Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 6/12/18  John 21:21, Peter seeing [John] saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Even the leading Christian of his day, following a plain, direct order of the Lord felt peer pressure and desired not to be excluded from the group. So, you and I ought to be pretty aware of that weakness and temptation too.                          Luke 17:3, Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. Three commandments: ¹Be aware of your tendency toward unforgiveness.  ²Make known the offense: if it bothers you enough to stay on yoru register, say something. (Common sense says that if you don’t say anything and another offense occurs, it is, at least, partly your own fault that you got hurt.)  ³Forgive if the offender is sorry. Three commandments; three places to trip up. Hold this lens of examination up to your (strained) relationships.

 

- Wednesday, 6/13/18  Numbers 14:42, Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. After God pronounced judgment for their not going into the land, the people tried to undo their mistake, and couldn’t. Lesson: the will of God that you think you’re postponing, you may be forfeiting.                               Numbers 11:1, And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. Since God’s character doesn’t change, complaining today still angers Him. And, notice, the ones affected the most severely were those farthest from Him. We may survive the effects of and return from our sin, but those who are weaker in the faith (farther away) may not. Is a short-term pleasure for you and me worth their devastated lives?

 

- Thursday, 6/14/18  Luke 18:1, And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. I think we’ve emphasized the first goal of the parable (more prayer), but maybe haven’t harped on the second as much. Actively, aggressively do rightly AND pray.                              Remember in school that there were some classes that were relatively easy while others were killers? Ones where basically you just had to show up to pass, and others that you lost a LOT of sleep over and worried A LOT?  God’s classes are like that, at times. I, along with those of you who read these daily posts, would almost certainly claim to want to be like Christ. But, I ask: Do we REALLY want to be like Him, or only partly like a part of Him? I fear that most of us don’t understand what we supposedly want. Consider, Isaiah 53:3a, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. This course of study is one that will take EVERYTHING out of you... so, I ask again, and only you can answer for yourself and to the Lord: do you REALLY want to be like the Master? Are you willing to ASK to be like Him? (tough stuff...)

 

- Friday, 6/15/18  Psalm 68:1a, Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. Very simply, do we WAIT long enough for God to arise and work IN HIS TIME, and do we OBEY diligently enough so that He doesn’t have to short-circuit our deliverance to deal with our sin? “Trust and obey”...I’ve heard that somewhere...                               Psalm 68:19, Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He loads US...you and me. He didn’t say “the righteous ones.” So, to be even remotely like Him, we are to be good to those who absolutely don’t deserve our goodness, but, in reality, deserve our judgment and condemnation. In short, we’re to be GRACIOUS today.

 

- Saturday, 6/16/18  Job 9:4, He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? I know I’ve been guilty of temper tantrums against God and basically said, “I’ll show YOU!!!” It’s obvious that hardening like that is pointless, and results in a lack of prosperity...so quit it!!!                            I just noticed this:  Matthew 2:16, Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth... It doesn’t say that he “felt” that he was mocked. Basically, these wise men, seemingly, acted disrespectfully toward a leader (maybe one that they felt was almost a peer to them) and greatly worsened the situation for many people. Remember, we don’t have to call attention to the fact that we disagree with another. We can do as we feel we should in a sweet, yet strong, manner. The wise man said that “people may disapprove of my position, but should never have a word to say about my disposition.”

 

- Sunday, 6/17/18  Job 14:1, Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. Granted, Job was in the depths of despair here, but the statement is basically true. We all know this, but we get so upset when we encounter troubles: we fuss, we despair, we quit, we detour into sin. We all need to “Buck up Buttercup.”                                  Psalm 129:1-3, Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:  Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. ¹Israel is perpetually afflicted, and to the degree we align ourselves with the King of Israel, we’ll be treated as poorly.  ²“They have not prevailed against me.” Are you tough enough to truly be a Christian? Do the number of your “knock downs” exactly match the number of your “Got back ups”? Don’t quit: all of Heaven and some very close to you are watching you.  ³Regardless of how well you handle the trials of life, each of us WILL bear some scars...disfigurements...permanent limps when it’s all said and done. It’s a battlefield brother, not a recreation room...be tough and help the wounded.

 

- Monday, 6/18/18  Numbers 30:2, If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. Just a reminder...what you said way back when, He still remembers.                                Numbers 28:2, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season. God determines what He wants and how He wants it. Do you pray as He wants? Do you go to church His way? Is your marriage along His wishes? Your child rearing? Driving? Work? Giving? Bill paying? Entertainment? In short, is our Christianity a big US and a little him, or is it all about HIM?  (Ouch)

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- When my burden seems too great for me to bear, I will find someone with a lesser burden and help them lift theirs. And every time God helps me carry my burden.

 

- Pro 13:7, There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing, and there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. It’s not what we keep that is important, but what we give away.

 

- Pro 14:10, the heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. There are some feelings and experiences we share with no one. PTL He knows and cares and understands.

 

- Pro 15:23, A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is. When we say the right words occasionally, and think before speaking, it can be far more rewarding and leave a good spirit in both the hearer and the speaker.

 

- Ps 51:7, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. How many times do I need to come to the Lord for cleansing and say that I’m sorry for some stupid thing I’ve said or done?

 

- “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” Ephesians 2:10. This is a comforting thought, especially to those who are serving the Lord fully! There are times when you have to run a marathon! It will take you to your limits mentally, physically and spiritually. Remember:*God is with you running along beside you pacing you as you run.
*Keep hydrated with Prayer (even as you run.) *Remember that this is temporary. A marathon is not our normal pace for living. God has trained you for this. You’ve got this as long as you lean into Him for strength. You are inspiring someone to run the race and you are encouraging others running the race, too!

 

- The Bible does not say "if" men revile you . . . but "when" they revile you, so why do we act so surprised when it happens?

 

- It is interesting to note that Lord's prayer does not say, What is thy will?" but "Thy will be done." Our goals should be submission to even before knowledge of.

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- Most people are only driven by passion. And when the passion runs out, so do they. Commitment never runs out.

 

- When we worry about things that don't really matter we sacrifice enjoying the things that do.

 

- We are not grateful for the things that make us happy. We are happy with the things for which we are grateful.

 

- You are not a pharisee just because you stand strongly against certain sins. You are a Pharisee if you think you are one iota better than those who commit those sins.

 

- The depth of your servanthood will determine the height of your influence.

 

- A good prayer for today would be, Lord, throughout this day, please keep your hand on me, especially over my mouth.

 

- If you have problems with people in your church who have done horrible things in their past you probably won't enjoy Heaven.

 

- Discouragement comes when we dwell more on our failures than on His forgiveness.

 

- God chose to use me before I knew I was going to fail Him, but not before He knew it, yet He chose me anyway.

 

- You will shake your head tomorrow at the things that troubled you today.

 

- It is not that self righteousness people see themselves as being so good, but that they do not see THEIR sins as being so bad.

 

- Today forget what people are saying about you and concentrate on what they are saying about Christ because of you.

 

- Parents can't expect to turn out godly children when they are walking to the drumbeat of the world.

 

- What gift can you give to The Father who has everything?  Love His Son.