Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 5/2/23  Revelation 2:2, I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. We all have a reputation with people, but what’s your reputation with

God? He knows the full truth.                           Psalm 51:15, O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. Here’s an idea: pray over various parts of your body: the parts that commit sin, and the parts that don’t do righteousness (which also is sin). We are to “mortify our members,” our flesh: we need heavenly help to do so. It’s not character that we need; it’s holiness, purity, godliness.

- Wednesday, 5/3/23  Proverbs 25:24, It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. If you’ve got a “good ‘un,” tell them, thank them, and praise them. (If you don’t: talk to their Daddy...a lot...about you simply loving them more despite their faults.)                                   Acts 7:40, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. Behind this act of idolatry by the children of Israel was simple impatience. They weren’t willing to wait on God’s timing. I wonder how many sins we commit and how much trouble and heartache we cause ourselves simply because of our impatience with God.

- Thursday, 5/4/23  Matthew 14:28, And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. How often do you and I, like Peter, put a question mark where God put a period? Tithing? Surrender? Forgiveness? Holiness? Standards? That’s why we’re sinking and drowning.                           Acts 9:27, But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Barnabas was willing to trust someone who had a horrible reputation, but a VERBAL testimony of getting right with God; a “reformed” bad man. Because he did this, we got the great Apostle Paul.  Are you willing to trust someone who says that they’ve gotten right with God? Are you willing to give them a chance, or are they always the sum total of what they used to be? Do you allow for growth? (The reason we don’t is often a lack of forgiveness on our part, or zero growth on our part: we’re too fleshly and infantile.)

- Friday, 5/5/23  Matthew 15:2, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. What is the foundational trait if one wants to be a scribe or a Pharisee? You must focus on others’ actions and not your own. Whose sins are bigger: yours or others? Which need to be addressed first? Who needs to hit the altar first? (Ouch!!) Now, if the answer is “Mine,” are you doing so?                                    Revelation 7:14, And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Blood should make clothes red, not white, shouldn’t it? Lesson? When God is added to a life situation, things turn out differently than we would’ve expected. Either He’ll change circumstances or He’ll change us. Remember in Exodus 15 at Marah: when they came to the bitter water, Moses threw in a tree and the water became sweet. Throw a healthy dose of Calvary and Christ into your bitter circumstances, and it’ll be alright.

- Saturday, 5/6/23  Matthew 16:8 & 12, Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason... Then understood they... Sometimes, a rebuke IS necessary. Sometimes, a harsh tone IS helpful. Not often, and certainly not always, but sometimes a negative must be hit head on. Oh! how we need wisdom in dealing with people!!                                  “Sometimes, I just don’t know how to talk to God. What do I say??” Here’s a good start: read these verses, and say them TO the Lord.  Psalm 18:1-3, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. Tell Him that you’re aware of His position and His abilities; tell Him that you acknowledge your subservience and need. Praise is bragging on God for what He has done; worship is bragging on Him for what He is.

- Sunday, 5/7/23  Psalm 65:2, O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. This is one of God’s titles: “The One Who hears prayers.”  You know the verse: “ye have not because ye ask not.” He’ll hear, but He’ll also talk back to us and tell us what He wants changed. We can’t come to a holy God and leave the same. He’s a Person, not a vending machine. A relationship demands changes so as to please.                               Psalm 27:4, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. This is a popular verse among God’s people. Truly church is a blessed place with true friends, and it is a treasure to be highly desired and cherished, but the verse doesn’t stop there.  "...to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple." Does your church-going focus on what a blessing it is to you, or does it focus on the Lord? Do we go seeking Him, or His peripheral trinkets? Do we ever tear up during a song service because He is so awesome? Do we ever weep and repent because we’ve treated Him so poorly? Let’s resolve to make more tadoo about going to church and let’s try to focus on why we’re really there.

- Monday, 5/8/23  Have you ever said, “Oh, that I just knew the Lord was listening to me...” Well, here’s an idea: before speaking to Him, go to where He lives. Psalm 22:3, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Praise gets His attention and presence like few other things.                                Judges 16:4, And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. I see Samson’s extreme arrogance causing stupidity (anyone could see Delilah playing him).  Don’t mistake God’s patience and mercy in dealing with your sin as an inability or unwillingness to deal with it.  Don’t take God for granted:  see 16:20c.