Baptist City Blog

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Understanding the "Why?"

Job 12:12

"With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding."

One of the questions often asked when people face hard times is, "Why?" This is one of the hardest questions to be able to answer because we are not God. Only God knows the answer as to why He allows hard times to come our way. However, because we don't always understand why God would allow us to go through hard times, many times we are tempted to quit.

No doubt, Job was tempted to quit when he faced his trial. Job's trial was not the average trial that people face, but it was one where the Devil unleashed his full strength of attack against Job. In the verse above, Job is talking himself out of quitting. Though Job did not understand why he had to face this trial, He knew that if he quit he would never understand why the trial came. He made the statement, "...and in length of days is understanding." Job was saying that if he would stick it out that time would reveal why he had to go through his trial. In other words, quitting would have left him asking why for the rest of his life.

Christian, quitting is never the answer. You will never gain wisdom by quitting. You will notice it says in the verse above, "With the ancient is wisdom;..." In other words, a person gains wisdom by continuing on in their hardship. One of the reasons you should not quit is because you will gain valuable wisdom that will help you later on in life. How many times have you quit only to learn later that you could have gained invaluable wisdom if you wouldn't have quit. There are lessons in hardships that can only be learned if you won't quit. The more you continue on in trials, the more wisdom you will gain to help others and yourself for later on in your life.

Furthermore, understanding comes from not quitting. Too many people never learn why they had to go through their hardships because they quit before understanding came. H.G. Spafford wrote the famous song, "It Is Well With My Soul." Though even at the writing of the song he did not completely understand why the LORD allowed his children to be lost at sea, he kept on going. It was not until later in life that the understanding came when he saw the impact this song had upon many Christians. Only time reveals why you must go through hardships and trials. If you quit, you will never understand why God allowed you to go through the trial. Though you may not understand now why you must face your trial, if you will not quit, then time will reveal the why and give you understanding.

Whatever it is that you face right now, I beg you not to quit. Though nobody may be able to help you understand why you must go through your hard time, only time can help you understand. If you quit, then time will not be able to explain to you why you had to go through your trial. Time can and will help you understand why you had to face your trial, but it can't if you quit. So, until time explains to you why, keep on going for understanding is on the way.

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Hedge Building

Job 1:10

"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land."

Satan made an interesting statement to God about Job when he said, "Hast not thou made an hedge about him..." Satan was saying that God had built a wall of protection about Job so that nobody could touch him. In other words, Job would have already lost his job, wealth, transportation, children, health, wife and friends if this hedge were not built about him. It was this hedge that protected Job from losing these things. My problem with the life of Job is that he had no one to pray for a hedge about him when he was going through his problems. Instead, those who should have been building a hedge about Job in prayer were criticizing him and leaving him.

One of the greatest needs that people need is for you to become a hedge builder. Building hedges is done through prayer. Too many people talk about how they feel sorry for someone when they should be on their knees building a hedge through prayer about that person. The only way people will be saved out of their situations or preserved from bad situations is to have someone build a hedge about them through prayer.

Your family needs you to build a hedge about them. You can talk all you want about how much you love your family, but how much time do you spend building a hedge about your family in prayer? It was Susannah Wesley who built a hedge about her children by praying one hour a week for each child. Maybe more children would not go wayward if parents would become hedge builders for their children. Maybe more children would come back to God if more parents would build a hedge through prayer for the wayward child. Maybe more marriages would be salvaged if a spouse would build a hedge about their marriage. More important than your career is your family having an hedge built about them.

Likewise, your church needs you to build a hedge about it. You can talk about how much you want your church to succeed, but have you built a hedge about your church through prayer? You can talk about all the problems your church is having, but have you built a hedge about your church through prayer? You can talk about how your pastor is not doing things the right way, but have you built a hedge about your pastor through prayer? Your church needs you to be a hedge builder.

Your country needs you to build a hedge about it. Yes, your nation may be facing serious problems that concern you, but are you building a hedge about it through prayer? You can talk and complain about the bad decisions the leaders of your nation are making, but have you built a hedge about them? You may talk about the unemployment rate, crime, sin, financial markets and budget problems, but have you built a hedge about your nation through prayer? The only way your nation will be salvaged from destruction is for you to build a hedge about it through prayer.

Are you a hedge builder? Who have you built a hedge about lately? There are many people and organizations that could use you to become a hedge builder. Stop complaining and talking about what needs to be changed, and start building a hedge about them through prayer.

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Curing Moodiness

Esther 5:9

"Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai."

Moody people are miserable people to be around. One moment they can be the best people to be around, and then one hour later they are down in the dumps sulking about something that just happened. Trying to figure out the cause of someone being moody is never an easy thing. However, though you can't control how moody others are, you can control whether or not you are moody.

In the verse above, Haman's moodiness was displayed. You see in one moment he was glad because he was invited by the queen to a banquet, and then the next moment you see him upset over someone not bowing down to him. In all reality, Haman's moodiness had a big part in his anger towards Mordecai. If Haman wouldn't have been moody, then he would not have conspired to have the Jews killed.

There are many things you must do if you are going to cure your moodiness. First, you cannot allow circumstance, people, position or things to dictate your mood. You will notice that all of these things are outside sources. You cannot allow outside sources to dictate your mood because you cannot control them. Too many people are happy or sad depending upon what the outside sources dictate. If you allow outside sources to dictate your mood, then you will find your mood to be like a yo-yo, up and down.

Second, in order to cure your moodiness, you must take your eyes off yourself. Part of the cause of moodiness is that a person takes everything personally because they are dwelling on themselves. You must remember that life is not about you. If you make life about yourself, then you will always be judging people's motives. When you think people are being mean to you, then you will be in a bad mood. However, when you think people are being good to you, then you are in a good mood. Take your eyes off of yourself by realizing that life should not be about you.

Third, remind yourself that God made this day. Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." By reminding yourself that God made your day, you are dictating to yourself that everything that happens is allowed by God. God commands us to rejoice and be glad in everything that happens throughout each day. Start every day by audibly telling yourself that no matter what happens, God made this day.

Last, get your joy from within. If you are going to cure your moodiness, then you must dictate your mood from what you can control. Because you can't control circumstances, people or things, you must determine to only allow your mood to be dictated within. Remember, salvation does not change because of outside circumstance. Your home in Heaven will not change because of what people say about you or do to you. If you will let your position with Christ be the motivating factor of your mood, then you will find yourself constantly in a good mood.

Life is too short to be up and down throughout your day. Get control of your moods. Dictate to yourself that you are going to be in a good mood every day. The only way you will do this is by realizing your position with Christ never changes.

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Checks and Balances

Esther 3:11

"And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee."

God built this world with the intent of having checks and balances to keep us honest. In the political realm there are many checks and balances to keep every branch of government honest. For instance, you have the judicial branch that keeps the executive branch honest. You have the executive branch to keep the legislative branch honest. However, the legislative branch will keep the judicial branch honest. Each is there for the purpose of checks and balances.

In the story above, King Ahasuerus made a great mistake as a leader. His mistake was that he gave Haman a blank sheet of trust to write a law without anyone checking that law. Because Haman hated Mordecai and the Jews, he wrote a law that would have annihilated the Jews had God not used Esther to step in. This blank sheet of trust was unwise on the behalf of the king.

Nobody should ever be given a blank sheet of trust, because power can corrupt the best of people. When someone knows that they are never going to be checked, then they will face greater temptation to do wrong like they would not have faced if they had checks and balances. Checks and balances are set up to keep people honest. In every area of life there should be checks and balances.

In your marriage, you should have checks and balances. In other words, you should always be open with your spouse with everything you do. You should never keep secrets in your marriage. Whenever a spouse is not allowed to check up on the other in any area, then it will be in that area where they can mess up. For instance, I have given my wife the opportunity to surprise me on any trip that I take. If she wanted to come and surprise me on a trip, that would be completely fine. The reason I do this is to keep myself honest. Because you and your spouse are human, you should always have checks and balances for each other.

In the church, there needs to be checks and balances. For instance, I believe the Scriptures give the pastor the leadership role of the church. However, that leadership role doesn't give him the authority to spend money out of the budget that the church votes upon. Whenever the pastor gives out the monthly financial report, he is fulfilling the role of his checks and balances.

Likewise, the pastor is the shepherd of the church. That means that nobody is to tell the pastor what to preach. He is to get the message that God wants His people to hear. However, you should never take everything that a preacher says as fact. The checks and balances are the Scriptures. Everything a preacher preaches should be verified by the Scriptures. If you don't verify everything a preacher preaches by the Scriptures, then you can find yourself following a preacher into error.

These are just three instances that I have used for illustrations, but the important thing you should learn is that in every area of life there must be checks and balances. Never give anyone a blank sheet of trust. If you give them a blank sheet of trust you open them up to temptation or compromise. Always have checks and balances for every area of life.

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How Liberals Change Societies

Ezra 2:59

"And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:"

A dangerous trend is found in the verse above when it says, "but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:" Two things that this generation could not do was they could not show from whence they came and how they did things. This may not be important to some, but that is how you change a generation. When people don't know their history, then they don't know the foundations upon which they should stand. History is a great teacher, and history will teach you where you should stand. Likewise, knowing how you do things is important for the fact that your traditions will dictate your direction. The error of the previous generation of those mentioned above is that they did not teach their history or traditions to the next generations.

One of the tactics that liberals use to change a society is to change history. In the United States you can see liberals constantly attacking the history of this great nation. They do it by telling bold face lies about history, even though they know that people won't accept it. However, they don't stop telling their lies, they keep on telling them until a new generation believes the lies about history as truth. Once they successfully change the history, then they start working on the traditions of how we do things. Once they can change history and traditions, then they can change a society's mindset regarding its foundations.

Furthermore, the same tactic that liberals use to change a society is the same tactic that liberals use in Christianity to promote their liberalism. One of the saddest things about most Christians is that they don't know anything about their history. Because they don't know anything about their history, liberals can say anything they want and most people will accept it as truth.

In order to keep from changing who we are we must learn our history. The first things liberals attack is the foundational documents and their validity. Satan did this in the Garden of Eden when he questioned the Word of God. Liberals do this today when they attack the Constitution of the United States. Likewise, there are those in Christianity who attack the King James Bible and Its accuracy. Each of these are the foundational documents of America and Christianity. Christian, you need to learn your history concerning the Constitution and the King James Bible. It may not be exciting, but if we allow these to be attacked and changed, then liberalism will have its agenda engraved in the hearts of the next generation.

Second, don't let our traditions be changed. The way liberals change traditions is through attacking great men of history. Liberals will attack the character and accomplishments of great men. This is why its important for you to know the untainted history. If you know your history, then you will know the character of great men and the truth about their accomplishments.

Last, be sure to teach the next generation the truth about our history and traditions. Teach them about the Constitution and the King James Bible. Teach them the principles that are taught in each of these. Teach them about the great men of history, their accomplishments and how they stood for truth. Teach them about the sacrifice of the patriots. Don't let your children and those whom you influence be ignorant about our history.

If history and traditions are changed, then America and fundamentalism as we know it will never be the same. Do your part in carrying on the history and traditions by not being lazy and learning about these yourself, and then teach them to the next generation.

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The Work of Pride

Psalm 10:4

"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."

When you study the Scriptures, pride seems to be the sin that God hates the most. Pride was the sin that caused Lucifer to be thrown out of Heaven. Pride is the sin that causes a person to be destroyed. Pride is the sin that will cause God to judge a nation. 

In Psalm 10, we find the work of pride. The first work of pride is making life all about you. God says in Psalm 10:2, "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." You will notice that pride caused this person to not help the poor. Why? The reason is because they were wrapped up in themselves. A person who makes everything about them and what they want is filled with pride. Nothing should be about what we want, but it should be about what God wants.

The second work of pride is not seeking God. Notice in the verse above, the wicked would not seek God because of their pride. In other words, God calls it wicked to not seek Him. In fact, God says the only reason why you would not seek Him is because you are filled with pride. Pride is the only reason why someone would not seek God in everything that they do.

Let me ask you, are your works filled with pride? For instance, do you seek God in all of your daily affairs? Before you go anywhere, do you ask God to help you as you go through your day? Before you make any decision, do you ask God to help you make that decision? Before you start your day at work, do you ask God to help you as you work? Whenever you perform your ministries at church, do you ask God to help you no matter how big or small the task may seem? When you spend time with your family, do you ask God to help you have a good time with your family? As you rear your children, do you ask God to help you rear them? When you work with your personal finances, do you ask God to help you as you purchase items and pay bills?

If you don't ask God to help you before you do anything, then the work of pride has filled your heart. For you to have enough confidence in yourself that you think you don't need to ask God to help you is nothing more than pride. Pride causes a person to believe that they can do something without God's help.

The result of humbling yourself before God will be that you will seek Him greatly. God says in 2 Chronicles 33:12, "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," You will notice that when Manasseh humbled himself that he sought the LORD. When a person is humble, they will seek God in everything that they do.

Christian, be careful about being so filled with pride that you think you can do something without God's help. No matter how small the task may seem, you need God's help to do that task. Starting right now, be sure you ask God to help you before you do anything so that pride will not have a place in your heart.

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Done Suddenly

2 Chronicles 29:36

"And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly."

One of the reasons why Hezekiah was able to get all of Judah to serve the LORD was because he suddenly organized the worship service. Yes, Hezekiah cleaned up the temple and followed the advice of the prophet, but the main reason the people of Judah got involved was because of the haste of serving God.

Many people fail to serve the LORD because they fail to suddenly get involved. God says in the verse above, "...for the thing was done suddenly." The word "suddenly" means, "without premeditation; unexpectedly; hastily." Each of these definitions properly describes what it takes if you are going to serve God, but not just serve Him in a small way, but serve Him in a great way.

When it comes to serving God, don't think about whether you should serve Him. I often hear people tell me that they need to think about it before they do it. When it comes to taking on new tasks in your service to God you should take time to think about it, but when it comes to serving God in general, you should suddenly serve Him. If you take your time to think about whether you should serve God, you will end up not doing it. You will come up with many excuses as to why you can't do it; just do it. For instance, don't think about whether you should witness to someone, just suddenly start witnessing to them. Don't think about whether you should pay your tithe; suddenly pay your tithe. The more you think about whether you should do something for God, the more time you have to come up with excuses.

When it comes to serving God, don't wait to serve Him. One of the reasons many people never serve God is because they wait till later in life to serve Him. Years ago I almost waited to go into full-time service because of an opportunity to do something I always wanted to do. The reason I am able to do for God what I am doing is because I didn't wait to serve Him. I surrendered my dreams for God's purpose for my life, and that is why I have accomplished through God what I have. If you wait till later to serve God, you will never do it. Now is the time to serve the LORD. Stop waiting to serve God until you have tried everything else, suddenly serve Him.

When it comes to serving God, don't slowly serve Him. The word "suddenly" means "hastily." In other words, serve the LORD with passion. Get some haste about your service towards God. Get some emotion in your service towards God. Get an urgency about your service towards God. Too many Christians are not urgent about serving God. Our time is short, and we don't have time to wait and slowly serve the LORD. In these days in which we live Christians need to have an urgency about what they do for God.

You will notice that the result of Hezekiah and the people serving the LORD suddenly was that they rejoiced. When you suddenly serve God, you will find that you will have plenty about which to rejoice. As is often said, jump in, the water's fine. I beg you to decide right now to suddenly serve the LORD.

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He's Preaching About You

2 Chronicles 18:7

"And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so."

Have you ever felt that the preacher is always preaching about you? In the verse above, Ahab felt that the Prophet Micaiah always preached against him. When Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet who could give them advice on whether they should go to war, the first prophet Ahab thought about was Micaiah. The only problem was that Ahab did not like this prophet because he always preached against his wicked lifestyle.

It is good when you feel that a preacher is always preaching to you. I know this may sound strange, but it is good because that means God is not done working with you. If God never speaks to your heart through the preaching, then you should be concerned. Furthermore, most likely the preacher does not have you in mind when he is preaching. You need to understand that there are many people to whom the preacher is preaching, and it is only the Holy Spirit of God Who is directly pointing out to you your sin through the sermon.

When someone feels the preacher is preaching about them, they usually respond by getting mad. When you get mad at the preacher, you are in essence getting mad at God. It was not the preacher who chose to preach that sermon, but it was God Who told the preacher to preach that sermon. Too many people feel the preacher has it out for them. From my experience, I don't know of any preacher who preaches a sermon directly at one person. If he does this, then he won't have a congregation for very long. Though there is probably an exception to this, you must realize that the preacher is probably not trying to point you out, but he is probably trying to help you become the Christian God wants you to become.

Instead of getting mad at the preacher, you should change the area in your life about which he is preaching. If what the preacher is preaching is truth that is found in the Word of God, then your response should be to change your life so that you no longer are convicted when he preaches on that subject. Even if the preacher was preaching at you, if what he was preaching was truth, then changing your life to live right will keep the preacher from having that opportunity again.

Your attitude towards preaching reveals the spirituality of your heart. If you get mad at preaching, then you are revealing that your heart is not right with God. If you humbly accept the preaching as God speaking to you, then you are revealing that you have a tender heart that desires to do what God wants you to do. What is your attitude towards preaching? Do you feel that you are always being pointed out? Then change what you're doing so that it doesn't happen again.

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Waxing Great

2 Chronicles 17:12

"And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store."

When studying the life of the kings, there are many lessons that can be learned on how a country should be ran. However, many will read the lessons from the personal life of the king's and think that these lessons do not apply to their personal life. This is not true at all. Whatever will make a kingdom strong will also make your personal life strong.

God said in the verse above, "And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly;..." Jehoshaphat on the whole was a good man who followed the same principles that made King David strong. The Scriptures said that there was a fear of God in Jehoshaphat's kingdom. A nation that will not fear God will be a nation that God will eventually destroy. A nation will not follow the commandment of God without a fear of God. The Scriptures also say that Jehoshaphat built Judah. He wasn't concerned about building other nations as much as he was concerned about building his own nation. One of the problems of America is that the leaders are more concerned about every other nation than they are in building their own nation. Furthermore, you will find in verse 13 that Jehoshaphat made sure that his economy and military defense were strong. A solid economy and strong defense will help in the building of a nation. These four areas are what caused Jehoshaphat to wax great in his kingdom. Any leader who will strengthen these four areas will become a great leader of their nation.

However, the same can be applied to your personal life. If you want to wax great as a Christian, then you first need to have a fear of God. I am not talking about the type of fear that would cause you to tremble every minute of the day, but I am talking about the type of fear that causes you to respect what God's power can do for you and to you. If you obey God's commandments, then God's power will help you in your daily life. If you disobey God's commandments, then that same power will be used to punish you. A healthy fear of God is necessary in building a strong life, family, church and nation.

Likewise, you will never wax great until you start focusing on building. God is a builder! As a Christian you need to be focused on building your family and the lives of others. You need to be involved in your church ministries so that you can build your family and the lives of others. Nobody has ever become a great Christian who focused on themselves. A great Christian is one who uses their energies to build others.

Moreover, being strong financially will help you to becoming a great Christian. This does not mean that you need to be wealthy to be a strong Christian, but it means that you need to be financially stable. It will be hard to build lives when you are concerned with your financial woes. Work hard at keeping your finances stable so that you can focus on building lives.

Last, a strong defense is important to being a strong Christian. There are a few ways you are going to build a strong defense. First, you need to spend time studying the Scriptures. It is only through God's Word that you will overcome temptation. Second, you need to spend time with God in prayer on a daily basis. Prayer is what will give you God's power and wisdom to overcome Satan. Last, you need to have good personal standards. Standards will help you to stay separated from the world. You'll never become a strong Christian by hobnobbing with the world.

There is a need for great Christians in this present day. There are too many good people, but good people don't change the world, only great Christians will do that. You will never wax great as a Christian until you follow the four steps that made Jehoshaphat wax great in his kingdom.

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Principles of Employment

1 Chronicles 19:7

"So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle."

One of the mistakes that people commonly make is accepting employment at the wrong place, or accepting a promotion out of God's will. Often when I preach meetings in a church I will ask a pastor where someone is, only to hear that they accepted a job that took them out of church. Then, a few years later I hear the awful report how that person's life is destroyed, and it all started with accepting the wrong employment or position.

In the verse above, the Syrians made a big mistake by accepting a job from the Ammonites to fight against David and Israel. David wanted to show kindness to Hanun because his father was kind to David. Instead of accepting the kind acts from David, Hanun treated David's servants who delivered the gifts in a bad way. Knowing that he made a mistake, Hanun hired the Syrians to help fight David and Israel only to find that they were fighting against the LORD. The Syrians mistake was that they accepted a job that was against the will of God, and this decision caused them to lose many people in battle.

When accepting a position of employment, one of the first things you must settle in your heart is that money isn't always the issue. Though many times we look at how much money we are going to make on a job, you must realize that money isn't the only determining factor on whether you should accept a new job. Yes, money is an important issue, but there are other factors to consider before you accept a new job.

One of the things you must consider besides money is whether this new job will cause you to do wrong. For instance, years ago I had the opportunity to have a job while I was in Bible college that would have easily paid my monthly bills. The only requirement was that I must be willing to handle alcoholic beverages. I had always been taught that you don't touch or handle any alcoholic beverage. I rejected the job because I knew it would cause me to do wrong. Any time you take a job, you need to find out what the job entails to be sure it won't cause you to do something wrong.

Something else you need to consider is will this job take you away from the will of God. For instance, will this job take you out of church? Will you have to work during church services? If you will, then you should not accept the job. Furthermore, if a promotion on the job would cause you to have to move to an area where there is not a good church, then you should not accept that promotion. Anything that would pull you away from the will of God is not right. Moreover, if you are called into full-time service, and a job would keep you from doing what God has called you to do, then you should not take the job.

Where you work can highly determine your degree of service to God. Many people have backslid because they accepted a job that pulled them away from God. Yes, you have to have a job to pay your bills, but always remember that if you will put God first, then He will send the job your way that will best meet your financial needs and will keep you available to serve Him. Trust God and follow His commands in the area of your employment and you will find God's placement for your employment needs will be the best and the most rewarding.