Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born.” Jeremiah 1:5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You matter because God says you do.”

Christine was a young woman who had been adopted at birth. She never knew her birth parents. In fact, her parents had given her up without ever seeing her and without naming her. The knowledge of that decision haunted Christine. She felt as if she had been discarded as unwanted and worthless. She was grateful for her adopted parents of course, but she could never shake the sense of having been so easily tossed aside by her biological parents.

Christine spent many years struggling with her identity and with her sense of self-worth. It colored her personality and negatively impacted every part of her life. Fortunately, eventually, she placed her faith in Jesus, developed a deep and growing relationship with Him, and in the process, she came to know her heavenly Father. And as she did, she discovered the love of the One who formed her in the womb, the One who knew her and named her before she was even born. At the moment of conception God declared her to be His deeply loved child, His prized and valued possession. She was His.

As this new understanding washed over her, and as the reality of it took hold in her heart, all the pain from all the years of feeling alone and unwanted drained away. Christine finally realized that her significance came from God not from any other person, not even from her birth parents. God loved her and cherished her. She was the much-loved child of her Father in heaven, and that’s all that mattered.

Some of us reading this right now struggle with feelings like Christine had. Oh, maybe you weren’t abandoned at birth by your biological parents. Perhaps you grew up in a stable home with two loving parents. But still, how much of your sense of self-worth depends on the approval of others? To what extent do you measure yourself against the standards of the world?

As we approach the end of our month-long focus on “The Gift of Being Yourself”, I want to recommend to you again the excellent little Bible study by Robert McGee, “The Search for Significance: Build Your Self-Worth on God’s Truth”. I’m confident you will find the truths revealed in that study to be very helpful.

The truth is that you matter because God says you do.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Matthew 4:19-20 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Jesus will give you a new identity.”

If you had met some of the apostles before they became followers of Jesus you probably would have been unimpressed. They were rugged and somewhat uncouth fishermen from a remote village in northern Galilee. James and John evidently had explosive tempers because Jesus jokingly nicknamed them “The sons of thunder”. Peter was rough, tough, and impetuous. Andrew may have lived quietly in the shadow of his tough big brother Peter.

But then they met Jesus and it changed everything. Jesus called Andrew and Peter to put down their fishing nets and follow Him. Then He called James and John to follow Him too. They did, and nothing was ever the same for them again. Jesus gave them a new identity. He changed them from who they were into who God wanted them to be. He will do the same for you.

In the last two devotionals we’ve been considering the important truth that who you are on the inside is much more important than who you are on the outside. Physical characteristics aren’t anywhere near as important as is spiritual maturity. It’s who you are on the inside that matters most, and it’s in your heart that God does His best work in your life.

By the time God had spent thirty years or so molding and shaping Peter into the man He wanted him to be, Peter probably still looked pretty much the same. Older and greyer certainly, probably with a bigger belly, but you would still have recognized him as the guy you used to fish with. But on the inside, now that was a different story. The change in his heart was nothing less than a miracle. This was the guy who became a founding father of the Christian faith and a leader in the early church. He was the one who wrote two books of the New Testament and probably dictated the gospel of Mark. This was the man who spent many decades of his life earnestly helping to build the kingdom of God on earth. The change in him from that rough, tough, impetuous fisherman was astounding. Jesus gave him a new identity and then spent years and years molding and shaping Peter into that new man. That’s what Jesus does for us.

All month I’ve been urging you to relax and enjoy being yourself, accepting the gift of just being you. But I’m talking about the you that Jesus wants you to be. If you’re not already in the process of becoming that person then my goodness, don’t be content to stay as you are! Jesus has a new identity for you, and that’s the person you are supposed to be.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

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

Our thought for today: “It’s what’s inside that counts.”

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Galatians 5:22-23 in the life of the Christian. There are other verses that are probably more important, like John 3:16 which reminds us that our Father in heaven loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us in order to rescue us from our sins. In John 3:6-7 Jesus tells us that we must be born again. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Apostle Paul explains that when we are born again, we become a brand-new spiritual creation. Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to be saved. Those scriptures express essential truths of the Christian faith and are therefore some of the most important passages in the Bible. I personally believe Galatians 5:22-23 is right up there in that top tier.

In this passage Paul explains the amazing transformation the Holy Spirit progressively brings about in the life of the Christian. Paul calls it “the fruit of the Spirit”. These are character traits that the Holy Spirit works into your life. As you mature and grow spiritually these traits become more and more a part of who you are as a person. They begin to define you. You become known as a person who is so full of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control that those things bubble up, overflow, and radiate out of you. It’s simply who you are.

This is what matters. This is what counts. As I said in yesterday’s devotional, it’s not your physical attributes that are the most important, it’s what’s inside of you that matters most. You may be 6 foot 4 with sculpted abs, you might have Brad Pitt looks, you might be a black belt in karate and drive a Maserati, but if you have anger and bitterness in your heart then you are not a person to be admired or emulated. On the other hand, you might be short, round, bald, and wheezing, but if you have a heart overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit you will be a wonderful person who is a joy to be around.

Also, the fruit of the Spirit is an excellent barometer to evaluate how you’re doing with respect to spiritual maturity and growth. To what extent does the fruit of the Spirit define you? To what degree are those attributes present in your life? More is better, less is problematic.

As you consciously and joyfully embrace the gift of simply being yourself, give more thought to your spiritual maturity rather than to your physical characteristics because it’s what’s on the inside that matters most.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “The people I formed for myself will declare my praise.” Isaiah 43:21 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God created you for Himself.”

We live in an age of tremendous scientific discovery and advances. Computer and digital technology are mind boggling. Advances in artificial intelligence are creepy and scary. But perhaps the area of scientific advancement that is most troubling is cloning. Through the science of cloning scientists take cells from one being and use them to create an exact living copy of that being. They’ve successfully done it with mice, sheep, cattle, and chickens. They are working to clone monkeys and they have their sights set on humans.

But if they do someday create a clone of a human, will that clone really be an exact reproduction of the real person? I don’t think so. The clone may be a near perfect physical copy of the person, but it will not have the mind, heart, soul, and spirit of the person. Even if scientists do manage to manipulate biology to the point of growing a physical replica of a person out of a test tube, that replica will still not be the real person. Maybe the physical body can be copied, but not the mind, heart, soul, and spirit. Those cannot be grown in a test tube.

There is only one you. Only you can be you. God created you to be you and He didn’t create anyone else to be you. When it comes to accepting yourself for who you are – when it comes to graciously receiving the gift of being yourself, this is an important understanding. God created you to be you, and only you can be you. God didn’t make a mistake when He created you.

Even if you think you are too tall, too short, too skinny, or too fat; even if, like me, you have more hair in your ears and nose and on your chest and back than you do on your head, it doesn’t matter. God created you to be you and the physical characteristics are the least important part of you.

The most important thing about you is what is on the inside not what’s on the outside. We will think more about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.” Colossians 2:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t be fooled.”

One of the greatest dangers faced by Christians today is the danger of counterfeit Christianity. There’s a lot of false teaching in our society today, a lot of dangerous philosophies and unbiblical worldviews which lead people into all sorts of ungodly behaviors. And, worse, such things are promoted and celebrated as being normal and even good.

But the problem isn’t just in society at-large, the problem is also in the church. Christians in large numbers are buying into the unbiblical worldviews, incorporating them into their Christian worldview, and ending up with a form of counterfeit Christianity. In 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 the Apostle Paul warned us: “For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” 

Yes, false teachers and preachers disguise themselves as Christians so they can infiltrate the ranks of Christianity and spread false teaching. They try to convince the faithful to give-in to the cultural pressures, and to combine popular worldly beliefs with traditional Christian doctrine. That creates a counterfeit Christianity and leads Christians astray. I preached two sermons on this subject recently at our church. You can listen to them on our website at www.oakhillbaptist.net. Just click on “listen”, then select the sermons and PowerPoint for July 7, and 14, 2019. I encourage you to do that.

What does that have to do with “The Gift of Being Yourself”? Just that when you accept the lies of Satan you are being led away from being the person God intends for you to be. This is why it’s so important for Christians to be active in a good Bible-believing church, and it is why we must be diligent students of the Bible. We have to develop a solid Biblical worldview, and then we must be strong enough to stand against the lies of the age.

If you are out of church, and if you are not a diligent student of Scripture, you are in an extremely vulnerable position and you are a ripe target for Satan. You can easily be led astray. I encourage you not to let that happen. You will only be your true self, and your best self, when you are in a strong and healthy relationship with God, based upon sound Biblical doctrine. Don’t let yourself be fooled into believing the lies of Satan.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “It doesn’t have to be a job.”

Over the last several days I’ve told you a little about my personal story and how it was that I finally came to embrace my identity as the unique individual God created me to be. It turned out well for me. I get to spend my days doing something I truly love (being a pastor), and since our church is mission oriented, I still get to do some mission work too. It’s the best of both worlds for me. I sometimes joke when I’m handed my paycheck each month: “All this fun and they pay me too!” That’s why at 65 I chose to continue working rather than retiring. Someone once told me “Find something you love to do and then figure out how you can get paid for doing it.” Well, I have.

But the whole idea of discovering how God has wired you and then applying yourself to those activities doesn’t necessarily have to take the form of a job. Sometimes that’s not even possible. I’m in a pretty sweet situation now, but for many years of my life I simply had to earn a living so I could support my family. That’s true for many of you right now. Therefore for right now you might need to work at a job that’s not really what you want to be doing, and pursue your passion in your off hours. Or perhaps you’re retired and you don’t need to have a job at all. You can still search your heart, discover the things you truly love and for which God has especially designed you, and then apply yourself to those things.

After President George W. Bush left his job as President of the United States and went into retirement he looked deep, did some soul searching, and realized that he had always wanted to be an artist, creating art by painting pictures. So he took some lessons and discovered that he was actually pretty good at it. Since then his art has been featured in art galleries and on television shows, and he often gives away his paintings as special gifts to wounded warriors.

My wife Linda is in the retirement years too. She has a love for working with children and for arts and crafts. She has combined those two passions and now she spends much of her time designing and creating Christian-themed arts and crafts for children. She also plans and leads our Children’s Church and she orders, organizes, and sends large supplies of children’s crafts with me on my mission trips. Beginning in September she will also once again be serving as a Children’s Sunday school teacher.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 the Apostle Paul describes for us a simple and quiet life that is spent engaged in worthwhile activities that make a meaningful difference. Discovering how God has wired you, and then pursuing those activities, doesn’t necessarily need to take the form of a job. It simply means that you have discovered the activities that really bring you joy and a sense of fulfillment, and you are applying yourself to them for the glory of God and for the benefit of others.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “But his message becomes like a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in …” Jeremiah 20:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “If it’s in you, it’s got to come out.”

Yesterday I told you the story of how it was that I finally came to terms with the truth that God did not create me to be a singer, songwriter, or guitar player. And He certainly did not give me the ability to dance. Instead He wired me to preach, teach, and write. Once I embraced that identity, once I developed the gifts and put them to use, I found fulfillment and great satisfaction.

So, you would think I would have learned my lesson. But I didn’t. At one time I took a break from being a pastor and I went to work as the Vice-President of an international humanitarian relief agency. My job consisted primarily of planning relief missions to remote locations around the world, recruiting a team of medical and dental professionals to go on the mission, assembling the supplies and resources, coordinating with in-country partners, making travel and lodging arrangements, and then leading the team to the location.

Sounds exotic and exciting, right? And it was, to an extent. I loved the time actually spent on the mission field but unfortunately, that amounted to probably 5% of my time. The other 95% was spent in the office doing administrative work. To me all the planning, organizing, emails, phone calls, and so on was administrative grunt work, and spiritually for me it was dry as dust. I felt unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and dried-up. I missed being a pastor. I longed for the time in my study praying, thinking, researching, and writing. I missed preaching and teaching every week. I missed all of the counseling and coaching and helping people work through the issues of life. To me all of that is spiritually rich and deeply satisfying.

And so, I was wilting. I felt like the prophet Jeremiah who was supposed to be speaking the words of God but was instead keeping them bottled up inside – soon it became like a burning in my bones. I had to let it out. I found myself mentally, emotionally, and especially spiritually, unfulfilled and it was because I wasn’t using my primary gifts from God. I’m a pretty good administrator and organizer if I need to be, but that’s not where my heart is – that’s not the most important thing God has wired me for.
That’s true for some of you too. You’re spending your life doing the wrong things, things that God has not primarily created you for. Consequently, you’re not really happy, not feeling fulfilled and satisfied.

I encourage you to give serious thought to how God has wired you. Look deep into your heart and explore what’s in there. Don’t keep it bottled up. Sooner or later what’s in there needs to be let out and when you do, you will flourish and experience great joy. You will be doing the thing that God created you for. Listen to your heart.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to buildup the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be who you are, not who you aren’t”

I’m not particularly good at receiving compliments. I like them as much as anyone (maybe I like them too much), but they make me uncomfortable. I get awkward and bumbling rather than receiving the compliment graciously. Sometimes when people compliment me on my preaching, teaching, or writing I jokingly dismiss it by saying “Yeah, but I can’t sing, dance, or play the tuba.”

Actually, I never wanted to play the tuba, but I did want to sing, dance, play the guitar, and write songs, and I spent many years trying. I took guitar lessons, I wrote songs, I sang songs, and yes, I tried to dance.  Unfortunately, I can’t dance two steps without tripping myself, and when I sing, I sound like a sick frog; my songs are silly and my guitar playing is mechanical and stiff (the boy’s got no rhythm).

I spent many years of my life trying hard to be someone I wasn’t (and feeling diminished because of it). Finally, I got it through my thick head that although God didn’t bless me with music ability and rhythm deep down in my soul, he did give me other talents and abilities which He wants me to focus on and use – He gave me the gifts of preaching, teaching, and writing. As one of my mentors (Pastor Eugene Peterson) used to say, “My artistic medium is words, written, and prayed, and preached.”

God has enabled me to write, preach, and teach. So rather than lament the fact that I can’t sing, dance, or play the tuba (and embarrassing myself in the process of trying), I focus instead on the things God has equipped me for, and I get great joy from doing so.

How about you? Are you spending a lot of time and energy trying to be someone you aren’t, someone God never intended you to be? Deep down in your heart what are the activities that bring you the most joy, the things you are passionate about and good at? As was noted yesterday, that’s a pretty good clue as to how God has wired you.

Don’t waste your time trying to be someone you’re not. Just be you. More about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “The Gift of Being Yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Psalm 84:10 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Humility and humor are wonderful virtues.”

Yesterday I told you about my old friends Dick and Jean DeGrow. Dick and Jean were two of the most relaxed, settled, and serene Christians I have ever had the pleasure to know. They were truly comfortable with themselves and with each other. Part of the winsomeness of their personalities came from the fact that they were both humble and they each had a wonderful sense of humor. But it was self-deprecating humor – they directed it mostly at themselves and at each other. They told jokes on themselves and they teased each other in a good natured way.

In terms of humility, Dick was an especially good example. He was a former Pastor but at 74 years old he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and custodian in our church. One day I was in my office writing a sermon and Dick was at the church cleaning and emptying trash. At one point he stuck his head in the door and asked, “How’s my Pastor today, is there anything I can do for you?” I looked at him, smiled, and asked, “Dick, why do you serve as the custodian here? You’re a retired Pastor. You don’t need the money, and I could easily get someone else to do this. Why do you do it?” He looked at me and said, “Pastor, I would rather clean toilets in the house of the Lord than be the CEO of a big company.” Then he smiled and said, “You have a nice day” and he shuffled away to do the cleaning.

In terms of humor, Dick and Jean were hilarious – always cutting-up and always teasing each other. I mentioned yesterday that Dick loved his ice cream. Eating ice cream was a nightly ritual that he never missed. Once Linda and I were visiting with them, just shooting the breeze and enjoying each others company. At one point Dick mentioned to Jean (as he was eating ice cream) that he needed to buy some new pants because his old ones were getting a little tight. Jean told him that if he would lay-off the ice cream his old pants would fit just fine. Dick responded that eating ice cream was a spiritual discipline and it was helping him to get ready for heaven. Skeptical, Jean asked how eating ice cream could be a spiritual discipline and how it was getting him ready for heaven. Dick then informed her that in heaven ice cream is good for you and it’s broccoli that has all the calories! (I’m not sure how Dick knew that but he was a very spiritually mature man so I trust his insight!)

Humility and humor are endearing qualities in a person’s personality. When we’re able to be humble and when we easily engage in good-natured humor it’s a clear sign that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we have learned to relax and lighten-up.

May you be humble and humorous today.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

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