| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Savor the time” Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Let’s pray more and worry less” The other day I saw an article published by the American Psychological Association. It reported the findings of a recent study designed to assess the psychological health of the American public. The findings were not good. 84% in the study declared themselves to be very concerned about all the social unrest in our country. 81% said they’re worried about the future of our nation. 80% reported being concerned about COVID 19 and/or related issues, including the long-term impact of the pandemic on our nation. 74% reported significant concern about the deep political divide that just seems to keep getting worse. All of that translates into mental health problems for large segments of the population. 67% of those surveyed in that study reported feeling somewhat or very overwhelmed by the totality of everything mentioned in the previous paragraph. 47% reported high levels of frequent anxiety. 44% reported experiencing a prolonged sense of sadness. 39% were angry. Although there is evidence of all of that in the Christian community as well, I believe Christians are doing much better than the overall public in terms of good mental health, and I believe a big part of the reason is prayer. It’s what the Apostle Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:6-7, the more we pray the better we handle things. This is important. How can we savor our time, how can we enjoy and appreciate the gift of life and the moments of our lives, if we’re stressed-out and anxious all the time? We need to pray more so we can worry less. Hebrews 12:2 reminds us, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith …” And in Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV) we find the promise, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” The world is a mess, but Jesus isn’t. Jesus will give us peace that transcends all the issues we are faced with, a peace that will guard our heart and mind. Let’s pray more so we can worry less. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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Oak Hill Baptist Church 
Amen and God bless you as well.