Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 8/15/17  Forever banish the idea that God “tolerates” us: He loves us immensely. When He wants a “pick Me up,” He thinks of you and I!!  Psalm 149:4, For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.   
                           Matthew 13:15, For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. I know I do, and I’m guessing all of us could use a check-up looking for a fat heart, dull ears, closed eyes... “Lord show me my faults!! Please be merciful to me and speak to me!! Help me to never 'Play Church' again!”

 

- Wednesday, 8/16/17  Jonah 3:1-2, And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh... The God of the second chance doesn’t give a second commandment. He’ll bring back the exact issue over which we rebelled: tithing, submission, love, forgiveness, etc.                                  Psalm 4:1, Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. Ingredients in David’s addressing God: ¹He came to God. (We have not cuz...we don’t go to Him.)  ²Verbalizing speech to God (“Call”)  ³Reminded himself and God that he has no righteousness of his own.  ⁴Reminded himself and God of His past faithfulness.  ⁵Realizes that any goodness God extends comes via mercy.  ⁶Specific requests.  The Bible is God’s recipe book.

 

- Thursday, 8/17/17  Proverbs 14:4, Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. Be careful that you don’t tend to complain about and magnify the negatives accompanying the positives, instead of rejoicing over the positives. I’m guilty...                                  Psalm 47:1-2, O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. We know and believe the truth that God is aware, loving, and in control of the whole world, including our predicaments. So why do we wallow in doubt and depression and failure? I’d be interested in your thoughts, but my initial thought is that we are very aware of our problems (like a physical pain that reminds us every step) while we are only vaguely conscious of God. We can’t stop the “painful steps” that our life has dealt us, but we can counterbalance it by a more active awareness of Him. Suggestions on how to do that...?

 

- Friday, 8/18/17  Proverbs 14:14, The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself. Externally, we can look good, but if we’re satisfied with our spiritual status, we’re backslidden. Satisfaction comes from the outside: focusing on more Christlikeness.                                              Psalm 119:105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The “lamp” lit up the area for the next step or two. The “light” showed a vague outline several steps ahead. God will seldom show us a big picture: He wants us to take life day-by-day. Proverbs 22:19, That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Today, I want to pass on some wisdom that a mentor, Dr. Don Boyd gave us. If God gives you some money out of the blue, don’t spend it: most often there is an expense that is coming very soon. This week, I got some money back from Purdue. With my grants, I had more money than my tuition bill. I got back 6x what I thought I would. I wasn’t going to splurge or waste it, but was going to hold on to it as a hedge for the semester. Today, while asking for a $50 alignment, I was hit with a $700 front end replacement. I am frustrated that I don’t have my hedge now, but am praising God for what He did.                           Proverbs 18:13, He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. A reminder that if you deem it necessary to intervene in a conflict between others or to “take sides,” that there are always two, and usually THREE sides to an argument: his side, her side, and the truth. Be sure to at least hear both sides before rendering your verdict (if it’s your place to even render one.) Usually, those not in the situation are simply to love each combatant, and encourage them to do rightly to God and to each other.

 

- Saturday, 8/19/17  Proverbs 15:1, A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. If you live with an angry person, this verse needs to be a daily guide. Learn to live like Christ would with them: don’t stir them up; pray for them; don’t judge them; talk to them when they’re calm; get counsel.                                We sin A LOT more than we realize and in ways that are so common. Proverbs 14:21a, He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth.  ‘Wanna take a guess at the meaning of “despiseth”? It means to disrespect. (A lack of valuing or sensing the worth of a person.) Ever spoken to your kids harshly? Your employees? Spouse? Parents? Ouch...                                   Micah 3:8, But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Notice that the fullness of the Holy Spirit isn’t for us to feel good, but will result in pointing out sin. God’s agenda is holiness for His people. Being full of the Spirit means getting full of the Bible which leads to, in some respect, dealing with sin (both in ourselves and others.) And remember, God commands each of us to be full of the Spirit. So expect a godly person in your life to “be offensive” at times.

 

- Sunday, 8/20/17  Acts 7:9, And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him... Which would you rather have: deliverance from the problem that you despise, or the presence of Christ IN the problem? This is real Christianity.                               Matthew 14:13-14, When Jesus heard of [the death of His cousin], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Jesus showed His love by sacrificing reasonable and needed personal time for the needs of others. When He needed to rest, they needed a 2^nd effort from Him, and He came through.                               Micah 4:9, Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Paraphrase: “Why are you whining and moaning about your situation? Don’t you have Christ in your heart? Don’t you have someone to get advice from? (A rhetorical question implying that you know what to do, but are unwilling.) Don’t be dominated by your sorrow over the situation: get help and solve the problem.”

 

- Monday, 8/21/17  Acts 8:3, As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. If this psychotic murderer could be reached by God, I don’t think that our problem/situation/enemy will make Him sweat.                    Acts 7:10, And delivered [Joseph] out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. By trusting God and acting properly IN the trial, Joseph got the deliverance he wanted, and got what he could not have even imagined. Truly, he was given WWAAYYYY above “all that he could ask or think.” Wonder if the recipe still holds for you and me in 2017?

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- Ps 108:1, O God, my heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. In the daily trials of life, a heart fixed on God is needed more than ever.

 

- Ps 109:27, That they may know that this is thy hand: that thou Lord hast done it. This should be our desire for every event in life! Is He seen or are we?

 

- Pro 19:18, Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Before he is one year old, he must be made to mind and listen.

 

- Matt 18:7, Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! Enticements to sin are going to come to baby Christians, but woe to them that are responsible. We must protect them.

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- Forgiveness is giving up your right to hurt someone back.

 

- Oftentimes we look at people in our life and ask, “Are they making my life better? Do I need them? Do they give me what I need/want?”  I wonder instead if we should be asking, “Am I making their life better? Am I there for them? Am I giving them what they need/want?”  There's a pretty popular thought process that says, “Give up on people, eliminate negativity, drop the drama, ignore people if you feel like it, etc.” I guess I'm just glad God doesn't feel that way about me. That's all.  Maybe you don't need that person in your life....maybe they need you.

 

- When Satan beats a person down and wins a battle in their lives, their human nature is to devalue themselves.  Danger #1 is to see yourself as damaged goods.  Danger #2 is to accept the first bidder for those goods.  Reality #1 a personal battle with Satan seasons the Christian and increases the value of their goods.  Reality #2 the highest payer always waits till the low bidders are out. 

Wait dear Christian. Your value is far above the price of rubies!