Baptist City Blog

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

A Position Worthy of Respect

2 Kings 2:23

"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head."

There are certain positions that are worthy of respect. Often we may not like a person who fills a position, but the position itself is worthy of respect. For instance, the leader of a country will be liked by some and despised by others, yet, the position that person holds is worthy of respect. In the verse above, we find that the man of God's position is worthy of respect. Whether or not you like the man of God, you should respect him because of his position. His position is worthy of respect because he is a representative of God. With this in mind, let me give you several thoughts from the story above.

First, God takes the man of God's position seriously. Many have looked at the verse above and questioned why Elisha would call she bears to punish these children for their ridicule of him. What you must understand is that even though Elisha cursed these children, it was God Who sent the she bears. The punishment may seem extreme, but it was God who administered the punishment, and no man should ever question God's punishment. If God sent such severe punishment to children, then He must take the man of God's position seriously. If God takes this position seriously, then you should treat the person who holds this position seriously and with respect.

Second, children should be taught to respect the man of God. The parents of these children should have taught them better. Children often do what their parents teach them by example. These children most likely were only mimicking what they had seen their parents do. You should make it a point in your home to teach your children to respect the man of God. Teach them to address him properly. Teach them not to criticize him. Of course, if you criticize the man of God then you will have a hard time teaching them not to criticize him. Teach your children to respect the man of God by taking care of him. You can do this by letting them give their preacher little gifts. Teach your children to respect the man of God by praying for he and his family on a regular basis. Children should be taught to reverence the position of the man of God.

Third, criticism of God's man should never be entertained. You must be careful not to become a part of a group of people who criticize the man of God. You will notice in the verse above, it was a group of children and not an individual child. Criticism of the man of God often happens in groups. Rarely do you see individuals criticizing the man of God. Therefore, when you are around people who start criticizing the man of God, you should try to stop the criticism or leave, but don't become a part of it. Avoid the groups of people who are known to criticize God's man.

Last, God will punish those who attack the man of God. I have seen many times in my life God's punishment on those who attack the man of God. Some have paid a dear price because of their attack against God's man. God will not let you get by with attacking His man. He will punish you if you become a part of criticizing and attacking the man of God.

Be careful what you say about the man of God. Realize that his position is worthy of respect. If you have been guilty of criticizing and attacking the man of God, then you need to get it right before you face God's punishment. The man of God's position is worthy of respect, be sure that you give it the respect it deserves.

Four exceptional sermons for the week of 6/12/11 await you at www.baptist-city.com.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Prerequisites for the Miraculous

1 Kings 17:13

"And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son."

When Elijah asked the widow woman to cook him some food, her response to him was, "I have not..." The only thing this poor widow woman had was enough food to cook one more meal for her and her son, and then they planned to starve to death. The fact is that this woman needed a miracle if she and her son were going to live. Yet, in the verse above, Elijah gave her three commands in order for her to see the miraculous. The same three commands that this lady had to do to see the miraculous in her life is the same thing you must do if you want to see the miraculous in your life.

First, Elijah told her to "Fear not." You will never accomplish the miraculous if you allow fear to hold you back. Though at times fear can motivate you to do more, most of the time fear will hold people back from doing something for God. Fear will keep the Christian from going soul winning. Fear will keep the young person from stepping out by faith into full-time service. Fear will keep the Christian from giving that extra offering. If you listen to it, fear will keep you from being able to see the miraculous. Whenever you face something great for God, it is natural to have fear, but you must not listen to the voice of fear, for it will keep you from seeing God work the miraculous through your life.

Second, Elijah told her to "go." When you decide not to listen to the voice of fear, then the next step is to step out and go. It is always the first step that will be the hardest step. Once you make the first step and go, then you will find the next steps will come naturally. However, you must be the one to make yourself go. The only way you will silence fear is by taking the first step. You may be fearful about God's will for your life, but you must take the first step to do it. When you do, fear will subside. You may be fearful about going soul winning, but you must take the first step and fear will step aside. It is always the first step that is the hardest step, but if you will take it you will find that fear will begin to slip away.

Last, Elijah told her to "do." Once you start going, then you must do what you are supposed to do. There are some who actually take the first step to go, but they end up getting side tracked with something else. Be careful about allowing other things to side track you from God's will. When Satan realizes that you won't listen to fear and that you have taken the first step to go, then his tactic is to side track you from what you stepped out to do. Don't let anything keep you from doing what God wants you to do. The miraculous is ahead if you will keep on going.

Moreover, don't let discouragement keep you from doing God's will. You may not see the miraculous immediately, but you must keep on doing if you are going to see it. Discouragement will set in, but you must keep on going in times of discouragement. Don't let discouragement keep you from seeing the miraculous.

Do you need a miracle in your life? Then don't listen to fear, and take the first step to go and do what God wants you to do. When you go, be sure to do what you set out to do with your first step. Don't let anything sidetrack you from doing God's will, and you will see God work the miraculous in your life.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Actions for the Early Stages of Leadership

1 Kings 12:1

"And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king."

When a person acquires a new position of leadership, the first few months of how they lead may determine their influence and longevity in that position. When Rehoboam acquired the position of king after Solomon passed away, he made some huge mistakes that limited his scope of leadership. Instead of copying Solomon's actions when he became king, to his detriment Rehoboam tried to blaze his own trail. You will find five things from Rehoboam's life that will help you when you acquire a new position of leadership.

First, listen to your followers. When I say listen to your followers, I mean it. Too many leaders act like they are listening, but they are only letting the follower vent hoping that it will be enough. Rehoboam listened to his followers, but not really. They told him how they would follow, but he didn't listen. If a leader will listen to those whom they lead, they will find out how to lead them. Followers will often in conversations reveal how they follow. If a leader will listen, he will be able to understand his followers desires and need for leadership in their life. Let me caution you, when I say listen to your followers, I am not saying to let the followers dictate where you will stand on truth and principle, I am talking about how they will follow your leadership. Whenever you acquire a new position, it is important that you immediately establish a relationship with your followers by listening to them when they speak.

Second, get wise counsel. Just because you have acquired position does not mean that you know everything about leading. Rehoboam made the mistake of listening to his peers and not to wise counselors. When you acquire position, find a wise older people who can help counsel you in your endeavors. Wise older people will have the counsel you need to help you establish your position so that you can better help your followers.

Third, serve your followers. The greatest mistake many leaders make is they stop serving people and expect people to serve them. The purpose of leadership is to serve those whom they lead. When you acquire position, realize the purpose of your leadership is to serve those whom you lead. Find out what they need and serve them. You hold your position of leadership to help improve them so they can better serve the LORD. Never make your position about what you can get out of it, but make your position about how you can use it to the betterment of your followers.

Fourth, don't entertain disloyalty. Rehoboam's first mistake was he gave a hearing to Jeroboam who was disloyal to his father. Often new leaders will think they will be able to lead someone who was disloyal to the previous leader. Let me make this clear, you should always be wary of disloyal people. Until they get right over their disloyalty, you should keep them at arms length. You are most likely not a better leader than the previous person whom a disloyal person would not follow, so eventually they will be disloyal to you when the newness wears off. Don't welcome disloyalty, but keep them at arms length.

Last, walk with God. The sad part about Rehoboam in this story is you don't see God mentioned one time until the very end. If Rehoboam would have walked with God, he may have been able to establish his leadership role in Israel. When you acquire leadership, keep walking with God. Nothing will help you to be a better leader than walking with God. God is the One Who gives position, and He is also the One Who has the wisdom to help you with that position.

Serving people through leadership is a wonderful life. Learn from the principles above how to conduct yourself in the early stages of leadership and you will have many years to serve those whom you lead.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Don't Cheat Your Foundation

1 Kings 7:10

"And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits."

One of the most costly parts of building a home is the foundation. When Solomon built his home, you see that he didn't cut corners in the cost of the foundation. The verse says, "And the foundation was of costly stones..." If you're going to build a home that you plan to live in the rest of your life, then it would be wise to be sure that the foundation is not the area where you try to cut corners.

However, in the building of a home (and I am not talking about the house you live in) it seems that many people try to cheat the foundation only to see their home in turmoil. The home has been under attack since the Garden of Eden. Not only did Satan attack God's Word when he tempted Eve, but he was also attacking the foundation of the home when he went to Eve and not Adam. Satan knows that if he can destroy the home, then he can destroy the church, thus destroying God's influence in the world. Whatever you do, don't be cheap in the area of making the foundation of your home sure. There are four areas you need to be sure that you keep right to make the foundation of your home strong.

First, don't cheat God. God should be the foundation of every home. When you take away the founder of the home, you take away the core of the foundation. For any home to be what it ought to be, then God should be the core that the home revolves around. In other words, everyone in the home should have a walk with God. If one member of the home doesn't walk with God, then the foundation of the home will weakened. The whole family should be sure to serve God together. When the whole family serves God together, then you have a home whose foundation is strong.

Second, don't cheat church. God started two institutions, the home and the church. Both institutions need each other to be strong. Your home will not be what it ought to be if you don't attend every church service. You should never let anything keep you out of church. It is highly important to be faithful to church for the foundation of your home to be strong.

Third, be sure to keep your marriage relationship healthy. If the marriage relationship is weak, then the home will be weak. You will never have a strong home if the marriage is struggling. Too many times parents will work more on the parent/child relationship than they do the marriage relationship, only to destroy the home. If the husband and wife have a strong relationship, then you will often find that the children will be happy as well. When children see their parents are happily married it gives them security, which keeps them from looking to other sources to get security.

Time is the last key to having a good foundation for the home. You will never have a good home without time together. Notice, I didn't say playing together, but I said time together. The family can have time together serving God. I'm not against a family having time to play together, but the family also needs other time together. Often you will find people thinking family vacation once a year is what will give them a strong home. That is not the case! Time must be spent together every day to keep the foundation of the home strong.

It is imperative to the success of your home that you keep the foundation strong. You will not have the home that you should have without all four areas mentioned above. Each area is important to keeping the foundation of your home strong. Don't cheat the foundation in any of these areas, for it will weaken your home when you do.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Loving Your Man of God

2 Samuel 23:15-16

"And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD."

What an incredible story about these three men who risked their life to get David a drink of water. In the verses above you find that David quietly longed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. David had been out fighting battles for the LORD, when he got a little homesick and simply wanted to have a taste of the water he had drank for so many years. Three men heard David speak about his longing, and they decided to do something about it. Their action was not a normal action, for they literally risked their lives to fulfill the desire of their man of God. No one would ever question their love for their leader. No doubt these men held a special place in David's heart because he knew they loved him.

Let me ask you a question; does your man of God know that you love him? I did not ask you if you think he knows that you love him, but does he unequivocally know that you love him? What do you do to show your love to your man of God? Though you probably will never have to risk your life for your man of God to prove your love, I do believe this story shows us how you can demonstrate your love to him.

Let me make this clear, every man of God needs people to love him. One thing a preacher will constantly wonder is who loves him. I know this may seem petty, but when you are constantly being analyzed by people, knowing that someone loves you unconditionally is comforting and strengthening to a man of God. Your preacher needs to know that your love for him does not have strings attached.

Moreover, you will never know how to demonstrate your love to your man of God unless you listen for his desires. Often your man of God will expose his desires through his sermons. He may use his desires as an illustration to prove a point. Though he probably is not doing this to get anything from you, if you listen you will know what he truly desires.

Furthermore, you will never be able to demonstrate your love to your man of God until you lay your agenda aside. Too many people have an agenda to get close to the preacher so they can receive position. Your desire to love your man of God should not be so that you can get position, but to simply love him for his position and for who he is. To the man of God who is observant, he can detect when someone demonstrates love for position. This does not endear that type of person to the man of God, but rather it puts him on edge to wonder what they will do if he doesn't give them position. Your purpose of loving your man of God should be for the sole purpose of loving him.

Last, your degree of sacrifice determines your degree of love. The three men from the story above were willing to sacrifice their lives for David. There was no question as to the degree of their love, because their sacrifice proved it. Most of the time it is not the amount of money spent on something that shows your sacrifice, but rather the time out of your busy schedule to show your love that demonstrates your depth of love. With the busy schedules of today, simply taking time to express your love to your man of God will help him to know that you love him.

Listen for the little desires that your man of God expresses and try to meet those desires. Your man of God needs to know that you love him, and little expressions of love on a regular basis will help him to know how much you love him.