Baptist City Blog

Sunday, 11/1/15  1 Pet 2:1-2, Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrises, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. A practical tip: cleanse your mind before reading His word. Ezra prepared his heart beforehand and God’s hand was on him.                    Hos 4:1, Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Never fall into the trap of only looking for “sweet blessings” from the Bible (at home or at church.) God may need and want to scold you and correct you.

Monday, 11/2/15  Pro 29:22, An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression. Just a reminder for all of us hotheads... What we do...tain’t good; ‘tis a sin to be confessed and repented from.            Ps 63:1a, O God, thou art my God. Is He your G--O--D? your ultimate authority? your ultimate source of hope, provision, and strength? your Ruler? your lawgiver? The psalmist continues: early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. Logic says that if the second half of the verse doesn’t (ever) ring true, perhaps you should check the first part.            Ps 69:1, Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. What was this “soul crisis” the psalmist was enduring? V3, crying, no answer from God. V4, hatred from outside, enemies, financial problems. V5, foolish acts he did, sin. V6, worrying that he’d cause other believers to fall away. Vv7 & 9, reproach, shame. V8, family issues. Vv 11-12, harmed reputation, mockery. (Wow...my situation isn’t so bad...how about yours?) How does he solve this “soul crisis”? V13-15: prayer. V16, remembering God’s goodness. Vv 19-20, honesty toward God. Vv21-29, pouring out heart to Him. V30-32, vows. It worked!! V33-36, renewed confidence in God. It’s a recipe...try cooking it in your kitchen!!

Tuesday, 11/3/15  Ps 67:5-6 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Notice that praise precedes blessings. We’ve first got to acknowledge the previous blessings before we get more.               2 Chron 9:3-4 And when the queen of Sheba [saw]...the sitting of [Solomon’s] servants and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel...there was no more spirit in her. Does your general, average appearance and demeanor enhance or detract from the Gospel message? (Being a sloppy slob is not being a good Christian.)

Wednesday, 11/4/15  God’s mercy endureth for ever is used 41x in the Bible.  ¹God uses repetition is for emphasis, so...do ya got it already?  ²Another verse that ensures “Once saved; always saved.”  ³You never did deserve it, but you dead sure can’t exceed His mercy.  ⁴Receive it and enjoy it.               Col 1:18, ...that in all things [Christ] might have the preeminence (1^st place; 1^st in rank or influence). Let’s see...”all things” would include your entertainment, your videos, your music. “All things” would include emails and websites visited. “All things” would include speech, thought, habits, pastimes...hmmm...

Thursday, 11/5/15  Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Shields go in front, so, ¹let Him (the Word of God) lead you.  ²Get behind Him.  ³Face the same direction as He is.             Pray without ceasing. Go into ALL the world.  Rejoice evermore. Meditate day and night. When you read these seemingly impossible statements, ¹pray that you’ll grow to fit them.  ²Figure out HOW they can be accomplished: get your mind in gear. (To not do them is disobedience, and God wouldn’t give us something we couldn’t obey...)

Friday, 11/6/15  Ps 69:1, Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. Some temptations are physical; some are mental; but the toughest ones are these. Guard your soul/spirit/heart/attitude (basically same thing) above all, cuz that’s where the real you is. Remember, people are not bodies with a soul; we are living souls who have a body, (Gen 2:7.)       Ps 129:2, Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet have they not prevailed against me. Several lessons:  ¹God never promised us a rose garden devoid of lots of thorns.  ²Growth takes rain, i.e. storms.  ³Satan/the world/enemies might conquer your body by force, but can only take your heart by surrender.  ⁴”Prevail” means to be the victor, but Christ is our Victor...the worst that can happen is that we go to Heaven. Stay strong; keep your head up; do as right as you can; look for the Lord.

Saturday, 11/6/15  Pro 31:12, She will do him good, and not evil all the days of her life. Ladies, don’t settle for, nor commend yourself if all you do is NOT doing evil to your husband. Do you DO good to (not for) him? (Men, the verse probably applies to us too...)(Teens, practice this attitude now for marriage later.)                 Matt 23:3, All therefore whatsoever [the scribes and Pharisees] bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.  ¹No one perfectly does what they know/teach.  ²A lack of obedience by the leader gives no free pass to the follower.  ³We are to take whatever positives we can from any source and leave the negatives...sort of like picking out fruit at a market.

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- Failure at least means I dared to try.

- Just because you are a witness does not give you the right to be the judge.

- Loving others who have fallen is repayment for those who loved me when I fell.

- Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little further down the road.

- No one can get to the truth until one has both sides of an issue. To hear one side is to refuse justice & is an injustice.

- Success in any field of endeavor without a successor is failure, because it will end with you.

- If you want God's blessings, you need God’s wisdom. If you want God’s wisdom, you need God’s Word in you. If you want God's Word in you, you need to schedule time each day to get into the Word. Blessings do not come by osmosis. They come by diligently seeking God's truth.

- With all that needs to be done to reach this world how can we not reenlist the fallen?

- Marriage rarely changes us, but always exposes us.

- Humble people accept fallen people. Proud people reject them.

- Compared to you, someone who has fallen may not be "qualified" to serve in your church, but remember this, compared to Christ you aren't qualified either.

- Be careful not to confuse knowledge with intelligence or wisdom.

- It was my overwhelming burdens that led me to serious prayer. When my burdens seemed to lighten, I found that my praying began to wane. When my praying waned, it seemed that my burdens became heavy again.  What kept my praying strong was when I learned to pray for others. Even though it was for some other, I always had a burden to keep me serious in prayer, and my personal burden seemed to vanish. Have you a heavy burden today? Go and find another with a heavier burden than you. Help them in the Lord, bear their load. For then can the transfer of supernatural strength take its place!

- “I don't like that man. I'm gonna have to get to know him better." ~Abraham Lincoln.  I just heard this quote and it's going to tremendously help me. There's a reason we don't like someone and it's usually because they know something that we don't. (Something that we aught to be learning!)

- It is interesting how much easier it is to notice how others hurt us than how we hurt others.

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- Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?  The people there responded positively to the preaching of the word of God: insomuch as they had a tender spirit and asked, “What shall we do?" So, I have to ask myself, “How do I respond to preaching and/or the word of God?"

- Ps 1:1-2, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. God's formula is simple and straightforward. If you want to be blessed, strong*, and prosper* then listen to godly counsel, admonish people, and meditate on a passage of scripture throughout the day.

- Ps 40:11, Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.  Again, I see this pair of character traits, tender mercies and lovingkindness, together complimenting each other. I also notice that God tells us the truth with lovingkindness which ultimately brings security; as opposed to spinning some web of illusion just to make us temporarily feel good.

- Bible thoughts! Ps 32:7, Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah." Children love to play hide and seek! We should play hide and seek with God! Hide under the umbrella of His love and seek His forgiveness when we do wrong!

- Acts 4:18-20, And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.  ¹Peter and John were under the influence of the Holy Spirit. What am I under the influence of? My OWN selfish thoughts? Anger? Fatigue? World views from the radio, TV, fb, or internet? Or, the power of the Holy Spirit?  ²The councilmen told Peter and John to stop doing things in the name of Jesus. Verses 19 and 20 was there answer. It will always be the rightful answer to anyone that invokes any such similar law!

- Bible thoughts! Ps 35:3, Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. I AM THY SALVATION! What a very very encouraging promise from not just any King, but our King--the King of Kings!!

- It's truly a blessing when God uses us to be a part of his work of provision for other and his servants. Acts 4:34-35, Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

- And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake, Acts 6:10. This caused me to think about my own speech.

- Pr 3:3, Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck. Write them upon the table of thine heart. The combination of loving kindness, integrity, honesty, and truthfulness doesn’t come together naturally: it takes constant work and dedication.

- Ps 51:12, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. The joy of eternal salvation like we had when we first trusted Christ is a heart attitude we must never lose if we are to be a successful witness for Christ before a wicked world. We must work at it.
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