Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visons and dreams of every kind.” Daniel 1:17 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God’s power in the worst of times”   So, there was Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Four young Hebrew men who had been taken captive by the army of Nebuchadnezzar. They were brought to Babylon and made to be slaves. Their situation was desperate and dangerous. They were going to have to do exactly what they were told, conform to every rule and regulation and meet every expectation, and do it all to the satisfaction of their captors, or they would be punished, beaten, and perhaps even executed.   To their credit, they decided that if they were going to be slaves then they would be the best slaves they could be. They would obey, conform, and do a good job – so long as doing so didn’t conflict with the standards of conduct set for them by the One True God to whom they belonged. And as we read in Daniel 1:17, God honored their faithfulness and bestowed His favor upon them. He empowered them with skills and abilities that enabled them to excel, even in the middle of such a bad situation. That’s why God chose to include their story in the Bible as an example for us.   As the editors of the Experiencing God Study Bible noted in their introduction to the book of Daniel, “Daniel’s book seeks to convince believers that God is steadily working out his purposes even during the worst of times and that persecution of believers is a call to faithfulness, not to apostasy. Though times may be difficult now, God is in control, steadily working out his purposes and gradually bringing history to an end… Some of your greatest encounters with God can come during your most difficult moments in life. God is at work, even when your enemies appear to be defeating you.”   God honors integrity and righteousness by giving us protection and power. He empowered Daniel and his friends to not only stand tall and to be faithful in the middle of extremely difficult circumstances, but He went a step beyond that and He enabled them to not just endure but to excel. He can and will do that for you too.   God’s power is available to help you survive and thrive even in the worst of times.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank.” Daniel 1:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The power to be faithful”   Daniel lived under circumstances that most of us will never experience. His country had been defeated by an invading army; the leaders were all either killed or imprisoned; most of the people, including Daniel, were taken off into captivity in Babylon and made to be slaves; and Daniel then spent the rest of his life as a slave in a foreign country.   Worse, he was expected to conform to the cultural norms of the society he was now in, many of which were evil or in direct opposition to the moral standards of the One True God whom Daniel worshiped and obeyed. But, as we read in Daniel 1:8 (above), Daniel refused to defile himself by conforming to unbiblical cultural expectations – even if his refusal would get him in trouble with the authorities. This is the standard that would one day be established by Peter and John in Acts 5:29 when they said, “We must obey God rather than men.”   If you read the twelve chapters of Daniel’s story you will find that the results were a mixed bag for him. Sometimes he got along okay, sometimes he was even held in high esteem by the authorities for a short while, and at other times he was dangerously out of favor. But Daniel never waivered from his commitment to honor the Lord with his conduct.   How did he do it? Daniel was a powerful man of God who was determined to honor God. God in turn honored Daniel’s resolve by giving him the power he needed to stand tall no matter what he faced. Daniel was living proof of the promise God made almost 900 years earlier to Joshua in Joshua 1:9, “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord our God is with you wherever you go.” And again, through Isaiah almost 200 years before Daniel’s time, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)   There’s a lot we can learn from Daniel’s example about God’s power in us and for us, and we will come back to it tomorrow. For today, please remember that no matter what difficulty you are faced with, God is there with you and He will empower you to stand tall for Him and to honor Him by how you handle your challenges.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17 (ESV) Our thought for today: “Power under control”   I love the definition of the phrase “power under control”: “Power under control means having significant strength, authority, or capability but choosing to direct and restrain it responsibly and with great self-discipline, rather than using it to dominate, intimidate, or cause harm. It is the essence of meekness, where power is not a sign of weakness but a testament to a disciplined will, similar to a tamed wild horse possessing immense strength that is now directed by a master.”   Hello! That should describe Christians. We have the power of God within us which provides significant strength and authority, but it must be restrained and used in a responsible self-disciplined manner, rather than using it to bully, dominate, intimidate, or cause harm.   The murder of Charlie Kirk was a tragic incident that is dominating the news right now, and which serves as a great example of the point I’m making. Charlie was a Christian who had the power of God within him to accomplish an important task, but it was power under control that was used in a responsible way to accomplish God’s intended purpose. That was what made him so effective. As James described in James 3:17 (above), Charlie’s wisdom came from above, his motives were pure, he was peaceable, gentle, open to reason, merciful, and he produced good fruit. Charlie was calm, confident, balanced, and reasonable, rather than emotional, unbalanced, and unreasonable.   Contrast that with the angry and mean-spirited voices coming from some who profess to be Christian but who are acting anything but Christlike. Some of them are calling for retaliation and retribution. Their speech is over-heated, filled with anger, distain, and even hate. That’s not power under control it is power out of control. It is possible to try to usurp the power of God for your own purposes by claiming the name of Jesus, and seeking the support of the Christian community, but then acting in a very un-Christlike manner. Also, there’s a big difference between passionate enthusiasm and over-zealous fanaticism. There are few things more harmful to the cause of Christ than an angry religious fanatic.   As Christians the power of God is available to us to accomplish His plan in His way. Charlie Kirk was an excellent example of that and I encourage the rest of us to learn from his example and then to conduct ourselves in a similar manner. It is power under control.   God bless, Pastor Jim     (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “For you yourselves know how you should imitate us: We were not idle among you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God’s power in every season of life”   The Apostle Paul wrote his letter, 2 Thessalonians, in the later years of his life. It had been a hard life. He had experienced many years of very difficult ministry. He had been shipwrecked, persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, starved, chased out of towns by violent mobs, and much more. It had been tough. He had been through a lot. But there he was, older and certainly worn out, but still at it. Still active, still preaching and teaching and writing, still setting a good example for everyone to see.   That reminds me of my old friend Dick DeGrow. I met him when I became the pastor of Bancroft Baptist Church in Spring Valley, CA in the mid-1990s. At that time Dick was already in his 70s. He was a retired pastor and he had some health issues, but he served in our church as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and as the church custodian.   That’s right, church custodian. Retired pastor, deacon, teacher, and custodian. He didn’t need to be the custodian. He didn’t need the money and he wasn’t exactly a spring chicken. I asked him one time why he did it. He smiled a warm smile and in his soft voice he paraphrased Psalm 84:10 by saying, “Pastor, I would rather clean toilets in the house of the Lord than to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.” Then he smiled again and said, “You have a good day now.” And he shuffled off to clean the toilets and take out the trash.   What the Apostle Paul and Dick DeGrow both modeled for us is the truth that God’s power is available to us for continuing acts of ministry throughout all the seasons of life. The nature of the ministry activities may change over time, but being actively involved in serving God and His people is supposed to be something we all continue doing right up until the time the Lord lifts us out of this life and brings us home to heaven. Even if your final days are spent bedridden and physical ministry is no longer an option for you, you can still pray for yourself and for others; you can still worship the Lord in your mind and heart even if you can’t attend services; you can still accept visitors and be a source of encouragement to them; you can choose to be a pleasant encounter and a blessing to the healthcare providers caring for you. The point is, almost always there is still something we can do for the Lord and for others in every season of life.   No matter your season of life, God’s power is available for you, in you, and through you to accomplish meaningful things for the Kingdom. What are you doing for Him and for others today?   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be children in your thinking, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” 1 Corinthians 14:20 (ESV)   Our thought for today: “How much have you grown and matured?”   I read something recently that challenged me to thoughtfully consider where I’m at spiritually these days, especially with in terms of growth and maturity. So, I took some time for introspection – a couple of days to prayerfully review my journals from the past year, as well as my annual goals and objectives from the last five years. In the process I considered questions like, “Did I achieve my goals and objectives?” What challenges have I experienced in the process?” “In what ways did I experience God at work in the middle of those circumstances?” “What did I learn from that and did I grow and mature as a result of it?” And, “Where am I today in terms of spiritual maturity and in my relationship with God?”   I suppose, in some respects, that kind of self-analysis is similar to the growth charts parents keep to track the physical growth of a child. You’ve seen the pictures of a child standing up against the wall and there are marks with dates indicating how tall the child was at a given time in the past and where the child is today. There are powers at work within the body of that child causing growth and maturing to happen over time.   Likewise, there’s a power at work within the Christian that is causing spiritual growth and maturity. It’s the power of God’s Holy Spirit at work within you and that growth can be tracked too. There are indicators. How Christlike have you become over the years in your thinking, attitudes, and conduct? To what degree do you experience and demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in your life (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) Can others see Jesus in you?   As a Pastor, there’s no greater joy for me than to see evidence of that growth in the lives of people in our congregation. That is the evidence of the power of God at work within them.   So, where are you at? How much have you grown? I encourage you to do some thoughtful, introspective, self-analysis. (But also, don’t be too hard on yourself. There’s a lot of truth in the old saying, “I know I’m not yet who I should be, but thank God I’m no longer who I used to be.”)   How much have you grown and matured? That is the evidence of God’s power at work in you.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.” Psalm 63:1-2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You need this”   Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. You need to be in church tomorrow. I mean it. You need to be there. Your soul needs it. All throughout the week the world has been sucking your soul dry. Hopefully you have a good pattern of daily spiritual disciplines that help to keep renewing your soul, but you also need the spiritual nurture that comes from being in the sanctuary, with God’s people, engaging in corporate worship.   That’s what David was writing about in Psalm 63:1-2. His soul had been sucked dry by the world. It felt desolate and in need of refreshing. So, he went to the sanctuary to experience God’s glory and to be renewed. There are some spiritual experiences that can only happen in a spiritually-charged group setting. The spiritual dynamic in such times is powerful and your soul needs it. That’s why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews told us in Hebrews 10:24 that we are not to skip the regular gatherings of our church families. We need to be there.   Life is a battle – an ongoing spiritual battle. But we cannot live in a state of constant war. If we try to, it will exhaust us. But that’s exactly what Satan wants. He wants to keep you engaged with him so he can bury you in battle after battle, overwhelming you, sucking your soul dry. That’s why so many passages in both the Old and New Testaments urge us, even command us, to withdraw and renew. You need a refuge from the storms of life, from the battles. Daily time with God is one of those sources of refuge, but so is a great time of corporate worship.   God wants to be powerful in you and through you, but you have to do your part to create the conditions for that to be so. Corporate worship is one of those places where God will do a deep work in your soul. It is one of those shelters from the storms of life, a break from the battles, that God will use to renew and refresh you. You need this if you are going to be powerful in the rest of life.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God’s got ya”   The other morning, I read something in my pastor’s devotional book that reminded me of a scary but thrilling adventure I had decades ago. It was on my 50th birthday. I decided to celebrate by going skydiving. Although I had never been skydiving before, I did not want to do a tandem jump, being attached to an instructor. Instead, I wanted to do what they call “an assisted freefall.” In that scenario, I would not be attached to anyone. However, two instructors would jump with me and would fall right next to me. If I freaked out and didn’t pull the cord for my parachute, one of them would reach over and try to pull it for me.   So, there I was, falling through the sky at 120 mph from 17,000 feet. The ground seemed to be rushing up at me very fast and I wondered if perhaps I was going to die. But I did remember to pull the cord, the parachute did deploy, and I gently floated to the ground for a soft and safe landing.   God’s power in our lives can be a lot like that parachute. Sometimes life can feel like you’re falling out of the sky at 120 mph and the ground is coming up fast. But then God grabs you, arrests your fall, and gently guides you safely down to a soft landing. Here’s how the writer of my devotional for that day described it:   “It takes a serious level of unswerving resolve to jump out of a plane and then trust a piece of cloth to deliver a safe landing. Commitment to God and his purposes should look like that to us. We are fully in his hands, and we trust him to land us securely. Let’s grit our teeth and dive deeply into what God has planned for us!”   Do you feel as if you are freefalling through life? Well, God’s got ya. His power is enough to hold you up and deliver you safely to a soft landing, just like that parachute.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Choose love over hate”   In Luke 6:27-28 Jesus told us to do something that is very hard – especially in a society like ours that is filled with so much anger and hate. Our natural tendency when we are ridiculed, attacked, or treated unfairly is to punch back; match their angry rhetoric with angry rhetoric of our own; respond to their mistreatment of us by mistreating them back. But is that effective? Is it Biblical?   In Luke 6:27-28 Jesus told us to respond to their anger with demonstrations of His love. In Romans 12:14;17 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse … Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” In 1 Peter 3:9 we read, “… not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing …” And in Proverbs 25:21-22 Solomon wrote, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”   Those are just a handful of Scriptures that speak to the issue. There are many more but the Lord’s point is clear, we are not to respond to them by being like them. We are to respond to them by being like Jesus.   That does not mean that you are to be a doormat or a verbal punching bag. Of course, you can take the actions necessary to protect yourself and your family; and you can cut abusive people out of your life and refuse to have anything more to do with them; and you can respond to the lies being told with the truth. It’s not that we can’t respond, it’s a matter of how we respond.   As author John Eldredge observed, “Hatred has become the new “spirit of the age;” the mounting tensions in this country are symptoms of a much deeper reality.” That deeper reality is the spiritual warfare Paul described in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” People aren’t the real enemy, Satan is. Satan is the deeper reality, and we defeat the hatred of Satan with the love of Jesus.   The power of God’s love to defeat Satan’s hatred is very real, but we will have to choose love over hate.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares upon him, because he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Do your part to lay hold of it”   Sometimes we make it sound too easy – this stuff about trusting God, dialing it back, resting in faith. Just do it, right? Just flip the switch in your brain and all your worries go away, right? No. Not right. It’s not that easy.   Instead, we will have to be intentional about it and we will have to fight for it. We must want it and we will have to seize it. The power of God is available to us in our times of troubles. He will calm us, He will give us peace, and He will help us, but it isn’t magic. It doesn’t just happen. There are things we must do to lay hold of it.   In 1 Peter 5:6-7 the Apostle instructs us to first humble ourselves. In other words, get on your knees, admit to God that you need His help, and ask Him for it. Then, make a decision to cast your cares upon Him. This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 11:28-30 when He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus will help you, but you do have to come to Him and you do have to give your burdens to Him.   The Old Testament prophet Isaiah told us something similar in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you.” Once you have brought the situation to God in prayer, once you have released it to Jesus, continue to keep your focus on Him and not on your problem or burden.   Returning to 1 Peter chapter five, Peter goes on in verses eight and nine, “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith …” Again, intentionality. You keep your head, you recognize the schemes of Satan, you resist him, and you stand firm knowing that God will help you deal with the situation.   God is not weak and His arm is not too short. He can and will use His power to help you deal with your situations. The power of God is available for you but you must do your part to lay hold of it, and you must be intentional about doing so.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 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: “God’s power in you and for you”   Our Bible verse for today: “God has made us plain and simple but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)   Our thought for today: “Dial it back and relax a little”   This morning, I want to continue our thinking from yesterday about the beauty and serenity that can come from living a simple and uncomplicated life of faithfulness and goodness. I love the way the translators of Today’s English Version of the Bible express Solomon’s thoughts in Ecclesiastes 7:29. There Solomon implies that God intends for us to have a life that is calm and peaceful rather than being too caught up in and consumed by the noise and busyness of life.   In Psalm 131:1-3 King David expressed a similar focus, “Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me. Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever more.”   Please don’t miss the fact that that was David, the king, who wrote those words about himself. As busy as he was, as much as he had going on in his world, and as much as his time and attention was sought by people and events, he had learned to quiet his soul and to rest in God. Remember, David was a man after God’s own heart. That’s where his focus was. His heart belonged to God and therefore his focus was on God.   God has not called us to live a hectic life at a frantic pace, always stressed and striving and straining. He has called us to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 42:10.) He simplified it further in Micah 6:8, “Mankind, he has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”   I will leave you this morning with one of my favorite quotes from the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, from his Lord of the Rings series: “The future, for good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.”   I believe God wants you to slow down, relax, and enjoy your life. So, if you believe He is indeed sovereign over the affairs of your life, and you believe that He does have the power to orchestrate events in your life according to His perfect will, and if you really do believe He loves you and wants the best for you, then trust Him, dial it back, and relax a little.   God bless, Pastor Jim    (If you like what you’re 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 © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, Tn 38571