Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Enjoy life in all its fulness”   In recent days there is a theme that I keep encountering in my personal reading, and in my study for sermons and Bible studies, and even in conversations with people. It was a topic in the discussion time during the Bible study I taught last Wednesday, and it worked its way into my sermon yesterday. It was also discussed in the opening pages of an old book I picked up the other day and was leafing through.   That issue is the fact that so many people go through life mildly dissatisfied, knowing that they are missing something but not sure what that something is. It’s like the great American writer Henry David Thoreau famously wrote in his book “Walden”: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Likewise, the passage from the old book I was leafing through which I referred to a moment ago reads like this:   “I feel a restiveness in man … a dissatisfaction of a universal sort – the average human being, as I judge it, is uneasy. He is like a man who is hungry, gets up at night, opens the refrigerator door and doesn’t exactly see what he wants because he doesn’t know what he wants. He closes the door and goes back to bed.” The passage goes on: “Not knowing what we really want, we go through life with a strange inner hunger unsatisfied. It’s something like having a holiday without knowing exactly what you want to do, where you want to go, or how you want to spend your limited time. When you finally decide what you want to do, and where to go, it’s too late.”   It’s true. You know from personal experience that you crave something more and deeper than just simple pleasure. All the human appetites for food, sex, wealth, possessions, accomplishments, accolades, and sensory satisfaction can be met and still, you sense that something is missing. That is the basic human condition and it is why in Matthew 16:26 Jesus posed the rhetorical question, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”   In John 10:10 Jesus spoke directly to that dilemma when He told us clearly that life in all its fulness is found only through him. That’s why, in terms of our pursuit of selfcare, there is nothing that will help us more or bring us more true and lasting satisfaction than to deepen our relationship with Jesus. That is what your soul is really longing for. I encourage you to spend extra time with Him today and enjoy life in all its fulness.   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: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Enjoy life in all its fulness”   In recent days there is a theme that I keep encountering in my personal reading, and in my study for sermons and Bible studies, and even in conversations with people. It was a topic in the discussion time during the Bible study I taught last Wednesday, and it worked its way into my sermon yesterday. It was also discussed in the opening pages of an old book I picked up the other day and was leafing through.   That issue is the fact that so many people go through life mildly dissatisfied, knowing that they are missing something but not sure what that something is. It’s like the great American writer Henry David Thoreau famously wrote in his book “Walden”: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Likewise, the passage from the old book I was leafing through which I referred to a moment ago reads like this:   “I feel a restiveness in man … a dissatisfaction of a universal sort – the average human being, as I judge it, is uneasy. He is like a man who is hungry, gets up at night, opens the refrigerator door and doesn’t exactly see what he wants because he doesn’t know what he wants. He closes the door and goes back to bed.” The passage goes on: “Not knowing what we really want, we go through life with a strange inner hunger unsatisfied. It’s something like having a holiday without knowing exactly what you want to do, where you want to go, or how you want to spend your limited time. When you finally decide what you want to do, and where to go, it’s too late.”   It’s true. You know from personal experience that you crave something more and deeper than just simple pleasure. All the human appetites for food, sex, wealth, possessions, accomplishments, accolades, and sensory satisfaction can be met and still, you sense that something is missing. That is the basic human condition and it is why in Matthew 16:26 Jesus posed the rhetorical question, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”   In John 10:10 Jesus spoke directly to that dilemma when He told us clearly that life in all its fulness is found only through him. That’s why, in terms of our pursuit of selfcare, there is nothing that will help us more or bring us more true and lasting satisfaction than to deepen our relationship with Jesus. That is what your soul is really longing for. I encourage you to spend extra time with Him today and enjoy life in all its fulness.   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: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live – not as unwise people but as wise – making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Be careful and wise”   “Be careful and be wise” Paul tells us. Much of our trouble in life comes when we are not careful and we are not wise. In yesterday’s devotional we considered the important role prudence and common-sense play in our quest for good selfcare. This verse communicates the same truth. We must pay careful attention to how we live, not as unwise people but as wise.   The truth is that we bring many of our problems and suffering on ourselves by the way we think, and by the decisions we make, and by the actions we take. The more careful and wiser we are the better life will be for us. Paul is talking about Biblical wisdom, being wise in the ways of the Lord. He goes on in verse 17, “So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” And then in verse 18, “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Spirit.”   In those verses Paul is encouraging us to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day so that we will then live carefully and wisely – making good decisions and engaging in right actions. He then gives us some examples of how to do so: “Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Christian fellowship); “Singing and making music with your heart to the Lord (worship); “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (living with a sense of thankfulness and gratitude); “submitting to one another in the fear of Christ (accountability).   Living carefully and wisely, exercising prudence, using good common-sense, and relying on sound judgment, are all learned behaviors that grow out of good discipleship practices. As we submit ourselves to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit day-by-day and moment-by-moment He will help us to be wise and careful.   What Paul is calling us to is consistency in our life as a Christian. Place yourself in a position before God every day whereby the Holy Spirit has full access to your mind and heart. Over time, The Spirit will teach you how to live carefully and wisely in ways that truly do honor and please the Lord.   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: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.” Proverbs 8:5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Prudence and common sense are what’s needed”   In fourteen years of writing these daily devotional messages I have seldom continued writing on the same theme for three straight months, but I am going to do that with our current theme of selfcare. There’s just so much more that needs to be said about it. Taking proper care of ourselves (body, soul, and spirit), is essential for living fully and well.   An important element of good selfcare is to maintain a calm, rational, thoughtful approach to all of life. I’m talking about exercising prudence and common sense when it comes to arriving at conclusions, making decisions, and taking action. When we are prudent we deliberately take time to consider all the facts of a situation and then we thoughtfully and prayerfully arrive at conclusions about it. For big life issues we also get good counsel before making decisions and taking action.   It’s especially important that we don’t act rashly out of emotion. Feelings are temporary (especially feelings that stem from hot emotions). The singer Jimmy Buffet once wrote a song about “A permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.” I have a tattoo that fits that description. I was a young eighteen-year-old military man doing a tour of duty in Vietnam but on R&R in Hong Kong with some friends. I did the things a young sailor typically does in situations like that and I woke up the next morning with a tattoo. I don’t really remember getting it but it has been on my left arm for fifty-three years now. It’s a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.   We could consider other examples. A moment of unrestrained and inappropriate passion could result in an unwanted pregnancy, or an incurable sexually transmitted disease, or a divorce. All of those would be examples of a permanent reminder of temporary feeling and they illustrate what happens when we are not disciplined and wise.   Good selfcare calls for sound judgment, discipline, prudence, and common sense. All of this is learned behavior and that is why we will continue exploring this important subject for a third straight month.   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: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me live in safety.” Psalm 4:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You need a good night’s sleep”   How well do you sleep at night? It’s an important question because getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most helpful things you can do for good physical selfcare. Being well-rested is a critical aspect of good health and being consistently sleep deprived can literally be a killer. Chronic sleep deficiency is linked to many health problems including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression. It is also a primary cause of job-related injuries and traffic accidents.   That being the case, one of the most helpful things you can do to improve your overall health is to take steps to improve the quality of your sleep. The average adult needs between 7-9 hours of good sleep consistently per night. Less than that, especially a sustained pattern of poor sleep over an extended period, is bad for your health.   Fortunately, there are actions we can take to help improve our sleep. First, you need a good bed. Since consistently getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health, that makes your bed the most important piece of furniture you own. Your dining room set, living room set, recliner, or any other piece of furniture might look nice and may serve a functional purpose, but none of them will have the impact on your body that your bed does.   Recently I invested in a “Sleep Number” bed. It was expensive but it made a big difference in the quality of my sleep. I sleep much better now (consistently night-after-night), than I ever have on any other mattress. When I consider how much money I have spent on things like flooring, cabinets and countertops, bathroom renovations, etc. and how little those things improved the quality of my life, I realize that the cost of a good bed is money well-spent.   There are many other things we can do to improve the quality of our sleep (Google it). You will be surprised how many studies there have been and how many helpful strategies there are that will help you to sleep better.   You need a good night’s sleep. Every night. That’s the way God designed our bodies. Taking steps to improve the quality of your sleep is simply good selfcare.   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: “Selfcare”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is true worship.” Romans 12:1 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Boundaries for your body”   In previous devotionals in this series, we have considered the importance of establishing good boundaries to help facilitate good selfcare. Those discussions pertained primarily to boundaries designed to help us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But we also need good boundaries for physical selfcare.   For instance, we need to establish boundaries regarding the situations we will allow our physical body to be exposed to. Adventure is fun, but participating in high-speed and high-risk sports without appropriate safety precautions is foolish. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet or rock climbing without a safety harness are examples of risks that are unnecessary and which should not be taken. Doing so is crossing a boundary of common sense.   Staying in a home with a difficult and argumentative spouse and trying to work through the problems is Biblical. But a violent and physically abusive spouse has crossed a boundary that should not be crossed. Such action is unacceptable and drastic action must be taken to stop it.   There are other physical boundaries we must set for ourselves for the sake of good selfcare. Do you get enough sleep each night or do you have the habit of staying up too late and then going through your days sleep-deprived? If so, then you need a better boundary regarding bedtime. If you are someone who chooses to use alcohol as a beverage, what are your boundaries? How many beers or glasses of wine do you allow yourself and do you make excuses for crossing that line? One cold beer with your cheeseburger might be within the realm of acceptable conduct for you, but how about three, or four, or six? Have you set and do you keep an appropriate boundary?   Good nutrition is another boundary that we must have the discipline to set and observe. One donut for breakfast, on occasions, is probably okay, but four in one sitting is gluttony.   There is more that needs to be said regarding physical boundaries which will help to facilitate good selfcare. So, we will come back to this discussion in the days to come. But for now, what are your boundaries and do you respect them?   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: “Selfcare” Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” 1 Timothy 5:23 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Take your medicine” In the days of the Apostle Paul and Timothy, wine was used for medicinal purposes. Timothy was a young pastor in a difficult ministry position leading a dysfunctional church filled with argumentative, immoral, and downright difficult people. The poor kid probably had ulcers. Evidently Paul felt that a little wine would be helpful (on some days Timothy probably felt like it would require a lot of wine, but you see the point. Paul was telling him to take his medicine.) We are fortunate and blessed to live in the age of medical science. I believe God uses modern medicine, therapies, surgeries, and medical professionals as His healing miracles in our day. But if we don’t avail ourselves of those medical resources that He has made available to us, then we are spurning the offered blessing and the possible healing that God may have wanted us to have. This is a matter of good selfcare. It is also a matter of stewardship. As we learned in a previous devotional in this series, our physical body is a gift from God and it is intended to be used by Him for kingdom-building purposes. That being the case, we have a responsibility to take proper care of it. That will certainly include things like good nutrition, exercise, getting sufficient sleep, and more. But it also includes getting regular checkups, going to the doctor when you are sick, taking your medicine, and accepting the medical procedures that are available to you. This needs to be pointed out because many people are stubborn about it. They don’t take good care of themselves; they don’t go to the doctor; and they won’t take their medicine. I have a friend who is dying of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer! Prostate cancer is 100% treatable and curable when discovered early. It is also one of the slowest growing cancers. All that is required to detect and treat it is regular prostate exams. But my friend was one of those many, many men who simply refused to get a regular exam. In fact, he had never had one. Consequently, by the time the cancer was discovered it was already stage four and it had already metastasized and spread to other organs and into his bones. This should not have been a terminal illness. It was completely unnecessary and entirely preventable. An important part of good selfcare involves getting regular checkups and screening exams, and then, within reason, taking advantage of the interventions that the Lord has made available to you. My advice for today is “take your medicine!” 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: “Selfcare” Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Take care of your body” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 is a passage of Scripture I refer to often – in my own life and also in my preaching, teaching, and writing. I come back to it so often because it provides us with crucial insight into a very important spiritual truth. The Holy Spirit of God lives in your heart, which makes your physical body the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is important. We must grasp this truth, respect it, and then live in a way that shows we really do believe it. In that passage Paul explains that on the cross Jesus not only paid the price for your sins so you can spend eternity in heaven, but He also purchased your physical body to be a temple for His Holy Spirit to live in and to work through. That’s what he meant when he wrote, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.” On the cross, Jesus purchased your physical body to be used as an instrument of ministry to accomplish His purposes here on earth. Your physical body is a walking, talking, mobile temple of the Holy Spirit. You take Him with you everywhere you go and He wants to use you (your words and actions) to accomplish His purposes. That being the case, you have a stewardship responsibility to take good care of your physical body. You are not free to abuse it or to allow it to go uncared for or to deteriorate prematurely and unnecessarily. You have a responsibility to God to take proper care of the physical body He has given you and to then use it for His glory. Remember, you are a composite being consisting of a physical body, a mind, and a spirit. All three combine to make up the whole you and all three are interconnected. If you are suffering in one of those parts it affects the other parts. We have to do everything we can to stay as healthy as we can for as long as we can physically, mentally/emotionally, and spiritually. Unfortunately, many of us don’t pay enough attention to taking good care of ourselves physically. Therefore, we will now turn our attention to some things we can do to take better care of our body. This is a critical part of good selfcare. 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: “Selfcare” Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be misled: bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) Our thought for this month: “Keep the good in and the bad out” As we continue our thinking about the importance of establishing good boundaries as an element of good selfcare, we need to remind ourselves that we must be intentional about this. Folks, it’s a big bad world out there filled with lots of big bad influences. We and our children are surrounded by them and immersed in them all day long. Therefore, we must be intentional about keeping the good in and the bad out. But doing so isn’t easy. Unfortunately, the world has the advantage. Bad influences far outweigh good influences in our society. Worse, the bad influences are subtle, ubiquitous, and insidious. To a large degree they are so common that we have become numb to it all and therefore the bad influences even work on us at the subconscious level without our awareness. The good news is that just a little bit of light chases away a whole lot of darkness. Enter a completely dark room and the darkness can seem overwhelming. But turn on even a small flashlight and the darkness quickly recedes and suddenly you can see a lot. The same holds true in the spiritual realm. Even a little spiritual light chases away a whole lot of spiritual darkness. This is why daily quiet time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study is so important. It’s also why regular church attendance matters so much. And it’s why maintaining close and frequent fellowship with other Christians can be such an effective way of combatting the evil in the world. A little light chases away a lot of darkness. This past week at Oak Hill Baptist Church we held Vacation Bible School. It was wonderful and the children had a blast. But more important than having fun, they learned a lot about God. They learned about His magnificent creation and they learned the importance of having faith in Jesus. Seeds of faith were planted in their young hearts that will bear fruit for the rest of their lives and which will help them to be strong and faithful in a culture that makes being strong and faithful to God very difficult. On Sunday we will conclude our Bible school in the morning service with a VBS sermon and special music and dancing from the children. It will be followed by an ice cream social immediately after the service. Please join us for Sunday school at 9:00 and the VBS grand finale at 10:00 (and be sure to stay for the ice cream!) Children need the guidance, good example, and support of adults to establish and maintain good boundaries that will help them to keep the good in and the bad out. Please come and support them this Sunday. 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: “Selfcare” Our Bible verse for today: “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (CSB) Our thought for today: “This is the objective of good selfcare” The old saying tells us, “Life is hard – and then you die.” Granted, that sounds dark and pessimistic, and it is, but there is also a lot of truth contained in that clever little ditty. Life is hard, and someday you will die. The question isn’t if you will encounter trials and tribulations in life (you will). And the question is not whether you will one day die (unless you’re still alive when Jesus comes back then yes, one day you will die). The larger and more important question is “how will you deal with those stark realities?” In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Paul affirmed that in life it often felt as if he was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and even struck down. And yet, he was not crushed, in despair, feeling abandoned, nor did any of that destroy him. How did this spiritual giant handle all the things he faced in life and do it with such dignity and grace? He tells us a little later in that same passage. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 he wrote, “Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” The editors of the Experiencing God Study Bible had this to say about that: “God does not promise a pain-free life, but he does provide hope in the face of adversity.” This is what we were thinking about in yesterday’s devotional. This is why we discipline ourselves to engage in “the long obedience in the same direction” that pastor and author Eugene Peterson wrote about. This is what a lifetime of good spiritual practice produces in us. The objective of good spiritual practice as part of good selfcare is so that we will be healthy, strong, confident, poised, dignified, and faithful through all the trials and tribulations we face in life. We have hope for today and a promise for tomorrow. Afflicted, maybe. But not crushed and certainly not defeated. 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