A Savior and a Champion!

Isaiah 19

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 8.

Our culture loves superheroes. At least, we love to be entertained by the concept of a hero who will fly in and rescue us. The marketplace is saturated with so many books, shows, and movies that express our inborn desire for a savior and a champion. Don’t be surprised by this insatiable hunger to be rescued, because evil is real and our need to be saved from it is valid. We most certainly need to be rescued, but not by someone wearing tights and a cape. In Isaiah 19:20-22, God promises to send “a Savior and a Champion” to Egypt:

It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.

Once again, we see the heart of the Father in this passage – the purpose of His judgments is the healing of the nations, so they will return to His rightful rule as the Sovereign. Never forget that God loves all the peoples of the planet, and not just “you and yours.” He is not ethnocentric, nor xenophobic, as John testified in 1 John 4:14, “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

Seize the moment and participate in God’s Great Rescue through Jesus Christ by praying for all the nations (Matthew 5:43-46; 28:18-20) and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40; Galatians 5:14).

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.

Today’s hymn focus will be

I Lift My Hands

Psalms 63:3-4  (NASB95)           

“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.  

So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.” 

The song was written by Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Matt Maher, and Jesse Reeves in 2010. Rooted in biblical truths of surrender, trust and worship, this song has impacted many believers’ lives since its release. It has served as a source of comfort, inspiration, and encouragement by reminding everyone of the faithfulness of God and the power of worship in our individual lives.

I lift my hands to believe again You are my refuge, you are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember You are faithful, God, forever

We need to wake up every day with a firm resolve in our hearts that this and every day is a day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it, no matter what we are facing! Why? Because we are not facing it alone. He is there with us. And when we lift up our hands, our Father God is faithful to pick us up and carry us through.

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:

 I Lift My Hands

A Gift of Homage!

Isaiah 18

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 5.

Do you know the history of Cush? While it has historical connections with the Egyptian Empire, it’s located in Ethiopia. The Cushites came from Cush, the son of Ham, who was one of the three sons of Noah (Genesis 10:6-8). This is an ancient people; in fact, it is one of the first places mentioned in the Bible. In Genesis 2:13, God described the Garden of Eden, which includes a reference to Cush, “The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.” From this pre-historic geographical reference, it is not surprising that the oracle to Cush references “the rivers” three times in the seven verses of Isaiah 18, including verse 7, “At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation, whose land the rivers divide – to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.”

When your people dwell in the land of the Garden of Eden you are going to highlight that sacred geography whenever possible. It’s like putting a brown sign at your exit on the Interstate, explaining that there is something of interest to pull off and see here! More than that, though, verse 7 prophesied that “a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts” by the people of Ethiopia. Is it possible that a fulfillment of this was the conversion of “an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship” (Acts 8:27-40)?

Seize the moment and present yourself as a gift of homage to God – “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship”(Romans 12:1).

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.

The Power of Vision!

Isaiah 17

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 4.

Damascus was made famous by a Jewish religious leader named Saul, who, after his conversion to the Way of Jesus Christ, started going by the Greek version of his name. The Apostle Paul’s conversion experience is described in Acts 9:3-6:

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

In Isaiah 17:1-7, there is a fascinating foreshadowing found in the oracle of Damascus regarding Paul’s conversion story: “Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin. … In that day man will have regard for his Maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.” While their destruction was accomplished in 732 BC by the hands of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29-16:18; cf. Isaiah 7:1-9), the opening of the eyes to the Holy One of Israel would literally happen over seven hundred years later. In Acts 9:1-19, the Pharisee Saul was blinded by the vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus, but as evidenced of the power of Jesus to redeem that which was bound for destruction, his sight was restored by Ananias in the very city of Damascus where the promise of men’s eyes being opened would occur – “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight” (18).

Seize the moment and lift up your eyes to see Jesus high and exalted! Meditate upon His promise, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” ( John 12:32).

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.

The Power of Redemption!

Isaiah 16

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 3.

Do you believe that your story can be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ? God can break any generational curse and redeem your story for His good purposes. The second chapter of the oracle of Moab’s destruction continues with Isaiah 16, but in the midst of this doom and gloom, the hope of the Messiah shines through in verses 4-5:

Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; be a hiding place to them from the destroyer. For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, oppressors have completely disappeared from the land. A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness.

Within the judgment of Moab, we find the hope of the Messiah. This prophecy is included in the angelic message to Mary about the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke 1:32-33, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

This is the amazing grace of God’s redemptive power to transform stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we learned yesterday, the Moabites’ origin story began with the scandal of Moab’s parentage of Lot and one of his daughters. After generations of being a thorn in the side of God’s people, their ancestorial line was redeemed by Boaz, the kinsman redeemer who married Ruth the Moabitess, and, together, they became great grandparents to King David, and of the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:5-6).

Seize the moment and believe in the power of God to break the generational curses of your family and redeem your story for His good purposes (Romans 8:28).

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.

Your Story Matters!

Isaiah 15

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 2.

What can you tell me about the Moabites? Why should you even care about this ancient people group? As you read Isaiah, one of the temptations is to start speed reading through his many oracles, just like you might have done with Moses’ genealogies. People matter to God, so be careful of hardening your heart to their destruction or dulling your mind to their unique stories. Isaiah 15:1-2 began two chapters of bad news for the Moabites, “The oracle concerning Moab. Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined; surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined. They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba; everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.”

This was not the first oracle given for the destruction of the Moabites. In Numbers 21:29, Moses stated, “Woe to you, O Moab! You are ruined, O people of Chemosh!” The Moabites have been around a while, as  their origin story goes all the way back to Lot, the nephew of Abraham, when he hid with his two desperate daughters in a mountain cave (Genesis 19:30-38). Moab was birthed in a scandal and grew into a people who were a thorn in Israel’s side, as can be seen from a few examples from Israel’s history:

Yet, the Moabite story ultimately points to God’s redemption because Ruth the Moabitess is in the lineage of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5; Ruth 1:4).

Seize the moment and pay attention to people’s stories. Stories matter because people matter to God!

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.

Break the Yoke of Slavery!

Isaiah 14

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 1, 2024.

Happy New Year! As you begin the new year, I invite you to renew your commitment to Jesus so that you may walk in covenant faithfulness to God and His Word – this is where you will find rest for your soul, in the easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30).

In Isaiah 14:3, God promised rest to His oppressed people, “And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved.” This promise was followed by the oxen yoke imagery, described in verse 25, “to break Assyrian in my land, … Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder.’”

The yoke imagery of the Old Testament symbolizes slavery and oppression by evil. Israel often found themselves oppressed in the yoke of slavery because they did not rest in covenant faithfulness to God and His Word. In three other passages, God references the oxen yoke through the prophet Isaiah:

Seize the moment and take on the easy yoke of Jesus! Rest can only be found in covenant faithfulness to God and His Word – “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Happy New Year!

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Today’s song focus will be

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Luke 2:14-15 (NASB95)         

““Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He

is pleased.”   When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds

began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see

this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

“It came upon a midnight clear, That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold:”     

We need to wake up and take the message of peace into our area of the world that needs to either hear it for the first time or be reminded of it. Remember, each of us are to be the messengers of the gospel, just like those shepherds who heard it from the angels on that night so long ago.

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:

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear