Ezekiel 47
Root Deeply!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 26.
Ezekiel 47:12 concludes the description of the New Temple, describing a flourishing source of life that flows east from under its entrance, “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” The imagery of this abundant river describes a right relationship with God, as emphasized by the following Scriptures:
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- “How blessed is the man [whose] … delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).
- “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
- “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).
Seize the moment and root deeply into the river of the water of life. Abundant life comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ (John 10:10).
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:
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Ezekiel 46
Make Straight your Path!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 25.
Are you living a disordered life? Is your internal world a whirlwind of activity and your living space a cluttered mess? Are you finding it difficult to focus on God? God cares about orderly worship. So much so that He gave the prophet clear guidance on how the people were to enter and exit the New Temple in Ezekiel 46:9, “But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out.” God was making straight the path for those who desired to worship Him (Isaiah 40:3-5).
Jesus Christ came to make straight our paths to God (Luke 3:4), to be able to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Furthermore, Paul spoke of the importance of right worship in 1 Corinthians 14, giving direction about topics that were causing division and confusion in the early church. He gave two principles of how we are to offer right worship in the church: 1) “God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (33). 2) “All things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (40). God has forthtold the ways we are to conduct ourselves to be pleasing to Him. In the same way that He brought order to His creation, God desires for His people to worship Him in orderly ways.
Seize the moment and pick up the clutter of your internal world and conduct your life in a way that is pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). Make straight your path (Hebrews 12:12-13)!
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:
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Ezekiel 45
Live a Just Life!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 24.
How do you respond to injustice and inequality? Whether it is social justice or economic equality, one of the expectations of citizenship is that the government will not demean or exploit them, that they and their fellow citizens will be treated with respect by their community leaders and have equal access to opportunities in the marketplace. This desire is deeply embedded into us by God’s design. We need to pray for our nation, and all the nations, because the perversion of justice is one of the great signs of any culture’s decline, and it begins at the top. The prophet prescribed the antidote when God gave directions for the land surrounding the New Temple in Ezekiel 45:7-10:
“The prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, … This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.” ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord God. “You shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath.”
By God’s design, civic leaders are to be influenced by His moral decrees for justice and equality. When they are not, then truly the inmates are running the prison! That is why it is said of Jesus’ kingdom on Earth, He will “rule all the nations with a rod of iron” (Revelation 12:5). We need righteous leaders, like Jesus, who will not allow justice or equality to be perverted for their own selfish ambition or vain conceit (Philippians 2:1-11).
Seize the moment and live a just life – Do Justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).
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:
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Ezekiel 44
Access to the Presence!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 23.
In Acts 21:28, Paul’s opponents accused him of desecrating the temple, “This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” This was not a minor accusation, especially when you hear it in light of Israel’s history. In Ezekiel 44:6-9, God decreed that it was an abomination to Him:
You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void – this in addition to all your abominations. ….’ Thus says the Lord God, ‘No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.’”
In Ezekiel 44, the prophet sought to protect the people’s relationship with God through the observance of sanctity laws, priestly codes, and holiness standards, which were essential to right worship. One of those decrees was that no foreigner – the uncircumcised in heart or in flesh – could enter the place of God’s glory, the temple. Later, after Paul had been accused, Peter proclaimed of all New Covenant believers in 1 Peter 2:10, “you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” In Christ, you have been given access to the presence of God. Through faith, you have been circumcised in heart by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:29; Galatians 3:29).
Seize the moment and approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).
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:
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Ezekiel 43
Radiate the Glory!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 22.
After three chapters of describing the construction of the New Temple, in Ezekiel 43:1-7a, God showed the prophet that He would return His presence to Israel:
Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. … And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever.”
In the first three chapters (40-42), the focus had been on the details of construction, on structures and spaces. Now (43), the emphasis was on filling those spaces, which alludes to the creation motif of Genesis 1, where God brought order to space by first constructing the domains of water, land, and sky, then filling them with life. God was restoring life and purpose to Israel after the completion of His judgments. The presence of God was returning from “the way of the east,” which was the direction God had removed His glory in Ezekiel 10:18-19 and 11:23. The Great Reversal of God’s mercy and grace was being foretold! The chapter concludes, in Ezekiel 43:13-27, with God commanding His people to worship Him by offering right sacrifices, preserving the sacred purpose of not only the New Temple, but that of His chosen people – to reflect God glory!
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:
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Because He First Lovd Us Wk 3
The Call to Discipleship
Jakob Davis
(The Ascension and Great Commission)
After His resurrection, His great victory over death, Christ spends some time back on Earth with His disciples, a span of about 40 days. We know from the beginning of Acts 1, that Christ had been ministering, instructing His followers, His disciples, about the commands that had been given and were being given. And yet for what purpose was the Lord doing this? It was to fulfill and to empower His followers to do what He had commanded in the Great Commision. I imagine many of us are familiar with it, but I will read it nonetheless. From the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 28 Verse 18-20,
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
And further in the same place of Acts 1, Christ promises the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter, stating that once the Spirit has descended upon the disciples, that it shall empower them to be the witnesses of Christ “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And having finished speaking these things, Christ was taken up into a cloud, being received back into heaven to where He still stands today at the right hand of the Father.
(Obedience and Submission)
And Yet Christ’s promise, as all promises of God do, would ring true. The Great Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would descend upon the Apostles and what would it immediately empower them to do? To preach the Gospel! Acts 2,
“And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs — we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
These men, having just received the Holy Spirit, knowing full well the fate that could meet them, the same fate that their savior had just met only 50 days prior, began to preach! And because of this the Church grew! 3000 souls came to Christ because of the faith and empowerment of the Spirit at just one moment. And they continued preaching throughout the streets of Jerusalem, continuing to be the vessel through which the Gospel would be proclaimed. And despite jailings and warnings from the religious leaders of the time, those who had put Christ to death in the first place, they continued in boldness in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And because of their faith and boldness, not withholding their lives as Christ did also, thousands continued to come to faith. Yet this notoriety not only brought followers, but also persecution. The followers of Christ save the apostles were driven out of Jerusalem under the threat of death and imprisonment, scattering them and the Gospel away from the Holy City. And yet this scattering did not worsen their faith, but proved to be a testament of it. Acts 8 conveys this point, Verse 4,
“Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”
This seems to echo back to the Great Commision does it not? “Go, making disciples of all nations…”. The faith of those driven out under threats of death were not broken, but only served to further scatter the Gospel amongst the world. Many others, those thought to be untouchable, whether by righteousness sake (in the case of St. Paul) or those who were viewed as unclean and defiled (the Gentiles) had the Gospel proclaimed to them and in their acceptance were made clean before the eyes of God.
Paul, formerly known as Saul, had persecuted the church in the initial dispersement from Jerusalem. Yet he wasn’t just another cog in the machine, just another priest, he was the man in charge of hunting down the Church of Jesus Christ. He was responsible for the jailings and deaths of many Christians that had not managed to escape Jerusalem in time. And yet even to him was the Gospel given, and even he responded, falling down to his knees before the Son of God on the Road to Damascus.
This man, the persecutor of the church, did not fear the judgment of the people who he once persecuted, but rather knew that his mission, the mission given to him by Him (point up) was far more important. In fact he spent the rest of his life doing it, spreading the Gospel from Israel and the Middle East all the way to present day Spain. He withstood beatings, stonings, mockings, and being a social and societal outcast of his own people so that the news he was entrusted with would make it to where he had been commanded to take it. In the his letter to the Philippians, Paul speaks on his persecution for the Gospel saying in chapter 1 verse 20-21,
“According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
(So Great a Cloud of Witnesses)
Now, I imagine it is possible that many of you out there are wondering about my point. Why have I spent the last, however long, talking about the early church and what they did and faced? And to that, I answer your question with a question. Do you know what the Hall of Faith is? There is a portion of the Book of Hebrews that bears a significant tie to my point. In Hebrews 11, we have the hall of faith, something Pastor Jerry covered a year or two ago, quite well I might add. Detailed within are the accounts of various of the saints who have gone before us, such as Abraham, Enoch, Moses, Daniel, Rahab, Samson, Jeremiah, and many, many others. I’m going to read to you portions of this passage. Hebrews Chapter 11 Verse 32,
“And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”
Then in Chapter 12 of the same book, right there in verse 1 it says,
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
These same, our brothers and sisters who came long before us, endured all manners of trials and torments, believing that the price that they were paying here in their flesh was far outweighed by the reward which awaited them and the reward of working towards the Kingdom of God. If we consider just the disciples that saw Christ, the risen Christ, they found it to be more desirable that they work and die for the Gospel given to them, than to fade back and only evangelize to those close to them.
The writer of Hebrews, Paul, who we’ve talked about already a brief bit, finds his end in Rome, beheaded by Emperor Nero. The brothers Peter and Andrew both crucified, along with Phillip. Thomas was stabbed through with spears. Bartholomew was flayed to death and then beheaded. Mattias was stoned and beheaded. Simon the Zealot was sawn in half. Every apostle was willing to die for what they saw and what was given to them, save John who survived the attempts on his life and imprisonment, returning immediately back to spreading the Gospel upon his release.
This pattern of willingness to suffer and die for the Gospel did not vanish after the apostles, for the early church, the church fathers took up the same mission. Hundreds died at the hands of those persecuting them, and died gladly. Disciple and dear friend of John the Apostle, Ignatius, said this as he was led to his death,
“Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as a libation for God while an altar is still ready, that becoming a chorus in love you may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ because God judged the bishop of Syria (which was Ignatius) worthy to be found at the setting having sent him from the rising.”[1]
He went on further in the same letter, begging the churches not to interfere in what he saw as the culmination of his life as a Christian. And this attitude did not change after his death, as for thousands of years after our brothers and sisters have been dying, and dying gladly for the dispersement of the Gospel, striving to know Christ and to make Him known.
And yet here we are, comfortable. Generations of saints died for this news, this Gospel, the same news we are entrusted with, and we can’t be bothered to break as much as a nail for it. Our Gospel is one of convenience. Let me take a show of hands, (walk down among them) how many of us have at any point in our lives shared the Gospel? Now how many have done it within the last year? Now I want you to really think and be honest with both yourselves and with me, how many of us have shared the Gospel with someone who isn’t a friend, a family member, a work acquaintance, or someone that our lives touch through work (this includes the pastors) someone we know and we’re comfortable with? How many of us have done it in the last month? In the last two weeks?
This is my point, our Gospel is one of convenience, one of comfort, one of fear. In many cases we don’t wanna go out of our way to do it. We worry that the other person might think that we are weird, perhaps we fear that they’ll freak out, or maybe that they’ll ask a question that we can’t answer. Our form of evangelism seems to be akin to a circle around our lives. If an individual comes close, we might just share the Gospel with them, but in many ways we remain stationary, almost waiting for people to be pulled into our orbits before we do anything akin to sharing the Gospel. So in many cases our version of evangelism is inviting them to church. Nothing wrong with that right?
The church’s function is not to perform evangelism work where you have failed, it’s to train and equip us to do the work ourselves! The church is not a catch basin. It’s not the pastors or the elders job’s to evangelize our spouse. It’s not their job to evangelize our kids. It’s ours! It’s always been ours!
Many of us, especially likely with our more finely aged brother and sisters, have likely heard the fire and brimstone railings from the old Baptist preachers, railing against our failings and sinfulness just for the purpose of scratching an itch that the pastor has. But I am not those men and I do not feel that itch. This topic, it’s not an itch but an obligation, not a desire but a necessity. I need a clear conscience towards our God, even if it means speaking an uncomfortable truth in a way that isn’t comfortable to hear and I have been stirred up by the Spirit to give this to you. This is not a suggestion or a timid request, but a command. Christ’s commission was not something to be ignored! If we believe in Him like we say we do, we must follow these commands. Matthew 28:19,
“GO therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
You see our Lord’s command doesn’t read “If you go” or “If it’s convenient to you.” or “If you’re comfortable doing it.” It reads “Go”! We are called to submission, we are called to obedience, being willing to suffer and die in the same way our blessed savior was for the proclaiment of a news that isn’t ours, but has been given to us to share! So let us join in the attitudes and conducts of the ones who came before us, who have run the race set before them with endurance, willing and happy to sacrifice all, who fixed their eyes firmly on the One who saved them.
Application
A dear friend told me a story here recently along the lines of what we’ve heard today. Back thousands of years ago was a king named Alexander, known now as Alexander the Great. He was a conqueror, perhaps one of the best the world has ever seen. Well following one of his great conquests, he stood upon the throne of one of his defeated adversaries and presided over the judgment of the enemy soldiers and prisoners captured during the battle. But when he got to a soldier who wore his colors, a Greek soldier that served in his army it gave him pause. He was told of the boy’s crime, he had deserted from battle because of his fear.
Alexander looks at the boy and calmly asks, “What is your name?” The boy looks at him and responds, “Well sir, Alexander.” Enraged and befuddled, Alexander the Great steps down grabbing the boy by his tunic and throws him to the floor and says, quite simply I might add, “Soldier, change your conduct or change your name!” You see Alexander believed that this soldier’s cowardly acts would besmirch the name Alexander and that the boy, if he didn’t change his conduct, was not worthy to bear the same name as him.
For many of us, our own fears, laziness, and complacency have placed us in the position of the young Alexander who carried the same name as his king. We flee from a battle that is already won! A victory that is already assured! I understand the fear all too well but we must move! As it was to Alexander, so it is to Christ our King. If we cannot proclaim His name, a name so much higher than any earthly king or ruler, to all the nations in His conquest, then we do not deserve to bear His name. So, I challenge all of us, pastors and elders included in the same way, change our conduct or change our names. Don’t claim Christ if you aren’t truly acting out your faith in Him, you only make it harder for the world to see Him.
Benediction:
A Psalm of David,
1Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
Amen, go in peace.
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Ezekiel 42
Create Sacred Spaces!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, July 20.
Where do you go to experience God’s presence? While we know that God is always everywhere, how do you intentionally seek to encounter God specifically somewhere? The vision of the New Temple continued as the angel took the prophet to the adjacent priestly structures. The priests’ chambers connected with the inner court, but also had entrances to the outer court. In Ezekiel 42:13-14, the angel explained the importance of constructing these sacred spaces:
Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy chambers where the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy. When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”
These rooms were intentional sacred spaces for the priests to change into their ministry garments, such as a sacristy or vestry in a church, where vestments are stored and changed into. It was customary for Israelite priests to eat a portion of the offerings, and according to Leviticus 7:6, that had to be done in a sacred place. Ezekiel’s vision of the New Temple preserved these ancient traditions, upholding the importance of creating sacred spaces for worship. Creating sacred space is still an important part of worshipping the God who is holy. Is it possible that in our evangelical tradition’s desire to transform the ordinary into the everyday sacred, that, unintentionally, we have diminished our experience of the sacred all together?
Seize the moment and create sacred spaces to encounter the holiness of God 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.
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Ezekiel 41
Day 1585
Make Space for Grace!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 19.
We all need sacred space in our lives, physical places that convey to us the mystery of God and His presence in the world. Where do you go to commune with God? For some, that is found in the meaningful architecture of a church building, while for others it is found in the grandeur of creation. There is great beauty in both, especially when you have eyes to see sacred spaces for what they are – reminders that God has made a way for humanity to be with Him.
Ezekiel 41 continues to lay out the details of the New Temple, as the angel moved the prophet’s attention to the sacred space of the nave in verses 1-4:
Then he brought me to the nave and measured the side pillars; … Then he went inside and measured each side pillar of the doorway, two cubits, and the doorway, six cubits high; and the width of the doorway, seven cubits. He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the nave; and he said to me, “This is the most holy place.”
This is the sacred place of the temple system, especially the most holy place, commonly called the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence was promised to dwell. Take note that in Ezekiel’s vision only the angel entered this place while measuring it. As a priest, Ezekiel remained in the nave because only the high priest on the Day of Atonement was allowed to enter this most holy of places (Hebrews 9:1-7). Thank you, Jesus the Great High Priest, for tearing the veil and making a way for us to have God’s presence, always and forever (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-20).
Seize the moment and make space for grace in your daily life. In Christ, God is with you always, but where and when are you setting apart space to be reminded of these truths?
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.
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Ezekiel 40
Trust God’s Message!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 18.
The final section of the prophetic work of Ezekiel encompasses nine chapters, beginning with a detailed description of the New Temple. It is widely understood that the description of this New Temple does not match any known construction that has happened in the 2,500 years since Ezekiel received his vision. Those who believe that these chapters are far too detailed for there not to be a literal fulfillment, anticipate that it will be built during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Others believe that the details demonstrate the importance of the holiness of God, partially put on display by His church, who are individually (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20) and collectively (1 Peter 2:4-5) the Temple of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22), until the New Heaven and New Earth eternally declare His holiness (Revelation 21-22).
However you interpret it, we cannot write off the importance of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the New Temple. Amidst the many details of its construction, don’t forget the obvious detail found in Ezekiel 40:2-3, that God sent an angel to deliver this important message of a future hope:
In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city. So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
Seize the moment and trust the One who gave us the Bible, even when the message may be mysterious, just as it would have been to Joseph in Matthew 1:23, “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” All things will be revealed in their time!
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:
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Ezekiel 39
There is a Day Coming! (Part 2 of 2)
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 17.
There is a day coming when evil will be forever punished, justice will be perfectly fulfilled, and the people will dwell with God in eternal glory. To this end, God has been preparing His creation, as it was intended to be from the beginning, so it will be on that day. In anticipation of God’s glorious rule, all rebellion must be vanquished, as Ezekiel 39:6-7 proclaims, “And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord. My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore.”
While there are endless debates on when and how the Ezekiel prophecies will be fulfilled, there is no doubt that the references to Gog and Magog thematically yoke Ezekiel 38-39 with the end times prophecy of Revelation 20:7-10:
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Seize the moment and trust that there is a day coming when all things will be made new (Revelation 21:5). On that day, evil will be forever vanquished, and Christ will eternally rule all creation.
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.
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Ezekiel 38
There is a Day Coming! (Part 1 of 2)
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 16.
Why did God raise up an “exceedingly great army” from the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-10? The answer is found in the apocalyptic battle of Ezekiel 38-39, where God introduced the coming enemy of “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38:2-4:
Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords.’”
The stage was set for the epic battle between good and evil, with the redemption of not only Israel, but all of God’s creation. It is through the New Covenant’s baptism of the Holy Spirit, which regenerates people to God’s purposes of living under His headship, that the Table of Nations can be restored back to His sovereign rule. The Table of Nations is the listing of Noah’s descendants in Genesis 10, and Ezekiel prophetically connected Israel’s purposes back to the scattering of these nations. There is a double fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy because the prophet was anchoring Israel’s future deliverance from captivity to the ultimate fulfillment of the Messiah’s liberation of all the nations from demonic rule. Just as Israel would return to the Promised Land, so all the promises of God are fulfilled in Jesus Christ who “rescued us from the domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:18), which will be completed for Gog and Magog, and all the Table of Nations, in Christ’s eternal rule (Revelation 20:7-10).
Seize the moment and live on mission for God’s kingdom, remembering that your salvation is an enlistment into the exceedingly great army of God (2 Timothy 2:3-4).
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.
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Ezekiel 37
Breathe New Life!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 15.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the exiles were in shock and despair. God wanted to restore unto them the joy of His salvation, so He gave Ezekiel a vision of the valley of dry bones, illustrating the truth of Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” God commanded the prophet to breathe His Spirit upon them in Ezekiel 37:5-10:
“Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’” … “Say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
God doesn’t desire for His people to live in despair. After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the disciples were confused and discouraged, so the resurrected Lord appeared to them in John 20:21-22, “‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” He restored unto them the joy of His salvation, giving them a renewed hope that their faith in Him had not been misplaced – “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). The regenerative power of the Holy Spirit restores joy, bringing life to dry bones.
Seize the moment and breathe the hope of new life onto people by giving them the balm of joy that brings life to broken spirits.
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:
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Because He First Loved Us Wk 2
The Cost to Christ
Jakob Davis
Good morning brothers and sisters, it’s good to see all of your smiling faces on this beautiful Sunday morning. In case you missed it, or if you need a refresher, last week we talked about OUR sin, OUR decrepit condition of a nature. We went over how Scripture details that all are found guilty in sin, marred and entangled within it as a cursed inheritance from our forefather Adam. We went over how even though Scripture calls those who are within sin “slaves of sin” it doesn’t mean that we are being forced to do something we don’t wanna do, in fact, quite the opposite. We desire to serve our flesh and allow it to master us. And unfortunately, there’s absolutely nothing that we can do about it within our own strength.
The Incarnation & His Perfect Life
Even to God’s own people, Israel, it looked hopeless! The children of Israel had faced down and fallen to the Babylonians in the Book of Jeremiah, the Temple had been destroyed and desecrated, they had gone into exile and had miraculously been released to go home to their lands after over 70 years. And yet when they returned home and began the work to rebuild the temple the manifested Spirit of God didn’t come with them. His manifested presence that had been upon the first Temple never returned after its departing in Ezekiel 10, before the judgment of the people of Israel. The last of the Old Testament prophets, Malachi, closes the portion of His book with a prophecy of what is to come, a last message of hope. Malachi 4: 5-6 reads this,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
And with a final word <snap finger> the lights go out. The prophets, God’s divine messengers stopped talking, God stopped talking. For 400 years the people heard nothing from God, made worse by the fact that they had been conquered three different times and dispersed. First the Greeks under Alexander, then Ptolomy, then finally Rome. Bound under captivity and servitude to foreign nations and powers, the people of God wept, begging God for relief, for a release from their overlords, for the power of God to be shown again and for Israel to be glorified amongst the nations. The hopes of the peoples of God were growing ever dimer, strengthened only by prophecies of a king to come that would be a great conqueror and would bring all the nations of the world under His dominion. And that was exactly what they got, what we got, just not in the way we thought He would come.
400 years after God stopped talking, a young and unmarried woman is visited by the angel Gabriel, giving her the news that a king would be born to her, that He would inherit the throne of His father David and that He shall reign over the house of Israel forever! He would be called the Son of God, the Holy One, and His name would be Jesus. Luke 1: 30-33 says this,
“Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Yet you might think that a King such as this would be born in the lap of luxury, I mean His father was King David was it not? He’s the Son of God! Yet this young woman and her betrothed husband were not royalty, they were commoners and carpenters. And he would not be born into the lap of luxury but into a humble beginning. Detailed in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 Verses 6-7:
“So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manager, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Something for us that we must understand is that this was not a simple babe. He was not just another man or just a holy man. He was God. In the beginning of the Gospel of John, the apostle John records this, John 1 Verses 1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life as the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
And Verse 14 of the same book and chapter,
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Cost
And what was this cost? It was the deaths that we deserved, bearing the iniquity and the sin of us all. In a hammer stroke of symbolism and literality, the high priests of Israel, those who were holy before their own eyes, delivered Him up to be judged before the Romans. And yet they stood for us, stood for mankind, offering up the Son of God to be judged for our iniquity. In the Gospel of Mark these events are recorded, Chapter 15,
“Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”
When it says He was scourged, we might think of something far more pleasant than what was actually the case. The thing He was “scourged” with was called a fragrum and it was perhaps one of the most brutal and cruel devices of punishment and torture besides the crucifixion itself. We likely have a good picture of what it might look like, a handle with cords of leather proceeding from the handle itself. Yet on the end of each of these pieces of leather were nails, pieces of sharpened bone meant to puncture into the skin and become embedded, and perhaps the worst of all, metal hooks which would lodge themselves into the skin of their victims and would pull chunks out of the body when the fragrum was violently ripped away. There are ancient records of the tool leaving ribbons of skin hanging off the body and tearing down to the bone.
And for most of us we know what happened. We know that Christ, after His scourging, was led through the streets of Jerusalem, being mocked and scorned, carrying a cross that weighed near 300 pounds upon a torn and destroyed back and shoulders. And when He arrived to that cursed mount of Calvary, He was laid upon the cross He had just borne, and nailed to it, not with nails as we understand them, but rather with some akin to a railroad spike. Once He was hung, every single breath that He had to take, He had to muscle Himself up on those spikes through His feet. For six hours, He withstood the blood loss, He withstood the constant and ever present mocking and ridicule, He withstood the sheer pain of it. Yet not just physical pain, but emotional pain too. Everyone that had followed Him, His closest friends had abandoned Him. He hung on the cross all alone, dying.
Luke 23:39.
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.
This last conversation with Jesus before His death, shows mankind a reality. We can be like the first criminal who blasphemes God, showing no faith or remorse, but rather expecting God to save us. Or we can be like the second, who understands his sin and iniquity, and in faith comes to Christ humbly. And with one final breath Christ commends Himself into the Father’s hands, dying in the place of the murderer and insurrectionist Barabbas.
The Plan
But you see this was all the plan, executed perfectly and without error, just as it was intended. You see God wasn’t reactionary to our Fall, He didn’t say to Himself, “Oh darn, humanity done and did it, I better go fix it.” No, rather Christ knew and waited, for as it says in the Book of Galatians Chapter 4 Verse 4-7:
“But when the fullness of time had come, God (that is God the Father) sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
In the fullness of time? Christ came in the fullness of time to break the shackles and the binds of the slaves! Let me read verse 7 again,
“Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Our identities as slaves to sin have been destroyed! Atoned for! Covered, with the precious blood of Christ. Christ’s atoning work upon the Cross and His resurrection broke the shackles of death and sin, allowing all those who would call upon His name to come into the newness of life as a son and heir of God. 1 Peter 2:23-25 says this:
“Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Illustration & Explanation
So you’ve undoubtedly seen the absolute mess of rope tied and wound through this front row of pews. Today we’re going to continue our theme of different illustrations with an active image of our lives. Would my voluntold volunteers come on out? As you can all see, these brave souls are fully blindfolded, completely and totally unable to see. Today they are going to be navigating through this sort of “rope course” to the way out that we can all see (crack a grin). They all have their instructions, but we as a congregation cannot help them. Please do not laugh when Beorn hits his head trying to climb under the pews, or when Aria gets frustrated and starts talking to herself. Just observe. (Begin the illustration)
Application
Earlier I read the verse from the Gospel of Mark which detailed Christ being handed over to the Romans and His crucifixion. Yet in those same verses there was a man, a man who had been arrested and was awaiting death for his crimes, who, without a doubt, was guilty of them. His name was Barabbas, if you don’t remember. His name quite literally means, “son of the father”. We are Barabbas, guilty of our own sins and deserving and bound for a death that we do deserve. No one would argue against his deserving of death! Yet Christ was sacrificed in his place, in OUR place. A man, totally innocent and undeserving of punishment, yet willing to take it upon Himself in our place so that we might be declared righteous before the eyes of God and able to come home.
This week I would like to read the rest of that Chapter of Isaiah so please turn with me to Isaiah 53. The Word of the Lord,
“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men. A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes are we healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
As we go into our last song, and as we go out into the world today, may your mind be cast back to the great and terrible cross which the Son of God went to gladly for both you and I. My prayer for you, is that each and every single one of you would know the love of Christ in that while we were yet sinners, bound and destined only for death, Christ died for us, taking into His own body our sin and suffering our death. There are undoubtedly some of you that are out there that look back upon your sin and think “I don’t deserve this, I deserve death. Forgiveness is not something I want, for how could there be enough for me?” Perhaps you’re looking at your sin right now and allowing it to stonewall God calling out to you. My dear friends, I plead with you, Christ pleads with you, all of heaven pleads with you, come home. I speak from experience when I say I know this feeling, the guilt, the painful remorse. Come home, come home to a Father who loves you, to a Savior who died for you. Come home, the altars are open, there will be men waiting at the stairs to pray with you, who join with Christ and myself in pleading for you. Let us pray.
Benediction
A Psalm of David,
“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your Lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight – That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when you judge. Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”
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Ezekiel 36
Cultivate and Sow!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, July 13.
Ed Bell is a local Indiana farmer who sees his chosen occupation as a metaphor for Christian ministry – to cultivate the soil and plant good seed, trusting God with the coming harvest. Farmer Ed’s perspective on life has positively influenced me over the fifteen years we have cultivated the soil and planted good seed together in his beloved Indiana community. I am thankful to live amongst a community that understands farming because the Bible is full of agricultural imagery, including God’s promise to Israel in Ezekiel 36:9, ‘For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.” God explained His promise in verses 34-36:
“The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it.”
While this promise was given to the Jewish exiles in Babylonian captivity, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of the Judean countryside, the principle can be applied beyond the return and redemption of the Promised Land. As Christians, our promise is not for a homeland defined by borders because our citizenship is in Heaven and the whole world is our farm. While we are to be loyal citizens to our respective nations, and work for the welfare of our local communities, our true occupation is to cultivate the soil of hearts and sow the good seed of God’s Word for the salvation of souls (Matthew 13:1-43).
Seize the moment and work hard as a faithful farmer – cultivate the soil of hearts and sow good seed with care and concern for the welfare of your community!
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.
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If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
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Ezekiel 35
Break the Cycle of Bloodshed!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 12.
Bloodshed begets bloodshed! This is one of the major themes of the human drama. We see it in the Bible, ancient mythology, modern history, and in current events. I just read another local news story of a road rage incident where a young man shot at another driver. We read stories like that, and we ask ourselves, “What’s the world coming to?” but, honestly, that that’s the way it’s been for thousands of years. In Ezekiel 35:5-6, we hear the ancient law of reciprocity in God’s oracle of judgment against Mount Seir, which is the nation of Edom:
“Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end, therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.”
The law of reciprocity goes both directions, just as it can be a negative death cycle of bloodshed begetting bloodshed, so it can be a positive life cycle of love begetting love. We see this in God’s salvation story to redeem His rebellious creation back unto Himself through the love of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He broke the negative cycle by giving us grace, as Romans 5:8 emphasizes, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We are not saved because we deserve to be saved; quite the opposite, we are saved because love begets love. When love wins, we all win!
Seize the moment and break the cycle of bloodshed in today’s world by loving others as God first loved you, hence fulfilling the golden rule of Jesus, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
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.
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Ezekiel 34
The Promise of a Good Shepherd!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 11.
God’s people need hope whenever they are walking through the valley of the shadow. In Ezekiel 34:15a, the Lord promised to be a good shepherd to the sheep of His pasture, “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest.” He would fulfill this promise through the Messiah, referenced in verses 23, “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.” Even though this prophecy was written at least four hundred years after the death of King David, and Jesus would not be born for over five hundred years, Ezekiel was declaring that the promised rest of God would come through the Messiah of Israel, who is the Son of David. He described how the Good Shepherd would lead them to rest in Ezekiel 34:27-28:
The tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.
Jesus fulfilled these promises, offering each of them to you today: 1) the promise of fruitfulness by abiding in the Vine of Jesus (John 15:1-16); 2) the promise of rest by taking on Jesus’ easy yoke (Matthew 11:28-30); and 3) the promise of peace by receiving the Holy Spirit (John 14:26-27). Like the rod and staff of a shepherd, these promises will comfort you as you walk through the valley of the shadow (Psalm 23).
Seize the moment and trust Jesus to be the Good Shepherd of your soul (John 10:10-18).
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.
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Ezekiel 33
Day 1576
Repent of Being a Church Connoisseur!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 10.
Are you called to be a church connoisseur? A connoisseur is a person who has an expert knowledge of something, especially the arts, and is qualified to judge and appreciate its quality. You are called to be an effectual doer of the Word, not a critic (James 1:22-25). Unfortunately, in the modern world of social media, church connoisseurs have a popular platform for their craft, causing weaker brothers and sisters to stumble, and non-believers to scoff at the muddied message of the church.
The prophet was reminded of his call in Ezekiel 33, to be a watchman who blows the trumpet, warning the people by raising the alarm that they are in danger. Yet, the prophet’s proclamations had become mere entertainment to the exiles in Babylon, so God encouraged him in Ezekiel 33:32-33, “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. So when it comes to pass – as surely it will – then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.” God was encouraging Ezekiel to be faithful to His calling because the proclaimed Word does not return void.
Your church’s worship leaders and preachers are not called to entertain you or to please your churchianity sensibilities, but rather to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through fervent prayer and faithful teaching (2 Timothy 4:1-5). If you find yourself wanting your ears itched by your local church, then repent of being a church connoisseur and be the church instead.
Seize the moment and respond to your local church services, not with critique of your fellow ministers, but as a fellow member of the body of Christ, faithful to your calling as an ambassador for Christ and minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
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.
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Ezekiel 32
When Grieving, Don’t Sin in your Anger!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 9.
Anger is one of the five stages of grief, along with denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It is normal for a grieving person to oscillate between the five stages, returning to their anger time and again, especially if the death was tragic or untimely. Ezekiel 32 ends the four-chapter indictment of Egypt with the sixth and seventh oracles of judgment. They were given in 585 BC, just a few months after the exiles of Israel had learned about the fall of Jerusalem, so the historical context is that of a grieving community who had recently learned of their capital city’s fall and Judah’s devastation. It should be not surprising then that verses 18-21 capture the depths of their grieving process:
Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit; … The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, “They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.”
Repeatedly, the prophet condemned Israel’s enemies, telling them to make their bed with the uncircumcised (pagans) and to lay down with those who had fallen by the sword. This was a condemnation and shame upon not only Egypt, but all foreign nations who had either arisen against Israel or who had failed to protect her. Ezekiel taught that they would go to the “nether world,” which literally means “the lower parts of the Earth.” He called it “the pit,” which was referencing Sheol, the place of the dead. In Ezekiel 26:20, he compared it to the “ancient waste places.” How do you treat others when you are grieving? Have you ever cursed anyone in your anger?
Seize the moment by blessing and not cursing – don’t sin in your anger when you are grieving (Ephesians 4:26-27; Romans 12:14-21). Get help today by seeking grief counseling.
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.
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Ezekiel 31
The Thrill of Victory!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 8.
There is nothing quite like competing on the biggest stage of national sport. As I’ve been watching the drama of the USA Olympic Team Trials unfold, I am reminded of the famous opening line in The Wide World of Sports, “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” I watched the heartbreak of a reigning world champion who did not make the team, and the pure joy of an athlete who did. It’s great drama to watch, but it’s a different matter to live through such highs and lows yourself. I know because I got fourth place in the hammer throw at the 2000 USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, narrowly missing the team by one spot. Sports are a great metaphor for life, because through them we learn how to navigate the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!
Imagine what Pharaoh must have experienced when the prophet illustrated Egypt’s coming fall from the heights of power and prestige by describing the former world power, Assyria, as a mighty cedar in Ezekiel 31:2-3, 10-11:
“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes, ‘Whom are you like in your greatness? ‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among the clouds. … Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away.’”
Seize the moment and find the thrill of victory in something greater than the transitory podiums of prestige and perishable awards of success – “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20-21).
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.
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Because He First Loved Us Wk 1
The Condition of Mankind
I wanna tell you a story, a true story. A story about a young boy turned into a young man, desperately lost and searching for anything that might bring him a shred of pleasure and peace. You see this boy hadn’t been born to Christian parents, but still grew up going to church. He had the same Sunday school lessons taught to him as many of you did, yet when this world came and broke his little world, he couldn’t cope, couldn’t reconcile what he had been taught about God with what he was facing now. He came face to face with death, the cruel sting of it, robbing him of that last shred of childhood. So, what do you suppose went first? His small and ungrown childish faith. He blamed God for everything that had happened in his life, the bullying, the suicide of his cousin who was more like a brother, the at times tumultuous and rocky home life. He blamed God for the evil that he saw within the world, for the evil that was within his fellow man. And where do you think he sought peace?
He sought it in friends, in women, in trouble and unrighteousness. Lying and manipulation were practically a language for him as was anger and rage. After all, these things gave no peace, only a momentary release and distraction from the pain. Each and every death and disaster in his life drove him further and further into that life, a life where the rule of me was the only rule that mattered. A life whose goal was self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction, which viewed others as dispensable and nothing but pawns and means to ends which he set for himself. Fiercely independent, yet ultimately reliant on others for strength and validation. Nothing within him desired after God, or what God deemed and said was righteousness, in fact the only feelings he had towards Him were contempt and hatred. He persecuted those who believed in Him, actively attacking and lambasting the faith of others, seeking to convince them and himself of the truth that he thought he had. He was stuck, bound, slave to his nature, a nature which desired what was against the God he once knew, and yet he didn’t care.
That young boy, that young man, was me. I desired after nothing but what pleased me and what pleased me, what pleased my sinful nature, what pleased my corrupted flesh was unrighteousness. And yet that is precisely what we are talking about today. Sin, more specifically our sin, our sinful nature, the things which from our birth we have been slave to. Before we begin, examining a portion of the Book of Romans, I wanted to open with this truth about my life. What we are talking about today is without a doubt, a very difficult topic to talk about and a very difficult to accept truth. I want you all to know my heart before I begin, a heart that does not judge nor condemn you for a life that you lived or very well may still live in, for I have lived a life of unrighteousness and there are very, very few things that I have not done for me to judge you upon. My brothers and sisters, dear friends and dear strangers, please join me as we turn to Romans 5:12. The Word of the Lord,
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
Through just one man, sin came into the world. Who is this one man? Verse 14 tells us outrightly, it’s our forefather Adam. For from him, we inherited a malignant cancer. But what was the mode that we caught this plague, this corruption? Was it from committing sin? Practicing unrighteousness and disobeying God as our forefather Adam did? I assume we all know of David, the man who defeated Goliath, who desired to see God’s kingdom be exalted above all, who followed after God to his end, the declared “man after God’s own heart”. In Psalm 51:5, our man David had this to say,
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
Our paragon of a man, perhaps one of the most virtuous men in all of Scripture, gives us the origin of how we came to inherit sin, not to Genesis as St. Paul did in Romans, but more simply to our births. We were given it, as a cursed inheritance from Adam. We, through no sinful action of our own at the moment of our creation, became accursed and guilty of God’s judgment upon mankind. But this inheritance was not only the guilty verdict of death, but an invasive and malignant cancer that would bind our will and desires to it, to total unrighteousness. In the Gospel of John our Lord Christ said this, Chapter 8 Verse 34,
“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
And yet as we know from our beginning verse of Romans 5:12, all are guilty of sin. So according to Christ, we are all slave to sin, bound to its will and its way. Yet, it is likely that our understanding of slavery carries an understanding akin to being forced to do what we do not desire to do. Yet this could not be further from the truth! Our sinful and corrupted flesh desires and longs for that sinful and unrighteous release. We serve and served sin gladly and with no knowledge or understanding of a better way! For how could we know, except it was preached unto us, and how could we understand if not for the illumination of the Holy Spirit within us? Perhaps you remain unconvinced. St. Paul, early in the Book of Romans quotes a few Old Testament passages to drive home the unchanging nature of this point. Romans 3:9-12:
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not, one”
Not even God’s own people, the Israelites, can escape this. I want to stress that the sinful nature is not our natural state! We were fashioned by God to be in relationship with Him! Our current nature is not new but the corruption of our original nature! We all find a commonality in our final destructions and destinations, both God’s people and the Gentiles, that’s us, for if we all cannot understand, how can we come to appease and find forgiveness in the eyes of God? It is not by our lives or our works as some might suggest, for we know from the teachings of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit and a corrupt tree cannot bring forth the good fruit. For as it says in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 64 Verse 6:
“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;”
Our works are nothing for the judgment that awaits and awaited us. We cannot seek to appease or satisfy the righteous requirements of God placed upon us. Our hands are metaphorically and quite literally tied, bound for our final destination, that is eternal death.
We all, whether we can admit it to ourselves and others or not, have sinned, have fallen short of the glory of God. But not just fallen short, we have all brought upon ourselves the wrath of God. For why shouldn’t He who is holy and perfect in all things, seek righteous judgment upon the sinful ways of the thing which He has dominion and lordship over. I cannot overstress to you enough that we do not deserve mercy, we do not deserve grace, we deserve death. That’s what we deserve, our final destination in our sins. Ephesians 2:1-3 says this:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in what you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
We who were and are children of wrath deserve exactly the same, yet righteous wrath. For how could we measure up? How could we appease and satisfy requirements that we could not desire?
Application
As we move into the closing, I want to leave you with just a single point of application, something simple, but something that must be accepted if one is to understand anything about what comes next. We, all of us, you, me, everyone outside these walls and doors, are broken. All of us, bound before a holy God at an impossible breaking point, totally and utterly destroyed, enslaved to our sin, a nature that we wish to serve. That’s the application, that truth, that understanding of who we are. For many of us we understand what might be coming next, Who is coming next. But I wanted to spend this morning talking directly about who WE are. For how can we understand salvation and the One who brings it, if we can’t grapple with, understand, and accept what we were being saved from, that being ourselves and the enemy.
As we leave today, I’m asking you all to do something, something much more hands-on than what we are used to on a Sunday morning. Beneath your seats or in the storage compartments on the back of the pew in front of you is a piece of paper. While this last song plays, I want you to think about your sins, who you were and who you might still be, sins that you have confessed to God, and sins that you may not have. When you’re done, write them down on that piece of paper and fold it however many times you’d like and either leave it in your pews in the same spot you found them, or take them to the offering basket on your way out of the sanctuary. This will remain totally anonymous and no one but God and yourselves will know what you wrote. If you’d rather do this in the privacy of your own home, take a piece home and bring it back next Sunday and when we collect the offering, place it in the basket. I don’t often like to reveal my hand, but these seemingly insignificant pieces of paper are vital for the next sermon. As the worship team begins to play I’d like to read to you our final verse, a verse for us to meditate on as we think on who we are and who we were. From the Book of Isaiah,
“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Benediction Prayer
A Psalm of David,
“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your Lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight – That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when you judge. Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence…”
Amen
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Ezekiel 30
Strengthen your Body!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, July 6.
Do you have a physical fitness regimen that supports your ministry life?
I’m walking on the trails and working out in the weight room because I want to keep my body healthy. I desire to live my life on mission for Jesus, and I can only do that if I maintain the temple of the Holy Spirit with which I’ve been entrusted. Additionally, I have recognized the holistic nature of health and well-being; it’s not enough to remain physically healthy, I must integrate that with mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual health. As Paul taught his protégé in 1 Timothy 4:7b-8, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Ultimately, life and death are in God’s hands, so train your soul to listen, and discipline your body to obey.
The prophet emphasized God’s sovereignty over our physical strength in his judgment against Egypt in Ezekiel 30:22-25:
Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand. … For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man. Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the Lord, … .”
Seize the moment and strengthen your body for the mission of God, so you can go where He tells you to go and do what He tells you to do. Dedicate your health and well-being to God for His glory!
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.
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Ezekiel 29
Don’t Fear the Monsters!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 5.
Have you ever feared what may be lurking under your bed at night? There are monsters in the world, but we do not have to fear them when God is with us! That’s the message of Ezekiel as he commences a four-chapter indictment against Egypt’s pride and failure to help Judah as promised. In Ezekiel 29:2-6, the prophet compares Egypt to an enemy of epic proportions:
“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’ I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales. … Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, … .” [emphasis added]
The Hebrew word translated “the great monster” can also be translated “dragon” or “serpent,” as seen in Isaiah 51:9 when referencing the exodus event, “Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?” In this passage, as well as in Isaiah 30:7 and Psalm 74:13, the mythological beast is used in parallel with Rahab and Leviathan, respectively, which further reinforces that God is referencing divine combat with chaos monsters of mythological proportions, emphasizing, in the way that the Ancient Near Eastern people would have understood it, that Yahweh was above all creation and mightier than any cosmic force. God showed His mighty right hand at the exodus, and He would do it again during the exile. He will do it for you, too!
Seize the moment and praise the God who is victorious over every foe, to include monsters – there is nothing to fear when God is with you!
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.
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Ezekiel 28
Guard your Heart from the Evil One!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 4. Happy Birthday to the USA!
What was the power behind the throne of Tyre? Was it hubris, with the man on the throne claiming to be a god, or was it Satan, a disgraced cherub, who was using the king’s pride as an access point to animate the king’s heart for his own evil schemes? Tyre was not ruled by a god, as the king claimed of himself. In fact, God rebuked him for such a claim in Ezekiel 28:2, “Because your heart is lifted up and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas’; yet you are a man and not God” (cf. 6, 9).
Ezekiel 28 continues the three-chapter oracle of judgment against Tyre, concluding it with an indictment of the king’s pride. The prophet appears to be pulling back the veil of the natural as he used language that can’t be applied to any person. Regardless of whether you see this supernatural description as historical or allegorical, the ultimate point remains the same, “pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). God described the prideful king as a fallen angel in Ezekiel 28:12-19:
You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; … You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. … Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you. … you will cease to be forever.
Seize the moment and humble yourself, stop Satan from having access to the control center of your life through pride and arrogance (James 4:7). Your heart is a throne, so guard it well (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 6:13)!
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.
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Ezekiel 27
Tear Down the Fortress! (Part 2 of 2)
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 3.
Are you trusting God to tear down the strongholds of sin in your life? After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar moved on to Tyre, sieging it for thirteen years, but he could not prevail against the island fortress. It wasn’t until 332 BC, when Alexander the Great built a causeway of stone and rubble from the decimated mainland out to the island fortress, that the prophecy was fulfilled, as foretold in Ezekiel 27:34-36:
Now that you are broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company have fallen in the midst of you. All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in countenance. The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have become terrified and you will cease to be forever.
The ancient city of Tyre was destroyed, never to rebuilt as an island fortress. In fact, it has become a peninsula, as land built up around Alexander’s causeway. Tyre never dominated the region again, and the stronghold’s influence diminished into the history books. From 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, we learn that this is what happens when our strongholds of sin are removed by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” Never forget that it was for freedom that Christ set you free, so don’t return to slavery to sin (Galatians 5:1).
Seize the moment and live free of the fortresses of hurts, habits, and hangups from your past life. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
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.
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Ezekiel 26
Tear Down the Fortress! (Part 1 of 2)
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 2.
Did you know that ancient Tyre was a formidable island fortress? It was the capital and leading city of the Phoenician Empire, who greatly influenced Israel and the surrounding coastal region. Tyre was built atop an island, which made it virtually impregnable by sea or land. The Assyrians had sieged Tyre for five years and could not prevail against it. Yet God confidently declared His judgment against this seemingly undefeatable stronghold in Ezekiel 26:2-6:
“Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’ therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock. She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God, ‘and she will become spoil for the nations. Also her daughters who are on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
We all have strongholds in our hearts and minds that need to be brought low so that they stop influencing areas of our lives that should belong exclusively to God. In 2 Corinthians 10:3, we learn that to remove such strongholds we need God’s power, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
Seize the moment and trust God to tear down the fortresses of sin 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.
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