Baptist City Blog

Tuesday, 2/28/23  Genesis 30:27, And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. Can your boss

see a better bottom line because of how God blesses you? Does he/she know that God is SSOOOOO with you?                                 Psalm 23:2, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. “The Coercive Christ” Sometimes the Lord will MAKE us do things that we don’t like, that we don’t want to do, but that we need to do...almost like a parent making us get in the car to go somewhere or to go take a nap. (Oh yeah!! He’s our heavenly FATHER...) Sometimes, that undesirable task turns out to be much to our liking (green pastures to a lamb) and sometimes it is horrible (trip to the dentist). But ultimately, our lives are pretty much beyond our ability to control. So...will we balk and grump and argue and fuss, or will we submit and trust? (I know what I SHOULD do, and I know what I USUALLY do...)

- Wednesday, 3/1/23  Psalm 23:3, He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Can we agree that we are often VERY self-centered (MY pleasure; MY discomfort; MY desires; MY will; MY timing)? Reality check: God’s paths are centered on “his name’s sake.” The quicker we learn that, the quicker we’ll be a LOT happier.                               Psalm 25:4-5, Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Four prayers and an attitude correction that would solve a LOT of our problems. “Shew me,” “teach me,” “lead me,” “teach (prod) me,” cuz “I’ve trusted you with my eternity so I can trust you with my day.”

- Thursday, 3/2/23  A needed daily prayer: Psalm 25:4, Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. “Ways”: manner of life, i.e. the “why’s behind the what’s.”  “Paths”: direction to travel; His will for me today.                          Psalm 25:8, Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. Note the word, “therefore.” Paraphrase: God is what He is and He does what He does regardless of whether we deserve His goodness. We are to be godly. We need to quit letting other’s actions determine our actions. Let Him point and shoot us.

- Friday, 3/3/23  Psalm 119:1, Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Rubber on road time: could you or I say what commandments we were obeying in the last 60 minutes of our lives? Not saying we did wrong, but were we consciously seeking and obeying Him? Hmmm...                          Genesis 37:3, Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. Joseph’s troubles began by incidents beyond his control:  he was the youngest son; Dad chose him as his obvious favorite; Dad gave him a royal-like coat; God gave him the dreams.  In hindsight, we now know that God was doing it all and doing it for a reason:  and He’s also got reasons in your life and mine when it seems to be falling apart.

- Saturday, 3/4/23  Matthew 22:29, Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Here are all of our shortcomings in a single sentence. The average believer is barely more knowledgeable of the Bible than the Muslims. We MUST know Him and His Book.                        Genesis 37:27, Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. We can justify and excuse our sin just as skillfully as Joseph’s brethren. We can make ourselves believe it’s OK, but God (and others) will render objective and righteous evaluations, and we will be found guilty of pride and evil. So, fess up, repent, and straighten up, before you do something you’ll regret.

- Sunday, 3/5/23  Psalm 27:4, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. A reminder to put our desires on the altar for sanctification. We should want God in ALL aspects of our lives...period.                           Psalm 28:6, Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Always keep in mind that anytime we get answers to our prayers, it is 100% because of God’s awesome graciousness and 0% because of our goodness.

- Monday, 3/6/23  Psalm 104:34, My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. The Christian life is about proportion. The more we meditate on Him and how good He is, the less we’ll brood on our problems. The more we’re purposefully glad in Him, the less we’ll be automatically sad because of the world.                          Psalm 29:11, The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Far more often, God will give us the strength and peace to go THROUGH the trials rather than removing the trials from us. “What’re You trying to teach me, Lord? I trust You.”