Baptist City Blog

Sunday, 10/19/14  Ps 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Perhaps the peace and love shown in this verse came from the praise in v164: Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.                Phil 1:24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Who needs you? Whom do you need? Make sure they know that you’re depending on them and for what. Many a person feels useless and unwanted...even by those closest to them: their family.

Monday, 10/20/14  Ps 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause thy face to shine upon us; Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Don’t let God’s goodness be the “be all & end all” for you. Take His mercy and serve Him.           Pro 6:5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter...  God doesn’t say that getting into financial dealing with friends is unadvisable: He says it’s downright dangerous.  Bro. Hyles: “Don’t loan money, give it.”

Tuesday, 10/21/14  Deut 4:24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. Too many people emphasize the “positive” traits of God to the minimizing and even excluding the fact that He has very many “negative” traits.               Mark 9: Just some characteristics of Jesus I noted today.  ¹(v1-8) He allowed 3 of the 12 a special time with Him and special knowledge and experiences. In other words, He treated followers differently and had unique goals for different groups.  ²(v9) He trusted others with a secret.  ³(v11-13) He took and answered questions.  ⁴(v19, 23) He scolded publicly.  ⁵(v28) Those who sincerely wanted to learn didn’t get scolded for failures.  ⁶(v30-31) Again, a separation of groups for specific lessons.  ⁷(v33) He was aware of what was happening in His surroundings. (A challenge:  Pick a chapter of the Gospels and come up with your own list and send it to me!!)

Wednesday, 10/22/14  2 Kings 10:28-29 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. Howbeit from the [golden calves]...Jehu departed not. Don’t stop short in becoming righteous. If God is stirring you up to clean house, get yourself totally clean...and burn some bridges so you can’t undo your progress. Go for it!!             Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Are you an “every man” kind of Christian, or are there some in your world that “don’t deserve” what you’ve gotten?                  1 Thess 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate (guarding heart) of faith and love; and for an helmet (guarding the head), the hope of salvation. Faith: knowing rightly and acting accordingly toward an uncertain future. Love: treating someone else the way the Bible commands. “Hope of salvation” refers to looking for the 2^nd coming of Christ.

Thursday, 10/23/14  2 Kings 19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. Note the order: getting sustenance first, then giving out. Both are natural and automatic...if you aren’t doing 1 or both...are you alive?            Exo 33:15 And [Moses] said unto [God], If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. How often are we more than content to go about our lives without His presence?  Did you know that He was with you when you drove to work yesterday? To Church on Sunday? When you cooked dinner? When you disciplined your kids? When you preached or taught your SS class? When you interacted with your spouse?  This verse really hit me HARD!!! Lord, help me!!                Ps 130:7b ...for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. Just a reminder: God never has “grudgingly forgiven” anyone: He’s more than ready, more than eager to do so. Child of His: come and get right. Unsaved, His mercy is free: it’s already paid for. Message me if you’re not sure you’re going to Heaven.               2 Kings 21:9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations before whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. Just a reminder: being born again doesn’t keep us from any sin!! (Except the unpardonable one.) We must be as “on guard” after salvation as we ever were before, and moreso.

Friday, 10/24/14  Pro 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. Today has its problems. Tomorrow will almost certainly have its problems. If we don’t deal with today’s today, we’ll have double the burden tomorrow.            Pro 20:17 Bread of deceit is sweet to man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Just because it feels right, seems right, and turns out right (for now), doesn’t mean it IS right nor that the long-term effects won’t be painful. Don’t break your marriage vows, for a little tingle!!! Don’t lie and cheat for money. Don’t quit school or your bus route for the money now. Don’t call off work needlessly; don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.

Saturday, 10/25/14  Pro 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. To ignore the heartbreak of the needy (let alone not meeting the need) is to promise yourself a cruel gift.                  1 Thess 4:2-3 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. Sanctification and holiness don’t come by “freedom” or sincerity or simply by desire. The commandments are the key: i.e. more holiness and less sinning comes from more, focused, directed obedience, not from trying to stop sinning.

Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. None other deserves such a exalted, praise-worthy position. Let’s make sure He receives the glory He deserves from us.

Pro 20:29 The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is the gray head. Every organization needs both the strength of youth and the wisdom of age and experience. That’s why our nation had age limits for political office and voting when common sense ruled.

Pro 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me. It’s one things to stumble, slip, or fall; it’s quite another to see and know of a danger and blatantly run into it. We need to avoid known weaknesses and hazards at all costs.

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. What we teach and were taught sticks, whether it looks like it or not. At 75 years of age, I rely on what I was taught by Mom and Dad.

Pro 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. When a son gives us his heart, we have an obligation to follow a holy, righteous path.

Ps 23:5 My cup runneth over! How blessed we are, and O how much we have to be thankful for and to praise God for! Let’s take time today to thank and praise Him.

1 Sam 3:8a And the Lord called Samuel the third time. Aren’t we glad that our God is persistent and calls more than once? Where would we be if God had given up on us?

My legs demand I stop and rest,
My brain tells me no more.
It seems that every passing step
Is harder than before.

The course seemed easy at one time,
It I ran so swiftly then.
But burdened now with cares of life,
I long to see the end.

The weights that I picked up along
This race that is my life
Now seem to drag my body down,
They cause such inner strife.

I long to run without the chains
Of problems that I face.
I long for freedom from the pain
That slows me in this race.

“What are these weights?” you ask aloud,
“That make your progress slow?”
My secret sins, my hidden faults,
That part that I won’t show.

I see way up ahead of me
A runner sitting down.
His weights have forced his mind to quit,
He looks up from the ground.

“Please take some weight,” he pleads with me
“My burden, will you share?”
I want to help, but I’m too weak.
My own sin I must bear.

I pass another fallen one
Who reaches out for me.
My conscience wants to help him up,
If only I were free.

The path, now uphill, carries on.
My strength so quickly wanes.
My mind screams out for me to quit,
To give in to these pains.

Thus, on I run, so burdened down.
From my own flaws and fears.
When suddenly my weakened mind
Another runner hears.

I look behind and see Him come,
He’s different, I can tell.
Although His burdens dwarf my own
He still is running well.

So desperate, I cry out to Him
For Mercy to be shown.
The Stranger says He’ll take my load,
He’ll make my weight his own.

I stare at Him as quietly
My burdens I lay down.
His hands are pierced, His body scarred,
He wears a thorny crown.

This Man of Sorrows bears my shame
He takes my heavy load.
I thank Him and He smiles at me.
Such kindness He has showed.

Now free, I take off down the path,
When up ahead I see
Another runner fallen down.
So desperate now was he.

I tell him of the Stranger’s help,
His love and care for me.
I tell him if he’ll ask for help,

He too, can become free.

His weakened voice cries out for help
He cannot run alone.
The Stranger reaches down to aid,

He helps him make it home.

So fellow runner, as you go
Along the race of life.
So burdened down with cares and fears,

With burdens causing strife.

When you cannot continue on
Just speak His name, He’s there.
He’ll take your load, remove your weight,
Your burden, He will bear.