Baptist City Blog

Sunday, 5/4/14  Ps 90:17a And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us... If we’d quit actively resisting God working in our lives, more of His beauty would shoot free.           Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Time for a check up: honest heart: excellent in nature, pure, good;  a good heart; eager to learn and bear fruit. Are you “good ground” for the Gospel seed?          Luke 7:8-9 For I also am a man set under authority...and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh... When Jesus heard..he marvelled...and said...I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Faith cannot be separated from obedience. Faith is not simply positive thinking; faith is believing rightly AND acting accordingly.

Monday, 5/5/14  Pro 15:7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. “Disperse” - to spread abroad; scatter. “Knowledge” - “knowledge, perception, skill.”  We should be so full of God’s way of thinking and acting that it just automatically flows out of our mouth. What flows out of your mouth? Truth? Gossip? Trivialities? Complaints?           Ps 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god. Since anything times 0 = 0, this indicates that there is a base number of troubles/sorrows that will come to us normally. If you’re having it rough:  ¹Ask God if you’re being chastened.  ²Realize God knows of your troubles.  ³Quit complaining to people and making another life miserable.  ⁴Resist the urge to get mad at or quit on God and righteous living.  ⁵Spend more time with God....and listen more than gripe.

Tuesday, 5/6/14  Ps 94:19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Do you consume enough Scripture via reading, preaching, memorization, Scripture songs, etc. to counterbalance the multitude of doubts and fears and worries that spring up within you automatically? If your scale is consistently tilted the wrong way, only you can put down more weight on the right side.           Matt 20:25 Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. When subordinates (kids, pupils, employees) screw up, how do you react? Do you simply bring the hammer of judgment down hard and fast? “No mercy!! They should’ve known better!”  Or, do you coach and cajole a little before bringing out the big guns? How does Christ “boss” you?

Wednesday, 5/7/14  2 Pet 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old... I wonder if we are willfully ignorant of a lot of things? Dress standards? Alcohol abstinence? Setting no wicked thing before our eyes? Christ being preeminent in all aspects of life? Submission to parents, boss, husbands? Appearance of evil?       Pro 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee... God then spends the rest of the chapter telling the benefits of obeying. Do your kids have to to obey “just cuz” you said it? (Good for little ones; not so effective later on.) Or, do they know why you have the rules and what the positive result of your path is?

Thursday, 5/8/14  We should treat people properly simply because it’s the right thing to do, but notice Jer 22:16 and note the 2 extra benefits:  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.            Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a time believe, and in time of temptation fall away.  A root is that which intakes the nourishment that sustains the life of the plant.  The parallel for a believer is their relationship to their Bible: reading, hearing preaching, meditation, memorization.  Are you taking in enough to sustain you, not through the sun-shiny summer days, but through the gales of winter?  Maybe it’s time to up your game a notch or two. Summer is starting: many of you are about to undergo a schedule change: make more time for the things of God and then carry that on into the Fall.

Friday, 5/9/14  Ex 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Notice: He didn’t say “no other gods” period; He qualified it. God is not against us having other passions; He just demands to have first place. He demands the right to supersede and supplant any other passion: sports, work, rest, money, popularity, etc.           Jer 24:5 Thus saith the Lord...: Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive out of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. Think of it: POWs, led away in chains to live in a foreign land...”for their good.” Your “bad” might, in reality, be “REALLY GOOD.”  Vv6-7 spell out several blessings these people received.

Saturday, 5/10/14  Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...likeness of any thing...in heaven...bow down..to them. God is totally against religious statues. TOTALLY. I think the essence of the command is that we are not to cheapen God. Don’t insist He be & act in ways you understand...it’s all about trust.            Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that my the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Does God get the top billing and the most glory when you do something spiritual, or do you get the premier spotlight and God gets a “Oh, and also...”?

    Deut 1:37 Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. Our decisions in life’s choices can affect God’s attitude toward our leaders too.

    Pro 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established. There are no unimportant decisions in life. We need to weigh and ponder each one carefully in the light of God’s word.

    Ps 142:5 I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. This is what we need to do when our spirit is overwhelmed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Contact me at baptistcity@gmail.com for information on subscribing to the weekly email or daily text messages from Terry.