Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”   Our Bible verse for today: “A happy heart makes a face cheerful…” Proverbs 15:15 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Smiling makes you happy”   It comes as no surprise to us that when we’re happy, we smile. But did you know that smiling also makes you happy? It does. There’s an old saying that goes, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy.” The truth of this has been scientifically proven in numerous psychological and neurological studies.   Psychologically, there is a theory known as “self-perception theory”. It holds that acting as if you feel something will eventually lead you to experience that feeling. If you act like you are brave, soon you will begin to feel brave. If you act like you love someone, and if you continue in those actions, eventually you will begin to experience true feelings of love for them. Likewise, if you act happy, soon you will begin to feel happy.   Smiling is a major part of the happiness equation. When you’re happy you smile. So conversely, if you smile you will begin to feel happy. The self-perception theory proves it over-and-over again. If you want to have something to smile about, just go ahead and smile, and soon you will be smiling because you feel like it and not because you are trying to.   There’s also a neurological element to this smiling business. Smiling results in the secretion of endorphin in the brain. Endorphin produces an opiate kind of effect on us in that it makes us feel good. When the physical act of smiling generates a release of endorphins in the brain that in turn makes us feel good, which gives us even more reason to smile, which then releases more endorphins, which make us feel even better, which makes us smile even more … and on it goes. Smiling makes you feel good and the more you smile the better you feel.   To quote those famous philosophers Cheech and Chong, “This is good stuff, man!” And it’s legal! You can get high on endorphins and there’s no law against it! The more you smile the more endorphins that are released and the better you feel, and the better you feel the more you smile, and the more you smile yet more endorphins are released and you feel even better.   Smiling is also contagious. If you smile at other people other people will smile back at you. Then they will experience the release of endorphins which will make them feel better and happier, which will make them smile at other people, which will cause yet more people to smile in return, releasing endorphins in them, causing them to smile at other people and … Wow. This stuff could change the world!   Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy. So, smile today! Smile 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: “Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “One big ‘hallelujah!’ from head to toe”   I once heard it said that “The Christian should be one big “hallelujah!” from head to toe!” It’s true. Nobody has more to be grateful for than the Christian. Your sins have been forgiven; you have the Holy Spirit of God living in your heart; you have a loving Father in heaven who is always looking out for you and who is committed to meeting your needs; you get to experience the Fruit of the Spirit in your life in increasing measure; and, when this life is over, you have a wonderful eternal home waiting for you.   Yes, the Christian should be one big “hallelujah!” from head to toe!   I love the scene depicted in Psalm 126. It is known as “A song of ascents”. It was sung by the Israelites as they marched up to Jerusalem to worship. Jerusalem sat on a hill, which is why it is sometimes referred to as “a city on a hill”. As that large throng of Israelites ascended the hill, with the city of Jerusalem in sight above them, they were laughing, singing, rejoicing, and calling out praises to God. It was a great scene of joy.   In a previous devotional I shared with you my favorite commentary on the book of Philippians (The Epistle of Joy). It was written by Chuck Swindoll, and the title is “Laugh Again”. The emphasis is on “again”. The implication is that long ago we stopped laughing enough. The joy of life drained away and many of us simply resorted to getting through our days.   May I politely suggest that you knock it off? To borrow a phrase from Sergeant Hulka in the movie Meatballs, “Lighten up, Francis!” Life is not as hard as some people make it out to be. Go back and read the previous devotional about the 80/20 rule. You have been blessed beyond measure and there is much more that is good in your life than bad. Life is meant to be enjoyed not just endured. There is plenty to be thankful for and happy about. And there are lots of reasons to laugh and be joyful.   Did you hear about the little boy who was invited to say the blessing at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner? He thanked God for his mother, father, brothers and sisters. He thanked God for their guests, and for the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and even for the Cool Whip. Then there was an extended silence until finally the mother looked up and saw the boy with his eyes open, looking at her, and in obvious distress. He whispered to her, “Mom, if I thank God for the broccoli won’t He know I’m lying?” Everyone at the table burst out laughing and they all agreed it was the best Thanksgiving prayer any of them had ever heard.   There is more that is good in your life than there is that is bad. Make it a point today to look for things to be grateful for and happy about. And laugh. Laugh at lot. Go ahead and be one big “hallelujah” from head to toe!   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: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Be thankful for what you have”   An important key to having a light-hearted and joyful demeanor (the kind of outlook that allows you to laugh easily and frequently), is learning to appreciate what you have.   Currently at Oak Hill Baptist we are planning our next mission trip to the Amazon Jungle in Peru to visit our friends who run the El Arca Children’s Home (www.elarcafam.org). The home sits on 110 acres of land in a remote area on the edge of the Rainforest. Conditions are primitive and living is hard. They only have power a few hours a day. They have indoor plumbing, but only in some of the buildings. They raise cattle and poultry, and they grow a lot of their own food. It is hot and there are lots of bugs, snakes, and wild animals. I always enjoy my short visits to be with them, but I’m always very grateful to come home too.   Over the course of the last fifty-three years, I have traveled to thirty-four countries – most of them very poor countries, and I can tell you that most of the rest of the world is not like the USA. Most of the rest of the world is like that situation in the Amazon Jungle, or worse.   Therefore, every time I return home I do so with a new appreciation for how much God has blessed me. I live a simple middle-class life (by the standards of the USA), but I am blessed beyond measure compared to people in most of the rest of the world. I am healthy; I have a comfortable home; I have plenty of food; I have a good income; I have access to good healthcare; I have a loving family and good friends; I live in one of the most beautiful locations in the country; and on and on the list goes. Shame on me if I could have all of this, but still not be happy and satisfied!   One of the biggest reasons people are downcast instead of upbeat, complaining instead of thankful, and frowning instead of laughing, is because their thoughts are focused on what they don’t have rather than on what they do have. In Psalm 16:6 King David was reflecting on the contours of his life, and he was giving thanks to God for his blessings. The boundary lines of his life had fallen “in pleasant places”, and he had much to be grateful for. I’ll bet the same is true for you. If you think about it, you will have to admit that you are blessed in more ways than you have time to count this morning.   Today’s devotional isn’t funny like the others have been. But to have a sunny and upbeat disposition, and to be a lighthearted person who can laugh easily and frequently, we need to be people who recognize and appreciate just how blessed we are. There’s an 80/20 rule that can be applied to most people’s lives. It maintains that eighty percent of the things in our lives are good and only twenty percent (or less) are in some way negative. Yet many people focus on the twenty percent that is negative rather than on the eighty percent that is good.   I encourage you to spend some time today considering how blessed you are. Enjoy the warm sense of being watched over and provided for by a Father in Heaven who loves you very much and who blesses you beyond measure. Be thankful for what you have.   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: “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The Lord is my portion therefore I will put my hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Don’t be an Eeyore”   Have you ever known a person who seems to be an expert at finding something wrong with everything? If you say it’s a beautiful sunny day, they’ll point to the one dark cloud in an otherwise clear sky. If you tell them they look nice today, they’ll respond by saying they recently put on five pounds. If you tell them the glass is half full, they’ll tell you that it’s also half empty. Do you remember “Eeyore” the donkey from the Winnie-the-Pooh books? Winnie was always upbeat and positive, but Eeyore was always pessimistic, gloomy, and depressed. No matter how good things were, Eeyore found something wrong. We all have encounters with the Eeyore’s in life, and they’re not fun to be around.   I saw a cartoon recently of two women talking. One was babbling on and on. We the readers get the conversation in midstream, “… and then I caught the flu, the house burned down, our car was stolen, George had to have an operation, the cat got sick …” The other woman, looking trapped, is thinking to herself “Dear Lord just take me now!”   You’ve been in that situation. You’re trapped in a conversation with a narcissist who drones on and on about all her misfortunes (real and imagined) and there seems to be no way out for you. So, you’re thinking “Just shoot me now!”   Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said that “Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” That’s a great truth. You can choose to see the glass half full instead of half empty. You can choose to see the sunshine rather than the cloud. You can choose to thank God for what you have rather than complain about the things you don’t have.   In the book of Lamentations Jerusalem had been destroyed and was in ruins. The people had been taken into captivity and the situation seemed hopeless. In the middle of the destruction and desolation the prophet Jeremiah uttered that wonderful statement of faith and praise that we just read in 3:22-24, “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The Lord is my portion therefore I will put my hope in him.” Jeremiah found reasons to praise God and to trust Him despite the circumstances.    In my Bible I keep a typed list of positive affirmations which I review frequently and which help me to maintain a proper perspective in life. One of them pertains to choosing happiness over despair. It reads “I choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. I can choose to think thoughts and engage in activities that bring me joy. I choose to be grateful, and I choose not to complain. I have joy in my heart, a smile on my face, and laughter in my voice. Life is a privilege. I choose to live it with joy.”   How about you? Do you choose to live with joy? Do you laugh easily and often? I hesitate to hold Winnie-the-Pooh up as a model to emulate because Winnie had serious weight control issues and his fingers were always sticky with honey. But if the choice in your life is between being Winnie or Eeyore – be Winnie my friends, be Winnie.   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: “Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine …” Genesis 35:22 (CSB)   Our thought for today: ‘Everybody’s normal – till you get to know them”   There’s a great truth expressed in the statement “Everybody’s normal – till you get to know them.” The fact is that we’re all a little weird. There really is no “normal”. After more than thirty years as a Pastor, I’ve come to understand that every person is a little odd, and every family has skeletons in their closets. Granted, some people are odder than others and some families have a literal boneyard going on, but still, we’ve all got stuff that we’d prefer others not know about. (As a Pastor I get to know a lot of that stuff. It’s kind of a side benefit to the job. The stories I could tell!)   A Biblical case-in-point is told by Pastor John Ortberg in his 2003 book by that same title, “Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them”. In one section he tells the story of one of the great Biblical families – that of Jacob. Jacob was a bit of a scoundrel and a swindler. He had at least thirteen children by four different women. One son (Joseph) was sold into slavery by his brothers. Another son (Reuben) slept with his father’s mistress. Another son (Judah) slept with his own daughter-in-law and fathered a child by her. One daughter was raped and two sons then led a military expedition to wipe out the entire village that the rapist lived in. And those are just a few examples of the dysfunction in that family. John Ortberg writes, “These people need a therapist. These are not the Waltons. They need Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Spock, Dr. Seuss – they need somebody!”   Feeling any better about your family?   The point is that we’re all a little weird – there really is no “normal”. And that’s a good thing. I’m glad there are no perfect people. It makes me feel better about myself.   I sometimes tease our folks at Oak Hill Baptist that we’re a lot like that place everyone has come to call “The Star Wars Bar”. The Star Wars bar was a place in the first Star Wars movie. Han Solo and Chewbacca go into this inter-planetary bar and we see that it is filled with an array of weird creatures from across the galaxy. One guy is purple and has two heads. Another is orange and has a single eye in the middle of his forehead. One creature looks like an octopus with tentacles sprouting from various places, and on it goes. Weird people. Funny looking people. But all of them, somehow getting along.   That’s us! At our church we’re just an odd collection of unusual people but somehow, we all get along. So, if you’re looking for a church, I invite you to visit us. (I’m thinking you will probably fit right in.)   There are no normal people. Nobody is normal because there really is no “normal”. Everyone is a little bit strange. I encourage you to celebrate your weirdness today. Just be you – and enjoy it!     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: “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Don’t take yourself too seriously”   In the late 1980s there was a young comedian named Dana Carvey who starred on the television show “Saturday Night Live”. As a member of the cast his job was to come up with funny characters and to put on live comedy skits. One of Dana’s most popular characters was known as “The Church Lady”. The Church Lady was prim and proper – with big hair, too much make-up (including a hideous amount of red lipstick), and a 1950s-style dress. Her cheeks were pinched and sucked-in and her lips were always puckered, making her look like she must have been weaned on a pickle. She held her little purse with both hands at waist level, and her posture was ramrod straight (her girdle was obviously way too tight).   The Church Lady would then proceed to bless us with her opinion on everything from bad boys to loose girls; from rock and roll music to bad manners; from proper etiquette at church potlucks to the awful tie the pastor wore last Sunday; and everything in-between. Just watching and listening to her, with those sucked-in cheeks and those puckered lips, you just knew that as a child she sucked every ounce of juice out of that pickle.   Many Christians back then were offended by this caricature of church people, and they thought it was terrible for Dana Carvey to make fun of them. Not me. I thought it was hilarious. I still do. And I also think it’s good for us to laugh at ourselves. We often take ourselves way too seriously. That’s one of the reasons I love the ministry of Chonda Pierce. She’s a Pastor’s kid who was raised in church, and she is hilarious in her comedy routines as she points out the silliness of church life and gets us all to laugh about it. That’s good for us.   In Matthew 18:3 Jesus was using a child as an illustration of the simple faith that is special to God. Children believe easily and completely. But another lesson we can learn from children is to stop being so darn serious about everything and just relax. Children have that unique ability to be silly and to have fun, and as adults we need more of that. We’re too uptight.   I’ll share with you one thing that makes me uptight. It has to do with how nice the people at our church are. Did you know it is possible to be too nice? It is. I have a recurring dream that I’m up on the stage on Sunday preaching my heart out, and my zipper is down. And nobody tells me!   Why? Why does nobody tell me? Because they’re so nice that’s why, and they don’t want to embarrass me. So, they say nothing.   Look, I love you all, I really do, and I’m glad you are so nice, but for goodness-sakes, don’t be that nice! Tell me my zipper is down. We’ll all get a good laugh out of it and then I’ll preach the rest of the sermon!   Now go and have a good day but remember, don’t take yourself too seriously.   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: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Let’s be intentional about rejoicing”   I love Psalm 118:24. It’s a verse I recite to myself often. However, when I do I change it a little and I personalize it. Rather than saying “let us rejoice and be glad in it”, I say, “I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Doing so makes it personal to me, and it is also much more declarative and intentional. I’m going to do it. I’m going to intentionally rejoice, and I am going to be grateful for the day the Lord has given me.   For a similar reason, I also love Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Philippians is far-and-away the most upbeat book in the New Testament. It is known as “The Epistle of Joy” because it is positive, encouraging, and inspiring. I love reading it, preaching it, teaching it, and writing about it. More than that, I love living it.   My favorite commentary about Philippians was written by Pastor Chuck Swindoll. The title is “Laugh Again.” It’s a life-application commentary and in it, Chuck tries to help us see how we can go through life with an upbeat and positive outlook, finding joy and humor all along the way.   I especially like the back cover of the dust jacket. There we see a picture of Chuck and his wife Cynthia riding Chuck’s Harley Davidson motorcycle. (It has a personalized license plate that reads “The Sermonator!”) Although Chuck and Cynthia were grey-haired senior citizens they would often climb on his Harley, rev up that engine nice and loud, and go roaring off down the road hooting and hollering, laughing and having a good time.   I can relate. For many years I also had a Harley, and although my late wife Linda was handicapped and used a walker to get around, we sometimes would push that walker up to the Harley, get her on the back, and go roaring off down the road, leaving the walker sitting there in the driveway.   My friends, too many Christians are frumpy and grumpy. They walk around with their heads down, grousing and complaining, grumbling and mumbling into their moustaches, criticizing and finding fault with everyone and everything. That should not be. God does not intend for us to live that way. Sure, life can get hard and we all have our problems, but it’s not all bad. Lighten up man!   Psalm 118:24 reminds us that every day is a gift from God and it is filled with many wonderful things to enjoy and to be grateful for. I encourage you, as the song says, to count your blessings, name them one-by-one. Resolve to be joyful. And for heaven’s sake, lighten up and laugh a little!   By-the-way, did you hear about the pistol-packing pastor who died and went to heaven? When he got to the Pearly Gates, Saint Peter asked in astonishment why in the world any pastor would pack a pistol? In his defense the pastor cried out, “But Peter, I was a Southern Baptist Pastor!” Suddenly the expression on Peter’s face softened and with a knowing and sympathetic look he said, “Bless you, my son. Those Baptists can be a tough crowd. Enter heaven and receive your reward!”   Enjoy your day my Baptist friends. Rejoice and be glad in it. And be sure to find plenty of things to laugh about.   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: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Let’s all lighten up a little”   I think of the month of February as the dog days of winter. On the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, it’s the coldest month of the year – often bitter-cold with snow and ice. It is dark and dreary and seems to drag on forever. As I write this (on a Saturday afternoon for distribution on Monday morning), it is eight degrees outside with a windchill of minus four. There is an inch of snow on the ground on top of a quarter inch of solid ice. Tomorrow we might have to cancel church for the second Sunday in a row because the roads will be too dangerous to travel on. Did I mention that I’m not fond of February? Baby, it’s cold outside!   On top of that, right now, our world seems to be on fire. There are protests and riots in our city streets; we are into the mean season of an election year; and the government is on the verge of shutting down again because of a budget fight. Internationally there are multiple wars on multiple fronts, and it seems like nobody likes anybody anymore. The World Health Organization says that chances are good there will be another pandemic of some sort soon, and there is talk about putting tariffs on dark chocolate from Germany (tragic!)   Fortunately, Jesus is still on the throne, I’m still saved, and if you have read the last chapter of the Bible, then you know that we win in the end. In fact, despite how bad things sometimes look, God is sovereign over it all. He is at work in the middle of it all bringing good things out of it (Romans 8:28), and we as the people of God have every reason to be optimistic and joyful. So, let’s all lighten up a bit. Let’s introduce some lightheartedness into all the dreariness. Let’s spend the dog days of winter laughing and smiling and sharing the joy of Jesus.     Sometimes life gets heavy. Many of us are way too serious. We all know people who trudge through their days, wearing their circumstances like a heavy old coat, seldom smiling, much less laughing. But that’s not how we’re supposed to live. It’s not what God intends for us. Like Solomon tells us in Proverbs 17:22, joy is good medicine, but a heavy spirit dries up the bones. A heavy spirit makes us sour, grumpy, and difficult to be with. Laughter lightens things up. It makes us feel better, it makes us nicer to be around, and it causes other people to want to be with us.   All this month we will make a concerted effort to lighten things up a bit. We will consider what the Bible has to say about laughing and being joyful, and we will also think about the importance of intentionally expressing joy. Laughter and being joyful is good for us. By the way, did you hear the one about the feminist who demanded to know why we always say “Amen” at the end of a prayer rather than “Awomen”? The Pastor told her it’s the same reason that we sing “Hymns” instead of “Hers”.   May your day be filled with joy and laughter and may you help others to lighten up a little.   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: “You made it! Now what?”   Our Bible verse for today: “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.” Acts 14:19-20 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Just get back up and keep going”   In 1923, at the Polo Grounds Arena in New York, in a boxing match for the heavyweight championship of the world, the heavyweight prizefighter from Spain, Luis Angel Firpo, also known as “the Wild Bull of the Pampas” threw a crushing left cross that caught the champ, Jack Dempsey, square on the chin. The punch hit Dempsey so hard that it knocked him backwards through the ropes and completely out of the ring. Dempsey ended up crashing on top of the newspaper reporters sitting on the side of the ring, and then he was sprawled on the floor. The back of his head had hit the metal edge of a report’s typewriter, opening a large gash from which he was bleeding profusely.   It was the most vicious knockdown Dempsey had ever experienced in his long boxing career. It was one of the most dramatic that anyone had ever seen in any professional boxing match. But Jack Dempsey won that fight. He got up off the floor, climbed back into the ring, and though wobbly, he managed to protect himself through the rest of that round. During the short break between rounds he gathered himself, steeled his resolve, and at the ringing of the bell to start the second round he came charging out of his corner, unleashed a flurry of tremendous punches, and in 57 seconds Firpo was unconscious on the canvas. The fight was over and Dempsey was the world champion.   The Apostle Paul experienced something like that in Acts 14:19-20. His enemies beat him so badly they thought they had killed him. They dragged his inert body outside the village and tossed it in a ditch. But Paul regained consciousness, mustered the strength to get up, and went right back into that same town. Not only was he not dead, but after that incident he went on to have the most successful and fruitful years of his ministry.   Nothing is over until you give up. If you don’t quit, then you’re not done. Sometimes life will hit you with a vicious left cross. Sometimes you will take it on the chin and end up on the floor. But you don’t have to stay there. You can get up. And if you do, then you’re not done – and it’s entirely possible that the best and most successful years of your life are still in front of you.   Although I’ve never experienced anything as dramatic as the scenes with Jack Dempsey or the Apostle Paul, I have had plenty of times when life has knocked me down – and so have you. When that happens (and it will) it is vital that you get back up and keep on going. Get right back into the fight.   Hopefully 2026 is going to be a great year for you. But inevitably, life will throw a few left crosses thrown at you and probably you are going to get knocked down once or twice. When that happens, don’t quit. Don’t give up. Get back up, shake it off, and get going again. Nothing is over until you give up.   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: “You made it! Now what?”   Our Bible verse for today: “The boundary markers have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Relax and enjoy life”   In the Old Testament world land was a major indicator of wealth and blessings. Boundary markers identified the extent of your land. The term “boundary markers” was used to describe a tangible physical reality (the scope and limits of your land), but the idea of boundary markers was also a metaphor used to describe the blessing of God upon your life and it also described the circumstances of your life.   This is the way in which David was using the term in Psalm 16:6. God had given him a good life, and he was happy with it. His profession, his home, his family, his talents, his hobbies, his friends – all of it made up the structure of his life and he found it very pleasant indeed. I hope that’s true for you too.   But there’s also another way in which we can think of the boundary markers which God has established for us and that’s in terms of Biblical boundaries. In the Bible God has given us the behavioral boundaries within which he wants us to live. Those boundaries are quite wide, and there’s a lot of room for some very good living within those boundaries, but there are boundaries, and we do have to stay within them.   However, as I said, within those boundaries there’s a lot of room for some very good and enjoyable living. God is nowhere near as restrictive as we sometimes imagine Him to be. Dallas Willard once used the example of his young children at play in the backyard. The backyard was fenced-in (boundaries), and he expected his children to stay within those boundaries. But as long as they were within the boundaries, then he didn’t care if they were swinging on the swing set, playing in the sandbox, playing fetch with the dog, lying in the hammock reading a book, or sitting at the picnic table enjoying a snack. All those activities (and others) were just fine with him as long as the kids stayed within the boundaries of the fenced-in backyard.   Sometimes we make the idea of obeying God seem as if it takes big effort on our parts. We grit our teeth and resolve to obey whether we want to or not, “I’m going to do this even if it kills me!” Well, stop that. It’s a big backyard and there’s a lot of very good, very enjoyable life to be lived within the boundaries of it.   Enjoy the life God has given you. Be grateful for it. Just stay within the boundaries, relax, and enjoy.   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