Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 12/26/17  Proverbs 21:3, To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Oftentimes we try to “buy off God” by doing something sacrificial for someone else. He is more pleased by us making ourselves do what we’re supposed to do...like forgive, or love, or speak to, or teach. Just a thought...  
                              A basic truth of life: “Sinners sin.” And, oftentimes, we will be on the receiving end of those sins. If you’re not now, you will be. Satan attacks us using sinners, and God tests us using sinners. Satan wants to break us and God wants to strengthen us, so the attacks will be hard to take. Are you ready for the next round? The next set? More weight than ever before?  Psalm 17:4, Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. The attack may come from an enemy or one who says that they’re your friend; it may even come from a spouse or an offspring...(those’re REALLY tough to handle.) Our NOW is given us to become ready for THEN. Do you have enough “by the word of thy lips” in you to sustain yourself in the next round of heartbreak?

 

- Wednesday, 12/27/17  “Seeing is believing!” No, no it’s not. Isaiah 53:3, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. At one time WE saw Him as undesireable. Which of His children do you NOW see that way? ‘As ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me.”                        Psalm 3:5, I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. Psalm 23:5-6, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. I will be honest, I definitely would prefer to find myself in the midst of Psalm 23:5&6 rather than in Psalm 3:5. I prefer ‘cups running over’ and ‘prepared feasts’ as compared to simply being ‘sustained.’ Yet the truth is that there are times in the Christian life where the Lord merely gives us strength for another day; He helps us to continue trudging forward rather than swooping in and performing a miraculous intervention. There will be many more times that the blind beggar finds just enough money in his cup to sustain life for another day...and another day...and another day...until one day, the Saviour DOES swoop in and cures his blindness. So, if all you are getting today is “sustaining,” then, by faith, and by character, rejoice. Your God is still watching and caring for you, even though it’s not in the manner you’d prefer. So, dwell upon this:  being sustained may not be my first choice, but things could be worse...AND, they will get better...one day.

 

- Thursday, 12/28/17  Galatians 4:4, But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. It took God 4000 years to get to this point, but He was working to get there. I am impatient for Him to get to my “fulness of time,” but must rest assured that He is aware and active.                               Psalm 19:12, Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. As the year comes to a close, perhaps it would be prudent to undertake an inventory: Discern, admit, and confess known faults and bad habits, and then ask for cleansing from faults that we don’t even realize are wrong. That is what is meant here by “secret faults.” We all are offensive at times and in ways of which we aren’t aware.

 

- Friday, 12/29/17  Psalm 19:14, Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Honesty check (and Red Reset Button time): how acceptable are your words and your thoughts? He IS watching and listening.                                 Concerning the work of men, thinking “outside the box” is often responsible for innovations and breakthroughs. However, if the boss has already made known his will, it end up very, very counterproductive. Especially is this true if the boss is God. 1 Chronicles 13:7, And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart. (Of course, the cart was David’s idea, but Uzza died because of it.) Lesson: “What does the Bible say about the subject at hand?”

 

- Saturday, 12/30/17  “Why do we (I) have all these problems?” Dunno specifically, but Jesus had them to learn obedience, and then be used in a greater way. Hebrews 5:8-9, Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation...                               1 Chronicles 15:29, ...Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart. David’s wife despised her husband. A husband doesn’t have to EARN his wife’s respect: she is to give it to him regardless. “What?!?! I’m supposed to respect him if he’s a jerk?” Let me ask this: Is the wife supposed to EARN her husband’s love, or is he to love her simply because God commanded ‘husbands love your wives’? If God commands it, the wherewithal to do it is within us. Quit disobeying and blaming your sin on your spouse. (Same thing goes for children honoring parents.) Another’s disobedience to the commands given them never gives us the right to not obey the commands given us.

 

- Sunday, 12/31/17  Two for one...maybe. Job 23:10, But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. God’s 2: God knows my way; God tries me. My 1: will I do my part and come forth, or will I quit in doubt, despair, defeat, and disgrace? My choice... (Ouch)                         Job 23:10b, ...when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. This verse makes for a good motivational speech, but how to put it into practice? God tells us: the next 2 verses deal with obedience:  My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

 

- Monday, 1/1/18  1 Chronicles 16:4, And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. If you were tasked to lead a team to thank and praise God, would it be a comfortable, “natural fit” or would it be a stretch?                         An unpleasant truth: we are soldiers in God’s war; we’re actors in His play; we’re servants on His estate. In other words, It’s ALL about Him and His agenda. Notice Psalm 98:1, O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten HIM the victory. It’s sad if we are a casualty of the fighting, but our God wins; and in the big picture, He HAS done marvellous things. The cause is bigger than our minuscule foxhole. Yes, He cares that we’re cold, and hungry, scared, and hurting. But General Jesus is most concerned about the big picture. Or put it this way: on the bus ride to Great America or Disney World, someone has to ride over the wheel well, but THE BUS IS GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!

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- Matt 26:67, Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him: and others smote him with the palms of their hands. This is the religious crowd who teaches/preaches love and holiness. There’s no hypocrisy and fake love quite like those who preach it but don’t possess it.

 

- Ps 70:4, Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. We have so much to praise the Lord and be thankful for at this the end of another year! Let’s avail ourselves of the opportunity and do it.

 

- Pro 25:2, It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings to search out a matter. Since we are not yet kings, and are to be godly and like Christ in our living, we need to leave the gossip, faults in others, and scuttlebutt alone, whether true or not.

 

- Ps 67:7, God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. The blessings of God scare all who are lost and don’t know Him.

 

- Pro 1:5a, A wise man will hear, and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. We must decide in 2018 the source of our counsel and knowledge: the eternal words of God or the liberal press, media, and fake news.

 

- Ps 67:1, I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. Love and character are taught from birth in the home.

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- Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he did meet skeptics he could not convince and sinners he could not convert. Forgiveness of sins requires an act of will on the receivers part, and some who heard Jesus' strongest words about grace and forgiveness turned away unrepentant.

 

- You need not seek God's will if you are doing God's will.

 

- God's silence in not God's absence.

 

- Vengeance is God exacting perfect justice. Revenge is us pretending we are God.

 

- You don't need to decide whether or not to believe gossip if you decide not to listen to it in the first place.

 

- Habits forming are as light as a feather, habits formed are heavy as an anvil.

 

- NEVER use a believer's past sins against them. God never does.

 

- In 2018, learn the lesson from every failure then forget the failure and remember the lesson.