Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 9/14/21  Romans 14:5, One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. There is a dearth of

Bible doctrine being learned. Know what you know; know why it is so.  (Reread that statement.) It’s your life...know your Bible.                                   Psalm 119:153, Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I DO NOT FORGET thy law. When everything is going well and the sun is shining brightly, we’re to obey God’s law and do rightly. When things are going horribly and we can’t see to put one foot in front of another, we’re to obey God’s law and do rightly. We know what to do...we just need to quit whining, quit feeling sorry for ourselves, forget ourselves, and obey.

- Wednesday, 9/15/21  Psalm 95:7b-8a, To day if YE WILL hear his voice, Harden not your heart... If you want to hear from God and are searching His Book and haven’t heard, check your heart.  If you don’t want to hear from Him, check your salvation (John 10:27).                                Daniel 9:13, As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet MADE WE NOT OUR PRAYER before the Lord our God, that we might TURN FROM OUR INIQUITIES, and understand thy truth. The best thing to do with iniquity (the permission & justification we give ourselves to sin) is to pray about it. The underlying problem is the stealing of the right to say if such-n-such is a sin. Pray about your sin. Get God involved...and, yes, maybe lance the boil and endure the short-term pain to allow for long-term health.

- Thursday, 9/16/21  Daniel 9:21, Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer... Do you speak your communications with God? There are many examples of Bible characters speaking out loud their prayers. Speaking keeps our minds from wandering. It makes more like it’s a real conversation with a real Person.                            Romans 14:19, Let us therefore follow after the things WHICH MAKE FOR PEACE, and things wherewith one may edify another. An introspective question: Are you (am I) more inclined to notice and highlight the differences between you and another, or the similarities. Things over which you disagree, or agree? What we notice, we generally talk about. No one thinks just like you...and that’s a good thing. Variety is a gift from God.

- Friday, 9/17/21  Proverbs 11:3, The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. A key to godly living is to live by principles and schedule. The “perverseness” here is referring to the natural state our hearts: wicked, ungodly. (Mine is; yours is.)                             Romans 14:21, It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Yes, we ARE our brother’s keeper. Yes, we ARE responsible for what our actions and words prompt another to do. (Ultimately, they choose what they do, but we are culpable.)

- Saturday, 9/18/21  Amos 4:11, I have overthrown some of you...yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. (Said 4x.) God simply wants His kids close to Him and to be obedient. Does He have to get rough or send more problems for you to draw closer?                               Hosea 3:1, Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, ACCORDING TO THE LOVE OF THE LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. God has His prophet Hosea act out for all to see an incredible example of how long-suffering that God is toward His people. In chapter 1, He had Hosea choose a prostitute to marry (God loved us and chose us despite our wickedness.) Here, Gomer had left Hosea and went back to her old life, and God had Hosea pay a VERY pretty penny at the slave market to regain his bride. What an incredible God we have!!! Friend, do you know without a doubt that when you die you’ll live in Heaven with this One Who loves you a zillion times more than this true life example? If you’re not COMPLETELY sure of your eternal home, message me...please.

- Sunday, 9/19/21  Amos 5:4, For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live. “Seek” here means “to tread down a path.” So, it means to frequently walk to where God is. Is there a path worn from your house to His? Clear and distinct? Or, overgrown and unused?                                 Acts 10:22, And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. These associates said that Cornelius was a just man, but their opinion didn’t matter to God. He needed to be born again. Regardless of what others think of you, does Almighty God see you as never having sinned one time in His sight? (That is what is meant by “just.”) If that seems outlandish to you, please message me.

- Monday, 9/20/21  Psalm 127:1, Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Do you commonly ask and invite the Lord to participate in your mundane daily activities (shopping, cleaning, work, driving, etc.), or is His attention only good for certain things, emergency-type things?                                  Psalm 107:1, O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Here’s a twist you may have not considered: God can handle our (great) fluctuations of mood, commitment, desire. He’s not upset that we vary in the depth of our commitment. He knows we’re human, (He’s dealt with a few billion of us...He knows that drill.) He knows you are going to sin again and again. His mercy is there...all you’ve gotta do is get up, dust yourself off, and apologize to Him. He doesn’t hate you when you skip church for something worldly...disappointed, but not disgusted. He LOVES you!!!! Cuddle back up to Him.