Seize the Moment – Day 751
The Importance of Obedience!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 7.
Have you ever delayed a job to such a point that even if you did finally get around to it, it would no longer matter? It was too late; delayed obedience is no obedience at all, it is disobedience. The same is true with getting a job half done. When you send your kids to clean their room and an hour later there has been more playing than cleaning and the room is only part-way clean, would you consider that obedience? Neither does God!
When confronted with his disobedience, Saul stated that he had been obedient and then gave reasons why what he did was right – he justified his actions as right in his own eyes. To Samuel, that would have been very reminiscent of the time of the Judges, and he knew that this could not be tolerated; it would lead to the loss of everything. Samuel then spoke these dramatic and eternal words in verses 22-23:
Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.
Seize the moment and offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice by obeying His Word today!
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 750
From Hero to Zero!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 6.
Have you ever experienced the pendulum swing of going from hero to zero? This happens a lot to leaders with the decisions they must make simply because, ultimately, someone must take responsibility and act decisively. Think of your favorite quarterback who in one play makes the decision that leads to a score and in the next quarter throws the interception that costs the team the game. But the best athletes, just like the best leaders, want to have the ball in their hands when it matters most.
Jonathan, the son of King Saul, was an amazing man of God and a decisive leader. He nearly went from war hero to a living sacrifice in 1 Samuel 14:43-45:
Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him and said, “I indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!” Saul said, “May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die.
Jonathan had won a major battle without Saul’s knowledge that highlighted how foolish Saul’s oath was in verse 24: “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.” If it wasn’t for the intervention of the fighting men who knew the full story of what Jonathan had done, then Saul would have murdered his own son. Unlike Jonathan, it was Saul was going from being a hero to a zero!
Seize the moment and find out the full story before you say or do anything foolish.
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 749
How to Make Good Decisions!
1 Samuel 13
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, April 5.
Leaders must cultivate the capacity and bear the responsibility of being decisive in moments of great stress. Decision making requires a person to be able to effectively assess a situation, evaluate potential courses of action, weigh the pros and cons of each, make the best decision with the information available, and execute the decision with confidence. As a military officer, the Army trained this model into me until it was second nature, first in the classroom and then out in the field. When military leaders make bad decisions, there are grave consequences.
King Saul was in a difficult military situation. He was outnumbered by the Philistines and his own soldiers were hiding in the mountains and trembling around him (5-7). He let the stress of the moment overwhelm him and the fear of his soldiers override his decision-making process. He made an impulsive decision that showed his heart and his lack of faith in God. In 1 Samuel 13:13-14, Saul hears the consequences for the decision he made:
Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
Seize the moment and train effective decision making by getting God’s Word into your mind and heart! Follow the wisdom of Joshua 1:8, given to a successful leader: “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.”
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 748
Stay in the Way!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 4.
Have you ever had to follow through with a decision that couldn’t be changed even after you realized it wasn’t a good decision in the first place? It’s like, “Can I get a mulligan on this one?”
There are some choices that just can’t be undone, and then, you must see where the road leads you. In 1 Samuel 12:20-23 Samuel instructs Israel upon their realization that they sinned against God by asking for a king:
Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
I love this passage and its relevance to all our lives. It is one thing to be able to confess your sin, stop doing it, and it all goes away, but it’s entirely another situation when you confess and repent, but the consequences of your past choices remain front and center. The answer is, as we used to say in the military, to drive on! C-M! Continue the Mission! These are all ways of expressing the same truth that Samuel was trying to get across to Israel. Yes, you made a mess of it, but keep following God because that’s still the way.
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Train to Live on Mission – Week 9
Battle Drill #9: Escape and Evade!
Proverbs 6:1-19 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the ninth battle drill – Escape and Evade!
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 6:1-3:
My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, have given a pledge for a stranger, if you have been snared with the words of your mouth, have been caught with the words of your mouth, do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
To importune means to beg or beseech, persistently for something or for someone to do something. It means to entreat or implore, to urge or solicit. The Hebrew word RHB, translated “importune” in today’s battle drill, carries an intensity to it that is almost military – to act stormily, boisterously, and angrily. Psalm 138:3 translates RHB, “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.” God emboldened him with strength in Psalm 138:3, just as God gives you the wisdom in Proverb 6 to know how to escape and evade whatever has ensnared you to your neighbor, whether a financial misstep or your words.
The purpose of the US military’s SERE training is to equip military personnel for the worst scenario – when a mission goes terribly wrong, then they must be able to survive, escape, resist, and escape (SERE) from enemy territory, or even enemy restraint, so that they can return home with honor. In fact, that is the motto of the school, “Return with Honor.”
To understand how I am applying this text to learning how to escape and evade as your battle drill for this week, you need to hear these verses in their context from the Field Manual in its entirety, Proverbs 6:1-19:
My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, have given a pledge for a stranger, if you have been snared with the words of your mouth, have been caught with the words of your mouth, do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor. Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant, o sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, o sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest” – your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man. A worthless person, a wicked man, is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers; who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, who spreads strife. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.
We know what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.
The end of Proverb 6:3 gives us a threefold answer, “Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.” The Hebrew word translated “go” is hālakh, which we learned all about in my sermon, “Battle Drill #4: Walk in the Way!” based on Proverbs 2:20: “So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.” That is our primary strategy, but what happens when you wander out of the way and need to escape and evade from enemy territory and/or enemy restraint, to get back on the paths of the righteous?
The Bible invites us to hālakh in the ancient paths of God (Jeremiah 6:16), in the way of good men (Proverbs 2:20), and in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5). We are to walk in or take on the habitual lifestyle and the customs of God’s commands as our own way of life. As the Mandalorian says when he acts according to the customs of his own people, as peculiar as not taking off his helmet in front of other people and as honorable as putting himself in harm’s way because it’s the right thing to do: “This is the way!”
As one unit, the church of Jesus Christ, we, too, must learn to prioritize this battle drill so that we can escape and evade effectively. The time to walk in the way is this moment just as the day of salvation is today. Proverbs 6:4-19 lays out three key skills to successfully escape and evade:
1) To escape and evade you must act decisively, time is critical (4-5). You may not get another chance to act, so you must seize the moment and not squander the time entrusted to you. Make sure you act wisely and not hastily. Paul teaches us in Ephesians 5:15-21:
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Paul further teaches in Colossians 4:5-6: “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
2) To escape and evade you must work hard work, effort is required (6-11). One of my favorite passages about this is found in Ephesians 4:28, “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.” Paul says that you if you find yourself out of the way because you are stealing, then get back in the way by working hard, and not just to provide for your own needs, but to share with the one who has in need. It is not enough to simply get right with God, you are asked to labor for the sake of others and get right with those that you have stolen from.
3) To return with honor, convictions must be kept (12-19). There are personal convictions you must keep when you are escaping and evading; otherwise, it would be easy for the ends to justify the means. Paul explained this in Ephesians 4:29-32:
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
That is the first part, “Go,” of Proverb 6:3’s threefold answer, “Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.”
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.
It wasn’t until after David returned to the way of God and humbled himself that he was in a place to teach transgressors God’s ways in hopes of seeing sinners converted to God. We cannot do for others what God has not first done for us. The same was true for Peter before he could become the rock of the church. Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31-34:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”
Humility puts us in a place where God can use us to impact others because we will not approach our neighbor’s proudly, but humbly, ready to extend to them the same grace, mercy, and compassionate comfort God first gave to us (2 Corinthians 1:4).
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Then, in John 13:34-35, at the time of Seder Meal, of which you will learn more about next week, Jesus’ gave a new commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” While the command to love was not new, the quality of our love was made new by the sacrifice of the One who commanded us to love as He loved us. We are to love in like-kind with Jesus, not in like-kind with the person we are dealing with.
Love, ultimately, is how we will escape and evade! To treat others as we want to be treated ourselves (Luke 6:31). As Peter commends to us in 1 Peter 4:7-11:
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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.
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 746
Today’s modern day hymn focus will be
We Believe
Released in 2013 by Christian music artists, The Newsboys, this song quickly became an anthem of many churches. Just like the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed, it was written to declare and remove any doubt as to who we are as Christians and what we believe as a church. At some point we need to stand and declare who we are and Who we put our faith and trust in…the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We want everyone, even an outsider, clearly understand what we believe.
We believe in God the Father, We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit, and He’s given us new life…
This message clearly brings God glory. We need to wake up and make this declaration a part of our daily routine, proclaiming to ourselves and others where we have placed our faith, our hope and our trust…it is in the One who has given us this life!
YOUTUBE:
We Believe
When all we know is doubt and fear
There is only one foundation
We believe
We believe
When all is dark, You help us see
There is only one salvation
We believe
We believe
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He’s comin’ back again
We believe
Greater than the songs we sing
And in our weakness and temptations
We believe
We believe
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He’s comin’ back again
In the here and now, let love invade
Let the church live loud, our God we’ll say
We believe, we believe
For the power of God, has torn the veil
Now we know Your love will never fail
We believe, we believe
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He’s comin’ back
He’s comin’ back again
We believe
We believe
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 745
The Unity of Victory!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 1. Happy April Fool’s Day!
Have you ever been a part of a great victory? Maybe you were a member of a winning sports team or served on a sales team that made the big sale. Whatever role you played, when you experience a great victory, it feels like you can do anything together. Victory brings people together and brings great momentum to do even greater things. In 1 Samuel 11:12-15, Saul seized the moment of a great military victory to solidify his kingship and unify the nation of Israel:
Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished deliverance in Israel.” Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
Saul made a wise decision. Having just proved his kingship in battle, he essential offered forgiveness to all who opposed him as king in a moment of great potential for national unity. It is a rare leadership moment when you can bring people together and build momentum to do even greater things together than you could do apart. Jesus modeled this for us in Luke 9:50 when John tried to hinder someone from casting out demons in Jesus’ name just because he wasn’t part of Jesus’ traveling squad, but Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”
Seize the moment and build unity around Jesus Christ and His victory on the Cross! We can do more together than we can apart.
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 744
Come out of Hiding!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 31.
Have you ever hidden from a responsibility? Maybe it was a social commitment you cancelled, a meeting you skipped, or a service opportunity you avoided. According to 1 Samuel 10:20-24, Saul did the same thing, but he couldn’t hide for long:
Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”
There is a good chance that I would have wanted to hide from such a significant responsibility, too, and I hope that I would have people in my life, like Saul had, that didn’t allow me to hide from God’s calling. Importantly, while it was the community that went and got Saul, it was God who exposed his hiding spot.
You can run from your responsibilities, but you can’t run from God, and He can expose you at any time He chooses. Hebrews 4:13 explains, “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
Seize the moment and stop running from God’s call. He is waiting for you and has good plans for your life.
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 743
The Lord Reigns Over the Nations!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 30.
The next three chapters cover the choosing and the anointing of the first king of Israel – King Saul. The account from 1 Samuel 9:15-17 ensures that all readers know that it was God who chose Saul and not Samuel or any person or committee of people:
Now a day before Saul’s coming, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel saying, “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me.” When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.”
It can’t get any clearer, but for those who know the rest of the story, it is important to remember that Saul was the Lord’s chosen, and he was humbled by it. Saul’s reluctant words to Samuel’s favor are remembered in verse 21: “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?” God chose Saul to rule on purpose!
In today’s world of self-promoting politicians and endless committees of government bureaucracy, it is easy to forget the Bible’s teaching from Romans 13:1b, “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Paul was echoing Daniel 2:21b, “He removes kings and establishes kings.” We must remember that regardless of all that we can see, and no matter how hard it is to believe, the Lord reigns over all the nations.
YOUTUBE:
YOUTUBE:
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 742
Don’t Take Rejection Personally!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 29.
Rejection hurts! When you let rejection in your heart, it can lead you down the road of discouragement. But we don’t need to give ourselves over to those feelings of rejection because there is always more to the story than the painful words and hurtful actions of other people. Watch what happens between Samuel and the elders of Israel in 1 Samuel 8:4-7:
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
The people referenced both Samuel’s old age and his sons’ inability to follow faithfully in his footsteps for why they wanted him to appoint them a king. How could he not take that personally? But God made it clear to Samuel that he shouldn’t. There was more to the story; it was because of Israel’s recent history, the difficult days of the Judges, that the elders believed they needed a strong central leader, like the other nations, so they asked for a king.
What caused them to reject the counsel of their trusted leader? Why would they reject their God and stubbornly insist that what they wanted is better than what He had for them?
Seize the moment and don’t take rejection personally. People will do what people do and we shouldn’t allow their choices to hijack our lives. There’s always more to the story.
YOUTUBE:
Read more...