 17:13, and as described in Hebrews 12:2-3:
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
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Seize the Moment – Day 886
Today’s hymn focus will be
“Nearer, My God, to Thee”
Genesis 28:12 (NLT)
“ As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.”
Growing up in Harlow, England , Sarah Flower Adams was the daughter of newspaper editor and man of prominence, so she enjoyed the spotlight. She married William Bridges Adams in 1834 and moved to London to help fulfill her dreams of becoming an actress and be near the great theaters. Sadly, her frail health hampered that career, so she focused on her literary giftings, one of which was writing hymns of praise to the Lord.
Her pastor paid her a visit and shared with her his difficulty in finding a hymn to go along with his upcoming message. She reflected on the above passage, and the following Sunday, they sang this song that God had given Sarah.
We need to wake up and make this song a cry of our hearts, that no matter what we face, we want to be near the One who will strengthen us.
YOUTUBE:
Nearer, My God, to Thee,
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I’d be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;
angels to beckon me
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
so by my woes to be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
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Seize the Moment – Day 885
The Shedding of Innocent Blood!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, August 19.
“That’s the last straw!” It’s that moment of exasperation in a relationship, or at work, or in your participation with some activity, where you just can’t take it anymore. No more! It’s over!
That moment came in God’s dealing with Israel, as 2 Kings 24:4 declares, “for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not forgive.” In this heartbreaking chapter, the Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem, and the first exiles were taken to Babylon (10-16). Nothing is more heartbreaking than that statement, “the LORD would not forgive.”
What was the last straw? What is the shedding of innocent blood? One commentator explained, “The phrase ‘to shed innocent blood’ signified in the late monarchical period the oppression of the poor and the underprivileged.”[1] This is made clear through God’s Word in Jeremiah 22:3 & 5:
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’ … ‘But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,’ declares the Lord, ‘that this house will become a desolation.’”
God cares deeply about justice and that His people care for those who cannot protect or care for themselves. James 1:27 explains, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” God cares so much about justice that He sent His Son to shed His innocent blood for the forgiveness of your sin (Matthew 26:28; John 1:29; Acts 20:28). Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
Seize the moment and “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
YOUTUBE:
FOOTNOTES:
[1] William H. Barnes, 1-2 Kings, ed. Philip W. Comfort, vol. 4b, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012), 352.
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Seize the Moment – Day 884
Cry out for Revival!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, August 18.
Are we a nation experiencing God’s judgment? Whether or not we are, and I’ve heard it both ways, I believe our response is the same! We must come together as the people of God and cry out for revival in our nation. When the Spirit of God awakens His people to the need for revival, then the active presence of the Holy Spirit saturates every sector of our lives – personal, family, work, and community life. This can only happen through prayer!
Josiah, the last good king of Judah, renewed the covenant between himself and Yahweh in 2 Kings 23:3:
The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
The people followed the king’s example, and the reforms began. Verses 4-27 tell the story of a nation-wide revival, including a celebration of Passover that had not been seen in Israel since the time of Judges (21-23; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:1-19). God’s people were experiencing a culture-wide reform of their worship practices, and that was impacting every part of their community life.
Was this revival enough to turn God’s wrath away from Judah? Sadly, the reforms did not extend beyond the life of King Josiah, as the next kings did evil and broke the covenant (28-37). The nation was too far gone! God’s judgment, through the Babylonian Empire, was quickly approaching, as 2 Kings 23:26 declares, “However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.”
Seize the moment and cry out to God for revival. Trust that God will use all means necessary to bring His people back to Himself, including bringing a nation under judgment.
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Seize the Moment – Day 883
A Responsive Heart!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, August 17.
I have the privilege of preaching once per month in a state prison, the New Castle Correctional Facility. It is a privilege to be invited inside to minister to my brothers, and it’s a ministry opportunity that I look forward to because the men are so responsive to God’s Word!
How do you respond to the Word of God?
In 2 Kings 22, repairs were being done to the temple when Hilkiah the priest found a lost book of the Law, believed to have been a copy of Deuteronomy (5-8). Shaphan the scribe read the book to King Josiah, and in verse 11, the king responded to God’s Word by tearing his clothes as an outward sign of his grief. The Word of God revealed to him God’s covenant promises, he now knew that there was a coming wrath for their sins.
Josiah was the last good king of Judah, and he responded to God’s Word by inquiring of the Lord what he must do. In 2 Kings 22:19-20, the response of God to Josiah, given by Huldah the prophetess, is recorded:
“Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. “Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”
God responds to tender hearts! Do you have a tender heart for the Lord and His Word?
Seize the moment and respond to God’s Word with obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 6). Be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting today!
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Seize the Moment – Day 882
The Willingness to Listen!
After Hezekiah reformed Judah and saved them from the Assyrian Empire, his son Manasseh became king at twelve years old and ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His introduction in 2 Kings 21:2-3, provides a scathing review of his kingship:
He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
Manasseh worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, as well as a myriad of other false gods, violated the Law of God in heinous ways – sacrificing his son, using divination, and witchcraft. He led Judah away from God. In 2 Kings 21:10-16, an unnamed prophet declares God’s coming judgment:
Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle” (11-12).
Could this have been the voice of Isaiah? Jewish tradition teaches that it was King Manasseh who martyred Isaiah. This evil king, like many others, tried to silence the Word of God by killing the prophets, but no one could silence God or stop His coming judgment. Jesus cried out in Matthew 23:37, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
Seize the moment and listen for the voice of Jesus, He is seeking to gather all who are lost (Luke 19:10). Don’t let sin silence the Word of God in your life!
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Seize the Moment – Day 881
With Every Breath!
Why do you want God to extend your days and give you long life? What do you plan to do with each breath He gives you? Hezekiah, the great king of Judah, became mortally ill during the assault of the Assyrians and cried out to God for mercy. He wanted to be healed and God spoke to him through the prophet Isaiah in 2 Kings 20:5-6:
I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.
God extended his life and promised protection from the king of Assyria. This miracle is recorded twice, here, and in Isaiah 38 where Isaiah included a hymn (9-20), which Hezekiah wrote after his healing. In Isaiah 38:18-20, Hezekiah concludes his hymn with his motivation for asking to be healed:
For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; a father tells his sons about Your faithfulness. The Lord will surely save me; so we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life at the house of the Lord.
Seize the moment and use your every breath to praise the Lord. Do it right now, speak out loud, “Praise the Lord!” Singing along to your favorite worship music will help you do this throughout the day.
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Train to Live on Mission – Week 25
Battle Drill #25:
Commit Your Work to the Lord!
Proverbs 16:1-9 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Commit Your Work to the Lord!”
For 25 years, I have learned how to start my day by committing myself and my day to the Lord. I have not done this perfectly each day, and there have been some seasons of drought in those years, but as a general practice, this battle drill has defined my Christian life. This is a very important daily discipline for me that became anchored in my soul during the late summer/early fall of 1997, during my second time in the two-month US Army Ranger School. The first time I went through the training, the winter of 1997, I only made it two-thirds of the way through it before I was medically dropped, but my deeper story was how my perceived failure broke me. I was sent to my unit at the 82nd Airborne Division without the coveted Ranger Tab that every Infantry Officer is expected to have earned.
Looking back, I realize that this was one of the most important moments of my life because how I handled my deep level of disappointment was a critical decision point on the person I was to become. By God’s grace, I chose wisely and started back to church. I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ and started my Christian discipleship with a renewed vigor. Six months later, I was graduating from Ranger School, and I testify to you that it was night and day. Not the school, but me! There was a dramatic difference in my experience because I had changed – Christ was now the center of my life! I went from being a basket case the first time to missing honor graduate by one spot the next time. Every single morning of Ranger School, that second time, I did two things: 1) I dedicated myself and my day to the Lord; and 2) I promised myself I wouldn’t quit. To the glory of God, I continue to make those two decisions as your pastor.
Being faithful is a trained behavior! It doesn’t happen by accident, and you must learn to train it daily. So, let’s take the first action step of a soldier’s training routine to live on mission.
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 16:1-9:
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished. By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice. The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
This is 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.
- 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.”
- Joshua 1:7-9. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Let’s talk about how to do this. According to the Bible’s creation account your day begins with how you go to bed the night before. Listen to the refrain of creation in Genesis 1, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). We often miss this or hear it as a poetic device to separate the creative work of God in the creation account, but I believe that there is a profound truth here that will change your life, as it has mine. It’s simple, but not simplistic: How you go to bed determines your day!
Grace always comes first – sleep comes before work, just like grace comes before works. You don’t earn a good night’s rest because it’s all grace. You do nothing during your sleep, God’s got you and you are completely dependent on His grace to sustain your life until morning, which is why people still pray this very old Puritan bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Newer versions make it even more clear, “His love to guard me through the night and wake me in the morning’s light” and “Please angels watch me through the night, and keep me safe till morning light.”
Allow me to describe how I do this: I get up at 6 each morning so that I have an hour with the Lord before others in my family wake up. That is the most important hour of my day, and it often goes longer. It is when I pray, when I read Scripture, when I meditate upon what I’m reading and seek to apply it to my life. This is the time of the day when I commit my work to the Lord and when I resolve that today I will get in the easy yoke of Jesus, abide in the Vine, carry my cross, and remain faithful to my family and church. It’s a time that I decide that I will not quit – a time of covenant renewal as the sun rises.
But my key to success is not an alarm, though that is helpful on some mornings, but a good night’s sleep. I seek to be relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep by 10 PM each night. That means well before that time the dishes are done, doors are locked, messes are cleaned up, the kids have been read to and prayed with, the work of the day is over so my computer and devices are off, all of that before 10 so that I can be in a place of relaxation to rest well, to get good REM and deep sleep, and not just shallow restless sleep. The quality of my morning devotion time is determined by how I get to bed the night before. Except for my personal Sabbath day, which is Friday night until Saturday night, if I want to get extra sleep, then I must go to bed earlier, not sleep later. My whole day is messed up if I don’t have this time to commit my work to the Lord. This time of devotion is hindered if I don’t take intentional daily steps to sleep well. Sleep is a gift from the Lord and a product of God’s grace, as Proverbs 3:13, 21-24 explains:
How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. … My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
For me to commit myself and my work to the Lord, then I must daily get back in the easy yoke of Jesus to work from a place of rest because everything I have is by God’s grace and not the work of my own hands nor earned by the sweat of my own brow. It’s for the glory of God alone. That takes us to the third action step.
Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.
Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
We commit our work to the Lord because work was God’s idea first! Work is not what you do to earn your daily bread or find your identity. Both of those come from the Lord. When we commit our work to the Lord, then we put our work in a right perspective, which is under the Lordship of Christ. The Apostle Paul made this very clear in Colossians 3:23-25:
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.
There is a divine purpose for work, it is a part of God’s plan that we work hard. When we commit our work to the Lord, then our work becomes a part of God’s mission to demonstrate the rule of God to the world. No matter what it is you do, when your work is committed to the Lord it can be used by God to bring glory to His name and advance the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. That brings us to the final action step.
Action Step #4) Live on mission.
Your work is intended to have eternal fruit – results that last! Jesus taught us this in John 15:12-17:
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 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, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.
Faith, hope, and love are the currencies of Heaven, and they are our greatest commodities here on Earth. Faith, hope, and love are what we use to build the Kingdom of God. Paul soberly admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 3:10-16 to be wise with which we build the Kingdom:
According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Your legacy is determined by your work so be very wise in where you are investing your most precious commodities – your time, your love, your energy. When I do graveside services, after I have done the committal prayer, I read Revelation 14:13, “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘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.” After I read this, I look out at the people who have gathered, make eyes contact with them, open my arms, and say, “You are the good works who follow this person’s life.”
You can listen to Pastor Jerry’s message here:
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Seize the Moment – Day 879
O That Will Be Glory
Romans 8:18 (NLT)
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Charles Gabriel was a self-taught musician who grew up in Wilton, Iowa. After moving to California for two years, he moved back to Chicago, IL, where he became friends with Ed Card, a minister with the Sunshine Rescue Mission. Card always had a smile on his face and would often say during a sermon “GLORY” instead of ‘amen’ like most folks. Thus, he had the nickname “Old Glory Face.”
Card would also close his prayers with a reference to heaven, saying “And that will be glory for me.”
This is where Gabriel got the inspiration for today’s hymn. It went on to be used in Billy Sunday’s revival services and translated into many languages and dialects, becoming one of the most popular hymns sung during those meetings.
O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me.
When by His grace I shall look on His face.
That will be glory, be glory for me.
We need to wake up and sing this song with the same faith, hope and joy that moved the author to write this hymn. Look forward to the day when we shall see Him face to face and join with the angels as we sing and bring glory and honor to God.
YOUTUBE:
O That Will Be Glory
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore
Will through the ages be glory for me.
O that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me;
When by His grace I shall look at His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face
Will through the ages be glory for me. [Refrain]
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will through the ages be glory for me. [Refrain]
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