Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 12/29/20  Too often, we (me) talk of our deep troubles to others. They may be sympathetic but

we can bring them down. People in Scripture told God all of their gory details. Psalm 79:4, We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.                                 Matthew 5:18, For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If jots and tittles (smallest of punctuation marks) are so important, an entire word would be more so. Do NOT fall into the trap of ignoring or changing Bible words. We don’t need a new definition or a new interpretation: we need new obedience. Many Bible words are too “old-fashioned” for modern Christianity. For example: purity, sinful, submission, obedience, head, holy, modesty, fornication, judgment, tithe, repentance. Words mean things and God chose those words. Quit changing and start obeying.

- Wednesday, 12/30/20  Deuteronomy 9:20, And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. Will anyone avoid God’s judgment on them tomorrow because you prayed for them today?                            Zechariah 13:6, And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Even if that which was done to you was done by someone with a wicked, hateful heart, if it furthers the will of God in your life, it was done to you  by “friends.” So, who are you mad at instead of being thankful for? Forgive already.

- Thursday, 12/31/20  Job 29:2, Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me... We can muse about yesterday; we can fantasize about tomorrow; or we can forget ourselves, get to work, and serve God by serving others. What're you gonna do?                                   Psalm 90:1, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. A question for each of us to ponder and to talk to the Lord about: “Do I tend more toward just visiting God or dwelling with Him.” Honestly, how often do we ask the Lord about our every day, mundane activities? Do we ask Him to guide us at the grocery store? Do we want His presence while we drink our coffee and peruse the internet in the morning? Do we ask His opinion on what to buy to wear, or even what to pick out of our closets to wear today? Do we live with God or occasionally “go visit Him on the other side of the tracks...”

- Friday, 1/1/21  John 4:18, For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. Sometimes, there’s no “polite” way to say it. Those who speak for God are sometimes as subtle as a sledgehammer. If you trust the one speaking, analyze what is said, not how it was said.                             1 Corinthians 5:6, Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Remember that God still gives the gift of prophecy (speaking God’s word in a powerful way), and that those men are often blunt and direct to the point of being abrasive. How do you react to that kind of speech? These Corinthians repented. Those in Acts 7 stoned Stephen.

- Saturday, 1/2/21  Romans 1:20, For the invisible things of him...are clearly seen, being understood...so that they are without excuse.  We’re very adept at justifying and excusing our sins; we have REASONS, but not EXCUSES. Quit arguing with Him over that “silly little thing” that He keeps bringing up to you.                              Does your mind oft-time race when you lay down to sleep? Are you troubled with anxiety in the quiet hours? Psalm 94:19, In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. As long as your brain insists on working overtime, choose that on which it focuses. MAKE yourself think and give thanks. Look around you: all that you see or feel are a help, a blessing, a comfort, a convenience to you. In your mind, go outside and keep “looking around.” Your house, property, car...not as good as some, but better than most. You live in America. Your streets are paved and patrolled by police and protected by fireman. There is a solution to your anxiety.

- Sunday, 1/3/21  Psalm 94:12, Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. How sad and stupid for us to endure a “thump on the rump” for the Lord and never even ask Him what it was that we did? Seek His face...ESPECIALLY when you think He’s “mad at” you.                                  Psalm 119:108, Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments. Notice the back and forth here: “offerings of my mouth” and Him teaching. Too often we have monologues with God: our Bible time is for us to listen to Him (though how open our hearts often are is another matter...), and our prayer time is for us to do all the talking. Make your spiritual life a conversation. Speak, ask a question, and open your spirit to listen. He’ll talk...if He knows you’ll not immediately tune Him out.

- Monday, 1/4/21  John 6:5, When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? God will oft-times put us in situations which truly ARE beyond our capabilities. Philip offered his best solution, then obeyed the Lord.                              John 6:12, When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. The Lord is anti-waste. Are we? We live in a “throw away society.” So often, we waste time, materials (throwing away/replacing usable items, just so we can have something new-er and shinier), food (we buy too much and it goes to waste, or we won’t eat leftovers but make something fresh), money (we blow it on useless things, just to attempt to satisfy our lusts), and, probably worst of all, we waste lives: we refuse to get back up when we get knocked down or injured; or, we disqualify and exclude others who’ve fallen prey to the “lion seeking whom he may devour.” Restore people, INCLUDING yourself.