Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 1/23/18  Proverbs 15:12, A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise. If we’ll listen to and heed correction from someone whom we don’t like, that is a VERY good indicator about us.                                 Luke 7:41-42, There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? This was a rhetorical question with the obvious answer. In the parable, the creditor represents Christ: the one owed the debt. Of course, because of His omniscience, He knows we have nothing to pay, and because of His graciousness, He forgives us “frankly,” or completely. However, the love of the debtors is prompted, at least initially, not so much as by His omniscience nor by His forgiving all, but by an awareness of the amount they owed. Perhaps our lack of love for Christ problem is really a lack of awareness of how bad we really were when we got saved (and still are.) Maybe, instead of ‘counting our blessings, naming them one by one,’ we need to ‘count our sins, name THEM one by one...and it will surprise us what the Lord hath done.’

 

- Wednesday, 1/24/18  Matthew 4:6, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Yes, Satan quoted the Bible, sorta. He left out a few words from Psalm 91. He’s VERY slick...Beware of philosophies and “new doctrines” that contradict what you’ve believed for years.                              Proverbs 17:15, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. In loving a friend/family member who is doing wrongly, don’t be so supportive of their “poor situation” that they confuse your love for the person to be an endorsement of their actions. Remember: if they’re sinning, their judgment and spiritual perceptions are probably off. They may be getting ammunition from you to convince them that they really aren’t doing wrongly. You may be validating their justification of their errors.

 

- Thursday, 1/25/18  Luke 8:20-21, And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. Lesson: No believer has special access that I don’t.                             Matthew 4:3-4, And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We all agree that the Bible is a vital part of a believer’s life, but many don’t live that way. May I challenge you to pray about, and then enact, FOR A MONTH ONLY: promise God that before you eat anything at the start of your day you will have read at least 1 chapter from the Bible. “No Bible - no breakfast.” Make it only for a month so you know there’s a limit. Make it for all of February. Think now about how to implement it in your life, and then get your family on board with helping to hold you to it. Who’ll try it for 1 month? (P.S. I made and have kept that promise for about 30 years...you can do it.)

 

- Friday, 1/26/18  Ephesians 5:13b, ...for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. If your error or sin is pointed out in a less than sweet, proper, loving manner, do you focus more on the wrong-ness of the rebuke, or on the wrong-ness of your sin? Don’t excuse your big error because of another’s small error.                         Luke 9:43-44, And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. Lesson: when you are flying high, realize things will change in time and you’ll be in the valley. When you’re down, things will get better. Life is a cycle, a constantly moving wheel.

 

- Saturday, 1/28/18  Matthew 11:4, Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John AGAIN those things which ye do hear and see... Praise God that just because we have taught something, the Lord doesn’t expect us to have mastered the subject matter, or get 100% on each subsequent test.                                   Revelation 20:3, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. Basic Bible doctrines:  1) Satan has never yet been to Hell. 2) When he goes, he will not go as a “prison guard” but as a maximum security inmate. 3) He will go when he is told to go: the outcome of the struggle between the Lord and Satan is not the least bit in question. 4) And finally, he only torments us to the limits imposed on him by Christ.

 

- Sunday, 1/29/18  Psalm 51:1, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. His willingness and abilities to forgive are based on the size of His lovingkindness and mercy, not the size of our sin!!! Hallelujah!!!                                   Ever been hurting so badly that you just pray that God would kill you? You’re in good company. Job 6:8-9, Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! One thing Job’s story teaches us is that whenever we go through bad times, we feel that no one has ever had it this badly, and therefore, I “surely can’t take it,” and so death is preferable. No, we’re to learn the lessons, correct the pride or other sins, and let God restore us and use us as He wishes. I know that it’s much easier to say that when you’re not in the midst of it, and extremely hard to do in the storm. God knows where His little child is...YOU, the one reading this: He knows; He cares; He’s actively working on God-sized issues in and around your life.

 

- Monday, 1/30/18  Psalm 51:2, Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. The capacity for cleansing us from the stains of our sin is limited only by the limits of strength of the Cleanser and the crimson Agent He utilizes...I would venture to say we can get CLEAN.                                  John 21:25, And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Think of how much truth is told in the parables the Lord gave. Or in the passages about His miracles. Many lessons and deep truths in few words. Lesson: Teachers, preachers: at least TRY to condense your material to smaller, more bite-sized packages. CRAFT your material so as to make it memorable. DELIVER it instead of just yelling. LOVE instead of fulfilling a role.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Mark 2:17, When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physicians, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. PTL, He still calls and saves sinners!! That’s how we got in!!!

 

- Acts 5:15, And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. This was the purpose of all the signs and wonders!

 

- Pro 24:19, Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious at the wicked. Be satisfied with what God has given, and don’t desire what the wicked has.

 

- Pro 23:26, Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. Hatred and deceit is wickedness that is impossible to hide forever, and sooner or later will be made public, for all to see.

 

- Acts 5:42, And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. After beatings and open persecution???!!! What’s our excuse?

 

- God often answers our prayers by way of Truth in unpleasant vessels. Don't let Prejudice cause you to miss the delivery.

 

- It's interesting that immediately after Zacchaeus (the wee little man) got right with Jesus that he determined to systematically get right with every person in his past.

 

- When David's heart was overwhelmed, he asked God to lead him to the rock. Now think about that... 

Rocks are at the bottom and sometimes very deep. That solid rock was deep. It was the rock on which David was to build his house, the house that would stand when the storms came.  David said, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is HIGHER than I." Higher? So the the wise man who built his house upon the rock had to dig deep. But David realized that in order to be led to the rock that was HIGHER, he had to go deeper in order to go up.  After the disciples had labored all night and were exhausted... Jesus said, "Launch out into the deep." He said to go deeper.  Dear friend, are you overwhelmed? Sometimes going deeper and darker is the perfect will of God.  Spurgeon said, "I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages."  David said a similar thing. He had gone so deep that he had to reach UP to grasp that foundational Rock on which he could start all over and build.  You may think you are in a place of overwhelming darkness. To some it will be a grave. But to some it will be a resurrection!

 

- God's wrath fell on Jesus so his mercy could fall on me.

 

- Are you stealing from God? It is stealing whenever you take what does not belong to you. Vengeance does not belong to you. It belongs to God alone. When you take vengeance into your own hands you are stealing right out of the hand of God. That is a scary thought.

 

- If you have been wounded by someone you trusted then God must have had a lesson he wanted you to learn. David learned a lot about God at the hurtful hand of a man he trusted, Saul.

 

- Forgiveness reveals to people that you meant it when you said you love them. Unforgiveness reveals you were lying.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

 

- Bitterness is bondage in a bottle. It is extremely contagious. Every vessel in which it is poured also becomes a bitter bottle.

 

- Reading your Bible daily is like buying can goods on clearance, day after day, month after month-"steady she goes." Then one day the hurricane hits and the power goes out and may be out indefinitely. While chaos ensues at grocery stores everywhere...your basement is full and there is peace in the midst of the storm.

 

- I do things EVERY DAY, that I don't like to do, so that I might afterwards do things I like to do.  It's called responsibility!

 

- When an oyster is irritated and that irritation becomes pain, layer after layer it turns that pain into a pearl, by God's beautiful design. YOU are so much better than an oyster, and your value is extremely higher than a pearl. Embrace the pain. "Not my will, but Thine be done."

 

- Unsolicited advice is seldom, if ever heeded. But those seldom times change a man's entire future. Nathan offered some to David.

 

- Lies and roaches are the same in that where there is one seen there are many others still in hiding.

 

- Heaven will reunite broken relationships and we will spend eternity wondering what on earth our problem was that kept us from mending them here.

 

- The past is not the problem. The problem is the incredible amount of thought you're giving to the past. Let it go and be free.

 

- Enemies can't betray you which is why betrayal is so painful. It always comes from someone you love.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Contact me at baptistcity@gmail.com for information on subscribing to the weekly email or daily text messages from Terry.