Baptist City Blog

Two Keys of the Successful Christian Life

Mark 12:28

"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?"

If you were to study the Scriptures and make a summary of the successful Christian life, you would find that the answer Jesus gave to the question above is the summary. In an attempt to catch Jesus saying something wrong, the scribes asked Jesus which commandment was the most important commandment. Jesus answered by showing them that Christianity hinges on two things; your treatment of God, and your treatment of mankind. If you get both of these areas right, then you will be successful in your Christian life.

Jesus described how He expects you to treat Him by saying that you should love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. This is interesting because these areas make up your whole being. He wants you to love Him with your heart, which is your emotions. He wants you to love him with your soul, which is your character. He wants you to love Him with your mind, which is your intellect. Finally, He wants you to love Him with your strength, which is your effort and zeal.

However, it is interesting that God says you are to do these things to the best of your ability. Notice He uses the words, "with all."  Your all is not someone else's all. Some people are more emotional than others, but you are to love Him with all of your emotions. Some people who have only been saved a short time don't have the character of those who have been saved longer, but with whatever Christian character you have you are to live a life for God with it. Not every person has the same intellect, but with whatever intellect you have you are to love Him. Not everybody has the same level of physical strength, but with whatever strength you do have you are to love Him with all of it. In other words, God doesn't measure your love in these areas by comparing them to others, but He measures your love to Him by comparing them to what you can do. God wants all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Furthermore, God says that the second key to successful Christianity is your treatment of others. God expects you to treat others the same way you would treat yourself. For example, you are to treat the fallen the same way you would treat yourself if you fell. You are to treat the successful the same way you would treat yourself when you are successful. You are to treat the grieving the same way you would treat yourself if you were grieving. You are to treat the young Christian the same way you would treat yourself if you were a young Christian. A successful Christian will be one who considers how they would want to be treated in every situation, and use that as the guide to how they would treat others.

Christianity is not really hard to figure out. If you will treat God and mankind right, then you will be a successful Christian. If you get one of these areas wrong, then you will get both of them wrong. They both depend upon each other. If you treat God right, then you will treat mankind right. Likewise, if you treat mankind right, you will treat God right. They both hinge upon each other. If you want to be successful as a Christian, then focus on getting these two areas right and you will succeed.

And Some Fell

Mark 4:8

"And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred."

One of the important things that someone must do when sowing seed is to make sure that the seed is in good ground. Those who work in farming will tell you that some plants can't grow in certain soil. This is one of the reasons you will see produce grow in one part of the country and not in another part. The soil in which the seed is sown is vital to the fruit that it produces.

The parable of the sower says that there were different types of soil that the seed fell upon. I want you to notice that in every case the seed fell from the hand of the sower. The Scriptures do not say that the sower purposely planted the seed in each of these places, but apparently he was carrying the seed and some fell.

As we serve God, it is unfortunate that people with whom we serve will fall. You must realize that there are people with whom you serve right now who will not be serving the LORD is years to come. This should be no surprise to you. One of the reasons the seed fell in this parable was because the sower was not careful about guarding his seed. The sower should have been more careful with his seed. Likewise, we should be more careful with those whom we serve that we don't allow them to simply fall because of our carelessness.

I want you to notice that once the seed fell, there were two things that were common that determined whether the seed was able to recover and bring forth fruit; places and associations. Some of the seed fell in places where it could not grow. Other seed fell among associations that would not allow the seed to bring forth fruit.

Every Christian needs to be careful about their associations and the places they go. These two things will ultimately determine whether you will be fruitful, or whether you will be able to come back once you fall. The places you frequent and the people with whom you associate will influence the fruitfulness of your life more than anything else.

Are your associations harming your walk with God? You need to be careful with whom you associate because associations will often cause people to fall. It may be that you only have one association who is wrong, but that one association will hurt your fruitfulness and could keep you from recovering if you fall.

Is every place you go a place that is glorifying to the LORD? Where you go will also determine with whom you associate. If there are places where you go that you would not want your pastor or another Christian to find you, then you need to stop going there. If you go to wrong places, then you will meet the wrong people. Make sure that every place you go is a place where you would not be ashamed if the Saviour caught you there.

Finally, when helping people recover from sin, the two areas you need to help them change are their associations and the places they frequent. If they are not willing to change these two areas, then they will never recover from their fall.

Some will fall in the Christian life. You need to be extra careful that you are not one of those who fall. The best way to keep this from happening is to guard your associations and the places you go.

But Some Doubted

Matthew 28:17

"And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted."

This is an interesting verse in that it seems some were so blinded by their negative attitude that they could not see the obvious. The verse above says, "...but some doubted." Okay, we can all understand having times of doubt, but you must look at the first part of the verse to see how their doubt doesn't make sense. The verse starts about by saying, "And when they saw him,..." These who doubted actually saw Jesus standing in front of them and beheld Him with their own eyes, but they still doubted. In other words, it really didn't matter how much proof they had, they were so negative that they were going to doubt the obvious.

Have you ever been around people who always see the negative and doubt the good that is going on right in front of them? What a sad way to live life! There is nothing more tiring than having to deal with someone who cannot see the positive in anything. You can show them the positives, but they are still negative about a situation or idea. This is a terrible way to live.

Perception is a choice. These people who doubted chose to doubt even though the proof was right in front of them. You can either see the negative of every situation and doubt, or you can see the positive and dwell on that. I am not saying that you should bury your head in the sand and not see reality, but what I am saying is that you don't have to be negative all the time.

The sad part about negative people is that they don't see how negative they really are. Negative people think that they are generally positive, but if they were to look at everything that comes from their mouth with an honest outlook, they would see their negative attitude.

Furthermore, being negative is contagious. When one person starts doubting and spreads the negative, it is amazing how others immediately begin to doubt. Christian, stay away from those who always doubt. Stay away from those who never see the good in anything. Stay away from those who are always pointing out the negative in every situation or doubting the obvious. This may sound harsh, but spending time with a negative person is not worth you losing your positive outlook on life. If they don't like this, then they can change their outlook to see what is right before their eyes.

Finally, you need to be one who forces yourself to see the good in everything. By nature we are negative people, because our sinful nature is negative. So, you must not allow your fleshly sinful nature to rule your outlook on things. You must purposely find the good in everything. If you look hard enough, there is positive in everything. Don't be guilty of spreading the negative about your church, rather work at always finding the positive about every service and tell others about it. You must also work hard at finding the positive about people. It won't be hard to find the negative about people because they are sinful human beings, but if you purposely look to find the positive, you will find it. Don't be guilty of having the obvious in front of you and doubting it because of a negative spirit. Choose to look at the obvious of God's works and spread it so everyone can see His great works in the lives of people and in your church. Don't ever let it be said about you, "...and they doubted."

The Menu is Just Fine

Matthew 22:2-3

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."

A few years ago the fast food restaurant chains changed their menus to try and make them healthier. McDonald's was one of the chains that tried to make their french fries healthier for their patrons hoping that it would cause more people to come to their restaurant. What they found out was that people didn't come to McDonald's because they were looking for healthier french fries. Their sales went down because they changed the menu. It didn't take them long to go back to the proven recipe which resulted in their sales going back up.

The story from the verse above is about a king who had a son who was going to get married. He sent his servants to invite people to the wedding, and to his surprise there were many who would not come. What I like about this king is that he sent his servants back out, but he sent them out with the same message, but to different people. This king understood that anyone who was to come to his son's wedding were all going to have to come the same way. He wasn't going to change his menu to draw a crowd. This king realized that his menu was just fine, and those who didn't want to come would suffer the consequences.

All too often there are people in Christianity who try to change the menu of who we are to draw a crowd. There are many independent Baptist preachers who think the old-time ways of doing things just won't work today. With this mentality they change their menu hoping to draw more people. They find out that changing the menu also changes their product to an undesirable product. They find out that the newer menu of doing things doesn't work.

Several years ago I was golfing with a friend of mine who commented about a preacher who went to Heaven. He told me that he felt God sent him to Heaven because this older preacher wouldn't make needed changes in his methods to draw more people to his church. This friend of mine said that the times had passed up this older preacher. I responded by telling this friend that whether or not the methods of the Word of God draw a crowd is not the issue. Truth is the issue and truth never changes. I told this friend if he changes the methods of this older preacher that he would quickly find out that his product would change as well.

Christian, we must be careful about always looking for newer ways of doing things. God's menu of doing things always works. Purity still works today. God's standards of dress and living still work today. Door-to-door soul winning still works today. Old-fashioned preaching still works today. On and on we could go, but we must understand that God's menu is just fine. It has worked for many centuries, and it will continue to work.

You may say, "Bro. Domelle, we can draw a bigger crowd if we change the menu." You may be right, but that doesn't change right and wrong. A dead carcass on the side of the road draws a crowd of buzzards, but that doesn't mean I want to be in that crowd. Drawing a crowd is not the issue. It seems today that many are more interested in building a mega-church than they are in doing things according to God's menu.

Christian, don't be guilty of looking for a new menu. God's menu of living and building churches has worked in the past, and it will continue to work today. Don't let suave preachers beguile you into believing that truth changes with the times. Always stand for truth. Even if God's menu doesn't draw a crowd, His menu is still right. Let's just stay with God's menu that has been tried and tested and has proven that it produces a great and desirable product.

Chosen and Faithful

Revelation 17:14

"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."

What if this was the day of Armageddon and you were part of the armies of God. Would God have the capability of calling you chosen and faithful? Though we still live in the day of grace, we must realize that God is still in a war with Satan, and He needs His children to be a part of the army that helps to fight in this great battle. You will see that when God looks for those whom He can use to fight in the battle of Armageddon, He says that they must be "...chosen, and faithful." These qualities are still needed in this day, and Christians need to realize their importance in fulfilling their role.

First, let me remind you that you are chosen by God. John 15:16 says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."Christian, God chose you to serve Him before you were ever born. Does this mean that there is no choice in who gets saved? Not at all! God is simply reminding us that everyone on this Earth was created to serve Him.

God chose you by creating your life. What a privilege it is to be chosen by the God of the Universe to serve Him. This calling is higher than making money. This calling is higher than pursuing some position in the work force. This calling is higher than having possessions. The calling for every Christian to be a part of the army of God is a great calling. You were made with the purpose of serving God, and you should do everything in your power to fulfill that purpose. Don't let bitterness, sin, jealousy or any other thing pull you away from fulfilling the role of why God placed you on this Earth. Realize that you were chosen by God.

Furthermore, God needs you to be faithful in what He has called you to do. The reason God chose these to fight with Him in the battle of Armageddon is because He could depend on them. God was not concerned with them quitting on Him while He was in the heat of the battle. He knows that those who will be in His army can be depended upon because they are faithful.

If you want God to use you in a great way then you need to be faithful with all that He gives you to do. If God gives you the duty of cleaning the toilets in your church, then be faithful to clean the toilets. If God gives you the job of greeting people as they come through the doors of your church, then be faithful to greet people. You may think that your job is insignificant and of no importance, but God is seeing if you will be faithful. Luke 19:17 says, "And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities." God always tests His children with the small things before He blesses them with bigger things. He wants to see if they will be faithful with the "little" before He gives them the big.

Christian, are you faithful to God with everything for which you are responsible? Are you dependable to be there day in and day out, or are you one of those who are hit and miss with your service to God? God needs your faithfulness because He has a job for you to do. Faithfulness to fulfill the tasks that God has given you in the present is vital to whether He will trust you with bigger things later on in life. When you walk throughout your day, don't ever think that you can let the little things slide, for God is watching to see if you are faithful so He can use you for greater things. Be that Christian whom God says is faithful. When God can depend on you, then He will surely use you for greater tasks.

All You Need

Revelation 7:17

"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

The world is constantly looking for answers in the wrong places. There is nothing more disappointing and frustrating than to need an answer for something and not find it because you are looking in the wrong place. However, when you need an answer and find the answer, the satisfaction that you have is great. Finding the answers you need in life simply come down to looking in the right place.

The verse above is talking about the future kingdom. It says in the future kingdom that the Lamb, Who is Jesus, will feed His people, lead them "unto fountains of water," and that He will wipe the tears from their eyes. What a promise this is for every believer. Even though this is talking about the future kingdom, Jesus will still do this for His people today.

Jesus is the One Who can feed you today. First, He will feed you spiritually. Christian, you need to stop looking to man to be fed Spiritually when you can be fed through reading the Word of God. John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. In other words, the only way you will be spiritually nourished is through reading the pages of the Word of God. Jesus is the spiritual sustenance that you need for your Christian walk.

Furthermore, Jesus is the One Who will supply your daily needs. Philippians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I have watched Christians drop out of church because they needed a job to pay their bills, yet they never seem to financially catch up because they didn't go to the One Who supplies their daily needs. You must realize that God promises to supply every need you have through Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus can spiritually feed you, He can also feed you physically. He is the One Who will help you pay your bills. He is the One Who will make sure that you have food on the table. He is the One Who will put a roof over your head. Jesus is your sustenance.

Moreover, Jesus will also satisfy you in every area of life. The verse above says that Jesus will "...lead them unto living fountains of waters:..."The "fountain of waters" is symbolic of satisfaction. Nothing will satisfy you like Jesus can. Nobody can give you the complete satisfaction that Jesus will. You will only find the complete satisfaction you are looking for in Jesus Christ. This is why you need to pour your life into Christ, because He is the only One Who will give you complete satisfaction. Sure, other things will satisfy you, but nothing will give you complete satisfaction. Only Jesus can offer that.

Finally, Jesus will comfort you in your heartache. I love the phrase, "...and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The loving care of God is seen in this phrase. Christian, when your heart is hurting, God is the One Who can wipe the tears from your eyes. I have found in the greatest heartaches of my life that Jesus is the One Who was able to wipe the tears from my eyes. Does that mean that the heartache will leave? No! It simply means that He will be with you in the heartache. He will be the One Who comforts you the best during this time.

When you put all of these things together, you must come to the conclusion that Christ is all you need. You need to realize that Christ is everything, and that He has the answer for every need of your life. When you pour your life into Christ, then you will find that every need will be met.

Come and Go

Revelation 4:1

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

Throughout the Scriptures you will find two commands that God commonly gives, and those commands are "come" and "go." They are given in this order for a purpose, for you will never accomplish the goal of going unless you first come. When you come to God, He gives you the substance you need to accomplish what you need to do while you go. Yet, what I see in Christianity is that there are many who try to go without coming to God. You will be successful for a while when you go without coming, but you will eventually dry up and not have any substance to give while you go.

First, you are to come and see. In the verse above, John was to come and see what God was going to do. Christian, you need to daily come and let God show you from His Word what you need in your Christian life. You will never have the spiritual sustenance that you need unless you come and see. If you get too busy to come and see on a daily basis, then your Christian life will be lacking. When you come and see the truths of God's Words, then that will give you the substance and fire you need to go. Don't ignore this command to come and see, for it is a command that you need to make it through your day with the spiritual strength to fulfill God's works and to ward off the attacks of Satan.

Second, you are to come and rest. Matthew 11:28 says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."Christian, after a hard day of serving the LORD and fighting Satan, you need to come to God and get the rest you need for the next day. Simply put, there must come a time when you come to God and let Him give you the rest you need through the preaching of the Word of God. Yes, preaching is that recharge button that will encourage you to keep serving the LORD. Even though I am a preacher, I need times when I come to God and rest through the preaching of the Word of God. When I hear preaching it challenges me to keep serving the LORD, and it will do the same for you.

Third, we are to come and unload. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. There comes a time when you need to come to God and unload your burdens upon Him. God says in Hebrews Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." You will never make it in the Christian life without having a time when you daily come to God and unload your burdens of the day. You may unload on people, but they cannot give you the help and strength you need with your burdens. Only God can help you if you will unload upon Him.

Finally, you are to go. Once you come to God, then you will have the strength and substance you need to go and tell a lost and dying world about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. If you will go, you will find there is a world of people whom you could help. Coming to God and never going is selfish and unspiritual. God commands you to come so that you can go.

I challenge you today to daily come to Christ. Make time in your schedule to daily come to Christ to get the strength you need from Him. Then, make time in your schedule to go and win the lost to Jesus Christ. When you come and go, you will find fulfillment in your Christian life.

What is the Love of God?

1 John 3:16

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 are not only tied together because of their chapter and verse being the same, but they are also tied together because their message is the same. Though some may think that this is a coincidence, I believe there are no coincidences with God, and that on purpose He placed it in the Scriptures this way. God wants you to think of His love whenever you think of these verses. But, what is the love of God?

First, God's love is being willing to give up your life for another. God defines His love in the verse above, but He illustrated this love in John 3:16. Jesus showed us how much He loves us by giving His life for the world. The greatest love that anyone can show to another is to be willing to give up their life for someone else. This is not only being willing to die for someone else, though it is definitely that, but I believe it is more than that. Giving up your life for someone else is being willing to give up your ambitions and dreams for the sake of another. Only the love of God dwelling in the heart of an individual can move them to do this.

Second, God's love is keeping His commandments. Throughout the whole book of 1 John you will see that if you love God, you will keep His commandments. This is God's love for several reasons, but the biggest reason is because you're obeying Him even when there are times when your flesh does not desire to do right. When you show God that you are willing to follow His commandments in spite of what your flesh desires, then He can see that His love dwells in you. Furthermore, by keeping God's commandments you show God's love to others in that you don't want to hurt them. Sin always hurts, and it especially hurts those whom you say that you love. When you truly love someone, you will find that you will do right to keep from hurting them.

Third, Romans 8:39 says that God's love is inseparable. When you have the love of God dwelling in your heart, then you will find that nothing will cause you to stop loving someone. It doesn't matter what they do to you, or how deep they go into sin, if the love of God dwells in you then you will continue to love that person.

Fourth, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 says that the love of God is patient. If you are having a hard time being patient with someone, it is because you lack the love of God. The love of God is patient with those who try your patience. The love of God believes that one day the other person will do better. The love of God believes that one day the other person will start doing right. The love of God is patient with those who don't deserve patience.

Fifth, Jude 1:21 says that the love of God is merciful. I love this because God's mercy kept Him from sending me to Hell. Likewise, God's mercy has kept His judgment from being executed on your life. When you have the love of God dwelling in you, then you will find mercy for those who deserve punishment. The love of God will tell you that they deserve another chance.

This love of God is certainly worth having. However, how do you get such love? Notice that the love of God is of God. This love can come from no where else other than God. Christian, until you start spending time walking with God you will never have this love in you. Yes, this world needs to see the love of God, but they only way they will see it is through your life. You need to be sure that you spend time walking with God so that those whom you know can see the love of God in your life.

Early Will I Seek Thee

Psalm 63:1

"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;"

There is something about being early with everything that gives you a fresh outlook and excitement for whatever you do. When I was a boy, my parents taught me to do things early. They taught me when I had chores to do that I should do them early. They taught me that I should arrive early for appointments and church. They taught me that I should read the Scriptures early every day. When you do things early, you have a better chance of not setting them aside until it's too late or until it slips your mind.

The Psalmist said, "...early will I seek thee:..." He realized that God was worthy of being sought. When there are other endeavors and people whom he could have sought, he chose to seek God. Though seeking others may not have been bad, he realized that seeking God was the best. However, he didn't just wait to seek God after he sought everything and everyone else, he sought Him early. He knew that God deserved to be the One Who was sought first before anyone or anything else. Let me show you several times when you ought to seek God early.

First, seek God early in life. Young person, the best time to start seeking God is at a young age. Many people waste years of their lives seeking things that will not bring satisfaction when they could have used the early years of their life to seek God. The early years of your life are not filled with clutter from the world. Setting a pattern early in life to seek God will establish that pattern for the rest of your life.

Second, seek God early in the day. For many years I have been an early riser. I must confess, I was not always an early riser. I must say that I was never one to sleep in until late in the morning, but getting up early was not of great importance. It became of great importance when I realized that God's desire was for me to seek Him early in the day. Likewise, I believe you should wake up earlier so you can seek Him. You will find that the Word of God will have a greater opportunity to feed you if you seek Him early.

Third, seek God early in endeavors. Before you start any project, stop and take time to seek for God's help. Don't wait until you've tried everything else to seek God, instead before you start be sure to seek Him. Seek God before you go into business. Seek God before you start your work day. Seek God before the biggest and smallest task. Make God your first stop before you step out in any endeavor.

Fourth, seek God early in relationships. Young married couples need to be sure to seek God early in their relationship. When a child is born, the parents need to seek God for help at that child's young age. No matter what the relationship may be that you are starting, seeking God early in that relationship will establish it on the right foundation.

Finally, seek God early in troubles. Whether the troubles are something of your own doing, or maybe they are trials that have come your way, be sure to seek God early on. Don't wait until the troubles have overwhelmed you because you tried to work them out yourself, but when they first come start seeking God. He alone has the wisdom to help you through your troubles.

Christian, make your pattern of life one that always seeks God before you do anything. Seeking God early will allow you to see Him work early on in whatever you are doing. If you seek God early, then you will get Him involved earlier, which will allow you to see success more quickly in that endeavor.