Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 4/10/18  John 20:9, For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Being acquainted with is not the same as “knowing.” You are aware that He said He’d generously reward our services and sacrifices, but do you “know” that? Do you act as if you do?
                             Daniel 4:33-34, The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.   And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: God doesn’t overrule free will, but has unlimited wisdom and resources to help turn the human heart to face truth. He can and will do it in your (impossible) situation...the question is, are you praying enough/still? Are there lessons of faith or patience that you must learn first? Are there sins you have to deal with before He can justly answer? “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man(still) availeth much.”

 

- Wednesday, 4/11/18  Daniel 4:37, Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. The last phrase is a doctrinal truth, given as a warning from one who was totally abased. Deal with your pride, or He’ll have to.                                 Daniel 5:22, And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this... What a shame for our elders to have suffered to learn truths, and for us to know of the struggles but to not learn the lessons they learned the hard way. Don’t waste another’s tears; learn from the mistakes of others so you don’t have to learn yourself. Ask questions of your elders; observe and analyze their lives; be willing to change: God can and will deal with you if you won’t learn the dangers of sin and the glories of holiness.

 

- Thursday, 4/12/18  Daniel 9:8, O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. Be honest enough to admit the root cause of your problems: 99.9% of the time, it’s YOUR sin, (even if that sin was a wrong reaction to another’s actions.)                         Acts 2:3b-4a, ...and [cloven tongues of fire] sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost... His fullness is for you and for me. Are you asking for it? Are you striving for holiness so as to be able to have it? Would you use it for His service and His glory? Is His work a weekend matter for you, or a 24/7 job? Are you willing to let Him correct any aspect of your life? (Tough, prying questions, I know. But He wants to fill and use each of us, and those are the issues He’s concerned with.)                           Luke 23:52-53, This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. Think of Joseph’s mindset here: all that He’d dreamed of for the past 3 years was dead. -“Maybe this Jesus guy wasn’t truly the Messiah...a prophet, yes, I'm sure of that, but evidently I was wrong...” (That he wasn’t there on Sunday morning shows he didn’t believe the Resurrection was going to happen.) Yet, in his great grief and despair, he still treated the Lord’s body with the appropriate “final respects.”  Lesson: we too, often find ourselves at the end of our spiritual ropes.  -“Maybe God is done using me...”  -“I guess I’m not good enough for Him to...”  -“Has it all been worth it?”  -“I can’t take anymore...”  At the very least, don’t “leave” God on bad terms. Even if He’s being “bad” to you now, He’s been very good in the past. At least, give Him a good burial...maybe there’s a surprise coming your way in 72 hours or so. Keep on keeping on my brother or sister.

 

- Friday, 4/13/18  Psalm 129:3-4a, The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.  The Lord is righteous... The negatives in life were allowed to come to YOU. God was aware, and knew you could handle them. Are you learning the lessons intended? Are you reacting in holiness?                                 Colossians 3:2, Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. The ONLY way to obey this verse is to invest in Heaven. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We have 3 treasures: money/possessions, time, and our will. So, do you simply give money to the church, or are you investing in Heaven? Do you truly look at your kids, your car, your house as His, or yours? Do you volunteer your time for God (soul winning, service, volunteer at church)? Do you do things that maybe you don’t want to just because you think the Lord would like it?

 

- Saturday, 4/14/18  Proverbs 5:14, I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. There is NO place on God’s green earth where we are spiritually safe and able to let down our guard. Also, there is NO place where we are allowed to not be on our best behavior.                           It’s a given that none of us enjoy problems, and we want to be delivered from them...yesterday, and, if He’d ask us, we could give the Lord 12 reasons why He shouldn’t have sent the problem to us in the first place. However, I’m guessing that all of us frequently miss sweet things He does for us while we’re IN the problems.  Psalm 106:46, He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. God didn’t take away their burden (captivity), but He did lighten it some (pity). God has purposes in doing/allowing what He does: He’s not some divine Gang-Banger just attacking His people for some capricious reason. If there’s bad in our lives, it has a greater purpose. So, look for the “pity in the problem.”

 

- Sunday, 4/15/18  1 Thessalonians 4:1b, ...as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. Just in case you were wondering: we’re NOT good enough Christians...progress, love, forgive, work, praise, sing more and more. Start today.                             Acts 13:38, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. The context is regarding eternal forgiveness, i.e. salvation, but it is also true that forgiveness between believers is preached by Him also. “Forgive as you’ve been forgiven...” So...things may be right for you vertically...how about horizontally? No, they don’t deserve forgiveness...but you got it. ‘Just sayin’...

 

- Monday, 4/16/18  Psalm 138:2, I will...praise thy name for thy...truth. You love the Bible, but this thought: when’s the last time you praised the Lord specifically for various aspects of It? (Possession of multiple copies in your language; the gift of It; the blood of martyrs; the veracity, applicability, and power of It?                                   2 Thessalonians 1:3, We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. Here’s a toughie: could your pastor or those close to you say that your faith and charity are growing?? Is it obvious? BTW, that growing faith was caused by v4, So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. Faith isn’t grown by easy days and financial prosperity; and charity isn’t really charity if the person on whom it is bestowed is all sweet and lovable...God loves those who hate Him and want nothing to do with Him.

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- Pro 10:17, He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. Just hearing Bible preaching is NOT sufficient. Keep (treasure, guard, i.e. incorporate or make the teaching yours) is what is blessable.

 

- Ps 143:8, Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk: for I lift up my soul unto thee. This should be our attitude, desire, and heart’s cry every morning of our life.

 

- Pro 14:31, He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his maker, but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor. Our attitude and treatment of the poor shows our attitude toward, and our relationship with our God, personally, as a nation, and as a church.

 

- Pro 15:31, The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. A negative message and sermon of reproof is a source of wisdom to attentive listeners.

 

- Acts 22:25, And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? Paul wisely waited to reveal his Roman citizenship. As we go soul winning, we need to be cautious and wise.

 

- The good old days of face to face communication!  “I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:  But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name,” 3 John 13-14.

 

- Christlike people see people like Christ does.

 

- My friend, You do not need to know the way through your wilderness. Jesus is the way. He knows and loves you. You will be safe.

 

- Our sins were bad enough for there to be a Hell, but His love was great enough for there to be a Cross.

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- If you go to church to only get what you need, you define yourself as a dependent. If you go to church to fill a need, you define yourself as a supplier and God Himself will stock your inventory!

 

- I have decided that unless I have a third world problem, then I don't have a problem. That erases all the petty little luxury hiccups that I get in a day's time. Also, no drama, just adventure!

 

- A backslidden Christian pretending to be happy, is like a drunk man pretending to be sober. He's not fooling anyone.

 

- Love is time intensive, exhausting and sacrificial. Loving people is time intensive. So is loving God.  When love wanes, so does the time and sacrifice. Love must be cultivated or its garden will be overtaken by weeds.

 

- There was a time I was more concerned about my reputation than my character. Then God allowed my reputation to be destroyed and now I only have my character to concern myself with.

 

- Don't let a fall be your horrible ending. Rather let it be your humble beginning.