Baptist City Blog

- Tuesday, 6/27/17  John 7:53-8:1, And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. Jesus slept outside while others had a house. To those who’re struggling financially: Jesus understands. Just keep doing right: your mansion is getting its final paint job and polishing.
                              Many, or most of us have gotten great assurances from the Bible: a fresh awareness of His love or that He cares or is aware or a new reminder that Heaven awaits.  We love the first half of Psalm 105:19, Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. But notice that the same Word that brings the sweetness, is also the Word that brings the trials. And the second half of the verse actually precedes the first half. If you’re stuck in the “trial,” the Word of deliverance seems like it’ll never come. And when you’re riding high and drinking the sweet nectar of the “delivering Word,” it seems like there could never come a trial that could bring you down or get you to ever doubt Him again. But alas, life is cyclical: you’ll be down again...and up again...and...

 

- Wednesday, 6/28/17  John 8:11, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1 John 2:1. Brother, keep getting up and trying again; do your best. God’s got your back!!                             Psalm 105:3, Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seeking the Lord does NOT bring joy: it allows it. Despite our seeking, life is still hard and we’ll doubt and waver and sin and fall and wonder if it all is worth it. He may not answer our prayers; our situation may indeed continue to worsen...but we can glory in His name (which we share since we’re in the family.) We can still shout that our name’s written in His book even if life down here is hard and getting harder. The preacher said it so succinctly: “To rejoice is a choice.”

 

- Thursday, 6/29/17  Psalm 105:1, O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Three commands: acknowledge what He’s done; ask what you need; and acquaint others with Him. You can; you should; will you?                          Psalm 31:1, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. I like to find answers or something that makes sense to me to hang on to if I can’t have the actual reason. This may just be a random, almost non-sensical thought, but, if you’ve been waiting and waiting for he answer/solution that seems to never come, perhaps God has no way to do it while remaining righteous. I can’t think of an illustration of how this could be true, but maybe just stating it will alleviate the discouragement that you (& I) are feeling.

 

- Friday, 6/30/17  Exodus 23:7, Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. To a degree, we’re supposed to stick our nose in others’ business. We’re to know that those with whom we deal are honest: it’s called, “getting references.”                             Psalm 31:5, Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. We’ve asked God to care for, heal, and deliver our bodies out of various situations. Have you ever placed your spirit, your attitude, your demeanor into His hands? We’ve “surrendered to the will of God” concerning cancer or a job loss or a death: have we given our discouragement over to His will? What if He’d say that our bad attitude, our mean spirit was displeasing to Him? What if He didn’t feel that we were justified in holding that grudge?  Hmmm...

 

- Saturday, 7/1/17  Exodus 23:8, And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Be alert to any attempts to buy, sway, or influence your decision or choices. Be aware of slick salesmen or ads; be doubly on guard if you’re spending another’s money.                                Jeremiah 44:17-18, But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. Be careful about assigning cause and effect reasonings. Our perceptions may be wrong; our knowledge may be wrong; our time frames might be wrong. Start and end with the Bible. It’s hard to go wrong there.

 

- Sunday, 7/2/17  Mark 8:16, And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. Followers, it’s not enough to simply listen to what our leaders say and to accept and assimilate it, we also are to try to look beyond the actual words and discern their meaning and intents.                             1 Corinthians 8:1b, Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. We’ve all known educated people who are arrogant. But the context says that my getting knowledge will puff me up (big head; form without substance: like a large shell around very little.) If the first half is talking about the one getting the knowledge, the second half must be talking about the one showing the charity. Loving others, of course, benefits them, but it builds the one giving the love in a substantive way.

 

- Monday, 7/3/17  Psalm 37:21, The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. Dr. Hyles taught that we shouldn’t loan money, but rather give it. That way, if it’s not paid back, we won’t be upset.                                    Mark 8:1-2, In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat...  Leaders, a simple reminder that you are to be aware of the needs of your people: physical (thirst, hunger, bathroom, temperature, distractions), social (tensions, anger between groups, leaders for the good and bad), emotional (fatigue, stressors, fears, excitements), spiritual (needs, ability to assimilate, desires), etc. You may not be able to eliminate, alleviate, or otherwise solve the problem: you may have to adjust yourself, your material, or your schedule.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Pro 22:29, Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings: he shall stand before mean men. Hard working, honest, successful men are not hard to spot, and are usually in demand for other positions of leadership in society.

 

- Ps 62:3, How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. For one to even consider an attack on another without a cause is like a farmer with fence trouble: it’ll get you in serious trouble.

 

- Ps 63:7, Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. How soon we forget and how ungrateful we are for the daily provisions and protection we enjoy in America. As children of God, we ought to be rejoicing not complaining.

 

- 1 sam 10:26, And Saul also went home to Gibeah, and there went with him a band of men whose hearts God had touched. When our leaders are chosen and anointed by God, He always gives a crowd of followers whose hearts He has prepared to follow.

 

- Ps 66:15, I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices with fatlings, with the incense of rams: I will offer bullocks with goats. PTL that Jesus, our supreme sacrifice, paid the ultimate price that we might come into the Holy of Holies to our God without the blood of animals.

 

- Pro 31:1, The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. The teaching of a mom in the first years of life is invaluable.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Take pursuing holiness out of the Christian lifestyle and you have no Christian lifestyle left.

 

- Learn to trust God. If God says, "3 years of famine for Mr. Scott will season him and prepare him for the next season of explosive growth." Then trust God. Settle your heart. Quit trying to speed things along. Quit asking "Why this and why that?" Quit frustrating the grace of God. Quit getting angry. Quit blaming others or yourself. Quit rehearsing the past.Quit hiding in Hermitville. Quit living in doubt and fear. God loves you. God has big plans for you. Even His own Son had a less than glamorous start. Jesus never saw the church explode. Jesus never saw His disciples do a miracle. Jesus never saw 3k get saved.Jesus never saw His disciples stand up to the threat of death.Jesus never saw the church He started develop into a mega church.Jesus never saw a missions program. Jesus never even saw the gospel get out of Israel.  But His 3 years of "famine" was laying the groundwork for the greatest power of force in all of history and eternity!  All because He trusted in the plan of God!

 

- A good prayer: Lord, help me to be for others exactly like the person I would want to run to if I fall.