Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 1/2/18  1 Chronicles 16:9, Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. I am guilty of seldom obeying any of the three commands of this verse (let alone the following verses)...judge yourself. God deserves better from me. 
                               1 Chronicles 20:1, And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it. Sin can be forgiven; sin can be moved on from; occasionally, sin can be undone. But, sin cannot be forgotten. (No, God does not forget it: He won’t remember it, i.e. mention it.) Those who committed it won’t forget it; those to whom it was done won’t; and those who learned of it won’t. There is no mention of Bathsheba and Uriah here, but those who know “the rest of the story” know that this is the parallel passage. When tempted...just don’t...no one will ever rebuke you for sins not done.

 

- Wednesday, 1/3/18  Psalm 23:1a, The Lord IS my shepherd. To make this statement requires ¹humility; ²an honesty about roles; and ³honesty about our capabilities and vulnerabilities. Are you a humble follower who is very vulnerable, or a self-confident, independent being (“co-shepherd”)?                             Job 28:1, Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Notice that the valuable is hidden in the midst of much common dirt, which must be melted away. Earlier, Job said when God tried him, he would “come forth as gold.”  ¹Don’t forget that for you and I to become valuable, much dross must be burned away.  ²Also, don’t criticize the “dirtball” for his dirt: look for the gold glittering.  ³And, support those in the fire: if they reveal that they are, in fact, a dirtball, are you surprised? But if you criticize them for showing their humanity, you may cause them to quit and thus, never the gold will never be revealed...

 

- Thursday, 1/4/18  Four prayers and an attitude correction that would solve a LOT of our problems. Psalm 25:4-5, Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.                           Solomon is often lauded and admired for building the fantastic temple o Jehovah in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 6:1, Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever. However, God never asked for, nor directed it. He said He was content to dwell in a tabernacle. Solomon’s heart was in the right place (for the most part), but doing good deeds with the best of intentions does not guarantee them to be godly and desired. None of us are probably smart enough to figure out what God would like beyond the boundaries of what He says in His word. And probably all of us could use up all the rest of our available time simply searching out and doing what we KNOW He likes and wants.

 

- Friday, 1/5/18  James 5:9, Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. “Grudge” means to sigh or groan in deep frustration. Are you doing so against another believer? Or, more importantly, are your actions causing them to groan against you?                            James 5:10-11, Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. It’s no fun to “suffer affliction.” God places a very high value on taking wrong in a rightful manner, and the implication in the verse is that He expects us to be of a rather pleasant spirit when we’re getting dumped on. How is that possible? It is if we trust that the Lord is lovingly watching us, and is working everything out. In short, our faith in Him and His love and character allows us to believe and acts like it’s all going to work together for good...hmmm, where have I heard that phrase before? I’m FAR from this point. That why this Bible thought, like most that I post, are written to you to tell you what the Lord showed me...or make that, “rebuked me for.”

 

- Saturday, 1/6/18  James 1:3-4, Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Seemingly, we will be stunted Christians without patience which is produced by stressing our faith. No pain; no gain spiritually?                            Mark 16:7, But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter... V9, Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Christ singled out two people who were “trophies of grace.: They’d been horribly scarred by sin, but had confessed and been forgiven. Now, Christ acknowledges them just as readily as the “good Christians.” Shouldn’t we treat those in our lives who’ve proven that they’re simply human the same way? Forgive...and then move on to greater usefulness and blessings? Forgive and bury it already!!!

 

- Sunday, 1/7/18  1 John 1:8, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Paul said in Romans 7 that he “was carnal, sold under sin.”. Don’t ever think that ANYthing with which we are associated is pure: our opinions, thoughts, judgments are all tainted...remember that we are sinFULL.                              1 Peter 2:21b-23, ...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Read it again with these definitions: “guile”: decoy, bait, wile, trick.  “Reviled”: vilified; slandered. “Suffered”: experience painful sensations; “Threatened not”: menace, fought back. “Committed”: to surrender in trust.               Here: ...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was [sneaky speech] found in his mouth: who, when he was [slandered], [slandered] not [in return]; when he [endured painful circumstances], he [threatened retaliation] not; but [surrendered in trust] himself to him that judgeth righteously. This thought came from on High without me reading it...God rebuked “this dumb prophet.” Pray for me...and apply it to yourself as needed.

 

- Monday, 1/8/18  James 4:17, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. A very familiar verse: how about this application: we’re to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us...if we “doeth it not,” we’re sinning.                         1 John 2:1b, ...and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. You’ve heard it in sermons: “advocate” means “one who runs alongside to help.” So, to be Christlike, we’re to run to those whom we think are doing wrong: even if the wrong is against us or a loved one. “Run to,” or “hurl stones at”...which are you more frequently guilty of doing?

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- Matt 26:75, And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. If Peter, an apostle, and maybe the best Christian of his day, could deny the Lord, we all are vulnerable.

 

- Ps 69:14, Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, out of the deep waters. What a comfort and joy to know we aren’t the only ones who ever got down in despair and depressed. We, like David, need to cry out to the Source of all comfort for help.

 

- Matt 27:4, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. Judas went to the wrong place for forgiveness. I wonder how many today are getting rejection and lack of forgiveness from imposters.

 

- Ps 71:20, Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. The same God Who allowed troubles and problems in our lives can and will fix them. He never says, “Oops” or, “Oh-oh.”

 

- Ps 73:11, And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most High? A wicked and ungodly world lives like this and we need to warn them.

 

- Pro 5:13, And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. This would be the story for most saved young men who grew up in a godly home, attended a separated, Bible preaching church, and who got into immorality.

 

- Anger, wrath, bitterness and unforgiveness is viral. Viral infections are more contagious than bacterial. These "pathogens" can be passed very quickly among family members. Love, joy, peace and gentleness can also germinate in fertile climates. The heart of every man is a greenhouse.

 

- The story of grace is not about those who ran a perfect race. It is about those who ran and fell, then got back up, ran and fell, then got back up, ran and fell, then got back up, and just kept getting up and running until they finished the race.

 

- The reason you failed the Lord is not because somebody abused you. The reason you failed the Lord is because you have no faith in God. Joseph was abused but used it as his reason to trust God not as his excuse for why he didn't.

 

- Repeated forgiveness is not to be reduced forgiveness. 70 times 7 forgiveness is full forgiveness each and every time.

 

- Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is an act of obedience often done with the opposite feeling. We forgive because are commanded to do so not because we feel like it.

 

- The best protection against sin is a good distance.

 

- Sometimes God has to cut up our pride in order for us to be able to swallow it.

 

- Failure is the opportunity to begin again in humility what you once tried to do in pride.

 

- Who had a positive influence on your life that could use a thank you today?

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- Think of your flu shot as an ouch of prevention.

 

- Love is nothing without action. Trust is nothing without proof. Sorry is nothing without change.

 

- Bitterness will follow a person to the ends of the earth until that person first apologizes to God, then to the person to whom they hold bitterness.

 

- I hate it when the Bible contradicts myself.

 

- Sometimes we trust God for the lesson in a trial and miss the fact that trusting God was the lesson.

 

- Waiting until the end of the day to walk with God is like playing a concert and tuning your instrument afterwards.

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