Walking with God in a thousand difficult circumstances

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”

Our Bible verse for today: “All these were approved through their faith …” Hebrews 11:39 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Walking with God in a thousand difficult circumstances”

I love Hebrews chapter eleven. It is commonly referred to as “The Faith Hall of Fame” because in it the writer gives us example after example of great men and women who held to their faith and who stood strong in the worst of circumstances. Fifteen of them are mentioned by name and then there are general references to unnamed prophets, unnamed women, and “others too numerous to mention.” All of them walked faithfully with God in love and faith through the worst of circumstances.

The Bible is packed full of examples of people walking in love and by faith through a thousand difficult circumstances. Those examples are there for our benefit. God included them so we would have a picture of what it looks like to face life bravely despite the difficulties we encounter.

This is why we not only read the Bible, but we study it. The fact is that over time, we become like those we associate with and that’s true of the people we associate with in life, but it’s also true of the people we associate with through their written stories. That’s one of the reasons the reading of biographies can be so helpful and inspiring. The good examples set for us by others inspires us to want to be better men and women too. That’s especially true of the examples set for us by the people recorded in the Bible.

One of the most valuable and helpful tools God has given us for learning the lessons of the Bible and becoming saturated with the truth of Scripture, is to sit under the instruction of good Bible teachers and preachers. God has gifted men and women of faith to be teachers and preachers and then He created our local churches to be the places for His people to gather as we learn and grow together. By doing so, you will be inspired by the examples set for you by the people depicted in the Bible who are being taught about, but you will also be inspired and helped by the examples of the wise and mature saints of God present in your church family. We learn from all of them.

What the world needs now is more Christians who truly do know how to walk with God in love and faith through the most difficult of circumstances. In the Bible and in life God has given us a thousand examples (and more) of people who have learned to do that. I pray that you too are learning to walk with Him in love and faith as you deal with the difficult circumstances in your 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

What is Jesus doing now?

Good morning everyone,

I apologize for the inconsistency of the daily devotionals over the last several weeks. I was on a family vacation for two weeks. Also, my sister died during that time and I had to go to New Jersey to perform her memorial service. Then in the middle of all that, my twelve-year old laptop died and I had to get a new one, have all my programs installed, and transfer all the old files. But with that said, I am back on track now and the daily devotionals will come to you every morning as usual. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “What Jesus is doing now”

In the previous devotional in this series, we thought about how it is that God our Father loves to give good gifts to His much-loved children. I have this image in my mind of a loving and benevolent Father joyfully welcoming me as I come to Him, and then smiling as He pours blessings into my life.

If that’s what the Father is doing in heaven at this moment – blessing His children, what is Jesus doing? We know what He did when He was here on earth – He lived, He died, He arose again. But then He ascended back into heaven and took His place at the right hand of the Father. So, what is He doing as He sits there now? Hebrews 7:25 says that He is interceding for us.

I recently came across a great insight into this from author and Bible scholar Dane Ortland. With respect to Hebrews 7:25 he asks, “But why would Jesus need to intercede for us? After all, haven’t we been completely justified already? What is there for Christ to plead for on our behalf? Hasn’t he already done all that is needed to fully acquit us?”

The answer is “yes.” As an incredible expression of God’s love for us, on the cross Jesus has already done all that needed to be done to fully acquit us of all our sins. So then, what is the current interceding work of Jesus and why would He be doing it? What could there be left for Him to intercede about? Ortland explains, “The atonement accomplished our salvation; intercession is the moment-by-moment application of that atoning work.” In other words, as we continue to sin, Jesus continues to apply His atoning work to our sin and therefore we continue to remain righteous in God’s sight.

When you sin, Jesus turns to the Father and says, “I paid for that sin.” – and it is instantly erased. It’s like clicking the “refresh” button on your computer: You sin, Jesus clicks “refresh,” and the page is clean once again.

Oftentimes we think the love of Jesus was expressed for us once and for all on the cross, but that’s an incomplete picture. The love of Jesus is an ongoing reality that is expressed continuously as He intercedes on your behalf. That’s what Jesus is doing for us now.

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

He is a good, good Father

Good morning everyone,
 
I apologize that I was unable to send you the daily devotionals for the last couple of days. My twelve-year-old laptop finally gave up the ghost and died, and I was out of business for a couple of days until a new one was purchased, loaded with my programs, and my files were transferred to the new laptop. Thank you for your patience.
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “You feed them from the abundance of your own house.” Psalm 36:8 (NLT)
 
Our thought for today: “He is a good, good Father”
 
I love the picture King David painted for us in Psalm 36:8 of a loving Father (God) joyfully and generously providing for His much-loved children out of the abundance of His riches. This is such an important truth for us to grasp and claim. God our Father loves us deeply and He gets great joy from blessing us.
 
Author John Eldredge spoke powerfully to this truth in his great little book, “Year of Restoration.” I can’t describe it better than he did and therefore I’m going to share with you his entire thought about this:
 
“Yes, yes – you have heard that you are a child of God; you are his son or daughter. The curse of familiarity with the words has dulled you to the staggering truth it contains. You still act and pray like an orphan, or a slave.
 
Slaves feel reluctant to pray; they feel they have no right to ask, and so their prayers are modest and respectful. They spend more time asking forgiveness than they do praying for abundance. They view the relationship with reverence, maybe more like fear, but not with the tenderness of love. Of being loved. There is no intimacy in the language or their feelings. Sanctified unworthiness colors their view of prayer. These are often “good servants of the Lord.”
 
Orphans are not reluctant to pray; they feel desperate. But their prayers feel more like begging than anything else. Orphans feel a great chasm between themselves and the One to whom they speak. Abundance is a foreign concept; a poverty mentality permeates their prayer life. They ask for scraps; they expect scraps.
 
But friend, the Father loves you like he loves Jesus. Is this in your mind and heart as you come to prayer? You are not an orphan. You are not merely a “servant” of God. You are His son or daughter. And with that comes his delightful abundance.”
 
The love of God for you is very great, much more than you realize. And His desire to bless you and provide for you is far greater too. He is indeed a good, good Father. I encourage you to approach Him now with that in mind.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

If you love Him, you will seek Him

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 (NIV)
 
Our thought for today: “If you love Him, you will seek Him”
 
In Jeremiah 29:13-14 God promises that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
 
That’s what the Apostle Paul was describing in Philippians 3:8. He had come to the point in his life (and more importantly in his walk with Christ), that nothing was more important to him than drawing closer and closer to Jesus. It wasn’t that Paul dismissed as worthless the things of this world. People still mattered to him – especially his close friendships. Clothes and food and shelter still mattered – of course they did. But nothing mattered to him more than drawing closer to Jesus, and he would allow nothing in life to take priority over that. Paul was simply practicing what Jesus called for in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:33 when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these others things will be added to you.”
 
Over-and-over again in the Bible, in numerous passages using numerous illustrations, God makes it clear that He reserves the greatest awareness of Himself for those who will seek Him with all their heart. There are hidden things about God that we are allowed to discover and experience only when we make the effort and do the work to truly seek Him. Like gold and diamonds which can only be unearthed through deep digging and hard work, so too the deeper things of God are reserved for those who will pursue Him at that depth.
 
Why? Why does God withhold a deeper awareness of Himself only for those who will seek Him like that? It’s so we will appreciate the preciousness of our relationship with Him. When something is attained too easily it is undervalued (if it is even appreciated at all). But when we put time and effort into it – sustained time and effort pursuing what our heart longs for, then once it is ours, we value and cherish it. God wants us to cherish Him like that.
 
If you love Him, you will seek Him with all your heart. And if you will seek Him with all your heart, you will experience Him in ways you never have before.  
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Come home to the Father

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15-16 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “Come home to the Father”
 
The other morning, in my devotional book “Year of Restoration” by John Eldredge, I read this: “Most believe that Christianity is an offer of forgiveness. What isn’t often grasped is that there’s more. Forgiveness was made available to you so that you might come home to the Father. Forgiveness is not the goal. Coming home to the Father is the goal.”
 
In a previous devotional in this series I noted that the Bible is primarily a love story. It is about the love of God for human beings and His deep desire for us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. However, sin keeps us from Him and so He sent Jesus to earth to rescue us from the consequences of our sins and to provide a way for us to come home to Him in heaven. As Eldrege so eloquently explained, forgiveness is not really the goal, coming home to the Father is the goal. Forgiveness is simply the path that gets us there.
 
As Paul explained in Romans 8:15-16, what we’re seeing here is the heart of the Father for His adopted children. He wants you to be with Him so badly that He went to extraordinary lengths to make it possible. I can relate. All four of my children were adopted, the two youngest by international adoption from Korea. Adoption can be quite an ordeal and it is often very expensive. But Linda and I happily, willingly, eagerly went through the ordeal so we could have those children in our family. What we did for our children pales in comparison to the lengths God went to for us. More than anything, He wants us to come home to Him in heaven.
 
This morning, I’m beginning two weeks of vacation. I will be going first to Texas, to gather my family, and then on to Hawaii for a family vacation. Therefore, this will be the last devotional until Monday May 19th.
 
For the next two weeks I encourage you to review some of the devotionals from the previous month in this series about the love of God. The love of God is the most important reality in your life. I encourage you to think about it. Pray about it. Embrace it. And enjoy it. The Father is longing for you to come home to Him and experience His great love for you – forever.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Who can do it best? Who can do it better?

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10 (ESV)
 
Our thought for today: “Who can do it more? Who can do it better?”
 
I recently came across a wonderful commentary note about the subject of showing proper honor – Biblical honor – to others. “We may think of honor as esteeming someone, but when Scripture says to give honor to one another, what does it look like in a practical way? This means that we demonstrate regard for others’ needs before attending to our own. We do this not just practically, but also spiritually and emotionally.”
 
Let me unpack that for us: First, honoring someone is indeed esteeming them. It is a matter of seeing the other person as being worthy of respect and dignity. Second, in a practical Scriptural way, “honor” is a verb, it is an action word. Just as love is a verb and is meant to be demonstrated not just felt and not even just talked about. So too with showing honor or esteeming someone. It needs to come out in our words and actions. The esteem and respect we show them, the dignity we impart to them, should come through in our words and in the way we treat them.
 
Third, this form of Biblically honoring someone is unselfish. Our focus is on the other person not on ourselves. And we are willing to inconvenience ourselves, perhaps even sacrifice to make the other person feel honored, respected, esteemed. And fourth, we do it with the intent of building the person up spiritually and emotionally. It is our intent for the person to walk away from this encounter feeling lifted up, encouraged, and blessed.
 
Now, what if that was our normal church experience? And what if we were all doing it? Paul says in Romans 12:10 that our goal should be to outdo each other in the extent to which we are intentional about showing Biblical honor to each other – esteeming, respecting, blessing, lifting up, encouraging.
 
What if every single one of us on Sunday morning was intent on being the biggest blessing to the largest number of people? What if it was a contest to see who can do it more and who can do it better? I don’t know about you but I think that would be one awesome church family and an awesome church experience (Oak Hill Baptist I’m giving you a shout-out here!)
 
I encourage you to make honoring others something you do naturally and often. In the best Biblical sense, honor is a verb. It is an action word.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim 
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

This is what makes Jesus happy

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “This is what makes Jesus happy”
 
Recently a good friend made me aware of a great devotional book by Dane Ortland called, “Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.” It’s a helpful study of the heart of Christ specifically intended for those who are suffering in some way, or who are struggling with guilt and just can’t let it go. Ortland’s intent is to help the reader understand the tender heart of Christ for those who are hurting.
 
In one section, Ortland asks us to consider Hebrews 12:2 and the phrase, “For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross …” What joy was it that lay before Jesus? What was it He was looking forward to that brought joy to His heart? Surely not the cross itself. That was going to be an unspeakably evil and awful experience. The joy that lay before Him, the joy that He was looking forward to so much was what would be true after the cross. He would be at the right hand of the Father in heaven interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:34) – being there for those who are hurting and suffering and struggling with guilt – the source of our comfort and relief (Matthew 11:28-30).
 
Jesus wants you to bring all your pain, grief, and woundedness to Him. It brings Him joy to forgive you, to comfort you, and to heal you. It’s why He suffered and died and then rose again. Understand this please: Jesus wants to minister to you. He wants to heal you. He wants to bring joy into your life because doing so brings joy to Him. This is what makes Him happy. Ortland describes it this way: “Christ’s “own joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased and enlarged by his showing grace and mercy, in pardoning, relieving, and comforting his members here on earth.”
 
Certainly, much of the healing and helping ministry of Christ to us takes place in our own quiet times of prayer and devotions with Him. But much of it also takes place when we are gathered with our brothers and sisters. Jesus often ministers to us through each other. You are surely familiar with the old phrase, “Church isn’t a country club for saints, it’s a hospital for sinners.” Church is where we come to get well. Dr. Jesus is there, along with His multiple assistants, to lovingly attend to, comfort, and nurse back to health those who are sick at heart, those who have been wounded, those who need to heal.
 
Today is Friday. Sunday is coming. You need to be in church and you need to bring it all to Jesus. It will put a smile on His face. It will make Him happy. He suffered so that you don’t have to. He took your guilt so that you could let it go. This is why He came to us and it is why He wants us to come to Him. This is what makes Him happy.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim  
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Be somebody’s Barnabas

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the one the apostles called Barnabas (which is translated Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostle’s feet.” Acts 4:36-37 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “Be somebody’s Barnabas”
 
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. And the best love of all is the love of Jesus. The world needs it and you have it. So, share it.
 
There’s a lot more that needs to be said about spreading the love of Jesus in this broken and bleeding world that we live in – this world filled with so much pain, suffering, and despair. So, we are going to continue that theme through the month of May.
 
Barnabas is one of my favorite people in the New Testament. He was known as “The Son of Encouragement” because he was evidently a kind, happy, positive person who took joy in lifting others up and being a blessing to them. As we read in in Acts 4:36-37, he was also a generous man who happily shared with others.
 
I have told you the story before of how, many years ago, Linda and I owned a book company we called, “The Barnabas Book Company.” Our logo was, “Encouraging books that will change your life.” We loved spreading the love of Jesus (along with His joy, happiness, and encouragement), through good Christian books. Unfortunately, I was a terrible businessman. I was so eager for people to have our books that I gave away more than we sold and we ended up going out of business. But it was fun while it lasted!
 
In our church, Oak Hill Baptist, in every pew-back, we keep a supply of blank encouragement notes. We urge our people to write a note of encouragement to someone and place it in the offering plate (encouragement of others is an offering that pleases God and so, it is part of our worship service). We then send those notes to the intended person as a blessing for them.
 
Kind words of encouragement are a great way to share the love of Jesus with others, and it is free – it costs you nothing but a moment in time and a small bit of effort to intentionally encourage someone who needs a little lift.
 
Be someone’s Barnabas today. Share a word of encouragement, an act of kindness, a smile, and some grace. Bless someone today with an expression of the love of Jesus – it’s what the world needs more of.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim 
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

The Power of Love

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love – but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “The power of love”
 
I once heard someone proclaim, “The only news we listen to around here is Huey Lewis and the News!” He was referring to the Rock and Roll group from the 1980s and I believe his point was that the news from the world is so bad these days that he just shuts it out and escapes into music.
 
Perhaps the most well-known of all the hits produced by Huey Lewis and the News was a song called “The Power of Love.” Part of the song went:
 
The power of love is a curious thing
Make one man weep, make another man sing
Change a hawk to a little white dove
More than a feeling, that’s the power of love
You don’t need money, don’t take fame
Don’t need no credit card to ride this train
It’s strong and it’s sudden, and it’s cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
That’s the power of love
That’s the power of love
 
Yesterday I told you about the death of my sister and how it is that the power of love made such a dramatic difference at the end of her life. That reminded me of another example of the power of love that I had the privilege to witness. It involved an older couple in the first church I was the pastor of back in the 1990s. Their names were Bob and Carol and they were strong Christians who lived their faith in observable and impressive ways.
 
Bob had an ex-wife who was an angry and mean person much of her life. As a result, she was also a sad and lonely person who lived alone in her bitterness. Finally, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and didn’t have long to live. She was about to be placed in a nursing home to spend her last days there, when Bob and Carol stepped in. They offered to bring her into their home and care for her – which is what they did. For almost six months this woman who had spewed so much hate and vindictiveness at Bob and Carol for decades lived in their home, in their spare bedroom, being fed, bathed, waited on, and loved.
 
It didn’t take long for that loving care from Bob and Carol to break through the hard shell of the ex-wife’s heart and soon, she came to faith in Christ. She died at peace surrounded by kind people who loved her and cared for her in the name of Jesus.
 
In big ways and in small, the power of the love of Jesus makes all the difference. Who can you share the love of Jesus with today?
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

In the end, love wins

Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “In the end, love wins”
 
Last night my sister, Helen, died. She was only fifty-four and it was a sad ending to a sad life. Helen lived a rough life, a tragic life filled with mistakes and bad choices. She hurt a lot of people, none more than her daughters who for the most part, hardly knew her. She left them when they were quite young and it was only in the last ten years that any relationship at all was reestablished, but even that was infrequent and superficial.
 
But mostly, Helen hurt herself. She was a deeply unhappy person who was unhealthy on many levels and in many ways. There was mental illness, to be sure. There were multiple chronic lifestyle choices that destroyed her health including heavy smoking, drinking large volumes of full-sugar Coca-Cola every day for years on end, lots of junk food, no exercise, and even homelessness.
 
Finally, her body gave out. She ended up in ICU in a hospital in Chattanooga, TN on a ventilator and heavily sedated for more than a week. Until finally, yesterday, we had to disconnect the life support and just let her go. It was a premature death and a sad ending to a sad life.
 
Except, that it wasn’t. Not entirely. There was an element to the end of her life that was not sad but which was actually a cause for joy. In recent years Helen professed faith in Jesus Christ several times, but I don’t think it was real. At least, there was little discernable evidence that it was real. But several months ago, during a visit with her, I noticed a significant change. She seemed different, peaceful. Her self-absorption and preoccupation with herself and with her own problems and issues had dissipated significantly and she was genuinely interested in me and in others. She seemed calmer and expressed regret for all the bad choices and all the harm she had caused. She talked about the love she had for her family and how proud she was of her daughters. She once again professed faith in Christ and this time, I believe it was real. Two months ago, she even traveled from Tennessee to New Jersey to see her daughters and to meet her granddaughters for the first time.
 
As I sat there with her yesterday and into the evening as she slowly faded away, I couldn’t help but reflect on how it is that love often wins out in the end. In Helen’s case the love of Jesus finally broke through (just in the nick of time) and Helen had a couple of good months to do some important repairing of relationships.
 
But in terms of love winning in the end, I’m especially proud of my nieces. They among any others in Helen’s world have been hurt deeply, badly, over the course of decades. And they more than any others could understandably be bitter and they could have shunned her. Instead, they welcomed her back into their lives, they expressed their love for her, and once she passed, they posted pictures and narratives (happy pictures and happy narratives) about their mother. It has been amazing to watch and I am very proud of them.
 
You see, if we allow it to, love will win in the end. The love of Jesus is a powerful thing. It will change us and it will have a powerful, positive impact on those around us. Love will win if we will only allow it to.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim  
 
(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571