Baptist City Blog

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Lay Down Your Sword

2 Samuel 2:26

"Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?"

The story in the verse above happened after Saul was killed. There was a civil war between the men of Saul and David's men. There was a group of people in Israel who were still loyal to Saul and would not allow David to be their king. Even though Israel knew that David was anointed to be king, Saul's loyalist wanted his son to take over the kingdom.

In the verse above, Abner realized that if they didn't end this war, that many more men would lose their lives for no reason. Abner asked the question, "Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?" Abner realized that the end of the inner fighting would only lead to bitterness between the brethren. What Abner was saying was that it was time to lay down the sword and get along. They were not fighting over truth, but rather they were fighting over personality. Abner realized that the battle over personality was not a worthy battle.

There are times when Christians should fight. This devotional is not about getting along at any cost, but it is about learning to lay down the sword when the battle is over the wrong issues. When truth is being attacked, we should fight. When the validity of the Word of God is being attacked, we should fight. When the validity of the reality of Hell is attacked, we should fight. When anything is added to salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, then we should fight. Any time the doctrines of God's Word are attacked we should fight.

However, when Christians start fighting over preference, then it is time to lay down the sword. There are many preferences that we have in Christianity that are not worthy of a fight. For instance, you shouldn't fight over whether the platform should have carpeting or hard wood. That is complete preference. You shouldn't fight over which brand of song book the church should use, for that is preference. I could go on with this list, but I believe you know what is preference. Because we are so opinionated, if we are not careful, we will start fighting over preference which will lead to bitterness.

Furthermore, we should not fight over personalities. The only personality whom we should fight over is Jesus Christ. We should not fight over a man of God, for that is fleshly. You will often find that people will make the man of God the issue when he is not supposed to be the issue. Truth is always the issue. I have my own heroes whom I look to for an example to follow, but I should not fight with others who don't have the same feeling towards my heroes. Christians must be careful about fighting over personality and not truth. This will only lead to people becoming bitter towards each other.

There is a time to lay down the sword and stop fighting. When the battle is over preference and personality, then lay down the sword. When the battle is over truth, then pick up the sword and fight. When the battle is over truth, it will not lead to bitterness for truth will not bring bitterness, only happiness. When the battle is over the wrong issues, then the end of that battle will be bitterness. Be careful about fighting the wrong battles, and when you find yourself in a wrong battle then lay down your sword.

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Detrimental Decision Making

1 Samuel 25:13

"And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff."

In the verse above, David nearly made a decision that would have scarred him for the rest of his life. David gathered his men to go to war against Nabal because of how he was treated. If it wasn't for the wife of Nabal, David would have regretted this horrible act. The whole reason why David almost made a detrimental decision was because he didn't allow principle to make his decision.

It is so easy to forsake principles when making decisions. Every day you are faced with different situations and people who can bait you into making unprincipled decisions that can be detrimental to your future success and walk with God. There are several things that can lead to detrimental decisions that you must avoid.

First, never let situations decide your actions. Situations change, and anything that changes is not a stable measuring stick by which to make decisions. If a situation is bad, you can make a spur of the moment decision that could make the situation worse. You should never allow the situation to determine your actions. For instance, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not allow their situation to make their decision. Their situation would have told them to bow down to the idol, but they chose to follow principle in making their decision which kept them right with God. Just because a decision may make your situation better at the moment doesn't make it right. You must avoid allowing a situation to determine what you will do.

Second, don't let emotions decide your actions. Emotions will lead you into trouble. Any time you make a decision you must take your emotions out of the equation. In the story above, David allowed his emotions to get involved in his decisions which would have been detrimental to the rest of his life. The fact that you feel you have been mistreated should not determine what your actions are going to be. Take your emotions out when deciding what to do.

Third, don't let others decide your actions. What others do to you should not determine what you are going to do to them. You should do right whether or not others do right. Often you must make a decision that goes against what others have done to you. Others can bait you into a decision that you will regret for the rest of your life.

Last, always let principles decide your actions. Principles don't make decisions based on the situation, your emotions or what others have done to you. Principles make decisions based upon the Scriptures. You will always be safe when you let your Scriptural principles make decisions for you.

When principles make decisions for you then you only have to make a decision one time. When you allow situations, emotions and how others treat you to influence what you will do, then you must make a decision every time. You have a better chance of making detrimental decisions when you make more decisions. The fewer decisions you have to make the better chance you have of making right decisions. Let principles drive your decision making and you can avoid making detrimental decisions.

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Building a Following

1 Samuel 22:2

"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."

One of the greatest leaders in history is David. No doubt, when you measure leaders who had the greatest impact on a nation or the world, David would easily be on the top of the list. Yet, when you look at the beginnings of his rise to power, you see that he was not like the normal leader who catered to the elite to build his following. In fact, in the verse above, you find David's following was built through the down and outers. The elite of Israel had nothing to do with David. It was those whom nobody wanted that David chose to lead.

When building a following, a person would be wise to look at the example of David and do the same. Many of the great pastors whom I know have built their churches with the down and out of society. Don't get me wrong, the people in their churches are not second-class people. What I mean by this is that these great men reached many of their people when they were at a low point in their life.

Dr. Darrell Cox who pastors the Trinity Baptist Church in Mocksville, North Carolina, has built his church by reaching those who are in need. Every time I call him he seems to be on his way to a hospital visit to help someone in need. There are other times he will return my call after doing the funeral of someone in his area. Dr. Cox has often said that he has built his church through hospital visitation and funerals. Yet, when you go to his church you will see some of the greatest people on Earth who love their preacher immensely. The reason being is because he was there for them when nobody else would have anything to do with them.

In both David and Dr. Cox's cases, you will see that neither one was looking for a following, they were simply looking to help people. You should never look to build a following, but you should look to be a help to people. When you look to build a following, then you have ulterior motives to use these people for your own agenda. Great leaders don't use people for their own agenda, but instead seek to build people.

Furthermore, you should constantly look for ways to help those who are down and out. There are many people in your city who need someone to love them. There are people right now who life has given a bad hand and they could use someone like you to love them. There are people sitting in jail that could use someone to love them. There are people who are facing financial disaster who need someone to love them. There are people who are sitting in nursing homes who need someone to love them. There are people in hospital beds who need someone to love them. There are people who seem to never get the good end of life that need someone to love them.

Make it your ministry to find someone every day whom you can love. Find those who are the down and outers and love them where they are. When you help those whom nobody else will help, then you will find that you will have a following who will be loyal to you to the end. Every Sunday school teacher, bus worker and pastor should go after the down and outers, not to build a following, but to love some people who need to be loved. By doing this, you will build yourself a following.

What to Do After a Mistake

1 Samuel 12:19

"And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."

The story above is about the children of Israel asking Samuel for a king. Up to this point in their history they were a theocracy. Because they desired to be like all the other nations around them, they asked Samuel to anoint a king to rule over them. God granted them their request, but also showed them His displeasure with their actions. When they saw how displeased God was with their requests, they asked Samuel to pray that God would not kill them. They understood they had made a grave mistake and wanted to right what they had done wrong. Samuel gave them some advice on what to do after their mistake that will also help you when you make mistakes.

First, admit your mistake. God had to bring His people to the point where they could see their mistake before He could help them any further. When you make a mistake or sin against God, admit it. Don't give excuses why you did the wrong, but simply admit that you did wrong. When you give excuses as to why you did wrong you are not yet admitting your guilt. You will not be able to move further in the process of getting right until you take full responsibility for your wrong by admitting it.

Second, immediately start doing right. Samuel said in verse 20, "Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD..." You can see that they were advised to do right. Many times people will spiritually beat themselves up trying to right the wrong and won't do anything until they feel they have punished themselves enough. Don't try to punish yourself, leave that up to God. What you need to do is immediately start doing right. Don't add to your mistake by making the greater mistake of not doing right.

Third, start serving the LORD. God continues to say in verse 20, "...but serve the LORD with all your heart;" Doing right is different from serving the LORD. Doing right isn't always serving the LORD. Serving the LORD means you get involved in serving others. The easiest way to make sure you keep doing right is to start serving the LORD in a ministry. Though you may have made a mistake or have sinned, you still need to serve the LORD. Find a ministry in your church where you can serve.

Last, put your heart into what you are doing. Don't just serve the LORD and do right in actions, but put your whole effort into doing these things. God is always impressed with the effort of the heart. When God sees you putting your whole heart into serving Him, then He is convinced that you are sorry for your mistake.

Christian, you will make mistakes and sin. Don't be guilty of adding to your sin or mistake by doing nothing, but follow Samuel's advice so you can move on. You can't undo what you have done, but you can move on and do greater things for God. If you will follow the steps written above, there are still great victories ahead even after mistakes.

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Attributes of a Just Man

Proverbs 20:7

"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."

One of the characters you read about in the book of Proverbs is the just man. When talking about the just man, God is referring to one who lives right. In other words, he is one who abides by the laws of the land. He is one who abides by God's laws. He is one who is right with mankind. Certainly our present society needs people who will be just. When you study the just man, you will see three of his attributes that will help you in your daily life.

First, the just man listens to instruction. Proverbs 9:9 says, "...teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." Here is someone who doesn't close his ears to the instruction that comes his way, but he is one who learns through instruction. You will never learn the laws of God without listening to the laws of God. You will never learn the rules of society unless you listen to the instruction of one who teaches those rules.

It is highly important that you learn to be a listener. You will learn more through listening than you will through speaking. It is often said that the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is so that we will listen twice as much as we speak. Life should be a classroom from which we learn. The only way you will learn is to be a person who listens to the instruction that comes through authority and correction.

Second, the just man lives honestly with others. It says in the verse above. "The just man walketh in his integrity:..." What God is saying is that the just man is one who is ethical with others. Ethics is simply treating others in the same manner that you would desire for them to treat you. Now you must understand something about ethics, you are not ethical with others so that they will be ethical with you, but you are ethical with others so that you can have God's blessings upon you. Furthermore, you shouldn't expect others to live according to your ethics. It is God Who rewards you for how you live. The just man is honest with how he treats others so that he may have the blessings of God upon his life.

Last, the just man always gets back up after failure. It says in Proverbs 24:16, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again..." The just man is one who never lets failure stop him. You need to emulate this attribute in your life. You will have failures in life, but when you fail, you need to learn to get back up. Don't let the taste of failure stop you from getting up and trying again. God knows you are not going to be perfect, but He expects you to be like the just man and get up and try to be perfect.

Does your life emulate the just man? Each day you should live your life trying to learn from instruction, treating others the way you would want to be treated, and trying again after failure. Every day will hold the opportunity to do all three, so don't fail in any of these areas and you will find yourself pleasing God as did the just man.

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Dealing with a Backslidden Child

Judges 14:5

"Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him."

One of the worst things to see is a parent who is brokenhearted over their child who is backslidden. Often parents will ask me how to deal with their child who has gone wayward. Samson's parents can certainly understand the feeling of dealing with a wayward child. Here was a young man who had all the potential in the world to do something for God, and yet he wasted his life in sin. Though you may feel for Samson's parents, you will see that they made a bad mistake by condoning his sin in an attempt to get him back. As bad as they wanted him to come back to God, they should have done right, even if he wouldn't have agreed with them. Let me give you several helps on dealing with a backslidden child.

First, never support their disobedience. Often parents will feel guilty if they don't support their child, but you must realize that you can only support obedience. For example, if your child is getting married and they are planning to have alcohol at the reception, you should support them by being at the wedding, but don't go to the reception. You would be supporting their disobedience if you went to the reception. They need to understand that you will never support disobedience no matter what the event may be.

Second, find the good that they do and praise it. Though your child may be doing wrong, I would imagine there is something that they are doing right. Find the good that they are doing and praise that good. Remember that the Scriptures say in Romans 12:21 that you "...overcome evil with good." Your child still needs to see that you still notice the good that they do.

Third, don't preach, but pray. What I mean by this is there are many parents who think they need to preach at their children every time they are around them in an attempt to get them right with God. The only thing you will do by preaching at them is to run them away. Praying for them will do more to bring them back than preaching at them will. They expect you to preach at them, and because of their backslidden ways, they will give you more reasons to preach. Pray for them and let God do the work in their heart.

Fourth, don't bargain right to get them to come back. Often parents will compromise something in an attempt to get their child back. Christian, never let down in one area thinking that if you do they will come back. You must realize that truth must always be obeyed. Don't let your heart make the decision, but let truth decide how you live. If they can get you to compromise in one area, then they will justify what they are doing by thinking that truth must not be that important to you if you will change.

Fifth, don't sacrifice the other children for one. This is tough, but when you allow a backslidden child to do wrong under your roof, you are ruining your other children. There will be times when you will have to ask a backslidden child to move on for the sake of saving your other children.

Last, love your backslidden child. They need to know that you love them for who they are and not for what they do. That is how God loves us. When you love them where they are and not for what they do, that love will convict them in a greater way. It is amazing how love can many times preach the loudest sermons to the backslidden.

Parent, don't ever give up in your desire to see your backslidden child get right with God. Do right and trust God that He is dealing with their heart. You are not the first one who has had a child disappoint you, so don't second guess yourself and keep doing right.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

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Leadership's Value

Judges 3:29

"And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man."

In the sports world the value of a coach is often debated. There are those who think the players are more important to winning a championship than the coach, and then there are those who feel the coach is the key to winning a championship. However, when you look at any championship team, you will always see a great coach leads that team.

In the verse above, you have the story of Ehud leading Israel to victory. For many years the Israelites were in bondage to the Moabites. Eglon was the leader of the Moabites at this time. As long as Eglon was alive, the Moabites had the strength to subdue Israel, but within the hour of his death, you will read that Israel subdued Moab. In the verse above, you see that Eglon had great warriors in his army. Yet, these great warriors were not able to bring victory to Moab without their leader. It was their leader who channeled their strength to overcome armies.

Dr. Lee Roberson, who was a great church builder of the past century, often said, "Everything rises and falls on leadership." The value of leadership in a person's life or in an organization or church cannot be stressed enough. It doesn't matter how great an organization is, it will fail without the proper leadership. Every great church or organization acquired their status because of one leader. The reason it is important for every Christian to treat their leaders in a proper manner is so that they can reach the potential that God has for them.

Understanding that leadership's value is great, you need to learn not to fight the leadership in your life. Too many people often question and fight leadership's decisions when they need to learn to follow. I have learned by experience that God often gives leaders a special wisdom to lead. Therefore, it would be wise for you not to fight your leaders.

Moreover, allow leadership to lead. Leadership is only as great as its followers. Maybe the reason we don't have many great leaders today is because we don't have many great followers. Your leader can only lead you if you will follow. I'm not talking about following someone into error, but as long as leadership doesn't contradict Scriptures, you need to learn to follow.

Furthermore, pray for God to protect your leaders. You must understand that the Devil is after your leaders because of their value in your life. You should daily ask God to protect them from sin and harm so they can continue to lead you where God would want you to go. A few minutes in prayer every day for your leader may go a long way in helping them to properly fulfill their role in your life.

Finally, pray for God to give your leaders wisdom. Leaders make many decisions every day that will affect your life. With this in mind, you should realize the importance of them having God's wisdom. Ask God to give your leaders the wisdom they need in leading you so you can reach your fullest potential.

A leader's value in your life if very great. God has placed you under the leadership you need so that you can reach your fullest potential. You will only reach your potential if you learn to follow the leadership that God has given you.

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Confined and Expansion Needed

Joshua 19:47

"And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father."

Have you ever felt confined in your Christian walk and wanted to do more for God? That is how the children of Dan felt with the inheritance they received from God. Their families were growing, and they felt confined in the portion given to them. So instead of complaining about what they didn't have, they stepped out to conquer in their attempt to acquire more land for their families. In order for them to expand, they had to be willing to fight.

Growth is one of the most important elements in the Christian life. However, one of the mistakes that many people make is they focus on growth itself instead of the principles of growth, thus leading to compromise. Instead of focusing on growing, if you would just apply the principles of growth, then you would find that growth is the byproduct of those principles. Some of the principles of growth that you need to apply are found in the verse above.

First, don't complain about what you don't have. The children of Dan didn't complain about not having enough land, instead they did something about it. Too many Christians complain about not growing when they need to realize that their lack of growth is their fault.

Second, don't expect growth as a handout. We live in a handout society that expects something for nothing. There is nothing free in life. God is not just going to give you growth because you want it. Like the children of Dan, you must step out and start doing something to see your growth. Too many people sit in the church pews waiting for God to grow them when growth occurs through activity. Until you step out and start applying the principles of growth, then you will never see the growth you desire.

Third, you must fight to grow. You will notice that the children of Dan had to fight a battle to get their growth. Growth is not free, there is a price to be paid for it. You will have to battle yourself and the Devil in order to grow. In other words, you will need to have some fight in you if you want to grow. Passive Christians never grow. You must be willing to fight through trials, obstacles, criticisms and the desire to quit to acquire growth.

Last, growth takes patience. Don't immediately expect to get to your final desired destination of growth. It will take patience. Be patient with yourself as you grow, for growth is not an immediate process. Don't get down on yourself and beat yourself up because you are not where you would like to be. God is pleased with you if you are growing.

So, you feel confined and need an expansion in your Christian life? Then step out and start applying the principles of growth. It will take some fight to get there, but as long as you apply the principles of growth, then you will find the byproduct will be the expansion and growth you desired.

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Obtaining Success

Joshua 1:8

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

The greatest book on success is the Word of God. You will find more fail-safe principles for success in the Word of God than you will in any other book. However, Joshua chapter 1 is probably the greatest chapter on success. The only time you will find the word "success" in the Scriptures is in the verse above. One of the reasons for that is because God wants you to focus more on the principles that lead to success than on the desire for success. If you will just practice the principles of success, then you will find success. You will find in the first eight verses of this chapter six principles that will lead you to success.

The first principle for success is initiative. In verse 2, God told Joshua to "arise." This is initiative. Successful people are people who have initiative. In other words, you must be able to get yourself going without someone else having to push you. Until you learn to push yourself, you will never experience success.

The second principle for success is drive. In verse 2, God told Joshua to "go." Successful people not only have the initiative to get up and do something, but they also have a drive that won't let them stop. In today's terminology we would call them workaholics. Initiative gets you up, but drive keeps you going. In other words, drive keeps you going when you don't feel like going. Drive keeps you going when you don't have immediate success. Drive is the determination that you won't let anything stop you.

The third principle for success is attitude. In verse 6, God told Joshua to, "Be strong and of a good courage." Your attitude is very important to your success. Attitude will determine whether you will go up or down. You must have a positive attitude in the midst of negative in order to succeed. You must have a fearless attitude in order to succeed. You will never succeed if you let fear control you. You must have a positive and fearless attitude to overcome the obstacles and believe that whatever you are doing will happen.

The fourth principle for success is counsel. God says in verse 7, "...that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee:..." Joshua got his counsel from Moses. In other words, good spiritual counsel is an important part of success. You must be willing to get counsel and follow it if you want to succeed. You will never succeed without counsel.

The fifth principle for success is obedience. God says in verse 8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;..." Obeying God's Word is important to your success. You may succeed to a certain degree without following God's Word, but you will never achieve your potential until you obey God's Word. Obedience to God's Word brings blessings, and blessings are a big part of success.

The last principle for success is meditation. God says in verse 8, "...but thou shalt meditate therein day and night..." You must meditate, or think about God's Word in order to obtain success. That means you need to read God's Word daily if you are going to think about It. Furthermore, you need to take time to meditate or think of ideas. Thinking is a very important part of success. If you are not a thinker, then you will not obtain success.

Success never comes easy, but when you follow the principles that lead to success, it is much easier to obtain. Stop focusing on trying to succeed and simply focus on following the principles the lead to success. You will find the byproduct of those principles will be success.