Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Will you make a sacrifice for love?”   In John 15:13 was Jesus really suggesting that each of us be prepared to die to demonstrate our love for someone? Probably not. He may have been referring to His own death for us, but probably not to us dying for someone else. Like you, there are a few people I would willingly surrender my life for – but not many. That’s the ultimate sacrifice and quite frankly, there are only a precious few who are really that dear to me.   Rather, in this verse Jesus was using the illustration of physical death to teach a general truth about loving. He was talking about an intentional action taken by one person on behalf of another and He was illustrating the importance of being willing to sacrifice for the sake of showing love.   Remember, love is often a decision to act rather than an emotion we feel. We are called to act in love even if we don’t feel love. That could involve things like taking the time to listen to someone who needs to talk; or giving assistance to the elderly widow who needs help with a heavy chore; or giving a financial gift to a person in need; or a thousand other acts like that. Those are all intentional acts that can be taken whether you have feelings of love for the person or not.   I want to redirect our thoughts back to the statement from a previous devotional in this series about the woman who had been brutally raped by a man and who then went to visit him in prison. She told him she was glad he was being punished for what he did but she was also extending forgiveness to him in the name of Jesus. Afterwards she admitted that, “It was the last thing I wanted to do … I was physically sick at the thought of seeing Him … I was repulsed by him … I still hated him … but I knew that what Jesus wanted was my obedience. He wanted me to extend love and forgiveness to that man. He wanted me to love that man with my will and with my words even though in my emotions I couldn’t stand the sight of him.”   (An important point for us to remember in such cases is that a decision to intentionally act in love towards a person – especially a person like that rapist – is not the equivalent of endorsing their bad behavior. We can demonstrate love for them while still holding them accountable for what they did.)   Will you make a sacrifice for love? Love is often a decision to act rather than an emotion you feel. Jesus calls us to love people on purpose, and to even make sacrifices to do so. That’s how He loves the world through you and me. And as we will learn tomorrow, you have been chosen for this very purpose.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” John 15:5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “This is how you love them on purpose”   In John chapters thirteen and fourteen we are reading about Jesus and His disciples in the upper room having the Last Supper. While the supper is proceeding, in addition to eating, Jesus is engaged in a long teaching session. It was during this time that He washed the feet of His disciples, and He did it as an example to them that they should serves others as He has served them. This was also when He first told them, in John 13:34-35, that He was giving them a new command – to love others as He loves them.   Chapter fourteen ends with Jesus saying “Get up; let’s leave this place.” At that point they left the upper room and began a long walk towards the Garden of Gethsemane. I believe the route would have taken them past some vineyards on the outskirts of the city. While they were walking under the moonlight, Jesus points to the vines in the vineyard and used them as the illustration in the parable we just read in John 15:5. Just as the branch grows from the vine, and just as the life of the vine flows through the branch producing the fruit of the vine, so too we are branches on Jesus’ vine. His life flows in us and through us, and He produces His fruit through us.   What is the fruit Jesus was referring to and which He wants to produce through our lives? Paul described it for us in Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Those are attributes of Jesus that He wants the world to experience, and the first of them is love. Now that He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, the way He shows the world His love is by means of His life flowing in us and through us producing His fruit – the first of which is love.   How do you love others on purpose even if you don’t feel love for them? You let Jesus do it through you. You surrender the situation to Him and you ask Him to love them through you. You pray, “Jesus, I feel no love for this person. But I know this is a person you died for and I know that you love them. Therefore, I offer myself to you as your instrument of ministry into their life. Go ahead and love this person through me.” And then just do whatever you believe He is telling you to do. It will be Jesus loving that person through you.   By-the-way, it was after He taught this parable that He repeated the new command He had given in John 13:34-35. We find that second occurrence in John 15:12, “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.”   So, in John 13:34-35 He told us to do it. In John 15:5 He told us how to do it. And then in John 15:12 He told us again to just go do it. That’s how you love them on purpose.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “It’s easy to say we love people but …”   It’s easy to say we love people, but Jesus calls us to love them with our actions – in actual practice. Remember, love is a verb. It’s an action word. Rather than being an emotion we feel, love is often expressed as an action that was based on a decision which was born of obedience. That kind of obedient love borne out in action was beautifully illustrated by the example of the woman we learned about in yesterday’s devotional. Just to review: speaking about her ordeal of going to the prison to visit the man who had brutally raped her she said:   It was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do. I was physically sick at the thought of seeing him again. On an emotional level, I was afraid of him; I was repulsed by him; and – I have to be honest – I hated him. But with my husband’s support and with the prayers of many Christian friends, I was able to go to the prison and face him and say what I had to say. My feelings were not the issue. I knew that what God wanted was my obedience. He wanted me to love that man with my will and with my words, even though in my emotions I couldn’t stand the sight of him.”   In John 15:12 Jesus told His early disciples (and us) that we are to love others as He loves us. He was so serious about this that He said it twice in the span of just a couple of hours. He said it first in John 13:34-35 and then, just a little later, recorded here in John 15:12. Why did He say it twice? Because it’s that important. He wants us to love others like He loves us.   With that statement Jesus did what He did on so many other occasions and with so many other Biblical principles – He took an Old Testament precept and He raised it to a new higher standard. In the Old Testament we’re taught not to commit murder. In the New Testament Jesus cautions against even thinking violent thoughts. In the Old Testament we are taught to not commit adultery. In the New Testament Jesus teaches that we should not even have lustful thoughts.   In Leviticus 19:18 we were instructed to love our neighbor as yourself. Here in the New Testament, we’re taught to love others as Jesus loves us. Now the standard by which our love for others gets measured is not by how much love we have for ourselves, but how much love Jesus has for us. And how much is that? It is unlimited. It is unconditional. It is beyond description. Jesus loves you to the moon and back and then even more. But there’s a problem. That is a very high standard – an impossible standard. It’s so high that we cannot achieve it in our own power.   It’s so easy to say that we love people but Jesus calls us to show it with our actions. Fortunately, He helps us to do it. Tomorrow we will see how.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:35-36 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Loving on purpose”   I once read a story about a woman who was kidnapped and brutally raped. Ultimately the man who did it was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison. But the memory of that event haunted the woman. She was emotionally scarred and had a deep hatred for the man who did that to her.   Through the struggle of trying to deal with the pain, she came to the point of placing her faith in Christ and soon discovered she was able to forgive the man who did that to her. There even came a day when she visited the rapist in prison. She sat across the glass window from him, looked into his eyes and said, “I forgive you for what you did to me. What you did was wrong, and I’m glad you are being punished for it, but in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you.”   Later she said, “It was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do. I was physically sick at the thought of seeing him again. On an emotional level, I was afraid of him; I was repulsed by him; and – I have to be honest – I hated him. But with my husband’s support and with the prayers of many Christian friends, I was able to go to the prison and face him and say what I had to say. My feelings were not the issue. I knew that what God wanted was my obedience. He wanted me to love that man with my will and with my words, even though in my emotions I couldn’t stand the sight of him.”   “He wanted me to love that man with my will and with my words, even though in my emotions I couldn’t stand the sight of him.” What a powerful and important truth! The fact is that oftentimes love is a decision to act rather than an emotion we feel. Sometimes we have to act in love towards people – on purpose, whether we feel love for them or not. It has often been said that “Love is a verb. It is an action word.” That statement is very true and it is what Jesus calls for from His followers.   Over the next several days I will share with you some of the points from that sermon / teaching session I delivered all those years ago to that group of Gypsy Christians I told you about in the previous two devotionals. The title of the sermon was “Loving on Purpose” and it was all about God’s love being dispensed through intentional acts of ministry by the followers of Jesus.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “And there will be showers of blessing.” Ezekiel 34:26 (KJV)   Our thought for today: “Cover them with God’s love”   When the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel used the phrase “there shall be showers of blessing” in Ezekiel 34:26, he was referring specifically to how God would bless His people once they repented and returned to Him. That was the specific context but I love the imagery of God’s blessings falling down upon people like a fresh spring rain, and it fits well with the story I want to share with you this morning.   In yesterday’s devotional I told you about the time I was in a small Gypsy farming village sharing a message of encouragement with a group of Gypsy Christians who were trying to reach their village for Jesus. My subject was about how to impact people with the love of Jesus. I noted that the strategy Jesus teaches is for His followers to engage in small acts of kindness and compassion and that cumulatively, as those acts are carried out by dozens, hundreds, and thousands of His followers, the little acts altogether combine to have a big impact. To illustrate that point I told them this story about a snowmaking machine in the mountains of Southern California.   In those years I was living in Southern California and I enjoyed snow skiing. There are mountains just outside of Los Angeles that are over 8000 feet high. They do get snow and there are ski resorts there. But often they don’t get enough natural snow and therefore, they have machines that make snow. The machine has a long barrel protruding from it with hundreds of small pinprick holes in it. Then large volumes of high-pressure water are forced through it, producing a fine mist of atomized water. The machine is mounted on a swivel so it can rotate from side-to-side, and the barrel also rotates up and down. Therefore, as the machine rotates side-to-side, up-and-down, shooting its fine mist of water up into the cold night air, the mist of water freezes and falls back to the ground as snow.   Because the machine rotates as it does, it produces a blanket of snow on the ground. But if the machine malfunctions or if isn’t properly aligned, there will be a bare spot on the ground that should have been covered by snow.   Now understand, in the remote regions of the Carpathian Mountains in those little Gypsy villages snow is not a fun thing to be played with. Instead, it is a major problem that traps them in their remote villages and in their homes, and it pretty much shuts down life. When I told them that story they had looks of amazement on their faces. One older gentleman stood up and in wonder asked, “In America you actually “make” snow? On purpose??” Then he smiled, shook his head, and said, “You crazy Americans!”   The point of the illustration is that Christians should be like that snowmaking machine. But instead of making snow we should be dispensers of God’s love, covering the earth with His love. However, if one of us is not properly doing our job to blanket the earth with God’s love, there will be bare spots that should have been covered in His love. My challenge to them and to us is this: “Who should be covered in God’s love because they were around you?”   I encourage you to do your part today to cover your little part of the world with God’s love.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Small acts of great love”   One time, when I was on a mission trip in the Carpathian Mountains of the Transylvania region of central Romania, I spent a Sunday in a small gypsy farming village. There was a little Baptist church in the village with a small congregation of faithful believers. The pastor had invited me to preach an evangelistic sermon on Sunday morning, since many unbelievers would be coming to see the preacher from the USA. Then I spent the afternoon visiting in the homes of some of the church members. Then my assignment on Sunday evening was to preach/teach a message of encouragement to the small group of believers who were attempting to reach their village for Jesus.   The gypsies are a difficult culture to penetrate with the gospel. They are a despised minority in Eastern Europe and they are treated very badly by ethnic Romanians and by the Romanian government. That has caused deep-rooted resentment in the gypsy community and their hearts are often hard and cold. But Romanian Christians work hard to share Jesus with them. They serve the gypsies in the name of Jesus by showing them the love of Jesus.   That evening, I preached a sermon and led a discussion about sharing the love of Jesus in word and deed (I will share elements of that sermon with you in the days to come). One of the passages I referred to in that teaching session was Matthew 25:31-40 where Jesus instructed us to love the world on His behalf and to do so by means of small acts of love and kindness. In that passage He used as His examples giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, housing for the homeless, and clothing for the naked. He referred to visiting the sick and those in prison and He said that those small acts of love and kindness are so important to Him that when we do them, He receives them as if we had done them for Him personally.   That’s how important and effective small acts of love and kindness are in our efforts to introduce people to Jesus. In yesterday’s devotional I referred to the song “What the world needs now is love sweet love …” That really is true and what Jesus was teaching in this passage was that the love of Jesus, expressed by the followers of Jesus, in thousands of small ways every day, is one of the most effective methods of reaching someone for Christ. Mother Teresa of Calcutta instructed her students to remember, “There are no great acts of love, only small acts done in great ways.”   To illustrate that point for my audience of gypsies that evening, I told them a story about a snowmaking machine in the mountains of Southern California. I’ll tell you that story tomorrow.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”   Our Bible verse for today: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “This is what the world needs”   Okay, sing it with me, “What the world needs now is love sweet love, that’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love sweet love. No, not for some, but for everyone …”   Some of you are old enough to recognize that hit song from 1965. It was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, and sung by Jackie DeShannon. Granted, it’s a bit shmaltzy (excessively sentimental) – maybe even cheesy, but it is sweet and it does communicate a great truth. This world needs a whole lot more loving than it is currently getting. We live in a loud, angry, violent world that seems to be getting louder, angrier, and more violent by the day.   So, what’s a Christian to do? How do we live as effective and authentic disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ when the world is in chaos around us and we are engulfed in it? The Bible teaches that we are to be “in” the world but not “of” the world (John 17:16). But how does that work? How can we be surrounded by and participating in the chaotic world around us without being overwhelmed by it and perhaps even being drawn into the ugliness? How do we make a meaningful difference for Christ, being part of the solution rather than part of the problem?   John 3:16 is without question the most important verse in the New Testament and it communicates the greatest truth known to mankind. God gave the world Jesus, and then He gave the world the followers of Jesus to carry on what Jesus started. If Jesus is an expression of God’s love for the world, then by extension so are we the disciples of Jesus.   All this month we will explore the wonder of God’s love for mankind and the impact God’s love can and should be having on this hurting and bleeding world of ours. We will pay particular attention to the role each of us are to be playing in spreading that love.   What the world needs now is love sweet love – the sweet love of Jesus – and it’s up to you and me to make sure that need is met.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”   Our Bible verse for today: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Jesus is the anchor of your soul”   I’m an old sailor. A retired Naval Officer. Most of my career in the Navy was spent on aircraft carriers. An aircraft carrier is huge – a floating city. Fully manned it has a crew of over 5000 sailors. It has sleeping quarters, multiple kitchens and eating areas, a laundry, stores, gymnasiums, even a multi-channel television station! And so much more. The average modern aircraft carrier weighs more than 100,000 tons.   One of the things that always amazed me was how a ship that size could be firmly held in place by an anchor. Now, the anchors on an aircraft carrier are huge by themselves, but compared to the overall size of that ship, they are miniscule. Yet, somehow that tiny (by comparison) anchor, once it is firmly embedded in the sea bottom, holds that huge ship in place. That’s the power of a firm anchor.   In a spiritual sense Jesus is our firm anchor. That’s what Hebrews 6:19 teaches. The hope the verse refers to is the promise of God that we have salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. That truth then becomes the anchor that holds us firm in the storms we face in life, but it also holds us firm in the bosom of God for all eternity. Jesus is our firm anchor. He holds us fast, secure, and stable.   But it is possible for a ship to break free from its anchor and to then be set adrift. Likewise, it is possible for the Christian to break free from Jesus. I’m not talking about losing your salvation, but becoming untethered from Him and no longer being held securely in the truth of sound doctrine and good practice. When that happens, the Christian is no longer secure and will instead be adrift on the sea of life, being carried along by the cultural tides. That person is going to get tossed and battered by the storms of life and perhaps even end up shipwrecked on the rocks.     As we conclude this series about salvation past, present, and future, and as we continue our journey through this world living in the reality of salvation present, it’s essential for us to stay firmly tethered to Jesus. He is the anchor of your soul.   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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”   Our Bible verse for today: “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.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The purpose of the journey”   As a Christian your life is a journey through this world towards your real home in heaven. But as we have learned, it’s during this life that you are to grow in Christlikeness and in spiritual maturity. And that growth process will have a direct bearing on what eternity will be like for you. The purpose of your journey through this life is to prepare yourself so you can experience for all eternity all the fullness of God that Paul wrote about.   However, life can be hard and the journey often takes us through deep and dark valleys. Those are troubling times that bring with them pain and heartache. We all wish we didn’t have to face situations like that but that’s just life and we do have to deal with it. However, God walks with us through those times in the valleys. He also strengthens us for the struggle and helps us to deal with the trials. And if we draw close to Him and rely on Him, then those times become some of the most formative spiritual moments in this long journey.   Author John Eldredge once wrote a great devotional book to help us through times like that. The title is “Restoration Year.” It consists of 365 daily devotionals and it is designed to assist a Christian in picking up the pieces and moving forward in life after a life-altering event. Here’s a piece from one of those daily devotionals that I found particularly helpful. Maybe you will too:   “We need Jesus like we need oxygen. Like we need water. Like the branch needs the vine. Jesus is not merely a figure for devotions. He is the missing essence of our existence. Whether we know it or not, we are desperate for Jesus … The purpose of your being here on this planet, at this moment in time, comes down to three things: (1) Love Jesus with all that is within you. (2) To share your daily life with Him. (3) To allow his life to fill yours.” And I would add a fourth to that list – we are to spend our time on earth serving others in His name.   That’s the purpose of the journey and it’s the reason God still has you on this planet living this life – it’s so you can get to know Jesus better, grow spiritually, become more like Him, and continue to serve others on His behalf until He is ready for you to come to heaven. Doing that helps you to grow spiritually and it prepares you for the reward of your salvation – eternity in heaven.     You have been saved, you are saved, you will continue to be saved, and one day your eternity in paradise is going to be glorious. You will then experience all the fullness of God. But until then – live. Just live fully every day and make the most of the journey.     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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”   Our Bible verse for today: “He answered, ‘Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Feed your soul”   Yesterday we ended with the thought that we need to live like we’re headed for heaven. That’s true. Now that we are nearing the end of our study of salvation past, present, and future, I want to shift our attention back to the topic of salvation present and how we are to live while we’re moving through this life towards the consummation of our salvation in eternity. As we have learned, how well you prepare yourself now will determine what eternity will be like for you later.   In Matthew 4:4 Jesus referred to a great truth about living the Christian life. There, as He was responding to the temptations posed by Satan while He was in the wilderness, Jesus said that even more than He needed physical food to sustain His body He needed spiritual nourishment for His soul. He made a similar statement in John 4:32;34 when he told them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about … My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”   This reminded me of a great insight shared by the famous Christian philosopher Dallas Willard. Dallas was one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the last generation. Much of his ministry was focused on helping Christians develop a deeper practice of the Christian faith and to thereby grow much deeper in spiritual maturity. He spent his entire life preparing himself for the eternity in heaven that he is now enjoying, and he helped others to prepare themselves as well. Here’s what he had to share about caring for your soul and growing spiritually:   “What’s running your life at any given moment is not your external circumstances, not your thoughts, not your intentions, not even your feelings, it’s your soul. The soul is that aspect of your whole being that correlates, integrates, and enlivens anything going on in the various dimensions of the self. You don’t direct your soul you feed it, then the soul directs you.”   “You don’t direct your soul you feed it, then your soul directs you.” What a critical understanding that is! The most important thing you can do to live well now, grow spiritually, and to prepare yourself for eternity is to feed your soul every day. Feed it well. Feed it on the Word of God, on worship, on acts of service, and on fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.    I encourage you to feed your soul and to feed it well, today and every day.   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