Seize the Moment – Day 1178
Kingdom Plunder!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, June 8.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
Interestingly, in Psalm 68, the Conqueror received gifts, but in Ephesians 4, He gave gifts. Dr. Michael Heiser explained this disparity:
In the ancient world the conqueror would parade the captives and demand tribute for himself. Jesus is the conqueror of Psalm 68, and the booty does indeed rightfully belong to him. But booty was also distributed after a conquest. Paul knows that. He quotes Psalm 68:18 to make the point that after Jesus conquered his demonic enemies, he distributed the benefits of the conquest to his people, believers. Specifically, those benefits are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11).[1]
Jesus gave the kingdom plunder of the enemy to His church, through the Holy Spirit, to equip and empower the saints to grow in love and do good works (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 68, meditating upon the victory of Jesus Christ – “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Colossians 2:15).
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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 293.