Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You gotta keep dancing”   Our Bible verse for today: “You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance.” Psalm 30:11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Just keep danccing” Your wife is mad and the kids have the flu? You gotta keep dancing. Your boss is a jerk and the bills are all late? You gotta keep dancing. Your mamma don’t dance and your daddy don’t rock & roll? You gotta keep dancing.   I’ll admit without apology or shame that I have borrowed the title for this month’s series from Tim Hansel’s great little book by the same title, “You Gotta Keep Dancin”. I also freely admit that I have used this theme before, years ago, in a different devotional series, and I’m eager to use it again now. Last month our theme was “Lighten up a little”. It was a quality-of-life issue. This month we are going to continue that thread of thought but by shifting gears a little and thinking about how we can keep life light and fun, even when our circumstances are not.   Tim Hansel was the founder of a ministry called “Summit Expeditions”. He led groups of men on challenging wilderness adventures with the dual purpose of having fun while conquering challenges in nature, but also as a time of Christian discipleship and spiritual discovery.   On one of those expeditions Tim had a rock-climbing accident that resulted in a serious back injury that would never heal. After numerous surgeries and treatments of all sorts, combined with more medicine than any person should have to take, Tim ended up spending the rest of his life with chronic daily pain. From the time of the accident forward he was never without pain.   What to do? How do you live like that? You can succumb to despair and sink into a pit of despondency. Or you can live like a zombie zonked out on painkillers. Or you can simply resolve to get on with life as best you can under the circumstances as they are – you can choose to just keep dancing. Tim decided to dance.   I like Tim’s story because I find it inspiring. I’ve read his book multiple times over the years. It has helped me to stop being a whiny little snot and to just suck-it-up and get on with life. (Okay, I’m still working on the whiny little snot part.)   I like the quote from famed Bible scholar and theologian Frederick Buechner, “My assumption is that the story of any one of us is in some measure the story of all of us.” In other words, we can learn from each other. We can be inspired by each other’s examples. I can learn to stop being a whiny little snot about my own small problems by considering how Tim Hansel and others like him handled their big problems with grace and courage and dignity.   That’s what we will do this month. We will learn from others who have handled big life problems well. The truth is that life happens. It happens to all of us – but you just gotta keep dancing.   By-the-way, did you hear the story about the pastor who had a terrible accident and lost an arm? A fellow pastor heard about it and rushed to the hospital to see his friend. He was sure the guy would be devastated. However, when he got there his friend greeted him with a friendly smile and thanked him for coming. The visiting pastor asked his friend how he could be so upbeat and positive in the face of such a profound loss. The other pastor answered, “You know, I’m not really that good of a preacher, and I know I’ll never be the best preacher in town.” Then with a grin he said, “But maybe now I can at least be the best one-armed preacher in town.” And I’ll bet he was!   You gotta keep dancing, my friends, you just gotta keep dancing.   God bless, Pastor Jim    (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:19-20 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Live, love, and laugh”   As we conclude our month-long study about learning to lighten up a little, I want to revisit a few of the key themes we’ve considered.   One important way to develop a lighter countenance is we need to learn to trust God. In Philippians 4:19-20 the Apostle Paul made a pretty bold statement, a promise really, about the provision of God in our lives. Please note that he wrote about God providing for “all” of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. That’s a pretty all-inclusive statement. It’s a reminder of that great passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus taught us about the sovereignty and provisions of God. Your Father in heaven is aware of your every need, He has the power to provide for you, and He is committed to doing exactly that.   Another lesson we learned was that laughter is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22), but a heavy spirit dries up the bones. A heavy spirit makes you sour and grumpy. Laughter lightens things up and makes you feel better. Happy people are healthy people. Even if your body is sick, your spirit is healthy. Laughter is good medicine.   Many of our devotional messages were about the importance of being intentional about being happy (Psalm 118:24). You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can always choose your attitude about your circumstances. I encourage you to go back and review some of the strategies we discussed for being intentionally joyful in your outlook and attitude.   We have also considered the brevity of life (Psalm 39:4-5) and the value of time (2 Corinthians 7:2). Life is too short and our time is too valuable to waste it in trivial pursuits or with a negative attitude. Life is also too short to live small or to whine about getting old. By-the-way, a great question once asked by Pastor Chuck Swindoll is “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” In other words, if you didn’t know your biological age and you had to guess based upon your physical condition and your attitude about life, how old would you suppose yourself to be? You’re as young as you feel. Laughter and a happy light-hearted spirit keep you feeling young. The goal is to die young, as old as possible.   What we have really been talking about this month is quality of life, and that is largely determined by your perspective and by your attitude. This is important. Therefore, for the next two months we are going to continue thinking about things we can do to have the best quality of life possible under whatever your circumstances happen to be. That will require an attitude characterized by determination, tenacity, and perseverance to deal well with the trials of life. It will also require intentional actions taken on your part to live a structured and disciplined life that includes taking good care of your physical body. We will address both of those subjects in detail.     For now, in the immortal worlds of that much-loved Vulcan philosopher, Mr. Spock, “May you live long and prosper.”   Live, love, laugh, and enjoy this gift of life.   God bless, Pastor Jim    (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “Lord, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am. In fact, you have made my days just inches long, and my life span is as nothing to you. Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor.” Psalm 39:4-5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Dying young, as old as possible”   Lately I’ve been thinking about life and death. Mostly about holding off death and extending life. In a couple of months, I will be seventy-two. I don’t tell you that because I’m looking for “Happy Birthday” wishes (you can reach me on Facebook, text message, email, or phone); nor am I looking for presents (my shirt size is large; I love ice cream, golfing, hiking, and kayaking; and books are always a nice gift); and I absolutely am not looking for anyone to treat me to a birthday meal (Italian is my favorite).   No, I don’t tell you my birthday is coming up for any of those reasons (did I mention I like books?), I’m telling you because it’s a convenient and relevant bridge into a discussion about the brevity of life. As King David noted in Psalm 39, life is short. Even if we live to be 70, 80, 90 years old, our life is but a dot on the timeline of eternity. It is a vapor – a wisp of smoke that is here for a moment and then vanishes.   Life is too short and too precious to be wasted on trivial things or to be spent moping around in bitterness and resentment. As we’ve been learning all this month, life should be embraced and enjoyed, fully and with gusto. Also, we must be careful not to take our problems and difficulties too seriously. Will the things you’re worried about today matter much this time next week, next month, next year, or a decade from now? Probably not. So why let them get you down now? Life is too short to live small, or to be negative and pessimistic. Embrace life and enjoy it.   I’m currently reading a book with the title: “Keep on Keeping On: How to die young as old as possible.” It was written by a seventy-eight-year-old pastor and his wife. They are spunky, living with zest and enthusiasm. That’s also the attitude Aimee and I try to have. We’re grateful for this season of life God has given us and we’re determined to live it to the hilt. Like Jimmy Buffett once sang, “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”   Also, we must learn to laugh about old age issues. It annoys me when I hear people complain about getting old. Many people never live long enough to get old! If you’re 60, 70, 80, or 90 years old, you have been given a privilege that many people never get. Appreciate it, savor it, and enjoy it!   Just the other day I heard a guy laughing about his old age issues and making fun of himself because of them. He said that the older he gets the more his body becomes like an old junk car. He said that now-a-days every time he sneezes it causes his radiator to leak and his exhaust to backfire!   I can relate, brother. Mine too. But so what? Let’s just laugh about it and enjoy another day of life that the Lord has granted us!   God Bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up”   Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Choose Joy”   I read an interesting statement the other day about choosing joy. It read, “Without exception, people who consistently laugh do so in spite of, seldom because of anything. They pursue fun rather than wait for it to knock on their door in the middle of the day.”   I think the author is correct. I think people who are habitually happy, upbeat, and joyful – people who laugh easily and often, are that way on purpose. They’re intentional about it. It’s not that they don’t have issues, they do. And it’s not that their lives are problem free, they aren’t. It’s just that these people have chosen to be intentional about maintaining an upbeat and positive attitude. They’re not being naïve they’re just “choosing” joy.   Is it really possible to be faced with problems, even serious problems, and deal with them effectively and realistically without giving in to brooding and despondency? Evidently the Apostle Paul thought so. In Philippians 4:4 he issued a very direct command. There he told us to rejoice in the Lord always. And just to be sure we didn’t miss his strong emphasis he repeated, “I will say it again: Rejoice!”   Philippians is considered the most joy-filled letter in the entire Bible. But Paul wrote it when he was an old man, sick and in prison, and probably facing execution for his faith. So, Paul wasn’t telling us to ignore our problems or to pretend they don’t exist, he was simply telling us to not be defined by our problems and to not let them steal our joy. It is possible to deal with your problems while still being happy about everything else in your life that is good and positive.   But sometimes even our best efforts to be positive can go array if we aren’t careful. Once on Facebook I saw a picture of a real church sign which listed the sermon titles for the Sunday morning and Sunday evening services at that church. The title for the morning sermon was “Preparing for Marriage”. The title for the evening sermon (no kidding) was “A Look at Hell”.   If those sermons were both part of the same series, that preacher must have had a pretty dim view of marriage! Maybe that described his marriage but it sure doesn’t describe mine and I hope it doesn’t describe yours.   I encourage you to be intentionally positive today and to choose joy.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Pray about it”   Many Christians are too serious. Some of us go through life with long faces and heavy hearts, dreading what the day might hold. Sometimes our burdens and concerns seem more than we can bear and our countenance reflects it. People see us coming and they know before we even begin speaking that something is bothering us.   But shouldn’t Christians live above their circumstances? With the power of the Holy Spirit in us, with the peace of Jesus pervading our hearts, and with the joy of salvation that is ours, shouldn’t we be able to handle the simple trials of life with a better attitude?   The answer of course is “yes”, we should be able to. It’s certainly true that in every life there will be major events that cause us pain and suffering, and there will be moments of discouragement and even depression, but overall, our lives should be characterized by light-hearted joy, a sunny and whimsical personality, and laughter.   In Philippians 4:6-7 the Apostle Paul tells us how to achieve that. There he instructs us to pray about the things that are bothering us. It’s hard to remain downhearted and depressed if you really do bring your issue to God in prayer and then leave it there with Him. Like Paul says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”   So, pray about it. You can even get creative about it. I recently read a story told by Pastor Chuck Swindoll about a woman he knew who desperately wanted to get married and have children. But at the age of 31 she was still single, with no man in sight. (This is a true story). So finally, she decided to get creative in her praying about the issue. She took a pair of men’s pants and hung them on the end of her bed. Then each night she would get down on her knees in prayer, and this is the little prayer she recited:   “Father in heaven, hear my prayer, and grant it if you can. I’ve hung these trousers here, as you can see, now please fill them with a man.”   No kidding, within a year she was married and she had her first child at the age of 32. But the story didn’t end there. Pastor Chuck says he told the story once as a sermon illustration. A couple of weeks later a father in the congregation approached him with a grin on his face and said, “When you told that story two weeks ago my teenage son was sitting next to me in church. I noticed that while the rest of us were laughing he just sat there looking thoughtful. Last night I went into his bedroom to say “goodnight” and I saw that he had a bikini hanging on the foot of his bed!”   So, there you have it. Evidently the trick is to be creative with your praying.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Just love them.”   I once heard a disgruntled pastor say to another pastor, “You know, the only thing wrong with churches is that they’re full of people!” Evidently, he was having a tough day. Someone in his church was probably making things difficult for him and he was exasperated with them. Church life gets that way sometimes.   Some of the best advice I ever received came from my Pastor, Oren Teel. Oren was the man who baptized me as a new believer. He then discipled me, guided me into my first ministry assignments, and when I sensed a call to preach, he led the church to license me to preach. He said, “We can’t have you bootlegging the Gospel, Jim”. Oren also encouraged me to go to seminary, and he then led our church to ordain me as I was being sent out to become the pastor of my first church.   The advice he gave me went like this: “Just love your people, Jim. Congregations will forgive a lot if they just know that you love them. They will put up with bad sermons; they will laugh at your silly jokes; they will even ignore your ugly ties if they know you love them.” And he was right. Underlying any successes I’ve had in ministry over these decades has been my efforts to simply communicate love to people.    That’s also true for life in general. If you are a person who radiates warmth and love for others, people will respond positively to you and your relationships will be healthy. That will be true regardless of whether you are rich or poor, fat or skinny, good looking or not, and regardless of your skills, talents, abilities, or achievements. People will like you simply because you are so likeable. And you will be so likeable because people will know that you love them.   Also, people who love easily and freely are the happiest people you will meet. A warm and loving heart makes for a happy person. If you simply love and accept others, you yourself will feel happy and mostly content. This is part of the lesson Jesus was teaching. Strive to love others fully and unconditionally just as He loves you. Not only is it an effective method of evangelism and a great witness to the world about the love of God, but it makes for a happy life for those who have learned to love like that.   But sometimes love can be confusing. For instance, have you ever wondered why a wife can wear one of her husband’s shirts and it’s okay, but if he wears one of her dresses suddenly it’s time to talk?   I know, it’s confusing, and it doesn’t seem fair. Just love her anyway, leave the dress alone, and have a good day today.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “God sets the lonely in families …” Psalm 68:6 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Eating Twinkies with friends”   Our church (Oak Hill Baptist) is a very active church. We have lots of mission trips and community service projects that take us, as a congregation, outside the walls of the church buildings to do things together for others. We also have lots of fun social activities (Shawn and Amanda Reagan are our ministers of fun. It’s their job to think up fun stuff for the rest of us to do – and they’re very good at it.) My point is that our church life is vibrant and alive – we’re actively on-mission with Jesus in the world and we have a lot of fun together.   That’s an important aspect of church life and it helps us to understand why it’s so important for every Christian to be part of a good church family. Gathering with the church family should be a time of spiritual nurture, healing, encouragement, blessings, laughing, loving, and fun. If your church isn’t like that then I encourage you to take the initiative to begin turning it into that. And if you don’t have a church home then visit with us. Very quickly you will feel right at home.   Psychologists tell us that one of the most troubling and saddest maladies that people suffer from is loneliness. Lonely people are much more likely to be unhealthy and to die younger than those who have lots of family and friends. Church should be a haven for lonely people. God leads lonely people to church so they will have friends and so they will be part of a family environment. Jesus wants His people to be upbeat, joyful, and laughing a lot. If you want a good laugh, just hang around Oak Hill Baptist Church for a little while. We’ll fix you right up!   I read a statement recently that really caught my attention and helped to convince me all over again that we all need to be part of a good church family. It was a health study conducted by researchers from the Harvard Medical School. They tracked 7,000 people over nine years, studying their overall health and evaluating the conditions that produced that health in that person. Here’s what it said, “People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or alcohol use) but strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated.”     That does not mean that smoking, overeating, or overdrinking are good things. It means that loneliness is a bad thing – so bad that it’s worse for you than poor lifestyle habits.   Do you realize what this means? Eating Twinkies with friends is better than eating broccoli alone! It’s true! The research proves it!   I encourage you today to find some friends, eat some Twinkies, and laugh – laugh a lot.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:11   Our thought for today: “Experience true joy”   On Friday Jesus died a terrible death on a cross. That was Friday, but Sunday was coming. On Saturday Jesus was in the grave and His followers were in mourning. That was Saturday, but Sunday was coming. On Sunday Jesus arose from the grave – and nothing has been the same since!   The resurrection changes everything. Death has been defeated and the promise of a glorious eternal life in heaven now belongs to all those who place their faith in the Resurrected Savior.   Have you experienced the joy of Jesus in your life? All this month in our devotional series we’ve been exploring the concept of “Lighten up a little”. The idea is that we often miss out on much of the joy that Jesus wants us to have. Many people have resigned themselves to simply trudging through their days, wearing life like a heavy old coat, putting one foot in front of the other and simply getting through life. That shouldn’t be, and it’s not the life the Lord intends for us to experience. As author Chuck Swindoll taught us in his book by the same name, we need to learn to “Laugh Again”.   In John 15:11 Jesus said that one of the purposes of His ministry here on earth was so that we might have His joy in our hearts. In Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul described for us what a life like that might look like. Once we embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord, and as the Holy Spirit begins to transform us more-and-more into the likeness of Jesus, we begin to experience and exhibit His personality traits. Paul described them for us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” This is the “completion” Jesus was talking about, and joy is second on that list.   Most devotionals in this series end with a joke, or a whimsical thought, or a cute story, but no jokes this morning. Instead, I encourage you to simply spend a few moments thinking about the joy of Jesus in your life. I hope you are experiencing it in increasing measure.   I also want to invite you to worship with us at Oak Hill Baptist Church. If you are anywhere near the Cumberland Plateau, please join us for Sunday school at 9:00 and for worship at 10:00. The love and joy of Jesus will be abundant! If you cannot join us in-person, then please join us online on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville.   Every Sunday is a celebration of Easter. Jesus is alive – and He wants us to be too. Not just physically alive but fully, spiritually alive, living our best lives. Jesus wants you to have a life that is filled with His joy.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Hug that porcupine”   I love John Ortberg’s book, “Everybody’s Normal – Till You Get to Know Them”. It’s a great title for a book – funny and intriguing. The title makes you grin and want to read it. And sure enough, the title is a pretty good clue about the fun lessons that lie within.   The first chapter is entitled “The Porcupine’s Dilemma”. Porcupines need love too, and they want to cuddle too, but when they get too close to each other there’s the danger of getting poked by a sharp quill. You see, if the porcupine gets a little agitated, for any reason, the quills come out and then someone is going to get poked.   Hello! Welcome to church! In fact, welcome to life. We’re all a bunch of porcupines with sharp quills. We need and want love, and we want to have good relationships with others, but if you get too close, and if someone gets a little agitated, the sharp quills might come out, and someone is going to get poked.   The answer to our dilemma is found in Ephesians 4:1-3. There Paul urges us to live with humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love. He wrote it again in Colossians 3:12-13. There he put it this way: “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another.”   Rather than getting upset or annoyed at other people’s peculiar personality quirks learn to laugh about them. Find amusement in the fact that we are all a little weird. Ortberg playfully illustrates that in his book by explaining that if you were an item for sale in a department store, you would be featured on the bargain clearance table along with a sign that says “Slightly irregular. Flawed. Sold as is.” The fact is that none of us are “normal”. We’re all flawed and we’re all annoying in some way. There really is no “normal”. So, lighten up and laugh about it.   By-the-way, speaking of people with porcupine personalities, if you’ve had to stand in a grocery store check-out line recently then perhaps you have seen the glaring headline on the front cover of a popular women’s magazine that reads, “Totally Normal Women Who Stalk Their Ex-Boyfriends!” Seriously? They stalk their ex-boyfriends but they’re totally “normal”? Women like that scare me!   Fortunately, I have a sweet little wife who is anything but a porcupine. She is soft and cute and easy to cuddle with, and she doesn’t stalk me. Even though I sometimes am a bit of a porcupine, she graciously makes allowances for it, and she loves me anyway.   I encourage you to take a chance and hug someone today – even if they sometimes seem like a porcupine.     God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “Make room for us in your hearts …” 2 Corinthians 7:2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Take care of your relationships”   I once taught a marriage enrichment study for couples in our church. Eight couples met every Thursday night to watch the DVD series “Love and Respect” by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, followed by a time of group discussion. The DVD was helpful and funny, but the group discussion was the best part. Because of the fun and lighthearted way Dr. Eggerichs presented the material, it encouraged fun and lighthearted interaction among the spouses. It was good to see them laughing and joking with each other and it helped to strengthen relationships.   Although that study was specifically about helping husbands and wives to maintain a strong marriage relationship, the principles taught really pertain to all relationships. The primary lesson is that we must be intentional about nurturing and caring for the relationships that are most important to us because if we don’t, they won’t be healthy (and life is miserable when our most important relationships are not healthy).   That’s also true of life in general. If your life is filled with broken relationships, with conflict and tension, yours will be an unhappy life. The best way to keep relationships healthy is by being intentional about nurturing them.   It starts with simply making room for people to be in your life, and then intentionally interacting with them in a way that builds and strengthens the relationship.  In 2 Corinthians 7:2 Paul urged his readers to make room for him in their hearts. In other words, “Make room for me in your life. Give me some of your time and attention and do it in a manner that communicates love and respect.”   That’s certainly important regarding your most important relationships, but it’s also true about the more casual relationships we have, such as with coworkers, neighbors, and church members. Give people a little bit of your time, do it with a sense of love and respect, and not only will you make them feel better, but your life will be better too. Healthy relationships are light and fun. Broken relationships are emotionally draining. You are taking care of yourself when you take care of your relationships.   And be sure to keep it lighthearted and fun when you can. Doing so makes everyone’s day better. That’s one of the reasons I have been including some jokes and funny stories in these devotional messages. It’s to help all of us begin our day with a chuckle and a smile and to share that laughter with others.   Did you hear about the man who sat down next to a nun on a bench at a bus stop? After a moment of silence, the man turned to the nun and said, “I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but I have always had a desire to kiss a nun. I mean just a friendly peck on the cheek. Would it be okay if I gave you a little kiss?   The nun thought about that for a moment and then said, “Well, I suppose it would be okay, under two conditions. One, you must be a single man. And two, you must be a Catholic.”   Without hesitation then young man said, “I am single. And I am a Catholic.” Then nun then said, “Well, okay. You may kiss me then.”   At that the young man placed both hands on the nun’s cheeks and planted a big sloppy kiss right on her lips. Then, laughing, he said, “I tricked you! I’m really married and I’m a Baptist.” The nun smiled and said, “Actually, I tricked you. My name is Kevin and I’m on my way to a costume party.”   By-all-means, my friends, keep it light and have some fun today, it will be good for your relationships. But don’t go kissing people strange to you.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571