Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 7/12/22  Numbers 14:42, Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. Is God with you in your

planned endeavors today? (Has He been invited and convinced that His presence is desired?)                              Jonah 3:1, And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. The God of the second chance doesn’t give a second commandment. He’ll constantly repeat the exact issue over which we rebelled: tithing, submission, love, forgiveness, standards, etc.

- Wednesday, 7/13/22  Proverbs 10:2, Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. A century from now, most of what consumes our lives won’t matter at all. What will matter are the things that God values: souls, encouragement to His people, love for Him. Red reset button time?                              The believers in Berea listened to preaching but searched out what was said. WE have a Bible: WE are to know what is therein. Jonah 3:3-4, Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried... I’ve often heard it said that Nineveh was 3 days away from Jonah, but he made the trip in 1 because of fear. False. The city was about 400 miles from an ocean: there’s no way that that trip could have been made in 3 days, let alone 1. Think. It’s often said that Noah worked 120 years on the ark. False. It was 100 years. Check it: God says he was 500 years old, and then 600, (Gen 5:32 & 7:6.) (Genesis 6:3 refers to 120 years, which I think refers to Moses, who wrote Genesis.)

- Thursday, 7/14/22  Jonah 4:1-2a, But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord... When angry: pray. When attacked: pray. When victorious: pray. When correct: pray. When incorrect: pray. Too often we run from our biggest Ally. When provoked by a Bible texter: pray.                               Psalm 119:42, So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word. Read the verse backwards: the word “for” says the second part causes the first. Choose to trust the Word, which will cause and help you to know It intimately. THEN, we’ll be able to properly answer our accusers. (Properly means both the substance and style of response.)

- Friday, 7/15/22  Psalm 48:3, God is known in [Zion’s] palaces for a refuge. The palace, the reputation, the fame, the health, the strength that you have today are NOT true durable refuges. Choose what to trust: with today and tomorrow. Get in the habit of purposefully letting go of the visible. Start today.                             Psalm 119:50, This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. Those of us who’re born again got that way because we looked ahead and saw Hell in our inescapable future. (If you’re NOT born again, it is in YOUR future also. It’s not what you think or what your church says. It’s a Bible concept: if you don’t KNOW a zillion percent that you are, don’t take that chance. Message me ASAP.) But we looked ahead and got the answer from the Word. The quickening (making alive) power of the Bible: the failing health WILL come; economic hard times WILL come; loneliness WILL come. You let It quicken you in your most important and perilous situation: OK, get back into It and let It quicken you in regards to other negativities that are SURE to come.

- Saturday, 7/16/22  Screwed up? Big time? The header on Psalm 51 says that regardless of how badly you blew it...just admit it and quit it. Conviction and reproofs are sign of love. TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN NATHAN THE PROPHET CAME UNTO HIM, AFTER HE HAD GONE IN TO BATHSHEBA.                                   Proverbs 12:12, The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. HOW we get what we want is crucial and revealing of our heart. The verse doesn’t say WHAT this net is capturing, only that it is being wielded by bad hands. A net can capture good, but it’s in the hands of an evil man, we’re not to desire that good. Roots produce fruit (good); but this good is not invalidated by its source. Live right rightly. Do good goodly. Reap benefits beneficially.

- Sunday, 7/17/22  Psalm 51:8, Make me to hear joy and gladness; that THE BONES WHICH thou hast broken may rejoice. That very tool that God used to reveal your sin and break you...yes, THAT can become a source of joy. Yes.                                    John 4:4, And he must needs go through Samaria. “He must needs...” Jesus had as much right to refuse His Father’s will as we do when He says we “must needs” pass out a tract; when we “must needs” forgive THAT person for THAT deed; when we “must needs” give more money. What “must you needs” to do? What’s He been saying to you recently? You “must needs” do it.

- Monday, 7/18/22  Matthew 5:2, And he opened his mouth, and taught them... Speech 101: open your mouth and enunciate. Be aware of mumbling; watch your audience for signs of ineffective communication; move your lips and your tongue. Speak to the back row.                          Psalm 53:3, Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The Bible is not a Book about how God disqualifies men from being used, but rather how God takes disqualified men and uses them to accomplish His purpose and bring Himself the glory. Quit disqualifying and limiting what God wants to do.