Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A prosperous life”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified to your faithfulness to the truth – how you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A prosperous life is a blessed life.”

 

Yesterday we began to consider what a truly prosperous life would look like. I suggested to you that there is much more to it than just having money and things. Now please don’t get me wrong, money is needed, and having more money is usually better than having less. Also, there is nothing necessarily wrong with having nice things. Beyond that, the Bible repeatedly urges us to be industrious, to work hard, to pay our own way through life, and to be good stewards of what God has given us. Some of the greatest figures in the Bible were financially very well off.

 

But as the Apostle John helps us to see in 3 John 2, true prosperity involves more than money and things. He writes that his prayer for the reader is that you may prosper in every way. That includes financially, but he then specifically also mentions good health and a soul that is prosperous too.

 

Good health is a key element to living well. Few things are as limiting in life as are health problems. Granted that some health problems are unavoidable; this world is filled with disease and sickness and at some point all of us will get sick and hurt. But much of the poor health people suffer from is self-imposed. Obesity, lack of exercise, and addictive substances are just a few of the issues that combine to destroy a person’s health but which could be avoided. To some degree every individual has control over those things. Regardless of your age and regardless of your current health, everyone can do the things necessary to remain as healthy as possible for as long as possible under the prevailing circumstances. And the healthier you are, the better your quality of life will be.

 

John also makes reference here to a soul that is prospering. Our Bible verse for yesterday was Psalm 1:1-3. In verse three of Psalm one, we read about a person with a prosperous soul: “He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

 

How did the person get that way? Verse one tells us that the person intentionally avoids sin and instead “… his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.” This person has a soul that is prospering. Some of those Haitian Christians I mentioned yesterday, the ones who were living in deep poverty but who radiated with joy anyway, they have prosperous souls. However that family I mentioned – the wealthy ones whose family life is a train wreck – they’re all professing Christians who are active in church, but they are soul-sick. In no way could there spiritual health be described as “a tree planted besides streams of water bearing good fruit in season.”

 

John’s point in those two short verses is that a truly prosperous life is healthy and thriving in all respects. He prayed that for them, and I pray it for you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Prosperity”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. That person is like a tree planted by steams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT)

 

Our thought for today: “Seek genuine prosperity.”

 

If you’re like most people, when you think of a person who is “prosperous” you’re thinking in terms of money. Prosperous people are wealthy people. They have lots of money and lots of nice things. While that is one definition of being prosperous, it is actually a narrow and limited application of the word, and it is also a less important meaning of it.

 

The American Heritage Dictionary defines prosperity simply as being successful. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of the Bible offers a little more help by explaining that in the Bible the concept of being prosperous pertains to all aspects of life, not just financial. Spock from Star Trek encouraged us with the Vulcan proverb “Live long and prosper” – picturing a life that is long and full. The phrase “Live well and prosper” is actually an ancient Jewish blessing, a form of prayer that speaks of a godly life that is lived in righteousness and which is therefore blessed by God in multiple ways. Clearly there is more to this than just having money.

 

To that point, yesterday I returned from a mission trip to Haiti – the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. The depth of poverty there is mind boggling. There are few people in that nation who would be considered “prosperous” by any financial measure. And yet the Haitian Christians who I spent the week with, while living in deep poverty, they radiated with joy and they seemed to be genuinely happy. It was a pleasure to be among them.

 

At the same time I know a wealthy family in our town who while having lots of money, a big house, fancy cars, and much more, their family life seems to be endlessly filled with conflict and anger and sadness. They might be prosperous in the financial sense but I wouldn’t want their life. If that’s what it means to be prosperous then I’ll pass, thank you very much.

 

This month I want us to build on our theme from last month. As was noted then, although we live in a country that has the highest standard of living of any nation in the world, most Americans live with “The fear of not having enough”. I believe that when we come to terms with the full meaning of what prosperity means, in the Biblical sense, we will have learned to seek and to be satisfied with the kind of prosperity that really does lead to a happy life.

 

Having money is a good thing, but it is not the best thing.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability, they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints …” 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Thank you, and please pray for us.”

 

As you read this I am preparing to take a mission team to Haiti. We leave early Saturday morning and will be there for one week. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. The depths of poverty are mind numbing. Political corruption, foreign exploitation, natural disasters, and the practice of voodoo have all historically combined to keep the country impoverished and unable to develop in any meaningful way.

 

Fortunately over the last 20-25 years there has been widespread spiritual awakening in Haiti. The churches are full, Christianity is spreading, a large percentage of the population have forsaken voodoo and embraced Christ, and things are turning around. In addition to spreading the faith, the Christian community operates orphanages, runs the best schools in the country, and is having a positive influence across society.

 

The goal of our mission teams is always to find Christians in the country who are doing good work for the kingdom of God and to partner with them. We come alongside of them, bring our short-term team and resources, and plug into their long-term goal. We want to help strengthen their presence in their community, and help them to move a little further towards accomplishing their God-given long-term objectives.

 

Our primary partner in Haiti is Grace International. Grace International has a network of more than 200 churches across the country. Most of the churches sponsor at least one orphanage and a school. Grace also runs feeding programs, job training programs, and a small hospital.

 

Our team will spend the week helping to put the finishing touches on a new transition home for young adult women who were raised in the girl’s orphanage but who are not yet married and not ready to live out in the community. This home will be a safe haven for them. We will also participate every day in preparing and serving hot meals for hundreds of children, and we will assist with orphan care.

 

This is an expensive undertaking and is only happening because of the generous donations of many faithful Christians. Between airfare for the team, food and lodging expenses, and then close to $15,000 raised for construction and food supplies, total giving to help make this mission trip possible is in the tens of thousands of dollars. That money has all been provided by Christians who, like the Macedonian Christians referred to by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthian 8:3-5, have overcome the fear of not having enough for themselves, and therefore are able to give generously to those in great need. Thank you.

 

This will be the last daily devotional message I will send out until I return from Haiti. The next message will come to you on Monday October 2^nd. Therefore I would like to ask you to hang-on to this one, read it every morning, and use it as a reminder to pray for our team.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” Malachi 3:3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Changes require separation and purification.”

 

Author Jack Alexander writes, “To turn most raw materials, including crude oil, plants, and metals, into the products we use in our daily lives, scientists and manufacturers put them through an intense two-step process of separation and purification. This process actually changes the composition of the original material, turning it into something entirely different, to be used in ways the original material could not be.” He is referring to the process of refining, whereby a raw material is melted down, the impurities separated out, and the purified substance is then reformed into something new and useful.

 

God uses a similar process of separation and purification in our lives. It’s a process of refining which separates out of our life the patterns of thinking, the wrong understandings, and the unacceptable behaviors that need to be removed. This is not unlike the process of refining used to remove impurities from gold or silver. Then, once the impurities have been removed, the purified object is shaped into something new, something different than it was before, something beautiful and precious, something of much greater value and usefulness than it was before.

 

To overcome the fear of not having enough (enough money, ability, etc) we have learned that we must consecrate all that we have and all that we are to God to be used as He wishes. We have also learned that once we do that we often come to a pivot point, a moment that changes our direction or gives us new understanding and insight, and which changes everything for us. Then we learned that although the pivot point will likely result in some immediate changes, the real change usually comes progressively, over a long period of time.

 

Today we find that the period of progressive transformation will involve separating out of our lives those things which have been holding us back from becoming the people God wants us to be. It’s a process which occurs over a long period of time during which we get rid of old thoughts and behaviors and replace them with new thoughts and behaviors. This is what the refining process accomplishes in us.

 

The refining process can be uncomfortable, maybe even painful. But it is absolutely necessary in order to bring about the changes which must occur. I want to encourage you to ask God to help you see the thought patterns and behaviors in your life which need to be separated out. Then ask Him to show you the new thoughts and new behaviors that need to be incorporated into your life in order to bring you into this new way of thinking and acting.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus. Then after three years I did go to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him 15 days.” Galatians 1:15-18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Changes take time.”

 

Yesterday we read about how God brought Paul to a pivot point in his life and it ultimately changed everything for him. If you’re familiar with Paul’s story then you know he went on to become a mighty man of God and he spent the rest of his life doing tremendous work for the cause of Christ. Paul ended up becoming a man who feared little, worried about little, and trusted God for everything.

 

But although that moment on the road to Damascus was a strategic pivot point for Paul, and it did launch him in a new direction in life with a new understanding of what’s really important and what isn’t, the change itself was a process which played out progressively over many years in his life. The pivot point was only the beginning. What we read about in Galatians 1:15-18 is Paul’s description of what happened after that pivot point moment. Although the change in Paul began immediately, and there were observable changes in him, he needed more than three years of quiet learning and growth before the big effects of the change began to show.

 

This is often true in our lives too. We come to moments of sudden insight or awakening which result in new understanding or a new direction, and there are usually immediate and observable impacts, but the real change will play out over the long term.

 

When it comes to having victory over the fear of not having enough, the first step is to embrace the truth that God is your Provider and Sustainer and that He is Sovereign over all the events of your life. Additionally, you believe that He wants to and will add His unlimited capacity to your limited capacity in order to accomplish what He wants accomplished. That’s the starting place, embracing that truth.

 

But then you must begin the long process of doing your part, and that will usually take time – sometimes a lot of time. Your part could be to learn better money handling disciplines and then incorporate them into your life over the long term. Or it may involve learning a new skill so you can get a better job. Or it could require that you take better care of yourself by eating better and exercising so that your overall health will improve. Or perhaps you need to establish a pattern of regular daily spiritual disciplines in your life to facilitate spiritual growth (this is what Paul had to do after Damascus). Whatever it is that you fear you don’t have enough of, there is something that you need to do about it. God will do His part to bring you to a new place in life but you have to do your part too.

 

The pivot point is the starting place. From there you have to commit yourself to walking it forward and doing your part.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Not that I have already reached the goal, or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “It might be time for a pivot point in your life.”

 

In Philippians 3:12 Paul was referring to a time in his life when everything changed. We read about it in Acts chapter nine. Paul (then known as Saul the Pharisee) was on the road to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christians. But suddenly he had an encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus and it changed everything. Paul’s heart was captured by Jesus Christ and the entire trajectory of his life changed. From that moment on Paul was passionately committed to growing in his relationship with Christ, and he was committed to spending the rest of his life serving Christ. Jesus had taken a hold of him, and Paul took a hold of Jesus.

 

What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus was what Jack Alexander refers to as a “pivot point”. It was a moment of realization that changed everything for Paul.

 

In his book “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough” Jack explains that at various times each of us arrives at pivot points in life. These times change our understanding of things in some deep and meaningful way. They launch us into a new endeavor, or they set us off in a new direction, or they provide us with a new and fresh understanding of something important.

 

Although these moments of realization which result in pivot points can come to us in many forms and about different things, Jack tells the story of his own pivot point which ultimately led to the writing of his book. As I told you earlier, Jack was a successful and wealthy businessman. But like so many other wealthy and successful people, he still worried about not having enough. He worried about stock prices, and investment performance, and retirement accounts, and much more, and therefore he felt he needed to cling to and guard what he had.

 

But when he finally came to the point of full consecration to the Lord, surrendering all that he had and all that he was to God to be used as He wished and for His purposes, Jack experienced a new sense of freedom and security he never knew existed.

 

From that moment on the trajectory of Jack’s life changed. He still pursued his business interests, and he continued to make lots of money, but he held it all loosely and used much of it for God’s glory and to bless others. Once he passed through that pivot point the quality of Jack’s life improved measurably – not in material ways but in spiritual and emotional ways. He discovered he had much more peace and a greater sense of security than ever before. His trust was completely in God, not in stocks and bonds and investments.

 

You probably don’t have the kind of wealth that Jack has and therefore you could be tempted to believe you can’t have the same sense of peace and security that he has. And you would be wrong. That sense of peace and security doesn’t come from the stocks and the bonds and the investments. It comes from God. And although you might not have the same wealth that Jack has, you do have the same God that Jack has. And therefore the same peace and security is available to you.

 

Is it time for a pivot point in your life? Do you need to change your thinking, your understanding, your direction? Spend some extra time today allowing God to speak to you about this.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common … This was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need.” Acts 4:32; 35 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Focus on taking care of each other.”

 

This past Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we celebrated our annual Homecoming Day. Homecoming is a special Sunday at the beginning of the new church year when we round up those who have drifted away, invite former members who have moved away to visit with us, and we invite lots of friends, family members, and neighbors to join us. It’s a day of worship, fellowship, and feasting. It was great fun.

 

In my sermon that day (www.oakhillbaptist.net. Click on “listen” and then select the sermon for 9/17/19) I made reference to the fact that as a church family we are very intentional about taking good care of each other. The Great Commandment from Jesus to love one another (John 13:34-35) is a major focus of our fellowship. That being the case, and in my opinion, our fellowship at Oak Hill Baptist looks and feels a lot like what we read about in the early church in Jerusalem as described in Acts chapters 2-4.

 

The only way that kind of fellowship is possible is if people are generous with their time, energy, money, and other resources. Your love for each other has to be strong enough to overcome your fear of not having enough for yourself. Rather than clinging to what you have, you willingly use some of what you have to meet a need in the life of someone you care about. But that can only happen when people have learned to stop fearing and to start loving, trusting God to work it all out.

 

It’s important for us as followers of Jesus to see ourselves as conduits through which the Lord wants to bless others and to meet their needs. God will place into our hands the resources required to meet the need (skills, talents, time, money, etc) and then He calls upon you and me to become the conduit through which the blessings are delivered to those in need. The great Christian writer Walter Brueggeman once described this as “the needs of people being matched by the generosity of God” but it happens with you and me acting as the go-betweens.

 

I want to encourage you to focus on taking care of others. Be willing for God to use you to be a conduit through whom His blessings can flow. When you do that you will discover that your own fear of not having enough will melt away.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Remember this: the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Don’t limit yourself by being selfish.”

 

The fear of not having enough causes people to cling to what they have rather than sharing with others. But in 2 Corinthians 9:6 the Apostle Paul reminds us of one of the great principles of life in the kingdom of God – the law of sowing and reaping. In God’s world you reap according to what you sow, and you reap according to how much you sow.

 

If you plant good seed you will reap a good harvest; if you plant bad seed you will reap a bad harvest. If you plant wheat, you will reap wheat; if you plant weeds you’ll grow weeds. This principle carries over into all of life. If you are mean to people they won’t like you. If you are dishonest then they won’t trust you. You reap the results of what you sow. The law of sowing and reaping also plays out in quantity. If you plant a lot of seed you can expect to grow a big harvest. If you skimp on the seeds, the resulting harvest will be sparse.

 

In the specific context of 2 Corinthians 9:6 Paul was applying this principle to the generous giving of money. He was teaching that if you are generous financially with those in need, God will find ways to bless you abundantly in return. That abundant blessing might come in material terms, such as someone else being even more generous with you than you were with the other person, but His blessings might also be in the form of spiritual blessings. The simple fact is that you can’t out-give God. If you sow generously He will find ways to bless you abundantly in return.

 

However this principle also applies to more than just the giving of money. As we have already discussed several times in this devotional series, God wants us to consecrate all that we have and all that we are to Him. That pertains to money, but also to time, talents, skills, abilities, and everything else. In terms of sowing and reaping this means that we eagerly and joyfully pour our entire life (all that we have and all that we are) into serving God and serving others in His name. In others words, “we are all in!”

 

When we approach life that way God takes what we have to offer, adds His unlimited capacity to it, and produces wonderful things in and through us that would not have been possible had we not been “all in”. This is the law of sowing and reaping lived out fully in the life of a dedicated follower of Christ.

 

When you live that way you no longer wrestle with the fear of not having enough because first of all, you simply don’t think that way anymore. But also, you don’t have to fear not having enough because you know God will take care of you. The principle of sowing and reaping is real and it works. Give it all to God and trust Him for the results.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith …” 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Don’t let Satan win.”

 

Yesterday I cited Peter as an example of a man who had great potential but who allowed Satan to fool and distract him, thereby draining away his potential and causing him to achieve much less than he was capable of. It was only after learning some painful lessons that Peter fully committed all that he had and all that he was to the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Once he did that, Peter blossomed and became a great man of God and a powerful force for good in the kingdom of God.

 

It was decades later that Peter shared his hard-won wisdom in a couple of letters to the Christian community. We know those letters as 1 & 2 Peter. In 1 Peter 5:8-9 Peter reminds us of the lesson he himself had learned from painful personal experience, Satan is real, he is mean, and he is deceptive. He will fool us and hurt us if we let him. But if we resist him, standing firm in what we know to be true, then he is powerless against us.

 

As was noted yesterday, this right here is one of the primary reasons that so many Christians are underachievers in the kingdom of God. They allow Satan to distract them and get them involved in things they have no business being involved in. When that happens not only are their own skills, abilities, talents, and resources drained away because they have been diverted into areas they should not be, but it also takes the Christian out of the realm in which God can bless them, thereby making sure they have none of God’s added capacity either.

 

God wants us to be generous and to bless others. Satan wants us to be selfish and look out only for ourselves. God wants us to be faithful and work hard to accomplish His purposes. Satan wants us to forget about God and His plans, and to focus instead on achieving what we want. God loves us and wants to shower us with blessings. Satan hates us and wants to hurt, destroy, and kill.

 

When we consecrate all that we have and all that we are to God and for His purposes, He will bless us with the life He wants us to have. That will always be the best life we could possibly have. If we resist Satan and stand for what we know to be true and right, Satan is defeated in our lives.

 

Don’t let Satan win. Stand against him and his lies.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Simon, Simon, look out! Satan has asked to shift you like wheat.” Luke 22:31 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Don’t let Satan steal your capacity.”

 

Peter was a man of great potential. This proved itself to be true by the way God worked in and through him over his lifetime. As you read Peter’s story in the book of Acts, and in the books of the New Testament that he either wrote or dictated (Mark, 1 Peter and 2 Peter), you realize that God ended up using Peter in powerful ways.

 

But early in Peter’s life you would never have guessed it. Peter would never have guessed it. Peter was hotheaded and impetuous and easily distracted. Jesus’ warning to him in Luke 22:31 would shortly become a reality in Peter’s life. Satan was about to put him through the ringer.

 

At that time Peter had within himself great capacity for great good, but in the early years he was still allowing himself to be distracted by Satan. Therefore Satan was draining away and stealing Peter’s capacity. It wasn’t until Peter learned to recognize the schemes of the evil one, and once the Holy Spirit of God had full control over his life, that Peter’s full potential was realized.

 

The same is true for us. Satan is a master of lies and deception. He is an expert at getting us distracted from God’s ways and involved instead in things we should be avoiding. That then effectively drains away our capacity and prevents us from realizing our true potential. How many Christians gamble away the money God has entrusted them with by playing the lottery? Rather than using that money for good purposes, they squander it in a vain and silly hope of possibly scoring millions.

 

How many Christians ruin their health with poor eating habits and lack of exercise? If they would just take care of themselves they would be physically able to do the things the Lord wants them to do. But because of their self-inflicted poor health they are limited or even incapacitated.

 

The examples could be endless. Talents, abilities, skills that are never developed or  are underutilized; relationships that wither and die due to lack of attention and nurture; workaholic tendencies, excuse-making, wasted hours playing video games or watching television – Satan has an arsenal of schemes and distractions he uses to deceive God’s people and drain away their potential.

 

Like Peter we must come to the point that we recognize Satan’s schemes and we must stand against them. We do that the same way Peter did – we surrender ourselves fully to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the consecration issue that we discussed earlier in this series. We take all that we have and all that we are and we commit it to the Lord to be used as He desires.

 

Don’t let Satan steal your capacity.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim