Seize the Moment – Day 596
Walk in the Way of Jesus!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, November 3.
Do you remember the Sunday School story of the man whose donkey talked to him?
The story of Balaam is told in Numbers 22—24. It’s about a seer (an old word for prophet), named Balaam, who was hired under pressure by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the Israelites.
Two supernatural events happened to Balaam on his way to Balak:
- An angel speaks! God’s anger arose against Balaam, so God sent the angel of Yahweh. A donkey saved Balaam’s life. The angel testified to this in Numbers 22:33: “But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live.”
- A donkey speaks! Before Balaam knew the donkey was saving his life, he beat his donkey for being obstinate. As if preparing Balaam for God’s rebuke from His angel, Numbers 22:28a states, “the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey.”
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke—a mad prophet, a talking donkey, and an angel are traveling down the road together … But this is no joke; rather, it is a real historic event used to warn us to not follow the way of corruption!
Peter compared false prophets and teachers to Balaam in 2 Peter 2:15-16:
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet (cf. Jude 11-13).
Seize the moment and walk in the way of Jesus! The best way to not be led astray into the way of Balaam is to abide in the easy yoke of Jesus Christ.
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Seize the Moment – Day 595
Go
“ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
This is why it is important for us to start our day with some time alone with God. I mean, if Jesus did, then why shouldn’t we? He will prepare our hearts and the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say just when we need them.
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Seize the Moment – Day 594
Serve
Continuing with the thought of God’s provisions, we are once again encouraged to take the gifts that God has given us by His grace and be good stewards of them. We are to use them to serve one another in love and grace. Just as we are all called to be ministers of the Gospel, His witnesses proclaiming the truths of God, we are all also called to serve.
In the Old Testament, it was the tribe of Levi that was chosen by God to serve in the temple and to serve the other eleven tribes. They were born into that responsibility. However, in the New Testament, Jesus brought about a new way of thinking: “It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,” (Matthew 20:26).
We need to remember the words of the old hymn “There is Joy in Serving Jesus”
There is joy, joy, Joy in serving Jesus,
Joy that throbs within my heart;
Ev’ry moment, ev’ry hour, As I draw upon His power,
There is joy, joy, Joy that never shall depart.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 44
The Promise of Provision
Also: Isaiah 58:11; Psalm 37:25: Philippians 4:6-9,19; Ephesians 6:6-8, 10-18
2 Corinthians 9:6-10
“6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.”
Before I even begin this message, let me preempt it by this is not a message on tithing or giving. But rather, it is a message to show you who is the one blessing you and giving you all that you have so that you can be His vessel used to bless others.
Provision is defined as “an amount or thing supplied or provided; supplies of food, drink, or equipment, especially for a long journey.” It is all the things you need…not want, but need! Tina and I use this concept of ‘want vs need’ to help keep our budget in check. Is this item we are looking to purchase a want or a need? Even if it is on sale or on clearance, does it fulfill a need in our lives?
The scriptural basis for the statement we have probably heard many times in church “Where God guides, He provides” is found in Isaiah 58:11:
“The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”
From the very beginning of time, God has provided for all of mankind’s needs…Adam and Eve in the garden; Noah with the plans for the ark to save his family and the animals; a wife for Isaac; blessing everything that Joseph put his hand to do, and the list goes on and on. If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, wouldn’t you think that He is still doing those same things today?
Testimony of provision: My electrician (I had the money, but God provided a blessing)
I. Physical Provision
Testimony from David: Psalm 37:25
“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”
Exodus 13:21-22
“ The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. 22 And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.”
~It was providential that they would be there.
~They were released, but stayed to lead the jailer and his family to know Jesus
~Fresh water from different sources (later it came from a rock)
~Daily bread (aka manna)
From Keith Green’s “So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt”
Manna hotcakes, flaming manna soufflé, manna waffles, manna burgers, manna-cotti, bamanna bread.
They had water, a carb and a protein!
~Limited resources
~God gave the increase, they all ate as much as they wanted and had leftovers!
II. Spiritual Provision and Protection
~Full Armor…not pick and choose. Belt of truth, Breastplate of righteousness, Shoes of the gospel of peace, Shield of faith, Helmet of salvation, Sword of the Word.
*Special note….no back piece, because it is God who has our back!
~We have to be the ones to put it on. Then and only then will we be able to stand against the schemes of the devil!!!
Ephesians 6:12
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
I could easily get on a soapbox right now and talk about why I believe and feel convicted about not practicing certain holiday traditions, or read certain books or watch rated R or horror films. Then it becomes a thing of “that’s what you believe, or your religious upbringing.” So instead, I want to pose this question…
Is God being glorified in what you are doing/reading/watching?
The devil is doing all he can to desensitize us to the real ‘spiritual warfare’ that is going on around us. A friend pointed out that C.S. Lewis wrote of this in The Screwtape Letters, about how we get distracted and waste the most precious of our gifts…time!
“…you will find that anything or nothing is sufficient to attract his wandering attention. You no longer need a good book, which he really likes, to keep him from his prayers or his work or his sleep; a column of advertisements in yesterday’s paper will do. You can make him waste his time not only in conversation he enjoys with people whom he likes, but also in conversations with those he cares nothing about, on subjects that bore him. You can make him do nothing at all for long periods. You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a cold room. All the healthy and outgoing activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at last he may say…’I now see that I spent most my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
We cannot be complacent to that which is going on and just write it off as a part of life. We as a church are called to be the game changers, not us changing to be like the world. We should be bringing God’s grace, truth and love into mix! We are called out to ‘not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds’, getting rid of the stinking thinking like Jerry talked about last week. It is not about us and what we want, but rather what God wants.
Let me re-read a portion of the scripture passage for today from the ESV
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”
2 Corinthians 9:8-11
It is not just about the provision, but rather what that provision truly is…God’s grace! God’s grace is freely given to us and we are to freely give it to others. We cannot truly show God’s love if we are giving to meet a need, but looking down our noses at them. Remember, there but for the grace of God, go I! This is where the rubber meets the road on showing who we are truly serving.
Paul gives us the recipe for success, and Pastor Jerry shared it last week, but needs to be repeated.
Turn to Philippians 4:6-9
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
If we are doing this, then there is not time for idle talk, because we will be talking about what Jesus is doing in our lives. If we are filling our minds with the good things of God, then we won’t have space for the sinful thoughts to take up residency. For it is God’s peace that we need to experience and have as the protection and provision of our hearts and lives.
God loves us so much that He has given us the tools/provisions to be able to go through this life’s journey. If we are needing anything in our lives, we need to take it to Him in prayer and believe that He will provide just what we need.
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Seize the Moment – Day 592
“God Will Take Care of You”
He returned later that evening to find the verses and chorus written by his wife that were inspired by their son’s statement. He was so inspired, that he immediately sat down and wrote the music:
God will take care of you, Through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
We need to follow the promise of this verse by humbling ourselves before God, casting all our anxieties and cared on Him. Why? Because He cares for you and has it under His mighty hand.
YOUTUBE:
God Will Take Care of You
God will take care of you;
Beneath his wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
through ev’ry day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you. [Refrain]
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon his breast,
God will take care of you. [Refrain]
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Seize the Moment – Day 591
LOVE
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Sadly, the word ‘love’ has been watered down to cover so many different things: “I love chocolate” or I love this fall weather” or “I love it when a certain football team loses!” or “I love the smell and taste of fresh brewed coffee.”
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Seize the Moment – Day 590
Belong
Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)
Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)
“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.”
If you know me, but you did not know all my boys and they walked into the room, you would definitely be able to tell that they are from the Durham Clan! And then when you see their children, you can also tell that they are of Durham descent!
This promise was initially made to the people of Israel. The God who was and is and always will be told them not to fear, for He had paid the price and even knew them by their names! That same God sent His one and only Son so that He could ransom all of mankind with His shed blood.
It is God’s desire that none should perish, and He is counting on those of us who already ‘belong’ to Him to share the message of grace and hope with those who have not yet responded to His loving call. They need to know that the price has already been paid for their sins. All they need to do is confess those sins and accept the gift of eternal life…the choice is up to them. Then they too would ‘belong’ to God the Father as His children.
We need to pick up on the sense of urgency that is all around us and share this message with a new boldness and love. Christ will be coming back soon! While no one knows the exact time, we need to make sure that everyone knows that Jesus loves them and wants them to belong to His family!
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Seize the Moment – Day 589
Rest
Matthew 11:28-29 (ESV)
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
I find it fitting that today’s key word hits on the middle of the week. All too often, we find ourselves already tired from a busy week, and we are only halfway through it! We need to remember this verse and put it into practice daily!
A couple of weeks ago, Jerry challenged us to bookend our day with some quiet time. Time alone with God needs to be a priority to start our day. Many times, you will find that the scriptures you read in the morning will be used by the Holy Spirit to remind you of God’s promises just when you need them. Or it will be just the Word that someone in your life needs to hear. Then, to close out our day we need to spend some time talking with God to download all the stuff of the day and know that God will and is taking care of it. He promises us that if we come to Him, He will take care of us and give us rest.
We need to stop trying to carry everything on our own. Come to Jesus and lay those burdens down. Like the children’s church song says, “Our God is so big and so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do.” There is an insurance company that claims you’re in good hands with them, but I would rather be resting in God’s mighty hands, wouldn’t you?
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Seize the Moment – Day 588
Follow
Today’s key word is “FOLLOW”.
I John 2:5-6 (ESV)
Growing up in a time before personal computers, gaming consoles or cellphones, we played outside. And playing a game like ‘Follow the Leader’ was very commonplace. The toughest part was figuring out who would be the leader, so a quick game of rock/paper/scissors/shoot or eenie- meenie- minie- moe would decide whose turn it would be. And you had to do everything the exact same way as the leader, or you were out of the game.
Here we have one of the disciples who answered the call to follow Jesus reminding us that if we are who we say we are, then we will walk and talk like Jesus did. He directly calls out those who claimed to be disciples of Christ, yet did not have His truth and love in them, and said they were out right liars.
He wasn’t being judgmental, but rather was telling all the believers that the proof is in the pudding…what you say and what you do shows who you truly love and follow. Are you following what you want to do (selfish) or are you following what Jesus wants you to do (selfless)? Choose you this day whom you will follow!
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Seize the Moment – Day 587
Gather
Psalms 102:21-22 (ESV)
Our first key word is “GATHER”.
Psalms 102:21-22 (ESV)
“that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise,
when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.”
As we see the farmers around us harvesting their crops, we see a demonstration of gathering. That which they have planted, tended, and cared for is being collected to then provide for seasons to come, as well as give testimony of God providing a bountiful harvest.
In much the same way, as we gather together here at the church, we are giving praise to the Lord, declaring His goodness and thanking Him for all that He has provided, and for that which He is going to do in and through us as we worship Him. Yes, we could do that at home on our own, but we are called to gather together and testify of ALL that He has done in our lives SO THAT we may encourage others around us until He calls us home.
Much like a holiday gathering where you are able to catch up with family that you have not seen in a while, your church family wants to hear what God is doing in your life, for this serves to encourage each other until the day of His return. In this way, God will be glorified in and through everything we say and do.
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