Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 11/14/17  Psalm 84:4, Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. In the midst of troubles, it’s easy to just mope and feel sorry for ourselves. It’s hard to focus on positives. But, God says our spirit will be stilled by praising. Do it by choice and/or by character, or even out of desperation.
                               Psalm 91:17b, ...and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. We are sin-full people; proud creatures; petulant children; self-willed; arrogant; impatient; demanding; and ignorant to the point of self-destruction. If we would truly see ourselves as complete novices in how to build a happy life; if we would see ourselves as 9-12-15 month old spiritual children, we would willingly allow God to place His hands and mind on top of ours and guide our efforts. That’s what Heaven will be: a loving Daddy being allowed to guide His children into ways of happiness and joy without the hindrance of our fleshly pride interfering. To the degree we’ll allow Him to “take the wheel and drive” now, we’ll be that much happier.

 

- Wednesday, 11/15/17  We are children of God. Children, not adults. So, just like a toddler, we’ll look better if we let Daddy dress us.  Psalm 90:17, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us... So much of the Christian life will make more sense if we’ll see ourselves as 1-year olds rather than competent (?) adults..                                    Psalm 91:1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. What are some benefits of staying close to God? (i.e. obeying His commandments; walking the way He instructs.) ¹Shadow in the desert. In other words, more comfort, more relief from the negative environment of the harsh desert in which we find ourselves.  ²Protection from predators. If we don’t realize how awesome our God is, our spiritual enemies do.  ³Joy. In the presence of the Lord is fulness of joy.  ⁴Provision. He’s promised to provide a table in the presence of our enemies. Tables are generally close to the house...close to the stove and refrigerator. Go dwell a little closer today.

 

- Thursday, 11/16/17  YOU can do good today...even RIGHT NOW!! Psalm 92:1-2, It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Now, the question is: Will you?                            Psalm 91:2, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. To whom are we to say this?  ¹To ourselves. David encouraged himself in the Lord. Talk to yourself.  ²Say it to God. Tell Him He’s stuck with you.  ³Say it to others to encourage them, or to declare your position. Go on record as to Who’s side your on: it may prevent some temptation from coming your way.

 

- Friday, 11/17/17  Psalm 95:1, O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Clear enough...easy enough. So, I challenge you to obey it in the next 10 minutes, and 3x more throughout the day. Let me know how it goes!!                                   Ephesians 1:12, ....that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. This phrase is used several times in Ephesians. What does it mean? Very simply, we are to live in such a way as to give others and all of creation the opportunity to be able to praise God for we are acting. Our marriage, our faithfulness, our works, should be done so as to get praise to God for using such a one as you and I. So...in the last few hours, did you help to get God more praise or less?

 

- Saturday, 11/18/17  Psalm 96:7, Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. We’re to give our strength (effort, stamina, energy) to Him, as well as our glory, or, in other words, we’re to allow our spotlight to shine on Him.                          Psalm 96:8, Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. We could never bring Him all of the glory (think: spotlight) that He deserves, but we can bring Him A-L-L the wattage that our little personal spotlight puts out, and each and every one of our watts is DUE Him.

 

- Sunday, 11/19/17  Lord, help me wait “Until.” Psalm 105:18b-20a, ...he was laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him...  God did the trying; God had Joseph in iron; God directed the king. My “until” and your “until” WILL come, but until then...                          Proverbs 14:3a, In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride. It’s easy enough to see a connection between foolishness and pride, but that’s not what the verse specifically teaches. In says that in the fool’s mouth is a ROD of pride. Rods in the Bible are for physical punishment. Is your “go to solution” when you get offended to get physical with the offender? Abusive in words or deeds or emotions? Foolish, that is...

 

- Monday, 11/20/17  Psalm 110:1, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Yesterday, I mentioned trials will last only until God says so.  Our “until” is coming, but stay at the Father’s right hand until the “until” shows up.                                  Mark 3:5, And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts... The anger and grief was directed at their hard hearts, as manifested by their elevation of their rules and traditions above a man’s health, happiness, and future. Are you so hung up on your rules or “standards” or making sure an offender “gets what’s coming to him,” that you can’t allow the Saviour to do a work in his heart and actually change and transform him? Aren’t you glad that other Pharisees weren’t around when you had first gotten saved or wanted to return from a detour into destruction?? (BTW, you might want to read v6 and see where that attitude led the Pharisees...)

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- Ps 31:22, For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplicaitions when I cried unto thee. Just when we feel like there is no hope, and we are all alone, He hears our prayers, our cried for help, and comes to our rescue.

 

- Acts 18:18b, And then took leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. Even good godly men can, and do make foolish, unwise decisions and promises.

 

- Matt 23:28, Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. OUCH!! I wonder how many of us would fit this description from Monday morning thru Saturday night?

 

- Ps 34:17, The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles. It pays to be saved and live rightly.

 

- Ps 37:25, I have been young and now am old: yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Righteous, godly men may not be rich, but they will work and find a way to survive and provide for themselves and their family.\

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- Obligation sends the children to bed on time, but love tucks the covers in around their necks and passes out kisses and hugs. Yesterday is about experience; tomorrow is about hope; today is about transitioning from one to the other. The happiest people on earth don't have the best of everything... they make the best of everything. I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.

 

- Liberty is enjoyed by all. Only folks who’ve suffered its loss, or considered its scarcity really appreciate it.

 

- I have noticed that people who are hard on other people's failures are usually soft on their own, while those who are hard are their own failures are more merciful on the failures of others.

 

- We don’t have the right to pick and choose who we love. Jesus didn't command us just to love those who fit into our idea of lovable. He expects us to love those who are broken and scarred and those who no one else will touch.

 

- Sometimes it is our brokenness that blesses others more than our "got it all togetherness."

 

- Our lips are either hammers that build up or sledgehammers that tear down. Which describes yours most?

 

- When we cut or prune a plant back, it does not ask us why we did it or gripe and complain. No, instead it grows richer, fuller and stronger. Quite a contrast to how we often react to God's pruning in our lives.

 

- You cannot accept and love undeserving people until you recognize that you are one of the undeserving people.

 

- Giving up on anybody is actually giving up on God. (You are part of anybody...believe in you: God does.)