Seize the Moment – Day 1411
Today’s worship song focus will be
Revelation Song
Revelation 4:8 (NASB95)
We need to wake up with a new hunger and desire for more of God in our lives. Immerse yourself in worship today. Empty yourself of your own selfishness and allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up afresh and anew with the love and joy that can only come when we join with the angels in declaring “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty!”
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Revelation Song
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1410
The Destroyer!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 26.
Have you ever wondered who the destroyer is? The destroyer is found throughout the Bible, including Isaiah 33:1-2a, “Woe to you, O destroyer, while you were not destroyed; and he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; as soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.” Here, the destroyer appears to be Assyria, “the rod of My anger” (Isaiah 10:5), but it could also refer to Babylon, “My war-club” (Jeremiah 51:20).
Ultimately, the destroyer is a tool in God’s hands to execute His righteous judgments. This is evident at the Passover in Exodus 12:23, “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you” (cf. Hebrews 11:28). We also find the “destroying angel” in 1 Chronicles 21:15, “And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, ‘It is enough; now relax your hand’” (cf. Revelation 9:11).
Paul referenced the destroyer in 1 Corinthians 10:10, “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” An example of Israel’s grumbling was found in Number 21:6-9 when “the Lord sent fiery serpents” to kill the grumblers. Jesus referenced this story in John 3:14-15, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” Jesus emphasized that there is only one way to be saved from the destroyer (John 3:16)!
Seize the moment and look to Jesus, high and lifted up, the only way (John 14:6)!
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1409
The Glorious Transformation!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 25.
Isaiah 32 describes a Glorious Transformation that would be completed by the work of the Holy Spirit when the people returned to the Lord. God promised to give the people a righteous king, whose rule would bring blessing to the people and prosperity to the land (1-8). While this will be fulfilled perfectly in the coming Messiah, it was fulfilled in part by the righteous rule of two just kings, Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20 and Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23. Illustratively, Isaiah 32:13-18 demonstrates the impact of this Glorious Transformation upon Israel by giving the people a before and after picture of Jerusalem:
For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up; yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city. Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places. [emphasis added]
The key ingredient to the Glorious Transformation is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the very presence of God. The same is true today; apart from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you cannot be born again – regenerated and empowered as God’s witness of His Glorious Transformation.
Seize the moment and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:15-20; cf. John 14:16-17). The Spirit empowers you, as a member of His church, to participate in the ongoing work of transforming stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1408
Remain Loyal to God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 24.
God’s rebuke of Israel for seeking help from Egypt and putting their hope in horses and chariots continued. Isaiah explained why the horsemen of Egypt could never save Israel, “they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1). Yahweh is the only hope for Israel. This is further emphasized by the promise of God to His people in Isaiah 31:5-8:
Like flying birds so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; He will pass over and rescue it. Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel. For in that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your sinful hands have made for you as a sin. And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, and his young men will become forced laborers.
This is a promise with a praxis. It is a call to repentance – “Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel” (6). When I hear the word “defected,” I am reminded of times when athletes from communist nations defected during the Olympics, seeking freedom through political asylum. There is a lot of emotion built into this concept because to defect is to renounce one’s national identity. In Isaiah’s context, the act of defecting was an even deeper betrayal, whereas the “sons of Israel” abandoned their faith in God to put their trust in things that could never save them (e.g., idols and unholy alliances). God calls you to repentance – to denounce sin, which is defection from His sovereign rule of your life, and to return to your real homeland, which is covenant faithfulness to God by walking in the way of Jesus.
Seize the moment and remain loyal to God – “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1407
Return and Rest!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 23.
The woes continued as God rebuked His children for trying to find rescue and security apart from Him. Have you ever found yourself in a similar predicament? In Isaiah 30:1-4, God confronted the Israelites with how they are seeking protection from the Assyrians outside of His provision:
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.”
Not only would Israel suffer because of their misguided trust in Egypt, but all of Egypt was put to shame, as were all who put their trust in Pharoah (4-5). While this had a literal historical fulfillment, it also has an ongoing spiritual one. Don’t make alliances with the powers and principalities of this world in hopes of finding “refuge in the safety of Pharoah.” In Isaiah 30:15, God called His people to return home, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” Heartbreakingly, Isaiah recorded the people’s response, “But you were not willing, and you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses,’ therefore you shall flee! ‘And we will ride on swift horses,’ therefore those who pursue you shall be swift” (16). This world has no alliances that can save you – bigger bombs, smarter technologies, and large bank accounts will deceive you with false promises of security every time.
Seize the moment and return to the only One who can give you rest – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1406
The Potter and the Clay!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 22.
Do you believe there is a God? Even the evil ones know that (James 2:19); the essential ingredient of a saving faith is to have a belief that surrenders oneself to God and His will for your life – “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Three times Isaiah used the imagery of the potter and the clay to illustrate the stubborn refusal of God’s people to submit themselves to God’s will. The first time is found in Isaiah 29:15-16:
Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (cf. 45:9; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:1-6)
Isaiah warned the people of their self-sufficiency, their striving to make life work for them apart from God. Lovingly, God was using the prophets to call His children back to trusting Him in midst of their horrible circumstances. To emphasize our fundamental need to trust in the sovereignty of God, Paul pulled from this rich and meaningful imagery of Isaiah in Romans 9:20b-21, “The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” The essential ingredient to a saving faith is to trust God and His purposes for your life; that’s belief!
Seize the moment and believe God for His design for your life – “be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21; cf. Ephesians 2:10).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Read more...
Everyday Discipleship Wk 3
Everyday Discipleship with Real People
Teaching #3: The Second of the Big Three:
The Gift of Intimacy with God and How to Pray God’s Word!
The Second of the Big Three:
The Gift of Intimacy with God and How to Pray God’s Word!
1) Bible intake of Matthew 1-28 & Mark 1-12: Y or N
2) Study the handout on the Five Finger Method: Y or N
3) Use the S.O.A.P. Bible journaling technique: Y or N
4) Pray before and after my Bible time: Y or N
5) Memorize Mark 1:17 & Galatians 5:22-23: Y or N
A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ. Last week, you were taught the importance of Bible intake through the five-finger method of getting a grip on God’s Word. Today, you are going to learn how to follow Jesus’ example of Bible intake and prayer, twined together as Jesus prayed the Word.
The ways of Jesus that you will encounter in Luke this week. Read Luke 4:1-13, 16, 42; 5:16; 6:12; and 22:39-46.
+ Jesus defeated Satan by praying the Word all three times (4:4, 8 & 12).
+ “as was His custom” (4:16)
+ “went to a secluded place” (4:42)
+ “often slip away to the wilderness and pray” (5:16)
+ “He went off to the mountain to pray” & “He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (6:12)
+ “as was His custom” (22:39)
+ “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (22:40).
+ “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (22:42).
The Three Obstacles to Intimacy with God
- Superficiality! (Luke 6:46-49)
- Failure to Prioritize! (Mark 8:35-37)
- Wrong Focus: Information vs. Intimacy! (2 Tim. 3:1-7)
When am I to pray?
+ Find Jesus praying in the Gospels and take note of it.
+ Read and reflect on Jesus’ prayer in John 17.
+ Read and reflect on Jesus’ prayer in Luke 10:21.
+ Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It’s only 3 words!
Tips to Praying Scripture
+ S.O.A.P. moves you to pray the Word.
+ Move God’s Word from your head to your heart.
+ Pray God’s Word when you don’t have words or when you are not sure if your words are “in His name.” A great first step is the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13):
“Pray then in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
Action Items for this week:
1) Bible intake for this week: Mark 13-16 & Luke 1-17.
2) Write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day. Bring your notebook each week.
3) Review this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
4) Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and practice praying the Lord’s Prayer each day, found in Matthew 6:9-13
5) Read and reflect on the Tyranny of the Urgent handout.
If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.
If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1404
Today’s worship song focus will be
Lavish
Psalm 23:1-2 (NASB95)
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.”
Written and released in 2017 by Francesca Battistelli, Jeremy Redmon & Mike Weaver, it is easy to see that this song is based upon Psalm 23. It’s important to remember that before we had hymn books, the early church sang the scriptures. Just read through the book of Psalms and see the description of the chapters where it says “To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David” (Psalm 5). In fact, the word ‘psalm’ means a sacred song or hymn, especially one in which expressions of praise and thanksgiving are prominent.*
You are my shepherd, I shall not want.
You make me lie down in green pastures.
You lead me beside still waters
You restore my soul
We need to wake up each day with a song of praise in our hearts and on our lips. Think about how much better your day would go if you did this instead of grumbling at the alarm clock. God loves you and wants you to always have the best day, even when it may be dark and gloomy. Can you think of a better way to start your day?
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Lavish
You are my shepherd, I shall not want
You make me lie down in green pastures
You lead me beside still waters
You restore my soul
And though I walk through the valley
I won’t fear death’s shadow
Because I know You are with me
And the banner that’s over me
Is the love that has set me free
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
And Your love conquers all my fear
Because Jesus You’re always near
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
You pour out Your Spirit ’til I overflow
With peace in the midst of my trouble
You’re more than enough for my struggle
You are all I need
And though I walk through the valley
I won’t fear death’s shadow
Because I know You are with me
And the banner that’s over me
Is the love that has set me free
You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
And Your love conquers all my fear
Because Jesus You’re always near
Oh You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
Goodness and mercy will follow me all of my days
And I’ll make my home in Your presence now and always
Goodness and mercy will follow me all of my days
And I’ll make my home in Your presence now and always
And the banner that’s over me
Is the love that has set me free
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
And Your love conquers all my fear
Because Jesus You’re always near
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
‘Cause You lavish Your love
You lavish Your love on me
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1403
Heed God’s Promise of Rest!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 19.
Why is it that the people of God, throughout history, have struggled to heed God’s promise for rest? We say we want peace and quiet, yet we sabotage it at every level of our existence – internally, externally, personally, and publicly. God cries out to His people in Isaiah 28:11-12, and 16:
Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” and, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. … Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”
In Romans 10:9-11, Paul quoted the last sentence of verse 16, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” Furthermore, Paul bookended his point in Romans 9:33 when he quoted the first part of verse 16, putting the promise of salvation in between the two quotes of Isaiah 28:16, emphasizing the ancient truth that righteousness can only be imputed by faith.
Rest must be received! Israel did not listen when confronted by the Assyrian Empire. Later, Judah did not listen when confronted by the Babylonian Empire (Jeremiah 6:16). Jesus is confronting all people with it in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Are you listening?
Seize the moment and heed God’s unceasing promise of rest – it’s yours to have so “cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Are you sabotaging your experience of this promise in your life?
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.
Read more...
Seize the Moment – Day 1402
The Bible Reveals One God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 18.
The Bible is full of rich and meaningful imagery. Today’s chapter is no exception; listen to Isaiah 27:11-13:
When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; women come and make a fire with them, … In that day the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
- Jesus used the vineyard imagery from verse 11 in John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
- The threshing imagery of verse 12 is found in John the Baptist’s words about Jesus in Matthew 3:12, “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Jesus also used it in His parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30.
- Jesus quoted the trumpet blast of verse 13 in Matthew 24:31, “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Seize the moment and worship the one God who is revealed from cover to cover of the Bible. Take time to find these connections between the Old and New Testament.
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.
Read more...