Baptist City Blog

Exodus 28:29

"And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually."

The breastplate of judgment was a very important part of the garments that Aaron, the high priest, wore. On this breastplate was engraved the names of each tribe of the children of Israel. This breastplate was fastened to the high priest so that those names would be placed over his heart. The breastplate was not just fastened over the shoulders, but on the bottom were two rings so that it could be fastened to the ephod that the priests wore so that that it was secure enough to always be close to the heart of the high priest. God wanted that breastplate to be on the heart of the high priest when he went to offer the sacrifice for the judgment of the people.

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Exodus 6:30

"And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?"

The beginning years of Moses' ministry was very similar to many. He had so many questions for God because his faith was weak. Every question he asked was simply a revelation of his lack of faith in God and His power. He asked God how he could speak, and God showed him that He could make that possible. He asked God how he could go alone, and God showed him that Aaron would be by his side. He twice asked God how Pharaoh was going to listen to him, and twice God just told him to do what He was supposed to do.

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Exodus 14:19

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:"

Looking the wrong way always causes a person to come to the wrong conclusion. When a person is driving and looking the wrong way, they can come to the conclusion that they are safe when in reality they could be headed for an accident right in front of them. Simply by not looking the right way they cannot see the hazards or the potential ahead of them.

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Genesis 41:33

"Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt."

One of the most financial savvy men in the Scriptures was Joseph. Where he got this wisdom from I do not know, but it was very obvious that he had the mind of God when he advised Pharaoh. Had Pharaoh not listened to Joseph when he interpreted the dream, the greatest humanitarian disaster of all time would have happened. Let me show you the financial advice that Joseph gave and how it applies to your personal finances.

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Genesis 31:37

"Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both."

Jacob found himself in a very precarious situation. His father-in-law accused him of stealing his gods and insinuated that he had taken cattle. This was no light accusation. Though we know Jacob's character had marks of deceit, he seemed to grow out of it after he got married. His name was on the line with this accusation. Jacob did the right thing by going straight to the source of the accusation and told him to either put up or shut up.

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Genesis 49:28

"All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them."

The life of Jacob is one that started in much turmoil but ended in serenity. Between the time when he exercised faith and the time of peace, there were many mistakes and battles that he fought. When he bought the birthright, that was an exercise of faith. He believed God's promise that his father told him about, and that was why he exercised the faith to purchase the birthright. That exercise of faith was not realized immediately, and at many times that exercise of faith may have seemed futile. Yet, God always honors faith. In spite of the many mistakes he made in his life, his act of faith was finally realized as his life ended in blessings and peace.

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Genesis 21:1-2

"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him."

There are very few things in life upon which you can depend. As soon as you think you can depend upon someone or something they or it lets you down. When you depend upon a person, you are depending upon someone who will let you down because they are sinful. When you depend upon an object, it will eventually break down because no object works flawlessly. Trying to find something or someone upon which or whom you can depend will lead to a failed search.

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Genesis 15:1

"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

Abram had obeyed God and stepped out by faith and left his father's house. Abram did not know where this journey of faith would lead, all he knew was that God was going to make of him a great nation. It did not take long on this journey of faith before he faced his first battle.

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Psalm 136:1

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

I'm afraid Christians oftentimes are forgetful to give thanks to God for all that He has done. God's goodness and mercy is exhibited to us in so many ways that we frequently forget to thank Him. Most of the time, our thankfulness to God is a "by-the-way" moment. Instead of immediately showing our gratitude to God, after basking in the moment of His goodness and mercy we remember to thank Him when thankfulness should have been our first reaction. We have to be careful that we don't become so accustomed to God's goodness and mercy that thankfulness is only a "by-the-way" moment.

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Hebrews 10:19

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"

Staying passionate about something that you can do everyday or some place you regularly visit is no easy task. I was preaching in the Washington, D.C. area and the pastor asked me and another preacher if we wanted to go and see some of the sights of the city. I rarely do this, but I wanted to this time because of the meaning of many of those sights. As this pastor drove us around, we were discussing the meaning of each sight he was taking us to when he said that it is difficult to keep the passion about them because he grew up around the city. This is certainly no indictment of the pastor, but it is the reality of human patterns.

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