Baptist City Blog

How God Speaks to You

Proverbs 1:23

"Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

One of the questions I am often asked is how do we know when God is speaking to us. Proverbs 1:22-25 shows us four ways that God speaks. You will notice in verse 22 that God addresses three different people. He addresses the simple, the foolish and the scorner. The simple person is not a bad person, they are a person who doesn't know any better. The foolish is one who knows better, but won't do anything about it. The scorner is one who graduated from being foolish to criticizing God's ways and His Word. However, you will find that God speaks to each of these groups in the same way.

The first way God speaks is through His Word. Notice in the verse above that God said, "...I will make known my words unto you." Christian, God cannot speak to you if you don't daily read His Word. God has something to say to you on a daily basis, but cannot get His Words to you if you won't read Them daily. Furthermore, God speaks His Word to you through preaching. Often a person misses God's message to them because they are not listening to the preaching. Be careful about becoming sidetracked during the preaching with daydreaming, writing notes, texting and simply not listening. God has something to say to you, but you must listen to the preaching to hear it.

The second way God speaks is through your heart. Verse 24 says, "Because I have called, and ye refused;..." This is God convicting someone in their heart. Many times God will use His Holy Spirit to speak to your heart through the form of conviction. It is very important that you listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, for God is trying to say something to you.

The third way God speaks is through helping hands. Verse 24 says, "I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;" God uses people to do His works. Often, when someone is not listening to the preaching and the convicting of the Holy Spirit, then He sends someone to help them get their life back together. You will often see this method when people show interest in you to get you to come back. When God sends someone to help you, don't reject His help through this person, for God has something to say to you.

The fourth way God speaks is through counseling. Verse 25 says, "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:" When you go for counsel, God will speak through the preacher to help you to do right or to get right. Be careful about having your mind made up when you go in for counsel for God has a message for you to help you to do right.

The sad part about these four areas is that when a person will not heed God's Word, then destruction comes. Verse 26 says, "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;" Notice, because the person would not listen to God that destruction came their way. It is not always God's judgment that caused their destruction, but many times it was because they did not listen, therefore, they could not hear God's warning to keep them from that which would hurt them.

By way of warning, don't plug your ears to God's voice. You may be running from God by trying to experience the world's way, but destruction will come if you won't listen to the voice of God. For those who are doing right and want to continue doing right, be sure to keep your ears open to God's voice in these four areas so you can avert the "calamity" that will come your way by not heeding the voice of God.

Four sermons to heat up your summer are at www.baptist-city.com now. These are for the week of 7/10/11.

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Increasing Peace

Isaiah 9:7

"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

Peace seems to be the cry of the world. When you look at political leaders, they all talk about having world peace. Churches desire to have peace in their congregations. Christians want peace with other Christians outside of their congregation. Families want peace between family members. Yet, peace is not a possession that someone holds. You can't legislate peace. You can't decide to have peace. The reason is because peace is a byproduct of actions.

In the verse above, God tells us there will be world peace someday. That day will be when God comes to set up His kingdom during the Millennial Reign. In the verse above, you find the elements that will cause the world to have peace. In fact, it will not just cause peace, but it will cause peace to increase. If every leader would practice the steps that God will perform to set up peace, then they will discover peace in their own realm.

The first step for peace is having clear boundaries of authority. You will notice that God will have a government. That means there will be different positions of authority that God will set up. In order for peace to increase in your realm, every position of authority must be clearly defined in what they will do. You will not have peace when the roles of authority and what they can and cannot do is not clearly defined.

Second, you must have organization. You will notice that there will be order in God's government. Likewise, you must have organization in whatever you are trying to accomplish if you want peace. Disorganization causes unrest and disharmony. This is why it is highly important to make sure there is organization in what you do.

Third, there must be judgment for peace to increase. Judgment is achieved through several venues. First, judgment requires decisive decision making. When leadership won't make decisions, then you will have unrest. Second, there must be clear rules by which all must live. Judgment cannot be achieved when there are no clear rules. In other words, rules must be established so that everyone will know what is expected of them. Last, there must be a clear direction. Rules are important, but the direction of philosophy must also be defined for you to have judgment. In other words, what are you trying to accomplish? Judgment consists of these three things.

Last, for peace to increase justice must be practiced. Once judgment is set in place, then justice must be enforced. Justice is being fair with all enforcement of all the rules. There can be no favorites for justice to be achieved. Likewise, justice consists of just punishment. In other words, everyone must experience the same punishment for the same violation. If you punish one person but not the other, then you will find that peace will flee away. Justice is the key final element for peace to increase.

If these steps are followed, then peace will be established. Whether it is a church, business, nation, school, or family, these steps allow peace to increase if followed. You must remember that peace is not an object you hold, it is a byproduct of following the steps listed above.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

The Need for Proper Punishment

Proverbs 29:15

"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."

One of the hardest things a parent or an authority has to do is to administer punishment. Any loving parent or authority will admit that they don't enjoy having to administer punishment when it is needed. However, without punishment a child will bring shame to those who care for them. You can either do the hard thing by punishing the child when they do wrong, or you can carry heartache for many years because you avoided the punishment.

True love will punish when a child does wrong. The reason is because punishment teaches. Notice in the verse above God says, "The rod and reproof give wisdom:..." The wisdom that punishment gives is that there are consequences in doing wrong. You cannot do wrong without paying the price. If you as a parent or authority choose not to administer the needed punishment, then you will suffer more embarrassment later.

Punishment that is just follows the rules by the letter of the law. Often you hear authority say that we need to love the one who wronged and try to restore them. To this I agree, but the best way to love the one who has done wrong is to punish them to the degree that the rules state. When an authority doesn't follow the rules of punishment they set up, then they are teaching the child that they can get away with doing wrong. This is not a good lesson to teach a child for this will embolden them to do wrong in a greater way the next time because you taught them that they can get away with it.

If you are an authority, let me beg you to properly administer the punishment that is prescribed when someone does wrong. It teaches the one who did the wrong that they will not be able to get away with disobedience. If you really want to restore someone, then the best way to restore them is to teach them that there are consequences to every action. No, it won't always be easy to administer punishment, but by doing the hard thing of punishing you are saving that person from heartache down the road.

Parents, you must also learn to have consequences for your children when they do wrong. If you let your children get away with doing wrong, then they will break your heart later in life. Be careful about trying to blame someone else for your child's wrong, for this teaches them that they can get away with sin. Even if someone did influence your child to do wrong, they still did wrong. By administering punishment, you are teaching your child that whether they were the instigator of the wrong or simply influenced to do wrong, that punishment always happens when they do wrong.

Love is tough at times. True love will teach followers that they cannot get away with wrong by properly punishing them. Always remember, if you let the follower skirt the rules of punishment, then you will embolden them to do worse the next time. Do the right thing by punishing according to the prescribed punishment and save them from greater punishment later on. It is better to be embarrassed now by having to go through the punishment that will end than to have to live with a life-long punishment. You can stop great heartache now by administering punishment is the "small" wrongs so they will learn that there are consequences to every action.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Settling Marital Disputes

Song of Solomon 2:11

"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;"

Marriage is a wonderful union to enjoy. One of the greatest blessings that God allowed mankind to enjoy is the blessing of marriage. However, because marriage consists of a sinful man and woman dwelling together, that means that there will be disagreements between them. Though there are disagreements, that does not mean that you still can't enjoy marriage. If you handle the disputes in a proper manner, then your marriage can still be happy and enjoyable.

In the verse above, the couple seemingly had a dispute. Notice the verse says, "...the winter is past,..." That is talking about a cold spell that they had in their marriage. In other words, though this couple was madly in love with each other, they still had disputes that they had to settle. Yet, you will notice that when the dispute was over that they were still in love with each other. The reason is because they settled their dispute in a right way. If you will handle your disputes with your spouse in a right way, then you can keep the love and passion fresh in your marriage.

When trying to settle a dispute in your marriage, don't attack the dignity of your spouse. In verse 9, the wife addressed her husband with dignity. You may have a disagreement with your spouse, but you don't have to attack their dignity. Anytime you attack the dignity of your spouse you will escalate the disagreement. The best way to allow your spouse to keep their dignity in a disagreement is to address them properly. Calling names will not allow them to keep their dignity.

Second, stay sweet during the dispute. The couple in this story kept the sweetness with each other during their dispute. Notice in verse 10 it says, "Rise up, my love, my fair one,..." Instead of being sour towards each other, they addressed each other with loving words which helped them to settle their dispute properly. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." If you will keep your tone down and talk to each other in a sweet and loving manner, then you will find it will be much easier to settle your disputes.

Third, once you settle the dispute, then put it in the past. Notice in the verse above they talk about the winter being past. In other words, when the cold spell of the dispute was over, they put it in the past and moved on. When you settle a dispute, you both must decide to never again bring that situation up. Leave your disputes in the past once you have settled them so that your marriage can become stronger.

The results of settling marital disputes in a right way is that there will be a renewed love and sweetness. In verse 12, this couple talked about the flowers appearing and the birds singing. Just like the air is fresh after a thunderstorm, if you settle your disputes in a proper way, you will find fresh air in your marriage that will allow it to be stronger, sweeter, and for you to be closer to your spouse.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Two are Better Than One

Ecclesiastes 4:9

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour."

One of the most important things a married couple needs to learn is that they are a team. A marriage that does not work as a team is a marriage that has problems. Two people going their own separate ways will cause serious marital problems. Therefore, it is important that each spouse works hard at becoming a team member.

In the verse above, God said that, "Two are better than one;..." When you look at this verse in context, you will see that God is talking about marriage. God was teaching the married couple that it will take work from both sides to have a successful marriage. This implies that both sides must be involved in the work to have a happy marriage. It cannot be one person trying to make the marriage happy while the other is passive and could care less. It must be both husband and wife working together for their marriage to experience the reward of happiness. God shows us in this verse that there are benefits for a couple who works together.

The first benefit is that when one falls, the other is there to pick them up. God says in verse 10, "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow:..." It is important for married couples to realize that their spouse will not be perfect. Because they are not perfect, you must be willing to help them recover when they fall. Instead of couples throwing their failures at each other, a happy marriage is one that will help the other through their failures. Not only is helping your spouse to get up after failure a benefit of marriage, but it also means that you can keep each other from failing. If both husband and wife will work together, they can keep each other from failure more easily than doing it alone.

In verse 12, we find the second benefit of marriage is that two can fight battles better than one. God says, "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;..." Everyone will fight battles in life. When each face a battle, it is important that the married couple fight the battle together. When both work together through battles, then they have a easier time of overcoming the battle.

The final benefit of two working together is closeness. When a husband and wife work together as a team, they will discover a closeness that will bring each of them joy. You will always learn more about someone by working with them than by simply playing. In both benefits mentioned above, work is involved to accomplish the benefit. When the husband and wife work together, they will develop the closeness that they envisioned before marriage.

In your marriage, work hard at becoming a team. Don't be one who lets your spouse do all the work, but join together as a team to make your marriage what it ought to be. "Two are better than one..." so, stop trying to work your marriage alone and become a team player.