Baptist City Blog

Judges 5:7

"The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel."

In the current times in which we live, it seems that the role of an at-home mother has been attacked. The feminists groups have attacked this role. The poor economy has forced ladies to work to help pay the bills. Sadly, the feminization of men has also attacked the at-home mother.

When I think of my mother, I have many wonderful thoughts. My mother was always at home when I was home. Though she taught in the Christian school I attended, she was always at home rearing her children whenever they were home.

My wife has been a great mother to my daughter. When my wife and I got married, we determined that she would not have an outside job so that she could stay at home and rear our children. God blessed us with one child, and though at times we had to tighten our belts financially so my wife could stay at home with our daughter, it has been well worth it. There have been several women who have questioned my wife's decision to be an at-home mother, but I appreciate her stand and how she has had a great influence on our daughter.

The story of Deborah is a story about an at-home mother. What is interesting about this story is that you can see the strength that comes from a mother. When many consider being an at-home mother a weakness, the Scriptures show us that it is a strength. You will find in the story of Deborah several strengths that an at-home mother can give.

First, an at-home mother will give security to her household. It was the act of Deborah that delivered Israel from bondage. A mother being at home will give security to a child that nothing else can. It's always interesting that most children run to their mother when they have been hurt. Why? Because of the security a mother gives. A mother may not have the physical strength of a man, but she can give security to the home like no other.

Second, an at-home mother will keep the household spiritual. Deborah's action brought Israel back to God. A spiritual mother will impact her children for right in a great way. Many of my good character traits were instilled in me because of my mother. Mothers who are at home will keep the children from getting caught up in bad things.

Third, at-home mothers will help cultivate a child's talent. You will find in the story of Deborah that she knew how to sing, and she got others to sing with her. Mothers who are at-home have a better chance of honing the talents of their children.

Finally, an at-home mother will rally a home greater than anyone else can. It was Deborah who rallied the troops of Israel, and it is a mother who can get a home rallied for good causes. A mother who has the right spirit can rally the family for right.

This devotional is not here to belittle a lady who has to work to help pay bills, but it is written to praise the army of at-home mothers who help their home to be what it should be. It is also written to stir your memory about your mother. Today would be a good day to call your mother and thank her for all she did for you. Furthermore, today would be a good day for every husband to thank his wife for being a good mother to their children. You won't always have your mother on Earth, so while you do have her, I encourage you to appreciate all that she does and regularly thank her for her influence on your life.

Joshua 19:9

"Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon: for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them."

Years ago when I was in high school, I worked for a small paper company that was family owned. At the end of the year, it was very common for the owner of the company to give a bonus to the employees for their hard work. Whenever he had extra money, he was sure to share it with those who helped him make money.

It's interesting in the verse above that it says Judah's land was "too much for them." God had blessed Judah with more land than what they needed. So, instead of hoarding it all to themselves, they shared their inheritance with the children of Simeon. They understood that God's blessings were not for them to keep to themselves, but to share with those who were without.

When you do right and obey God, you will always find that He will bless you with countless blessings. Luke 12:31 says, "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you." Notice, God says He will add unto you. Though life may not always be easy, if you do right God will bless it. The thing about God's blessings is that He will always do more for you than what you do for Him. So, the more you give, the more God can bless you.

However, what do you do when your blessings become "too much?" I know, you may think that will never happen, but if you do right and God blesses you, you will be amazed at the amount of His blessings and how your outlook on what to do with those blessings will change. You will look at what God has given you and realize there are times when He gives "too much."

When God gives "too much," always remember that He didn't give you that much for you to keep, but He gave you that much because He knew He could trust you to share it with others. This is where many people fail and quench God's future blessings. God gave to you to share with others. There is only so much you can take for yourself. After that, you have too much. Let me encourage you to share your "too much" blessings with those who are without.

Furthermore, make it a rule of thumb in your life to share a little of all of your blessings with others. Don't wait until you have "too much" to share, but share with all the blessings God gives to you. Remember Luke 6:38, "Give, and it shall be given unto you;..." If you share with what God blesses you with right now, then He will continue to bless you with more. The way to keep the faucet of God's blessings open is to be a conduit from God to others. You don't have to give all of what God has blessed you with to others, but you should make it a rule to give a percentage of what God has given you to others.

If you're like me, I want God's blessings on my life. I realize that I must earn God's trust to keep those blessings coming, and the way to earn His trust is to share it with those who are without. The next time God blesses you with something, take a portion of that blessing and share it with someone else. You will find that doing so will cause God to give you more because of your attitude of sharing your blessings.

Deuteronomy 29:5

"And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot."

One of the attributes of God's leadership is how it leads to supply our needs. Throughout my life I am always amazed how the leadership of God led me to the daily provision I needed. Without following God's leadership, I would have missed out on many blessings God had for me.

The children of Israel understood the providing leadership of God. For forty years they followed God's leadership. Throughout those forty years, never one time did they have to purchase new clothing. For forty years they never went to a shoe store to purchase new shoes. For forty years they never worried from whence a meal would come. For forty years they had water to drink. As long as they followed God they had every need supplied.

God's leadership is still in the providing business. Philippians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." The promise of this verse is for you. It matters not what your need may be, as long as you follow the leadership of God, you will find that He will provide the provision for that need. There are some things you need to know to understand how to follow God's providing leadership.

First, God always leads through His Word. Inside of the pages of the Word of God you will find many principles that will teach you how to get your needs provided. Oftentimes we think God has to give the material need to us; instead, He gives us the principle to obtain the material need ourselves. If you will daily spend time reading the Word of God, you will find that God has the answer for your need. Yes, you may have to do something to get it, but He shows you how to get it.

Second, God's leadership to provision never leads you to go against the principles of His Word. Too many times we get anxious to get something, so we go against the principles of God's Word and think that is how our needs will be provided. You will always find that though God's principles may not seem to provide our needs, if you will follow them the need will be supplied. God will NEVER lead you to do wrong to supply your need. His leadership ALWAYS leads you to do right to meet your needs.

Third, God's leadership to provision will always lead you to keep Him first. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." If something promises to supply your need and it will cause you to have to put God second, then you can be assured that God is not in it. It's amazing to me how many preachers are afraid to preach that God doesn't provide needs by keeping you out of church. God always honors His Word. If God promises to provide your need by seeking Him first, then if you will seek Him first you'll find your need supplied.

Christian, God's leadership is not difficult. His leadership will always lead you to do right. When you follow the leadership of God and do right, you will find that you will never want for any need to be supplied.

Deuteronomy 9:1

"Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,"

When you look at how Israel conquered Canaan, you would have to admit that it was an unbelievable task. Israel was a people who had no training ground for their military. They had no place to build fortresses in which to defend themselves. They went up against armies that were feared by everyone; yet, they did the unbelievable and conquered the land of Canaan.

In the verse above, God reminded them that they would go in an "possess nations greater and mightier" than they. God reminded them that they would have to go up against cities that had walls to defend themselves. Yet, God also reminded them that He was on their side, and that He would help them fight these great battles.

Christian, God can still do the unbelievable today. What the world thinks cannot be done can be done if a person will get God on their side. Just like Israel went in and conquered cities and nations mightier than they, you can conquer the unbelievable in your life if you will only believe that God can still do the unbelievable.

If you are going to do the unbelievable, then you are going to have to have faith in God. Verse 3 says, "Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee;..." When God tells you to do something, you must by faith trust God that He will do what He says He will do. It took faith for Israel to go up against these cities and nations. They were literally putting their lives on the line. That is great faith. You will never do the unbelievable if you don't exercise faith. Faith will many times want you to put everything on the line, but you have to trust that God will come through. If there is no risk, then there is no faith, yet if God tells you to do something, then there truly is no risk in your faith for God will come through.

Second, you must take the first step before God helps you do the unbelievable. I know that is faith, but many times people believe God needs to do something first before they completely step out. God wants to see if you are all in. He wants to see if you truly have faith in Him. Once you are all in and take that first step of faith to attempt the unbelievable for God, then He will step in and make the unbelievable happen.

Finally, you will not have to attempt the unbelievable alone. If God told you to do something that seems unbelievable, then you can rest assured that He will be there with you. God told Israel in verse 3, "Understand...that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee;..." God did not let them go alone, He went with them. You never have to do the unbelievable alone, for if God told you to do it, He will be there with you to make it happen.

Christian, what is it that God has asked you to do that seems unbelievable? Always remember that God will never ask you to do something that He won't provide the wherewithal to do. He will be there for you. All you have to do is have faith in Him and step out. Once you step out, you will find that God will come through.

Numbers 16:41

"But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD."

The longevity of an individual's memory is amazingly short. I remember the days after the attack on America on September 11, 2001, how Americans were united against those who flew airplanes into the two towers in New York City. You would think American patriotism and the united front against those who attacked us would live a long time. Yet, as is always the case, the memory of what the enemy did to over 3,000 people was short lived. Americans quickly became disenchanted with the hunt for those who were responsible for these actions.

This seems to be the case with the verse above. Korah and his followers murmured against Moses about how much authority he took upon himself. God was not pleased with the disloyalty of these people and their murmuring, and killed them by having the Earth open up and swallow them. A week hadn't even passed by when another group of people murmured against Moses and Aaron and accused them of killing Korah and his followers. You would think that these people would have learned their lesson. You would think that murmuring would be the furthest thing from their minds. Yet, their short term memory caused them to sin against God and ended up costing them their lives.

I'm afraid most of us are guilty of a short term memory. Oh, it may not always be in the same area, but we all tend to quickly forget the lessons that we should have learned from the mistakes of others. We see the results of what their mistakes caused, and we quickly forget and do the same thing ourselves. You need to be so careful not to have a short term memory from the lessons God allows you to learn from the lives of others.

Don't have a short term memory concerning the result of sin. If you have seen someone else sin and have seen the consequences brought upon their life, be careful that you don't forget sin's payment. You, should always remember the consequences that sin brings. A short term memory concerning sins consequences will hurt you. You should make sure every time you consider committing some sin that you remember the consequences others paid for the same sin.

Moreover, don't have a short term memory concerning handling finances. Many have grown up in homes where their parents didn't handle their finances really well, and they saw the consequences of poor financial management. Let me encourage you not to have a short term memory in this area and learn to handle your finances wisely by saving money and spending in a wise fashion.

Furthermore, don't have a short term memory concerning the good others have done for you. It's amazing how many relationships struggle because people have a short term memory about the good of someone. You shouldn't let someone's shortcomings cause you to have a short term memory concerning the good things they've done for you. Always remember the good that people do for you when they fail to treat you properly.

Friend, a short term memory can cause you much heartache if you don't get it under control. Be careful in these three areas that you keep a good memory. If you must, then write down reminders to remind you of these things. Don't let lessons from others' mistakes be wasted. Learn from them and remember those lessons for the remainder of your life so you don't have to pay the same consequences.

Numbers 6:2

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:"

God gave the children of Israel a chance to volunteer to serve Him. In order for a person to do this, they would separate themselves to be a Nazarite. Being a Nazarite was a mark of dedication to God and His commandments. Most of the time, being a Nazarite was a personal choice. Yes, there were some whom God called to be Nazarites, but on the whole it was a volunteer position. Those who volunteered would commit a time that they would give to God to serve Him in whatever capacity they separated themselves. This vow of a Nazarite was really a commitment to serve.

Today, the vow of the Nazarite is no longer available, but the principle of committing to serve God is still available. Every Christian should be committed to serve God. You will never be successful in serving the LORD unless you decide to commit to serve Him. I find in the laws of the Nazarite that the requirements given are what it takes to be committed to serve the LORD today.

First, you must declare to all that you are committed to serve the LORD. The Nazarite did not make a private commitment to perform their vow, but it was a very public commitment to serve Him. You will never be successful in serving the LORD until you make it public that you are committed to serving Him. I would suggest that during the invitation of the church you make it public to all that you are committing to serve the LORD. This puts your commitment on notice to everyone creating a positive pressure for your success.

Second, you must separate yourself from those things that will keep you from fulfilling your commitment. You can see that the Nazarite was to separate himself unto the LORD. That means he or she had to leave something to go to God. Sometimes you have to separate from things that are not bad, but they will hold you back from being successful in serving the LORD. We often think that we must separate from bad things to be successful in serving the LORD, and that is true; but, sometimes you have to separate from those things that hinder you from successfully serving the LORD. Yes, this takes commitment, but you must identify the things that are holding you back and separate from them.

Third, your life must be different from others if you are going to be committed to serving the LORD. Your dress will be different. Not strange, but decent and different from the world. Your conversations must be different. Your interests will have to be different. You will never be successful in serving the LORD if you are trying to identify with the world and look trendy.

Fourth, you must give a commitment of time if you are going to be successful in serving the LORD. The Nazarite had to specify a timeframe to serve the LORD. You will never succeed with your commitment to serve if you don't commit certain times to serve Him. For instance, you should have a committed time to read the Scriptures, pray, soul win and serve Him. These are just some time elements that are important to serving the LORD. It always takes time to succeed in serving the LORD. Yes, that time could be given to other things that are not bad, but you must separate time to be successful in your commitment to serve.

Are you committed to serve? There are some things in your life right now that you are going to have to do away with if you are going to succeed in serving the LORD. Those things may not be bad, but they will hold you back. Search your life today and find those things that hinder you from your commitment to serve the LORD, then get rid of them so you can serve the Him to your fullest.

Leviticus 18:6

"None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD."

Decency seems to be a thing of the past. There used to be a day when men and women were dressed decently around each other. In those days you didn't have as many problems with the opposite gender as you do today. One of the reasons is because they dressed decently around each other.

In Leviticus 18, God makes a call for decency among His people. Several times in this chapter God uses the phrase, "...to uncover their nakedness..." God goes through several relationships where they should be decent in front of each other. One then may wonder what God defines as"nakedness." Isaiah 47:2-3 shows us that when the thigh is uncovered, then a person is showing off their "nakedness." In other words, God is teaching that even among family members there must be a decorum of decency with each other.

God understood the depravity of mankind. He understood the importance of family members being decent in front of each other. Because God wanted to keep His people pure from the sins of the world, He commanded them to dress decently, even in front of their own family members. God knew this would help family members from doing things to each other that would hurt and take away their innocency. Let me give you some thoughts on being decent with each other.

First, be decent with your conversations. I know this sounds strange, but what you say will eventually become how you live. Just because it is your immediate family doesn't give you a right to be off-color with your jokes and conversations. I believe it is good to avoid sexual conversations and innuendos, especially in front of your children. If you keep the conversations right, then you'll keep the clothing right.

Second, never let your children bathe together. I don't care how young they are, you should never let children, especially of the opposite gender, bathe together. There needs to be a respect of one's privacy. You will break down the walls of decency when you allow your children to bathe together.

Third, NEVER let your children of the opposite gender be alone in a room with the door shut. You may say, "I trust my children"; that is your first mistake. That is exactly how bad things happen in a home. Too many bad things can happen behind closed doors that parents will later regret.

Fourth, dress decently around the home. I believe it is good that you stay properly dressed in your home. Whatever dress standards you have in public should be the same dress standards in private. Breaking down the walls of decency is done when you think you can be indecent around your immediate family.

Fifth, never swim together indecently. I know there are many who will disagree with me on this subject, but why is it okay to be indecent in water when it's not right to be indecent out of the water? There are things we will do around a swimming pool that we would never allow in the home. Decency is right no matter where you are.

Last, teach your children the importance of coming to you when one of their siblings are indecent. It is important your children understand that they always have a right to tell you when indecency is happening. This will keep everyone on guard.

If we learn to be decent in the home, then we will certainly be decent outside the home. Yes, our society needs a revival of decency, and the revival will start in the home. Understand that decency will keep purity in tact.

Leviticus 7:1

"Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy."

At some point in everyone's life there will be a time when you will have to get right over something you've done wrong. When God addressed this issue with the children of Israel, He set up different types of offerings to right their wrongs. One of the offerings God set up was the trespass offering. Many of the other offerings were about getting right with God, but the trespass offering was for when a person wronged another person. The word"trespass" is talking about infringing on another's rights. When your sin infringes on another's rights or freedoms, then God expects you to get it right with Him and mankind. Let me show you a few observations that you can learn on how to right a wrong when you've sinned against another person.

First, God expects you to admit your wrong. Just for the person to have to prepare the offering was an admittance of wrong. God didn't want them to explain away their wrongs, but He wanted them to admit they did wrong. The simple action of getting the materials for the offering was the person acknowledging their wrong.

You will never right your wrongs until you admit you wronged someone. You need to understand how your sin took freedoms away from another person. You need to understand how your sin caused hardships for others. Sin always affects more than just you. It always takes away from others. You can blame your sin on circumstances or give your excuses of why you did wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that you sinned. Whatever your sin is, it is still sin no matter what excuse you use to explain it away. It is imperative for you to admit your wrong if you want to make it right.

Second, there must be a time for confession. The person offering the trespass offering had to bring it to the priests. That was a very public action. The priest was God's representative, and God wanted the person who sinned to go to him.

You will never right your wrong until you deal with your sin to the degree that it affected others. Because a sin of trespass took something from others, you should not only get right with God, but you should also get right with the one you wronged. A public sin will never be righted in a private manner. Yes, God is ultimately the One with Whom you must get right, but you'll never be right with God until you get right with those whom you wronged.

Third, there must be accountability to right your wrong. Notice, the person had to bring their offering to the priest. This was accountability. Christian, there is an accountability issue when you are to get things right. I truly believe that you will never correct what caused you to do wrong until you are accountable to someone who can help you. This is an amazing thought because it causes us to humble ourselves and submit to someone else. Pride is the source of most sin. God understood that if you would be willing to submit to someone for accountability as you rehabilitate yourself, that you have a greater chance of never doing that sin again.

There are many sins that infringe on another's rights and freedoms. You need to be sure that when your sin goes beyond your personal borders that you right the wrong by using these three steps God set up. You'll find that when you follow God's steps to right a wrong that you will have a better chance of restoring your testimony and the relationships that your sin affected.

Psalm 126:1

"When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream."

Someone says, "Pinch me, so I can make sure that this is not a dream." That is the common phrase you hear when someone experiences something good. They say this because they really didn't believe that what happened could have happened. It was a hope and a dream, but the reality of it just didn't seem possible.

The children of Israel must have felt the same way. They said, "...we were like them that dream." They couldn't believe their captivity was turned around. They suffered many years in the land of Babylon, and they accepted that they would live the rest of their lives in captivity. Yet, when the LORD turned their captivity around, they felt like they were living in a dream. Can you imagine what it must have been like when they got back to their homeland? Can you see them walking around looking at the sites of their country? Sure, it was not like it used to be, but they were home.

Many people have dreams for their life. Often, many give up on their dreams because of time and hardship, but if God gives you a dream, then you should be sure to keep it alive and pursue it until God gives it to you. Yes, when it comes, you may feel that you are living in a dream like Israel did, but it can happen. There are several things you can take from this psalm that will help you to not let your dreams die.

First, you will notice that there was hardship before the dream was realized. The children of Israel were in captivity. You may not be in captivity, but before your dream will ever come to pass, you will have to endure hardships. No dream is truly a dream without hardship. If you got everything you wanted without hardship, then the dream would no longer be a dream. It's a dream because it seems as if it could never happen. Don't let the hardships cause you to give up on your dreams.

Second, you will notice that the dreams didn't immediately come. The children of Israel were in bondage for many years. Though the years went by, they still held on to the hope that they could go back to their homeland. You must be careful not to let time take away the hope of your dream. Many people have gone years without the realization of their dream, but they kept it alive. When the hope of your dream is almost gone, let me encourage you to hang on. Don't ever lose hope in your dream.

Third, prayer preceded the realization of their dream. You will never realize your dream without prayer. Too many times we give up on our dreams, but we never even approached the throne of God in prayer to ask Him for help. Let me ask you, have you asked God to make your dream a realization? Dreams come to life through prayer.

Fourth, be sure to plant the seeds for your dream to be realized. Keep working towards your dream. Prepare, plan and work to make your dream happen. God can certainly answer your prayer to see your dream come to life, but He also expects you to work towards it.

Friend, when the dream comes it will bring joy and laughter, but until then you must not let it die. What is the dream on which you have given up? Let me encourage you to pick it up and keep working towards it. The best of dreams will only be realized if you don't give up on them.

Exodus 3:2

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."

The call of God in Moses' life may be one of the most well known. There are certainly different instances in the Scriptures when God called someone to serve Him, but none are as well known as Moses'. He was in the desert when he passed by a bush that was on fire. That was not anything different than what he had seen before. What was different was that the bush was not consumed by the fire. He stopped to see this anomaly, only to hear God's calling on his life. Of course, Moses accepted God's call and the rest is history.

Anyone who has surrendered to the call of God should remember their burning bush experience. Mine happened when I was a teenage young man. We were in a missions conference, and our guest speaker for the week was church planter, James Holder. I heard Bro. Holder preach many times before, but that night was different from any other night. He preached about Jonah running from the call of God. He told how Nineveh needed someone to reach them before God destroyed the city. Though I was not running from God, I couldn't help but think of my nation that was seemingly going down the wrong road. My heart began to burn inside, and I couldn't wait for the invitation to start. That night I accepted the call of God on my life. Let me tell you, it was a life changing night. The emotions and the excitement that ran through my heart that night were great. The burning desire to do God's call was so great that I can't express them in words. That night was my burning bush experience.

However, I would like to testify that the bush still burns in my heart today. For over three decades the fire that has burned in my heart has not quit. For over three decades the burning in my heart has not consumed me. The burning in my heart has not expended me. It has not destroyed me. It has not wavered. The fire is not beginning to go out. The fire from the call of God on my life still burns as hot today as it did over three decades ago. Through all the battles that I have faced, the fire still burns in my life.

Servant of God, does the fire still burn in your heart? I travel from church to church and wonder at times if the fire has consumed many servants of God. I am not just talking about the preacher, but I am also talking about assistant pastors, bus workers, Sunday school teachers, soul winners and anyone who is involved in God's ministry. The fire seems to waver in the heart of many individuals. Maybe a battle has caused the flame to go out. Maybe a health condition has caused the flame to flicker. Maybe sin is causing the flame to be quenched. I don't know what it may be, but we don't need God's people to lose the fire in their heart.

Friend, if the fire has consumed your life and coldness has set in, then may I beg you to get alone with God and not leave Him until you get the fire back. This world needs to see people who are burning, but not consumed. This world needs to see people who will set themselves on fire for God and not let the fire destroy them. Yes, Satan will go after those who have the fire burning in their heart, but you must not let that stop you. If you see the flame of your fire beginning to flicker, get alone with God and spend time in His Word and prayer until the fire burns again. Make it your goal to live your whole life with the fire of God burning in your heart, and don't let that fire consume you.