Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 10/3/17  Why do you listen to preaching? Is it “just what I do: I’m a believer.”  Deuteronomy 5:1, Hear...the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. Listen so as to obey so as to be blessed by God.  
                                 Proverbs 29:3, Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance. At first glance, this verse has two rather unrelated thoughts, but, God made a single sentence (complete thought) out of them. Lessons/applications:  ¹Young person, is your current life a source of happiness or distress to your parents?  ²Wisdom has the connotation of boundaries and restraints, whether self-placed or placed by others.  ³Sin is costly, both in terms of tangible treasure and intangible (mental health of your parents.)

 

- Wednesday, 10/4/17  Deuteronomy 4:9, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons. Do frequent self-assessments.                                    Psalm 107:17, Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.  Psalm 34:19, Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Everyone’s got it tough...so quit complaining, correct anything that needs correction, and encourage someone else to keep going too. This too shall pass.

 

- Thursday, 10/5/17  Malachi 1:6b-7, And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? God doesn’t like it when we do wrongly and don’t admit to it...man up and confess.                           2 Samuel 11:1, ...at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab...but David tarried still at Jerusalem. There’s no indication of sinful intent. It implies that David was going to go to the battle...soon.  We’re not told why David delayed, but it cost him SSOOOO much. If we’d just do what we’re expected to do, many troubles won’t come. The wise pastor taught that one of the biggest secrets of a successful Christian life was to "Live by schedule."

 

- Friday, 10/5/17  Deuteronomy 6:5, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. I just apologized to the Lord for often violating this commandment. Maybe you need to too? Maybe we need to pray and ask for guidance to correct things?                                    I Corinthians 4:5b, ...and then shall every man have praise of God. Everyone who got saved and that was all they did in the spiritual realm...will be praised; every single one one of us. If He can and will heap praises on each of us, and we’re supposed to be like Him, couldn’t we find some nice things to say today? Maybe it’s not that we “could not find”, but rather, “will not find,” or, if found, we “will not verbalize it.” Shame on us. Go and praise each family member today, and several people outside your home.

 

- Saturday, 10/6/17  Proverbs 3:2, For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall [the commandments of God] add to thee. This verse teaches that obedience to the Bible can add days to the number each of us was given at birth. Other verses teach the converse application. Take God at His word.                                Make no doubt about it: God wants His people to be successful. Problem free? No. But He wants us to prosper.  Deuteronomy, 6:3, Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

 

- Sunday, 10/7/17  Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. “Thine own understanding” would include solving the problem by human means, and coercion, logic, or pressure. Let God change hearts. (PS: very hard to do.)                             The last verse in the Old Testament; the last thing God said to His people for 400 years:  Malachi 4:6, And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Dad, is your heart toward and right with EACH of your kids? Child (adult or not), is your heart toward and right with your Dad? It’s a BIG DEAL to our Heavenly Father...get it cared for today. (By the way, some "I love you's" would probably be in order too.)

 

- Monday, 10/8/17  Psalm 111:1, Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart...  ¹The psalmist did what he commanded others to do.  ²He did it better/more fervently than they were expected to do. Leader, are you a more active, fervent (fill in the blank) than your followers?                               2 Samuel 14:14, ...neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. ¹At times and for some offenses, God separates from His dear children.  ²But, separation is not His desire, nor His end goal (That goal is for the unsaved.)  ³If you’ve separated/”broken fellowship with” someone dear to you, are you closer to reconciliation today than you were yesterday?  YOU...have YOU done ALL that YOU can do to fix the situation? See Galatians 6:1 or Matthew 5:24 where God says the spiritual are to GO TO the sinful believers to get things right. Quit hiding your lack of forgiveness behind the facade of “waiting for an apology.”