Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:7-8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Let go of your attachments”

One of the biggest hindrances most of us have are our attachments to the things of this world. We cling to our possessions, our dreams, our relationships, our money – all the things of the world that are precious to us. We cling to them like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings clung to his ring. “My precious” is what he called it.

But the more we cling to such things – the more “precious” they are to us, the more likely they are to get in the way of our relationship with Jesus. That’s why in Luke 14:26 Jesus taught, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, and even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus didn’t mean that we literally have to hate those things or to rid our lives of them – that was hyperbole, he meant that those relationships, along with anything else in this life, cannot be more important to us than our relationship with Him.

The more we learn to let go of our strong attachment to the things of this world the freer we will be to embrace and experience God’s love. That’s what Paul was explaining in Philippians 3:7-8. He considered everything else in life to pale in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. This’s why in the next chapter, in Philippians 4:10-13, Paul writes that he had learned to be content with whatever his physical circumstances were at any given time, because he was entirely fulfilled and satisfied in his relationship with Jesus. It’s also the point Paul was making in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 where he described the value of living a simple and quiet life.

The other day I read a description of a painting that depicts a woman standing at the foot of a lush green hill. She has her arms extended into the air with her hands spread wide, her head is tilted back, she has a look of joy on her face, and there’s a yellow balloon she has just released that’s floating away into a bright blue sky. It’s a picture of the relief and freedom we can experience from letting go of things.

One of the most important lessons we can learn in life is to stop clinging so tightly to our attachments. Be willing to let some of them go and to at least loosen your grip on others, so that they don’t get in the way of you embracing and fully experiencing God’s love for you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “This grace was given to me – the least of all the saints – to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.” Ephesians 3:8-10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Experience the depth and richness of His love.”

In the first half of Ephesians Chapter Three the Apostle Paul tells us that God gave him the privilege of revealing and explaining previously concealed spiritual mysteries about the grace and love of God. Paul’s ministry consisted of explaining God’s great love and grace, as revealed in Christ Jesus, and then leading Christians to grow in their understanding and experience of that love and grace. Author John Eldridge once described this learning and growing process as “a journey into the heart of God and toward the recovery of our own hearts.”

In my second book, “Walking with Paul: A Journey Through the Lessons of Ephesians”, I dedicated an entire chapter to exploring what Paul was teaching us about this. If you don’t have a copy of that book but would like one, send me an email at pastorjimmohbc@gmail.com and I will be happy to send you one. The cost is $12.95 plus shipping, and the profits go to the Oak Hill Baptist Church mission fund.

After explaining his mission of revealing and teaching the love and grace of God so they could experience it in their own lives, Paul then ended the chapter with a wonderful prayer that I want to share with you this morning. I pray that what Paul prayed here for the Ephesians has also been happening for you as a result of our devotional series about “Living a life of love”. In Ephesians 3:16-19 Paul wrote:

I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past can strengthen us to face our current trials.”

In Psalm 107 the writer was reflecting on the history of God’s people and some of the many trials and struggles they faced. Some wandered in desolate places. Others sat in the darkness and gloom of dungeons. Some were beaten and tortured, others faced sickness. Some were lost at sea, others were hungry and thirsty, and still others were unfairly persecuted.

Through it all they found that God was faithful and good, and that His love for them endured forever. And, as verse two reveals, many of them found deliverance from their trials, “Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that he has redeemed them from the power of the foe …”

If you fast-forward a few pages in your Bible to Psalm 118 you find a similar narrative about trials and tribulations, and you will find that same phrase used five times in the twenty-nine verses, “His faithful love endures forever”. Then keep going to Psalm 136 and you find it again, only this time the phrase is used twenty-six times in twenty-six verses! “His faithful love endures forever. His faithful love endures forever. His faithful love endures forever.” And on and on and on, twenty-six times in twenty-six verses.

Do you think God might be trying to tell us something? Do you believe it is true that His faithful love for you endures forever? Then the question becomes, “If I know it’s true that God’s love for me endures forever, and if I know that He is good and that He has power and control over all the issues in my life, then why don’t I trust Him more?”

In a previous devotional in this series I wrote about how it is that our faith needs to go from our head to our heart. Head knowledge has to become a heartfelt certainty. What we know to be true of God theoretically has to become a heartfelt truth for us in actual experience.

There are two things we can do to help make that happen. First, spend time slowly reading and meditating on Psalms 107 and 136. Sit quietly before God and let the truth expressed in those verses really sink deep into your heart. Then shift your thinking to the times in the past when God has carried you through difficult trials. Really spend time with this. Consider how many times in the past He has helped you, carried you, delivered you.

Then trust Him for the present and for the future. He was there for you in the past, He is still here for you now, and He will continue to be there for you in the future. His faithful love endures forever.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now this is what the Lord says – the One who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel – “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I am the Lord your God … Do not fear, for I am with you …” Isaiah 43:1-3;5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Make sure you have greater faith in the power and love and protection of God than in the trial you are facing.”

This morning I want us to return to the important truth the Apostle John taught in 1 John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, because perfect love drives out fear. That’s exactly the truth that God was communicating to the nation of Israel (and to us) through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:1-3;5. This is a beautiful expression of God’s love and watch-care over us. His love for us is perfect and without end. He also has absolute power over all the affairs of our lives. Therefore, the perfect love of God, along with the absolute power of God, is more than sufficient to bring us through whatever trial or challenge we’re facing.

The problem for us is that we often give more credibility to our trials and challenges than we do to the love, power, and protection of God. Now of course we would never actually say that. We would claim that our trust is in God not in our circumstances. But in actual practice, in the way that we think, in the decisions we make and in the actions we take, we show that we have more faith in the power of our problems than in the power of our God.

If I fear the storm I’m facing, then my faith is in the power of the storm. However, if I really do trust God, and if I truly believe that He is good and that His love for me is perfect and complete and without limit, then I will be at peace in this storm and in all storms.

In Mark 9:14-29 we read about a father with a son who was terribly afflicted by a demon. The father begged Jesus to deliver the boy from the demon and to heal him of the resulting physical problems. The man said to Jesus, “If you can do anything please help him.” Jesus replied, “If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.” The father then cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

Maybe that describes you. Perhaps you want to trust in the Lord to get you through this trial but you’re struggling with doubts and fears and weak faith. I encourage you admit your struggles to God. Talk to Him about it. He already knows anyway. Like the man in the scene with Jesus ask Him to help you; ask Him to strengthen your faith.

His love for you is far beyond what you can imagine and He is greater than whatever it is you’re dealing with. He will help you. Trust Him.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give my body in order to boast but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “If you don’t have love, you have nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is known as “the love chapter” of the Bible. In it the Apostle Paul attempts to help us see what agape love looks like in actual practice. We know what agape love looks like coming from God, John 3:16 explains it beautifully. But demonstrating such love in our own lives is harder, so Paul gives us concrete examples of what it looks like. He goes on in verse 4-8:

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends …”

In another verse we’ve studied this month, 1 John 4:18, John tells us that there is no fear in love because perfect love drives out fear. Agape love does that. Consider the examples cited by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, along with the truth from John that such love drives out fear. In the case of 1 Corinthians 13 it drives fear out of our relationships. You might think of a child who is secure and comfortable in the love he or she receives from her parents. Or the love between a husband and wife who truly are fully committed to one another. In such a relationship there is no fear, there is no doubt. It is agape love on full display in the lives of people and its impact is obvious.

Of all the themes God addresses in the Bible, none is more prominent than love. Love is the overriding theme from start to finish and every other theme falls under it. When God repeats something in the Bible, especially when He repeats it a lot, it’s because the subject is vitally important and He wants to be sure we learn it well. Repetition is the key to learning.  And it is the key to change.

Therefore, since love is the dominant theme in the Bible, and since God wants us to learn it well, we’ll need more than just one month of devotional messages to adequately address it. There’s much more to be said on this subject and therefore we will continue thinking about it into the month of October.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Keep your eyes on Jesus.”

Throughout this month much of our focus has been on the practical aspects of embracing and experiencing the love of God in our own lives, and then sharing the love of God with others. At some point you may have found yourself thinking “That’s easier said than done”. It’s true. It’s also easier to write about it than to practice it. I struggle with this too. It’s a process of learning and growing.

However, I’ve found that the more I focus on my mind on Jesus rather than on the issues and circumstances of life, the easier it is to bring everything back into a Godly focus. But this needs to be intentional. We can control our thoughts. We have to decide to shift our thinking from whatever it was we were focused on, to thoughts of Jesus and Biblical truth instead. This is a learned discipline that becomes easier with practice.

The more we keep our eyes (thoughts) fixed on Jesus, the more our heart will be aligned with His, and the more we will see people and events through His eyes of love rather than through our eyes of fear and doubt and pain and offense. We will find that when we fix our eyes on Jesus we will no longer be so easily provoked or threatened or bothered or upset. Instead we will experience greater peace, more clarity, and a greater sense of being comfortable in our own skin (loving ourselves for who we are in Christ).

Jesus is the source of our faith and the perfecter of our faith. The more we focus our thoughts on Him, seeing people and events from His perspective, the more we will love them. So just keep your eyes on Jesus.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is the 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: “All that you need is already within you.”

Please read that statement again and think about it for a moment: “All that you need is already within you.” If you are a Christian then God has placed the Holy Spirit in your heart and you have all of Him there is to have. You aren’t lacking anything spiritually. All that you need is already within you. The goal now is to embrace that reality and surrender your will for His, allowing Him to have full access to your mind and heart, and to have His way in your life.

In Matthew 13:44 Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is like a valuable treasure that was hidden in a field. In Luke 17:21 He taught that in actuality, the field is your heart and since you are His, the kingdom of God is there, in your heart. The Apostle Paul reiterated this great truth in 2 Corinthians 4:7 when he taught that this treasure (the kingdom of God) is contained within our earthen vessel (the body). That’s what Paul was explaining in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The Holy Spirit is within you, placed there by God. On the cross Jesus purchased you at the cost of His own life so that He could then use you as a walking, talking, mobile temple of His Holy Spirit.

So you already have within you all that you need in order to fully experience the love of God, and to share the love of God with others. You lack nothing. Your primary task in life now is to first grow in your own experience of God’s love for you, and then to get increasingly better at sharing God’s love with others.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:14, Jesus told us that as His followers we are to be the light of the world. In other words, we are to shine the light of God’s love into the dark places of the world. The Holy Spirit within us makes it possible for us to do that. It is Him working and shining through us. He is already there, inside of you, all of Him.

All that you need is already within you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Slow down and savor the love”

In his book, “The Attentive Life: Discerning God’s Presence in All Things” author Leighton Ford tells the true story of author Larry McMurtry (best known for his book “Lonesome Dove”). Larry spent decades of his life on the road driving laps around America and writing about his adventures. Larry’s father on the other hand, seldom ever left his farm in a little town in Texas. He never wanted to. He loved his town and he loved his life. He was happy and content right where he was. Reflecting on the difference in their lives Larry once said, “I have looked at many places quickly. My father looked at one place deeply.”

Many years ago there was a hit song by the country music group Alabama entitled “I’m in a hurry (and I don’t know why)”. Part of it went like this:

“I’m in a hurry to get things done, Oh I rush and rush until life’s no fun.
All I really gotta do is live and die, but I’m in a hurry and I don’t know why.”

In recent days we’ve been considering the use of our time as an expression of love. We’ve learned that giving people some of our time can be an act of love, and that giving them focused time and attention is especially meaningful. We’ve also learned that the choices we make about how to use our time tell the real story about the things and people that are truly important to us.

But in order to really embrace, appreciate, and enjoy love, we have to slow down and savor it. That’s true for our time with God, and for our time with other people. That’s precisely the lesson Jesus was teaching to Martha (and to us) in Luke 10:38-42. Martha was rushing and rushing until life was no fun, when what she really needed to do was to sit down next to Martha and savor her time with Jesus.

Love, as with all the best things in life, is best embraced and enjoyed through patient, attentive focus. I encourage you to slow down and savor the love. Linger there. Enjoy it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Your focused attention is a demonstration of love.”

Be interested in other people. That’s what Paul was telling us in Philippians 2:4. Treat them like they’re important.

I was once given a great piece of advice that I wrote down and have tried to remember. I put it on an index card and carried it in my pocket for years. The advice was, “Give people dignity by the tone and manner of your greeting, and by the attention you give to them.” In other words, greet people in a warm and friendly way that clearly communicates that you’re glad to see them, then pay close attention to them, looking them in the eye, listening carefully to what they’re saying.

Leighton Ford calls this “Love as focused attention”. He says we communicate love to others when we give them our focused, undivided, and unhurried attention. I have a friend who is really good at this. He loves people and enjoys being with them. He is relaxed and unhurried in his manner, and he seems to have a natural ability to settle into a conversation and enjoy it. It’s as if the person he is talking to is the most interesting and important person he has met all day. This is giving people dignity by your manner and by paying attention to them, and it communicates love.

Think about this: In a universe of possible candidates, God has brought this person into your orbit at this time. Why is that? Why is this person standing before you instead of someone else, or instead of anyone at all? God has allowed this person to be in your life at this time for a particular reason, so pay attention to them.

In recent days we’ve been learning about using our time well and about blessing people by giving them some of our time. We shouldn’t allow people to waste our time, and we do have to make decisions about who we will give our time to, but once you do decide to invest that little piece of your life into the person standing before you, give them your undivided attention. Because focused attention is a demonstration of love.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Living a life of love”

Our Bible verse for today: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “We make time for the people and the things that are truly important to us.”

The song “Cats in the Cradle” was a smash hit for singer Harry Chapin in 1974. It tells the sad story of a man who always had the best of intentions to spend quality time with his son, but he was so wrapped up in life and in earning a living that he never seemed to get around to it. There was always a reason, always an excuse. Slowly but surely the years went by and soon the son was a man with a busy life and a family of his own, and no time for his now elderly and retired father. The son had become just like the father.

What many people don’t know is that the song was actually written originally as a poem by Harry’s wife Sandy, and the boy in the story was their son Josh. Harry was so convicted by the powerful story and the way it applied to his family life, that he turned it into a song and then tried to restructure his life around it. Unfortunately, Harry died in a tragic car accident not too many years after that and he never had very much quality time with his son.

We often hear people make the excuse “I would love to spend time with that person, or doing that thing, if I just had the time.” Well, that’s a lie. The truth is that you have as much time as anyone else. You have 24 hours in every day. Then you, like the rest of us, have to make choices about how you will spend that time. And the truth is that we make time for the people and things that are most important to us – and for the rest we make excuses.

Yesterday I made the point that when you give a person some of your time you have in reality given them a little piece of your life, because your life is made up of time. Giving a person some of your time is an act of love. It communicates to that person that they are so important to you that they are worthy of receiving a piece of your life – a piece that you can never have back.

So, do you love God? How much time do you spend with Him? Do you love your spouse, your children, your friends? How much of your time do they get? Do you love your church? How much time do you spend there and how involved are you in the life of your church?

We often say that people and things are important to us, but then we make excuses for not spending time with them. Words are cheap. It’s actions that tell the real story. We make time for the people and the things that are truly important to us, and for the rest we make excuses.

If we truly love people then we will make time for them. This is an important truth – so important that we will come back to it again tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim