Oak Hill Baptist Church

God draws us to Himself through Jesus

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God draws us to Himself through Jesus”

What is it about Jesus that’s so attractive and compelling? What is it about Him that has fascinated the world for almost two thousand years, has made Him the most celebrated figure in human history, and has drawn literally billions of people to place their faith in Him for the forgiveness of their sins and to then follow Him through life as one of His disciples? The thing about Jesus that makes Him so irresistible is actually the result of a fascinating cooperative effort involving all three members of the Trinity. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit work together to draw people to the Father through Jesus.

The truth of this is woven like a thread throughout Scripture. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon wrote, “He has set eternity in the hearts of man.” In other words, God created us with an innate understanding that there is more than just this life. Deep in our hearts we just know there must be a God, and we yearn to know Him. This is why every civilization has had a belief in the supernatural and they have always had a god or gods that they worshipped. Belief in God and a deep desire to know Him is implanted in our DNA! This causes people to go through life yearning and seeking and searching for God.

So, the reason we seek God in the first place is because He created us to want to know Him. It’s the Father who draws us to Himself and He does it through Jesus. Jesus explained this further in John 12:32 when He said, “As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” Because every person was created by God with a sense of eternity in their hearts, that causes them to sense being drawn to God. The Greek word being used here means to pull, to attract. The Father does that through Jesus, and as Jesus Himself said in John 12:32, that drawing is directed to “all” people. Multiple passages in the New Testament remind us that it’s God’s will that none be lost. He is drawing all people to Himself through Christ.

Finally, it’s then the job of the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of people, pointing them to Jesus so they can come to the Father. “When he comes, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.” (John 16:8).

There’s a strong spiritual force at work drawing people to the Father. It’s a divine cooperative effort and it’s part of His grand design. Think about how much He must love you to go to such great lengths to bring you to Himself. But this then brings us to questions about the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. If it’s God’s desire for everyone to be saved, why doesn’t He just save us all? We’ll discuss this tomorrow. For now, just spend some time thinking about how much He must love you to work so hard to draw you to Himself.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

God wants you to be with Him

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God wants you to be with Him”

Let me be crystal clear about this, “God wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity.” It’s true, and it’s essential we know this about God. It is not His desire for any to perish. He wants everyone to have eternal life in heaven with Him. Peter made that clear in 2 Peter 3:9. In that case he was explaining to his readers why the second coming of Christ had not yet. occurred. Why is God delaying it? Peter’s answer was that it is because the longer God delays bringing this chapter of human history to a close, the more opportunities there are for people to put their faith in Christ. God continues to delay the end of time because it is not His will for any to perish.

It has always been God’s desire for people to be saved rather than to perish. Even 600 years before the time of Christ, through the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel God said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways!” Ezekiel 33:11

By His very nature, God does not want people to perish and spend eternity separated from Him. Instead, He wants us to be saved from our sins. Now of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved. There’s a strong body of Biblical literature that clearly teaches a person must make a decision to place their faith in Christ or they will spend eternity separated from God.

“God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24

“For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

“But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name.” John 1:12

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

This is important. We need to understand this about God. He does not desire for any to be lost. He loves each and every person with a deep and everlasting love. It is His will that we all be saved, and He has gone to extraordinary lengths to make our salvation possible and to draw us to Himself. An essential part of His nature is His strong desire for everyone to come to Him through faith in His Son Jesus.

We’ll think more about this tomorrow but for now, spend some time mediating on the great truth that God loves you so much, and His heart longs for you so deeply, that He sent His Son Jesus to die for you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

God has emotions

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it …” Luke 19:41 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God has emotions”

This morning I want us to continue our thinking from the past few days about the love, mercy, kindness, and compassion we experience with our Father in heaven. As was noted, that’s what He wants His default mode to be in His relationship with us. That’s how He wants to be known by us.

Unfortunately, all too often, people think of God as some kind of celestial rule-making notetaking scorekeeper at best; or as a cold, stern, and sometimes harsh disciplinarian at worst. But although He does have standards of conduct He expects us to obey, and although tough love is sometimes what is called for, His preferred role with us is that of warm, comforting Father.

People are sometimes surprised to discover that God has emotions just as we do, and those emotions of God are often expressed in surprising ways. The parable of the Prodigal Son is just one example. The scene in Luke 19:41 (above) is another. In this case Jesus (God in a human body), weeps. He cries.

There are actually three occasions in the New Testament when we read of Jesus weeping. In this case, He was weeping about the pain and suffering the people of Jerusalem were bringing on themselves by their poor choices. They were not being faithful to God and were instead living in ways that were harming themselves and others. They were bringing pain and suffering upon themselves, and the thought of His people suffering like that caused Jesus to weep. He was grieved at the thought of what they were doing to themselves and what they were bringing into their lives as a result of such conduct. (I think you can see the application here for us and for our lives).

We also read of Jesus (God) weeping in John 11:35. This time He was weeping because His friend Lazarus had died. Some Bible commentators believe his tears were the result of His own grief over the loss of His beloved friend. Others believe His tears were for the grief Mary and Martha were experiencing. Others think Jesus wept over His sadness that death exists at all. My answer is “Yes – probably all three.” The point is that God feels your pain, because it’s His pain too.

The third time we read of Jesus (God) weeping is in Hebrews 5:7-9. That passage reveals that in the Garden of Gethsemane, as He was pleading for the Father to allow Him to avoid the suffering of the cross, Jesus wept for Himself. He wanted to avoid it so badly, if at all possible, that He wept.

What’s the lesson in all of this? Just that God is not some cold, stoic, unfeeling, and distant celestial scorekeeper. Instead, His emotions of love, kindness, compassion, and mercy are on full display all throughout Scripture – and that’s how He wants us to know Him.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

The love, mercy, and compassion of God

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.” Psalm 103:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The love, mercy, and compassion of God”

Yesterday we spent some time thinking about the parable of the Prodigal Son. To help set the scene and the tone for that devotional, I asked us all to first listen to the Chris Tomlin song, “Good, Good, Father”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ak0OoFBw3c) It would be helpful to listen to it again this morning because it’s such a beautiful and touching portrayal of what a loving, kind, merciful, and compassionate Father we have in heaven. There’s a good reason Jesus chose to describe the Father like that to us. It’s because that’s how He wants us to know Him.

Many people have trouble imagining God like that because that’s not the kind of relationship they had with their human father. The kind of relationship we had with our human fathers often sets the tone for the way we think about our Father in heaven. Sadly, all too often, our human fathers were stern and demanding, often angry, and sometimes worse. Those memories can color how we think of God as Father.

Beyond that, the Bible itself provides us with other attributes of God that we sometimes find troubling. In some places we read of his anger and wrath, of judgment and discipline, even of hellfire and eternal damnation. So, what do we do with that?

First, we need to realize that the attribute of God that we get to experience in any given moment is the one that is most appropriate to our situation at that time. Sometimes anger, wrath, judgment, or discipline is what is called for. But that’s not God’s default mode with us. Those things only happen when absolutely necessary and when we have left Him no other way to deal with us.

The reason Jesus chose to show us the Father the way He did in the story of the Prodigal Son is because that’s how God wants us to know Him. That’s His default mode with us. The overwhelming weight of Scripture reveals to us a God who loves us eternally, grieves for us when we suffer and struggle, cares about us, reaches out to us, draws us to Himself, and wants us to be with Him in a deep and intimate love relationship. That’s the great truth being communicated in Psalm 103:8 (above). This is how God wants to be known by us.

We’ll think more about this in the days to come. For now, I encourage all of us to spend some time just being with God and enjoying our relationship with Him. You might even want to listen to the Chris Tomlin song again.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

He’s a good, good Father

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.” Luke 15:20 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “He is a good, good Father”

Have you heard the song by Christian singer / songwriter Chris Tomlin called, “Good, Good Father”? I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to it. You can Google it or click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ak0OoFBw3c It’s a beautiful song which reminds us of what a warm, loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful Father we have in Heaven. Listening to that song now will set the tone for the rest of what I want us to think about this morning.

In yesterday’s devotional I noted that in addition to coming to earth to die upon the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, another reason Jesus came was to live among us and to help us better understand who our Heavenly Father is and what He is like. Probably my favorite parable from Jesus which shows us the Father is the story of the Prodigal Son, found in Luke 15:11-32.

In that story we’re introduced to a rebellious son (sometimes me and you), and to another son who is cold and hard (also sometimes me and you), and to a loving, kind, and compassionate father (God). At one point the rebellious son gathers up all that is his, leaves home, and goes off to live a life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (or the first-century equivalent).

Finally, this younger son, stuck deep in the muck and mire of life, comes to his senses and decides to go home to his father, ask for forgiveness, and offer himself to his father as a slave. His thinking was that his father deserved a much better son than he had been and because of what he did he was completely unworthy of even being called a child of the father – much less enjoying the privileges of being part of his family.

But we discover that the father didn’t see it that way at all. It turns out that the Father had been deeply concerned about his missing son. Each day he had scanned the horizon praying and hoping that one day his son would return to him; and when that day came, that honored, dignified, highly respected father hiked up his robe, tucked it between his legs, and ran down the road to embrace his son and welcome him home. Such a scene would have been shocking in that culture. Men of his stature didn’t hike up their robes, and they didn’t run, and they didn’t simply welcome back a rebellious child like that.

But the point of Jesus’ story is that our Father in heaven loves us that much. He is that concerned about us, He wants us back with Him, and He will forgive us and welcome us home. He is a good, good Father. He is kind, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving. He loves us.

Do you know Him like that? I hope you do because that is who He is, and that’s why Jesus told this story about Him, so you can know Him like that.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Jesus and the Father are One

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Knowing God”

Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?” John 14:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Jesus and the Father are One”

Today is December 1^st and we’re now beginning Christmas month. The weeks leading up to Christmas are known in Christian circles as “advent”. It’s the season of the liturgical year that is a time of expectancy and preparation as we approach the celebration of the birth of Christ.

When we think of the birth of Jesus, and the reason for it, we remember that God sent His Son to earth to rescue us from the penalty of our sins. First, foremost, and primarily, this was a rescue mission. But another reason Jesus came was to show us what God is like. Not just to tell us, but to show us. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was God in a human body and He came to show us, in physical form, in ways we can easily relate to, what our Heavenly Father is like. That’s the great truth Jesus was explaining to Philip in John 14:9. Jesus and the Father are One. Jesus was God showing Himself to us in the body of a man. So, if you want to know God, study Jesus.

There’s much we cannot know about God. That’s to be expected. God is far too glorious and expansive and complex for my human mind to grasp or comprehend. If that were not true, if God could in fact fit into my puny little human brain, He wouldn’t be much of a God.

But there’s also much we can know about God. There is much that He has revealed to us. And, it’s imperative that we do wrestle with and come to an understanding of the great truths about Him that He has chosen to reveal. If we don’t do that, shame on us. What a great loss. There will have been things about God that we could have known and understood but didn’t, because we didn’t try.

Throughout the course of this Christmas month, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we will think a lot about what Jesus Christ revealed to us about the nature of God. But we will also use this as an opportunity to go beyond just what Jesus Himself revealed. Scripture is packed full of deep, profound revelations about the nature of God, and we will explore many of those truths too.

I look forward to this month of exploring and discovering God with you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Pray and don’t give up

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up …” Luke 18:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Pray and don’t give up.”

Throughout this month we’ve considered numerous examples of mighty prayer warriors who persisted in prayer until they prevailed in prayer. Their persistence was the key to their prevailing. They refused to give up. Sometimes they had to pray for years without ceasing, but they refused to give up.

That was the lesson Jesus taught in Luke 18:1-8. It was the story of a poor widow who needed justice. The person she was appealing to was an unkind and uncaring judge who didn’t want to be bothered. But because the widow refused to give up, the judge ultimately granted her request just to make her go away.

The point of Jesus’ story was that if someone as unkind and uncaring as that judge would ultimately honor persistence, how much more will our kind and loving and compassionate heavenly Father do so? Luke even tells us in verse 1 that the point of the story was to teach us to persist in prayer and not give up. Jesus ended His parable in verse 8 by saying that such persistence is a sign of the faith that God is looking for.

Throughout the month we’ve also considered multiple reasons why God sometimes delays answers to our prayers. One is simply to hold us in prayer. Often the only time we pray with passion and fervor is when we need something. But ultimately, we need fellowship with God more than we need the specific answer to prayer. So, sometimes He will delay the answer just to keep us there with Him in prayer longer.

Other times there are things in the life of the one we’re praying for that need to happen or need to change before the prayer can be answered, and that change can take time – sometimes a lot of time. And also, there are often things in our own lives that need to change before God will grant the request.

All of us have things going on in our lives that we wish weren’t there; or we have loved ones we’re praying for; or there are numerous other prayer requests that seem vitally important to us and which we desperately want an answer to. The key is to keep praying. Don’t give up. It may take years. It may take a lifetime. It may turn out that we are better off that God doesn’t grant the request. We don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus teaches us to pray and to not give up. Persist in prayer until you prevail in prayer.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Structure and consistency are important

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer”

Our Bible verse for today: “Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Structure and consistency are important”

Have you seen the 2015 movie, “The War Room”? Or, perhaps you’ve read the book. Both are excellent. The main character in “The War Room” is an older Christian lady by the name of Miss Clara. Clara is a committed prayer warrior and her practice of persistent prayer is powerful and contagious.

Clara’s “war room” is her place of prayer. It’s a special little room that’s reserved for her prayer time. It is secluded, quiet, and personal. In it she has lots of notes and pictures and stories about the people she’s praying for, and she also has mementos, pictures, stories, and letters regarding answered prayers and the resulting spiritual victories. As the story unfolds, we see Clara’s intercessory prayers for others having a powerful impact in the lives of numerous people. And also, her example inspires others to establish their own “war rooms” and to become powerful pray-ers themselves.

One of the keys to Clara’s success as a mighty prevailing pray-er was structure and consistency. She had a regular place to pray, she had regular times of prayer, she had lists and pictures and notes to guide her praying, and she was faithful to it. The structure and the consistency were keys to her effectiveness in prayer.

We humans thrive on structure and consistency in all areas of life, and that applies to our prayer lives too. Although we can and should pray spontaneously as well, it helps immensely if we also have regular times of scheduled prayer. And, it helps to have a designated place you go to for your prayer time – a place that is secluded, quiet, and conducive to prayer. Keeping a prayer list with notes is very helpful, and looking at pictures of the people you’re praying for adds depth and meaning to your prayers.

Luke 5:16 tells us that Jesus often withdrew to secluded places for sustained times of prayer. That means that it was His habit to do so. There was a time, there was a place, and there was consistency.

Structure and consistency are two of the elements that help to make a person a mighty prevailing prayer warrior. You will be a better pray-er if you are structured and consistent about it.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Be among people who pray

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer”

Our Bible verse for today: “Brothers and sisters, pray for us.” 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be among people who pray”

One of the ways to learn to be a mighty prevailing pray-er is to be among people who are. A great truth about human nature is that over time we become like those we associate with. If you hang around with bank robbers long enough, pretty soon you will probably be robbing banks too. If you spend a lot of time with people who like the Tennessee Titans, pretty soon you will be a Titans fan too. Likewise, if you spend a lot of time with people who believe in the power of prayer and who are committed pray-ers, soon you will be praying more too. We become like those we associate with.

At Oak Hill Baptist Church we believe in the power of prayer, and our congregation is made up of people who are committed to the ministry of mighty prevailing prayer. We’re one of those churches that still has a weekly prayer meeting. In fact, we have two of them – Sunday morning at 8:30 and Wednesday night at 6:00. We also have a prayer request list which is published in the Sunday bulletin each week and which many of us take home and use in our personal prayer time.

We also do something we call “prayer letters”. Often, when we pray for someone, we then write them a short letter telling them that we prayed for them, and it is signed by everyone who prayed. Those prayer letters are sent not just to our own members, but to their family members, friends, co-workers, and to people in places all around the country. We frequently get replies from people informing us of how touched they were to know we prayed for them.

Another thing that happens at our church because of our prayer ministry is what we read of Paul doing in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (above). In that case, Paul knew the Thessalonian Christians were mighty pray-ers, and so he asked them for their prayers. We get that all the time too. People frequently contact us asking us to pray for them. And, we’re happy to oblige. Intercessory prayer is a privilege. We’re eager and willing to bring others before our heavenly Father’s throne of grace and to make requests on their behalf. If you attend our church for any length of time you’ll hear a lot about prayer, prayer requests, prayer letters, and answers to prayer.

I encourage all of us to be among people who pray. And if prayer is not a prominent part of the life of your church, then you be the one to begin changing that. You be the mighty prevailing pray-er, and then invite others to join you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Learn to want what God wants

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Learn to want what God wants”

In James 4:3 the Apostle tells us the primary reason our prayers do not get answered is that we ask with wrong motives, “You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” In 1 John 5:14-15 (above) we’re taught how to pray correctly – we’re to pray according to God’s will rather than our own.

This is an important passage of Scripture and it’s crucial for our understanding regarding mighty prayer that ultimately prevails. We are to pray according to God’s will. If the thing we’re asking for in prayer is in accordance with God’s will, then He will grant that request because it’s what He wants to have happen anyway.

So, the key to answered prayer is to shape our prayers to conform to God’s will. Simple, right? No. Not so simple. For one thing, often we don’t know God’s will for a given situation. That’s why we’re praying about it to begin with. Also, as was noted in a previous devotional in this series, our feelings and desires are devious little suckers. It’s pretty easy to convince ourselves that what we want must be what God wants, otherwise, we wouldn’t want it. We convince ourselves that our thoughts must be God’s thoughts, otherwise we wouldn’t be thinking them.

This is where persistent prayer becomes so valuable. God uses our time in prayer to draw us closer to His own heart. He uses our prayer-time to transform not only our thinking, but our heart and therefore our desires. As Richard Foster notes in the chapter about prayer in his great book “Celebration of Discipline”, “To ask rightly involves transformed passions. In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him; to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills. Progressively, we are taught to see things from his point of view.”

The key to answered prayer is to ask rightly – to want what God wants. My problem is that I want what I want, not necessarily what God wants. So, in prayer I ask God to change my want-er. I want my want-er to be changed so that what I want is in line with what He wants. And the longer He holds me in prayer – the longer I stay right there with Him, drawn close to the heart of God, the more my want-er will change and the more I will want the things that He wants. I will be seeking His will instead of my own.

Prayer helps us to think the thoughts of God, it helps us to see things from His perspective. And the more we pray, the more we see it His way and the more we will want the things that He wants.

God bless,
Pastor Jim