Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 10/11/22  Psalm 86:1, Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. We oftentimes feel our neediness, but, almost as often, we don’t feel our lowliness and spiritual poverty. We never

DESERVE an answer and, truth be told, we seldom NEED it: we need Him and holiness.                                    1 John 3:1, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God... Praise God that we’re not slaves that could be sold, employees that could be fired, volunteers that could be dismissed, property that could be stolen:  we’re relatives, children, who must be cared for. However bad we feel our situation is, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for us.”

- Wednesday, 10/12/22  2 Chronicles 16:3, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect (complete, friendly) toward him. This statement is still in the Book...He’s still looking.                                              Luke 2:14, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Many believe and accept that God wants peace with man, but the mistake is made by the assumption that man gets to dictate the terms of peace. Man does NOT. We started the war with God by our sin, and HE dictates the terms by which peace can resume. Those terms are being born again through total faith ONLY in the finished work of the Cross. Have you made peace with Him...ON HIS TERMS?

- Thursday, 10/13/22  1 John 2:1, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. This is God’s goal for us: to not sin. (We often get complacent: “good enough.”) To be on the same page with Him, we must be aware of our wretched condition, in general, and acknowledge our specific offenses, in particular. Do you?                                Matthew 7:25, And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. It’s a basic truth in life: things are gonna get worse, at times. We WILL go through hard times: that is a given. How we choose to prepare for and how we choose to go through those hard times will shape a large portion of our lives, and greatly determine our (un)happiness.

- Friday, 10/14/22  Psalm 53:3, Every [child of man] is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. It’s a foundational truth in life: sinners sin. So don’t be surprised if it is demonstrated anew that you live with a sinner; you work with sinners; you yourself are a sinner. Dogs bark; snakes slither; and people sin. Expect it and don’t get bent out of shape over it.                                    2 Chronicles 30:5, So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. Even after a couple of hundred years, some were still willing to try to reconcile to the wayward nation of Israel. Who is it that you’ve given up trying to reconcile with? What relationship have you written off? Your parent from a decade or two ago? Your ex? (I don’t necessarily mean you could/should try to reunite, but can you make the relationship right? Can you be friendly? You were once married to them.) What relationship should you TRY one more time to fix? (How long did the Lord try to get you?)

- Saturday, 10/15/22  Remember the thought of, “My dad can whip your dad”? But...out Dad IS undefeated; He can and will win.  Proverbs 14:26, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. Increase your estimation of God to increase your confidence in life and calm your fears. He’s got this.

- Sunday, 10/16/22  Psalm 95:7-8a, For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart. If you want to hear from Him and haven’t, check your heart.  If you don’t want to hear from Him, check your salvation (John 10:27).

- Monday, 10/17/22  Psalm 93:1c, ...the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. There’s a lot of debate about man’s effect on our world: global warming, dirty oceans, water usage, etc. Is man causing these? I don’t think so: man isn’t strong enough to alter God’s earth. If things are happening, getting worse, God is doing it, and things are on HIS schedule, and every person is on a collision course with Him.                            Are you feeling a little “on the outs” with God? Well, we get the God that reflects who and what we are. Psalm 18:25-26, With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. So maybe if you feel He’s somehow doing your wrongly or coming up short towards you: how’re you in your dealings with and towards your family? With and towards Him?