Baptist City Blog

Sunday, 5/25/14  Ps 37:30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. Maybe many who think they live a righteous life don’t.  (What do you talk about?)               Ps 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Maybe if we’d talk more about the sweet little things that God does for us (and delight in them, like a wife delights in the surprise bouquet at work), we’d draw more people to Him because they’d see that He is not a Heavenly Bully waiting to whack them for any little misstep.

Monday, 5/26/14  Pro 4:5b-6 ...neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not... “To decline” means to drift, which leads to “forsaking” which means to abandon. Lesson: don’t ever outgrow the Bible. You need to read more of it this year than last, and to pay better attention.        Pro 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. The verse is all about perspective: we look at a Wall Street exec walking by a homeless man and see an obvious difference. God says, “Huh? I see no difference. You wanna look at wealth? I own everything. Those two are equal.” We say one person is pretty or smart or talented and another isn’t. God says, “I painted the rose and the Grand Canyon...you wanna talk about pretty? I designed Einsteins’ brain and know how everything holds together when a junior high student knows that like electrical charges on the outside of atoms should repel each other. Talent? I taught the monkey to be silly, the horse to be elegant, and the birds to sing. Don’t talk to me about talent.”

Tuesday, 5/27/14  Matt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The command “to come” indicates authority, power, caring, and a willingness to listen. Actually coming indicates submission and obedience. “Come, let’s talk over here, by ourselves...”          Pro 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. We primarily categorize people on the external: money, looks, personality, brains, possessions, actions, words, talent. Then we compare them to ourselves and generally, rank them vs. us. Usually, we either come out clearly on top and look down on them (showing pride), or we end up on the bottom and feel insignificant (showing a fear of man and not of God, and faulty doctrine.)  God, on the other hand, generally views all people the same: pitiful creatures that He loves dearly and who are in desperate need of His help. What categorizing that He does is done based on His perfect conditions and perceptions: are they saved or lost; if saved, are they trying or rebelling?

Wednesday, 5/28/14  Matt 18:20 For where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. What good is church? We get & give encouragement; singing together; hearing teaching and preaching (getting another’s perspective is invaluable); give to the Lord, thru the church (Matt 6:21); obedience and the blessings thereof. (Comments from others: And His presence...because He’s there in the midst.  Amen, the church is also the body of Christ on earth. It is hard to be loved by your wife if you are never in the same building. God promises a unique manifestation of His presence when we gather together as a church.)                         Pro 23:29-32 Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wound without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Far too many believers are being seduced by alcohol!! We are taken in with the bright lights and the laughter and the fun and forget that there is another side. “At the last it biteth and stingeth.” God is against alcohol consumption...pure and simple.

Thursday, 5/29/14  Ps 116:10b-11 ...I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. Be very patient when someone is under a lot of stress...give them lots of grace and mercy to spout off...don’t hold much of what they say against them....let it go in one ear and out the other. You’ve been there.             Ps 42:1-2 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteh for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? I daresay 99% of us aren’t like this, so...  1) confess this sin. 2) pray about it.  3) Work on it.  4) Avoid complacency & pride.

Friday, 5/30/14  3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. We won’t walk in what we don’t believe; we won’t believe what we don’t know; and we won’t know what we don’t associate with frequently, deeply, and with interest. Go delve into truth today.                  Ps 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.  Ps 42:11 & 43:5 ...for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.  “yet praise him”  Remember that life is cyclical...it’s so hard and overwhelming while on the bottom, and time seem to drag, so we think we’re always having it rough.  When we’re on top, it’s so easy to not pay attention and deeply enjoy God’s blessings, and time seems to fly by, so we think it’s a relatively rare occurrence. If we dwelt on it, and looked carefully, we’d see we have it good far more than we realized, and we’ve got it bad far less than we thought.

Saturday, 5/31/14  3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Truth is not intended to only be a possession, but also a vehicle, a life style, a manner of life, a guide, a comfort, a corrector.                 John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 10:7 ...I am the door of the sheep.  To those who think it’s a little extreme for our church or Baptists in general to harp on “trusting Christ alone as the only way to Heaven,” it is a big deal to God.  Compare a pleasant, well-dressed, well-mannered man knocking on your door and saying that he’s the new neighbor vs. a thief and a robber: sneaky, uninvited, climbing in the window in the night, taking what is precious to you, probably violent. No church, Pope, preacher, good deed, religious ritual can take away 1 single sin. Christ died and rose again, and said, It is finished. All that must be done to atone for sin has been done...now it’s up to each individual to simply trust what He did and cease trusting what you do. (To try to help Him by also trusting “good works” is to say what He did was insufficient, or that He lied when He said, It is finished.) If you don’t know that you’re guaranteed of going to Heaven the moment you die, message me.

Ps 13:6 I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me.  A song in our hearts and on our lips for God’s bountiful blessings ought to be the usual for every child of God. How good God is to us.

Pro 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink. God gives us explicit instructions on how to treat our enemies. We would do well to heed His advice, even though it is against our fleshly reasonings.

Deut 5:27 Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee and we will hear it and do it.  Every child of God needs to hear and obey the voice of his God.

Heb 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves in the body. We should never forget those in prison and those suffering adversity. The whole body hurts when 1 part is injured, no matter why.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...  Jesus put on flesh so we could understand him, not so He could understand us.

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him...  Jesus seeks the ones the others have cast out.

Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.  Salvation is not the removal of sin from the flesh, but the imputing of righteousness to the spirit.

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone.  The only way that a lost world will ever know of our faith is by our good works. If we have it inside, it’s impossible to hide it, but living it alone can never satisfy God’s requirement for holiness.

Ps 19:3 There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.  Anyone, anywhere in the world who desires to, can see the glory of God and eternal salvation is also available if he desires it. All will be without excuse before God.
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