The Absurdity of Apostasy!

Jeremiah 2

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 15.

Judah was unfaithful to God, seeking after the gods of powerful neighbors. Their false worship through idolatry was considered apostasy, which is the forsaking of the prescribed way of worshipping God. It was for this reason that God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to Judah – to call His people out of rebellion and back into the way of covenant faithfulness. Through him, in Jeremiah 2:13, God confronted the people of their crime, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” This is imagery built upon his predecessor’s prophetic ministry, as Isaiah stated, over a century prior, in Isaiah 55:1-3, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; … Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

Covenant faithfulness is how Judah can drink from God’s “fountain of living waters.” Unfortunately, they refused to worship Him, choosing the corrupted cisterns of apostasy, directly referenced in Jeremiah 2:17-18 as the Babylonian and Egyptian empires, “Have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way? But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?” Which would prove themselves to be corrupted cisterns of counterfeit promises. This is the absurdity of apostasy – to forsake the ancient paths of eternal peace for the contemporary means of transitory power.

Seize the moment and walk in the prescribed way of Jesus Christ, the One who can rescue you from the absurdity of apostasy – “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38; cf. John 4:10-14; Revelation 22:17).

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.

A Timeless Call at a Specific Time!

Jeremiah 1

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 14.

In the same way that Isaiah was called at a specific time, when the Assyrian Empire sought to destroy the northern ten tribes of Israel and seize the Promised Land, Jeremiah was called at a specified time of intense suffering as the Babylonian Empire sacked Jerusalem and deported the southern two tribes of Judah. His ministry was set in a historical context, as described in the first three verses of his prophetic work:

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

As you read the prophetic books of the Old Testament, don’t forget that the prophets were real people with real faith in real history. The historical context of every single one of these books can be placed in the painful history of Israel, including the kings to whom Jeremiah prophesied (2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 34-36). Just like Isaiah, Jeremiah had a call narrative. The God who transcends time spoke to him in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” God gave Jeremiah a timeless call to share His Word to the nations at a specific time in history, and God is doing the same with you today.

Seize the moment and share the good news of Jesus in your specific time and place today. You are a hope-bearer (1 Peter 3:15)!

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.

Steward God’s Plan A!

Isaiah 66

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 13.

To fully understand Jesus’ call of discipleship, you need to understand why God made you in the first place. What is God’s Plan A, and do I have a part in it? As Isaiah comes to an end, the telos of God is clearly proclaimed in Isaiah 66:18-22:

“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: … And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord. “For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.

From the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). He intentionally made a creation that would require His personal involvement and ultimate intervention, and He created stewards for it, image bearers who would reflect His glory by living under His rule (Genesis 1:26-30). This has always been God’s Plan A, and Jesus came to redeem humanity back as the trusted stewards of God’s creation – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Seize the moment and steward God’s creation until He makes all things new (Revelation 21-22). He has already begun His redemption so that you can fulfill His telos as His disciple (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

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.

The God Who Wants to be Found!

Get off the Treadmill!

Isaiah 64

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 11.

Are you on the treadmill of works-based religion? Do you find yourself working harder trying to please God? Isaiah 64:6-7 establishes an essential truth to our absolute need for a savior:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

Isaiah was referencing the Law from Leviticus 15:19-33, which speaks of the ritualistic cleansing necessary for a woman’s monthly cycle. Isaiah alluded to a natural reoccurring process that had to be atoned for to emphasize that we all are in constant need of purification. There is nothing any of us can do to keep ourselves right with God.

In fact, every attempt you make to cleanse yourself puts you in deeper need for God’s purification. That is why Jesus made the hard statement in Matthew 5:20, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus was not saying, “Work harder!” Quite the opposite, Jesus was emphasizing to His listeners the impossibility of being righteous by one’s own efforts. You absolutely need a savior because every time you try save yourself through your own righteous acts, you put yourself in further debt to the grace of God – “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

Today’s worship song focus

Praise

Psalm 150:6 (NASB95)     

“ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!”

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:

Praise

The Rest of God’s Hesed!

Isaiah 63

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

In Isaiah 63, after invoking the Divine Warrior imagery of the Messiah, Isaiah proclaimed the covenant faithfulness of God – His hesed. He made it very clear that it was not the people’s faithfulness that rescued them from Egyptian slavery and brought them into the Promised Land, the land of rest (Joshua 21:43-45). Rather, it was the covenantal love of God, His hesed, as proclaimed in Isaiah 63:7, “I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses [hesed] of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion and according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses [hesed].” It was God’s hesed that persevered with the people of God and led them into His rest, as stated in verses 12-14:

Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble; as the cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So You led Your people, to make for Yourself a glorious name.

In the same way, it is Jesus who leads us into the rest of God’s hesed. As Paul declared in Colossians 1:13-14, “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.” When we are in Christ, we enter the rest of Jesus’ covenant obedience to the Father, who bestowed upon Him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:5-13). Find rest by taking on the easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30; Galatians 5:1).

Seize the moment and diligently enter His rest by walking by the Spirit (Hebrews 4:10-11; Galatians 5:16-25).

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 Importance of Self-Identity!

Isaiah 62

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 7.

Self-identity shapes how you view the world and relate to it. So much of your personal agency is determined by your self-concept. God knows this, which is why Paul proclaimed in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” In Christ, you are not who you used to be, the Spirit is transforming you into His likeness through the renewal of your mind (Romans 12:2). In Isaiah 62:1-4, God promised to give His chosen city a new name:

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will designate. … It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,” nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; but you will be called, “My delight is in her,” and your land, “Married”; for the Lord delights in you, and to Him your land will be married.

God has promised His people an unbreakable covenant, declaring His delight in choosing Jerusalem as His bride, the bosom of His eternal kingdom (Revelation 21:2-7). Receiving a new name is part of God’s redemptive work, as Jesus promised in Revelation 3:12, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name” (cf. Revelation 2:17).

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.

Stewards of the Spirit!

Isaiah 61

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 6.

Jesus began His ministry by proclaiming the fulfillment of Isaiah 61. In Luke 4:17-21, we watch Jesus enter a Jewish synagogue:

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

In quoting Isaiah 61:1-2a, Jesus was declaring the fulfillment of the whole prophecy, in which God promised in verses 6-8, “But you will be called the priests of the Lord; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. … [to] make an everlasting covenant with them.” This is why Christ came – to establish the New Covenant between God and humanity, of which He is the only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9:15). As disciples of Jesus, we are stewards of the same Spirit promised in Isaiah 61 and fulfilled in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Seize the moment and live victoriously as a steward of the Spirit. The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus at His baptism (Luke 3:21-22) and led Him into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-13), empowers your Christian life today (1 John 4:4).

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.

Point to the Final Redemption!

Isaiah 60

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

The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than the forgiveness of your sins; it is the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, which culminates in the redemption of all things. Paul declared this about Jesus in Colossians 1:20, “through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” God foretold this in Isaiah 60:18-22:

Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over. Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. The smallest one will become a clan, and the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.

This imagery concludes the Bible in Revelation 21-22, with a glimpse of the New Heaven and New Earth. At the appointed time, Jesus came to declare the Kingdom of God (Galatians 4:4-5), and He will hasten its completion in the Father’s prescribed time (Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:7). Until then, you are called to be a Spirit-empowered witness of the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:8).

Seize the moment and point to the final redemption, demonstrating how God has rescued you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – “You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48).

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.