Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:7-8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You can have victory over Satan”   This morning I want to continue our discussion from yesterday regarding the important truth that we no longer have to be slaves to sin. You can have victory over Satan. You can choose to resist what is bad and submit to what is good.   Satan’s goal is to oppose God by getting people to disobey Him. But we don’t have to let Satan have the victory in our lives. James 4:7-8 is clear that if we are intentional about resisting him, Satan must flee from us. As was noted in yesterday’s devotional, Satan can’t make us do anything that we’re not willing to do.   As James noted, the secret to having victory over Satan is a simple two-step process. First, resist him. Be intentional about it. We discussed this yesterday. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is a promise from God which was tailormade for exactly this situation. If you want to resist the temptation you are faced with then make 1 Corinthians 10:13 your prayer in that moment – claim it as your own, look for the way out that God has promised to provide for you, and then take it. Resist the devil, and his best efforts against you will be defeated.   The second and even more important part of this is also found in James 4:7-8. It involves drawing near to God. Get close to God and stay close to Him. Satan can’t stand to be in the presence of God. The closer you are to the Lord the further away from you Satan will want to be. That doesn’t mean that he will give-up in his efforts to get you to stray, but it does mean that the closer you are to God the harder it is for Satan to get to you. So, do what you need to do to stay as close to God as you can be. Pray. Read your Bible. Keep your mind focused on Jesus throughout the day. Hang around with other Christians. Attend church.   As was noted yesterday, we no longer have to be slaves to sin. We have been set free by Jesus. That means you can and should have the victory over Satan in every situation. But you do have to be intentional about it. You have to want the victory and you have to work for it. You do your part and God will do His. Resist the devil, draw near to God, God will draw near to you, and you will experience victory over sin and Satan.     God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You are no longer a slave to sin”   At this point in our study of having been set free by Jesus, we’re considering what it is that we have been set free from. Yesterday we learned that first and foremost, we have been set free from the punishment for the sins that we have indeed committed. God will forgive our sins if we will place our faith in His Son Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.   Also, once we have placed our faith in Christ, we are set free from sinful behaviors as well. We are no longer a slave to sin. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we will no longer commit sin, but it does mean that we don’t have to. Satan can’t force us to do anything we’re not willing to do. And, as the Apostle Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 10:13, God will provide a way for us to escape that temptation and avoid the sin if we are looking for a way out of it and if we are willing to avoid it. But that’s the key, we have to want to avoid sinning and we have to take the actions necessary to resist it.   We all have our weaknesses, and therefore we each have ways in which we are especially prone to sinful behavior. My chief weakness is a tendency towards gluttony. If I don’t discipline myself, I will overindulge in food – especially sweets, and most specifically ice cream, cakes, and donuts. Those are my weaknesses. I know this about myself and so there are ways in which I have learned to discipline myself so that I don’t overindulge.   With respect to ice cream, we can’t have containers of it in our freezer at home. If we do, I just might eat it all in a single sitting. Probably right out of the container. So, we can’t have that in our home. Likewise with cakes and donuts. I won’t eat just one donut or just one piece of cake. If there are more, then I will eat more. So, I have to keep them out of the house and I have to stay out of the cake and donut aisle in the supermarket. (I should also stay away from the desert table at the church potlucks but those of you in our church know that I don’t. You’ve seen me eating more than my fair share of the deserts at church fellowship events. But don’t judge, I know most of your weaknesses too!)   Whatever your weakness is, you don’t have to be a slave to it. There are steps you can take to avoid it. If alcohol is your weakness, then don’t go to places where they serve alcohol. If pornography is your problem, have the appropriate controls set up on your computer. You get the point.   And for those times when we do find ourselves in a situation of being tempted, God has provided us with the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13. Make that passage your prayer. Recite it back to God, mean it, look for the way out, and then take it.   You are no longer a slave to sin. You have been set free.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39   Our thought for today: “If your sins have been forgiven you have been set free.”   There was a prison in Italy in the 1500s that was located on a small island in a harbor. The prison was a large stone fortress that was entered by boat. The boat bringing the prisoner to the prison would enter an inlet and slowly drift towards a tunnel entrance carved into the massive stone structure. The prison was huge, towering over the boat. It was covered in slimy green moss, the entrance was dark and forbidding, and it was cold, damp, and windblown. Carved over the entrance in bold letters was the notice “Abandon hope all you who enter here!”   Imagine a prisoner sitting in the boat viewing this scene, knowing he had been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in this evil-looking place. Image the sick feeling in his stomach and the deep sense of doom and desperation and hopelessness he must have felt. Now imagine that as the boat prepares to dock the Warden is standing there and shouts to the officers, “The prisoner has been forgiven. His sentence has been commuted. Turn around, bring him back to town and release him. He is a free man!” Can you imagine the relief that would flood over the prisoner upon hearing that news? He doesn’t have to suffer the punishment for the crimes he has committed. He is a free man. He has been granted a new life!   That’s exactly the situation for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. We deserve to be punished but instead we have been forgiven and set free. That’s what Paul was explaining to his listeners in Acts 13:38-39. We have been set free from the punishment we deserve for the sins we have committed. That’s the freedom that faith in Christ brings to us.     Psalm 103:11-12 assures us, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Likewise, in Hebrews 8:12 God promises, “For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.”   That forgiveness is found only through faith in Jesus Christ. “There is salvation in on one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. And, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.   People all around us are desperate and hopeless and they need to know what you know – they need to know that God will forgive their sins and give them a new life. They need to be set free, as you have been. I encourage you to help someone find that freedom today. Tell them about Jesus. He will set them free.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools … therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts …” Romans 1:21-24 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God let’s us suffer the consequences”   In Romans 1:24, when the Apostle Paul wrote that God delivers sinful people over to the desires of their hearts, what he meant was that God will allow us to suffer the consequences of our sins. In the Bible God has made His standards clear, plain, and simple. They are standards that apply to all people in all places at all times. But God doesn’t force obedience. He has given mankind free will and He allows us to make our own choices. But He also then allows us to suffer the consequences of the choices. We are free to choose, but we are not free to avoid the consequences of those choices.   When Paul wrote that God delivers people over, it means for one thing that God withdraws His hand of blessing and protection, and then people live as best they can without His blessings. But on top of that, God will also bring discipline and punishment into individual lives, and into the national life of entire nations, in order to help them to come to the realization that His ways are best. Between the two, the disciplinary and punitive actions of God, along with the natural consequences that come with bad choices, life lived outside the will of God will be unpleasant at best.   With respect to our national life in the USA, there are two observations from leaders of previous generations which are insightful and helpful. The first comes from one of the founders of our nation, Daniel Webster, and it was written in 1787: “If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will be. If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign …”   The second statement was written more than 200 years later by Newt Gingrich when he was serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1994: “It is impossible to maintain civilization with 12 year old’s having babies, 15 year old’s killing each other, 17 year old’s dying of AIDS, or 18 year old’s getting diplomas they can’t read.” The situation in our country has only gotten worse since Gingrich wrote those words twenty-seven years ago. It has gotten much worse.   So, now that we have a fairly accurate understanding of where our society is today with respect to God and His principles, let’s move on to the role we as Christians must be playing in an attempt to help correct this. We will do that tomorrow. As Christians we have been set free by Jesus, and one of the reasons we have been is so that we can help others to be free too. So we will begin by considering what it is we have been set free from.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (NASB)   Our thought for today: “The goal is maximum freedom and limited government”   I’ve chosen to write this month about the connection between our national freedom and our Christian freedom because it’s such an important issue in our land right now. For most of the month we will consider what our Christian freedom consists of and how it should determine how we live. But in order for us to really appreciate the importance of the impact Christians should be having in our society, we need to consider where our society is at today.   We live in the era of big government, and it’s in the process of getting substantially bigger. The intrusion of government into the private lives of citizens in the USA is getting deeper and deeper. Deficit spending for big government programs is reaching astounding and unsustainable levels. And worst of all, government legislation is effectively legitimizing and institutionalizing attitudes and behaviors that are distinctly unbiblical and contrary to God’s kingdom principles.   The Bible teaches that civil government was instituted by God for the good of mankind. The basic purpose of government is to provide sufficient structure and controls to prevent anarchy – but not so much as to become heavy-handed, and certainly not to lead and govern in ways contrary to God’s standards.   The further a society drifts from God’s standards, the more difficult it becomes to control. The further people are from Biblical principles the more crime, immorality, selfishness, and overall bad behavior there will be. Government then will become increasingly intrusive in its attempts to control people’s behavior. That then gives elected officials power. And power is addictive, the more they have the more they want and the more reasons they will find to become increasingly intrusive and controlling.   I believe Pastor and author Tony Evans was correct when he taught in his Bible study series “The Kingdom Agenda” that God’s intent is for people to have maximum freedom, and for there to be limited government. But in order for that to be the case, people have to behave well. It’s not that hard. The boundaries God established in the Bible are wide and allow for a lot of freedom. Micah 6:8 (above) is an illustration of how simple it is. Just behave well.     The goal for God’s people in this world is to pursue and promote God’s kingdom agenda in their own lives first, and then in society, helping to move people and entire societies closer and closer to Biblical principles. The closer a society is to God’s standards, the less justification there will be, and the less need there will be, for big government.   We want maximum freedom and limited government. But Christians have an important role to play in helping to achieve that. We have a big responsibility that we must live up to. More about this in the days to come.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “We have to protect our Christian heritage”   Psalm 33:12 was written first and primarily about the nation of Israel. They were God’s chosen people. However, the overriding truth applies to all nations. Blessed is that nation that choses and honors God.   Here in the USA, we Christians today are living in dangerous and challenging times. Our nation was founded upon Biblical principles but as a society we’re drifting further and further away from those foundational principles, and at an accelerated rate. This can only be bad. Now, it is important to note that we were never intended by our founders to be a Christian theocracy. They never intended for our nation to be a religious state. We’re not supposed to be a Christian version of Iran, ruled by a Christian Ayatollah and the Christian equivalent of Mullahs. But Biblical principles were woven into the very fabric of our founding documents because there are no better principles for a nation to live by. Here’s some proof. There’s a lot more but here is some:   “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Patrick Henry – 1776   “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of Civil Government with the principle of Christianity.” – John Quincy Adams, 1789   “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teaching of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.” Supreme Court of the United States, – 1892, after citing 87 precedents.”   As a nation we are home for people of all races, creeds, and colors, and there is no State religion. Everyone is free to worship as they please. But the underlying principles upon which our founding documents were based were Biblical. As Christians it’s our job to work to help preserve that Christian heritage – for our own sakes but also for the sake of our nation.   My intent for this devotional series is to establish first, the clear Christian heritage that is ours as citizens of this land; and second, to show how we as Christians are to live in a way that is most effective for the cause of Christ in this society. Our freedom as Christians can and should have a direct impact on our freedoms as citizens of this country. We have to protect our Christian heritage, and all this month we will be considering ways in which we can do that.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” John 8:36 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “What does it mean to be free?”   Americans are big on the concept of freedom. And rightly so. We are the freest people on earth living in the greatest nation on earth with the best and most effective political system on earth. Even our “Declaration of Independence”, which announced our intent to break-away from the tyrannical rule of England and to form our own nation, declares that we have the unalienable rights from our Creator to “life, liberty, and happiness.” Freedom is imbedded into our national DNA.   However, our freedom isn’t absolute. That would be anarchy. We’re actually a nation based upon the rule of law. There are limitations which provide structure for the expression of our freedoms, and which are then imposed upon individuals for the public good. For instance, there’s the famous decision from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes regarding the limitations of free speech. He ruled that the right to free speech does not extend to falsely shouting “fire” in a crowded theater when in fact there is no fire. That would be a dangerous use of free speech under false circumstances, and it could cause physical harm to many people. Likewise, it’s commonly understood that your right to swing your fist stops at the tip of my nose. You can swing your arm if you want to, but you cannot punch me in the nose. So, there are necessary limitations to many of our “freedoms”.   But as important and valuable as our Constitutional freedoms are as citizens of the USA, our freedoms as Christians, granted to us by Jesus Christ, are much more valuable – and even more misunderstood. If it’s true that as citizens of the USA we often misunderstand the nature and scope of our freedoms, it’s even truer of Christians living under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. There is misinformation and misunderstanding which results in Christians either not fully enjoying their freedom in Christ, or worse, abusing it. We do have freedom, but it is not absolute and it must be correctly applied.   There’s actually an interesting and intriguing connection between our freedom under the Constitution and our freedom under Christ. At Oak Hill Baptist Church we recently completed a Sunday evening Bible study series by Pastor Tony Evans called, “The Kingdom Agenda”. In it, Tony introduced a concept that I appreciate very much and which I fully agree with. It’s the notion of “maximum freedom and limited government”. The basic premise is that the more God’s kingdom principles are in place and lived-out by society, the less need there will be for government intrusion into our lives.   This is an important truth. Christian liberty, properly understood and correctly applied, has a direct impact on civil liberties. This is the ideal that we as God’s people must be working towards in our society – maximum freedom and limited government because the situation in society becomes such that big government isn’t needed or warranted.   I look forward to exploring this important topic with you.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Stay strong”   Our Bible verse for today: “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their effort … A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9;12 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Let’s stay strong together”   I want to end our theme for this month by reviewing two of the most important ways in which we stay spiritually strong. First, we need to apply ourselves to the study of the Bible every day. The Bible is God’s Word to us. Not only does it reveal God and His ways, but as the writer of Psalm 119:105 reminds us, it also provides the understanding and guidance we need in order to walk through life in a manner that honors God and which is therefore in our own best interest. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” The best life any of us will ever have is the one lived in the center of God’s revealed will.   In his great little book, “Eat this book: A conversation in the art of spiritual reading”, pastor and author Eugene Peterson teaches that more than just reading the Bible, we need to enter into it; we need to experience it as if we ourselves are involved in the scene being described on the page; and then we are to go and live what we have learned and experienced. The Bible is meant to transform us.   For instance, in the parable of the Good Samaritan a Bible scholar asked Jesus “who is my neighbor?”. Jesus answered the question by telling a story about two men who did not help a person in need, contrasted with one person who did. Then Jesus told the scholar, “go and do likewise”. What we learn there is that the appropriate question for us to ask is not “who is my neighbor?” but “how can I be a neighbor?”. We are to go and do likewise. And if we do, our study of the Bible will have changed how we live.   The other important point we should take with us out of this month of devotionally thinking about how we can stay strong, is that we need each other. We’re at our best when we’re together. That’s what Solomon meant in Proverbs 27:17 when he wrote, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” It’s why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews urged us in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together …” And it’s what Solomon was writing about in Ecclesiastes 4:9;12 (above). The point is that we need to be together because when we are, we help each other to stay strong.   These are perilous times we live in. It’s important for Christians to stay spiritually strong. We need the Word and we need each other. When you attend the gatherings of the church, you hear God’s Word explained in ways that apply directly to your life, and you are with those who will help you to stay sharp and to stay strong.   I encourage you to stay in the Word and to stay in Church. Let’s stay strong together!   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Stay strong”   Our Bible verse for today: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.” Daniel 3:16-17(CSB)   Our thought for today: “Talk to your problems about God.”   On one of the mission teams I led into the Amazon Jungle of Peru there was an older man, a healthcare professional, who reminded me of the cartoon character “Mr. Magoo”. If you’re old enough to remember Mr. Magoo, you know he was an elderly man who had a large nose, a fleshy face with heavy jowls, and a harmless and benevolent manner. He was also pretty eccentric. And, he was always muttering and mumbling to himself.   So too my teammate. He was actually pretty physically fit for a man in his 70s (which is why he was with me in the Amazon Jungle) but he sort of looked like Mr. Magoo. Also, like Mr. Magoo, he was a bit eccentric, and he too was always quietly muttering and mumbling. Finally, one day I asked him, “Gene, who are you talking to?” To which he responded, “I’m talking to myself, and it’s a private conversation!”   But he said it as a joke and as I continued to ease-drop on his mutterings and mumblings I realized that he wasn’t really talking to himself most of the time. Usually he was talking half out loud to God, or he was talking to his problems about God. Yes, he would actually talk to the situation or to the problem and tell it how God was going to handle it.   That sounds funny until you realize how Biblical it is. That’s what the three Hebrew boys were doing in Daniel 3:16-17 (above). The king and the blazing furnace were the problem, and so they talked to the problem about God. Moses did the same thing in his encounters with Pharoah. David talked to Goliath about God. Jesus and Paul both talked to demons about God. And Jesus told us to talk to mountains about God.   We all commonly talk to God about our problems, but how often do we talk to our problems about God?  Maybe Mr. Magoo and my friend Gene were on to something. Maybe we would all be a little better off, and a little more effective at dealing with our problems, if we gave them a good talking to about the God who is looking out for us and who is helping us.   It’s good to talk to God about your problems. It’s even better to talk to your problems about God.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Stay strong”   Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “May today be your best day”   I believe one of the best measures of how a person is doing in terms of spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, and increasing spiritual strength, is the degree to which the attributes known as “the fruit of the Spirit”, as described by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23, are evident in the person’s life.   Progressively, over time, as the Holy Spirit works in your life molding you and shaping you into the person God intends for you to be, the fruit of the Spirit in your life should become increasing a part of who you are as a person. The more the character traits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are evident in your life, the more progress the Holy Spirit has made in your spiritual growth and development. Those attributes simply become who you are as a person.   Many years ago, I adopted Galatians 5:22-23 as one of my life verses. I want this to be true of me, and so I memorized the passage and I make it part of my personal prayers virtually every morning. I ask the Spirit to work in my life and to develop more of this fruit in me today. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I’m definitely a work in progress – I’ve got a long way to go. But hopefully I’m better today than I was yesterday, and hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow than I am today. May that be true for you as well.   This morning I read another of the Puritan era prayers from the little book “The Valley of Vision” which I’ve referred to before. The writer prayed, “Let those around me see me living by thy Spirit … If my life should end today, let this be my best day.”   Yes, let today have been my best day. And then, may tomorrow be even better.   It’s my prayer for all of us that we are all getting better and stronger day-by-day, and that today will turn out to have been your best day so far.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.