Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Busyness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “The Lord deserves our best.”

 

I remember once watching a professional juggler juggling colored balls. He started out with just three but as his act progressed he continued to add more and more balls into the routine. Soon he was juggling six at one time, then seven, then eight. The more he added the harder he had to work and the more difficult it became to keep it all going.

 

Then he started picking up the speed and not only was he juggling eight colored balls at once, but he was doing it faster and faster. I was amazed that he was able to keep all those balls in the air at one time. Then he attempted to add in one more but it was too much, and they all came crashing down.

 

What’s true of jugglers with colored balls is also true of you and me. We can only juggle so many tasks and activities at a time. How many balls can you comfortably keep in the air and how many is too many? The more you try to juggle the harder you have to work at it and the more difficult it gets. And eventually, you will add in one too many and it will all come crashing down.

 

But before that happens, before the crash occurs, you will still have all your balls in the air but you will be less and less in control of them – and your effectiveness will be quickly diminishing.

 

Colossians 3:23 is a classic verse of Scripture which exhorts the followers of Christ to work well and enthusiastically at whatever we’re doing. The implication is that we are to do our best, we are to be our best, and we are to strive for excellence. But that can only be true if we can focus enough on any one thing to give it our best. If we have too many things going on, then we can give each one only a little bit of attention before our focus must necessarily shift to the next ball that needs to be caught – because if we don’t shift our attention to that next one (which is coming up fast), we will drop it, and then we will probably drop the others too.

 

Let me shift metaphors: an over-filled, overwhelmed life is like trying to cram ten pounds of stuff into a five pound bag – the bag will be busting at the seams and overflowing. That describes many of our lives too; they are busting at the seams and overflowing.

 

In life we don’t want to allow ourselves to get to the point that we’re doing so many things a little bit, that we’re doing none of them well. And we certainly don’t want to get to the point that we have so much going on that we can no longer keep it all going and therefore it all comes crashing down (and sooner or later it always does).

 

I want to encourage all of us to consider the things we have going on in our lives and then make smart decisions regarding what’s truly important and what isn’t; what we need to keep doing and what we don’t.

 

The Lord and the other people in our lives deserve our best. But if we’re too busy, we won’t be able to give them our best.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Busyness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice always! Pray constantly! Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Are you too busy?”

 

I read Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and I have to believe he was intentionally using the literary device of hyperbole. He was using exaggerated language to make a point. How could he not be? Seriously, we’re to rejoice “always”? Pray “constantly”? Give thanks in “everything”? That doesn’t describe me and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t describe you either.

 

Paul was realistic about the human condition and so I’m sure he wasn’t saying that we should be able to maintain such a state of mind and heart continuously, 24/7. Instead he was describing a general condition that should be true for the follower of Jesus in general. We are called to live a joyful life; prayerfully thoughtful, sensitive and alert; a person who is conscious of their blessings and is thankful for them.

 

But even then, that still doesn’t really describe many of us. Many of us are not “generally” joyful, prayerful, and thankful. Instead we are stressed, worried, worn out, and anxious. And the primary reason is that, for many of us, we’re too busy. We have allowed our lives to become so filled-up that we’re constantly running from one activity to another, always under pressure, and never really happy or content.

 

Busyness is a killer. It steals our joy and limits our effectiveness. We end up trying to do so many different things that we’re not doing any of them particularly well. How does that happen? In the military it’s called “mission creep”. You start out with a clear objective in mind but as time goes on you notice something else that you believe is worthy of your attention and so you add it into your mix. Then soon there is something else, and so that gets added in too. And then there is another thing, and then another, and pretty soon you’ve ended up with a mission (or a life) that doesn’t resemble what you originally had in mind at all. It just started creeping and growing all on its own and now it’s this wild, overgrown, tangled thing that’s a mess. Can I get an “amen”?

 

I’m preaching to the choir here. I’m writing this to myself. I have a lot of trouble saying “no” to other people and to myself. There are so many good things I believe deserve my attention; and so many others that I think I really ought to do even though I don’t want to; and I have a really bad habit of letting other people control too much of my agenda. I’ll bet you struggle with some of the same issues.

 

For the rest of this month we will explore this subject of excessive busyness. We’ll talk about what it is, how it happens, and what we should do about it. And of course, we will consider it all from God’s perspective.

 

For many of us achieving the general frame of mind Paul was describing in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 will only happen when we start doing less instead of more.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman – who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.” Proverbs 31:10 (Amplified Bible)

 

Our thought for today: “Thank God for wise women!”

 

How appropriate it is that God concludes the book of Proverbs, this book about wisdom, by giving us a beautiful description of a wise, virtuous, and godly woman. Such women have a tremendous positive impact on all of us!

 

Most English translations of this verse use the word “wife” rather than “woman” and I believe they do so because the rest of the poem describes the impact this woman has on her husband and household. But the Hebrew word can actually mean either wife or woman. Either descriptive term is an equally valid translation of the word.

 

Along with the translators of the Amplified Bible I personally believe “woman” is the better translation because although a wise and godly wife is certainly a blessing to her husband and children, wise and godly single women bring the same blessings to those in their world. Therefore this poem is about them too.

 

Proverbs 31:10-31 is intended by God to provide us with a picture of the ideal woman. She is virtuous, wise, godly, industrious, and dependable. She is a blessing to all those who are close to her.

 

The image given to us here is a reflection of Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall, and of the woman portrayed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:22-33. There we find a woman who has been redeemed by Christ and who is confident and comfortable in her role within a Christian marriage. (If you would like an expanded teaching on Paul’s lesson about marriage please go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com and download the free article “A Biblical Model for Marriage).

 

Personally I’m very grateful for the Proverbs 31 women that God has put into my life. I’m thinking first and foremost of my mother and my wife, and then I’m also thinking about some of the women who have been members of the three churches I’ve been the pastor of over the last twenty years. Currently I have the good fortune to be the pastor of a church that is filled with Proverbs 31 women. Lucky me!

 

I began this message by saying that I believe it’s perfect for God to conclude this Biblical book of wisdom with the example of a wise and godly woman. That’s because such women are vital to our homes, communities, and churches. Take a moment today to thank God for the Proverbs 31 women He has put into your life. And then take a moment to thank those women for being who they are.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and the needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Stand up for the weak and vulnerable.”

 

Proverbs 31 consists of two poems written by a godly mother for her son who is known to history only as “King Lemuel”. We don’t know exactly who he was. There was no King Lemuel in the history of Israel and so some believe Lemuel was a foreign king. Ancient Jewish tradition says it was King Solomon and that “Lemuel” was his mother’s pet name for him.

 

The first poem in the Proverb consists of the mother giving instructions to her son about how to be a good leader. In verses 8-9 she touches on a key theme that is woven all throughout the Bible by God and it’s that good people stand up for and protect the weak and vulnerable. That should be true of Kings and other leaders, and it should be true of you and me as well.

 

“Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:17

 

“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27

 

Along with Proverbs 31:8-9, those are just two of the many other passages which teach this same lesson. God’s people are to take a bold stand for social justice; we are to feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit the sick; we are to defend the cause of the weak and vulnerable, and we are to unselfishly use some of our resources to help others in need. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that when we do those things for the most needy and vulnerable, as far as He is concerned we did it for Him personally.

 

At Oak Hill Baptist Church such ministry is the heartbeat of our congregation. We’re an Acts 1:8 church and we are constantly on-mission with Jesus outside the walls of the church buildings reaching out to those in need. That includes regular times of ministry in our local rescue mission; frequent activities with the children who live in the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home; three mission trips every year to the coal mining region of Kentucky to bring relief supplies; as well as international mission trips.

 

In a couple of weeks we will be going back up to Kentucky to bring backpacks, school supplies, and clothes to help the poorest families get their children ready for the new school year. As I write this one of our nurses is in the Andes Mountains of Peru with a medical team. In August we will be hosting a Pastor from Liberia, Africa. Shortly after that our own long-term missionary family assigned to Southeast Asia will be home with us. In September we have a team going to Haiti to work with orphans.

 

The message of the Bible is clear, God’s people are to actively minister to those in need – especially to the weak and the vulnerable. We are to do it individually and as a church. I invite you to visit our website at www.oakhillbaptist.net to learn how one small church has learned how to be on-mission with Jesus locally, in our state, in our nation, and even to the ends of the earth.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:8-9 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Learn to be content.”

 

Have you ever secretly wished you could win the lottery? Perhaps you’ve even prayed for it. Maybe you’ve actually talked to God and promised Him “If you let me win that jackpot I promise I’ll do only good things with the money.”

 

By now we’re all familiar with the many studies that have been conducted which show that the overwhelming majority of people who win large amounts of money in a lottery actually end up worse off than they were before they had the money. Wild living, broken relationships, divorce, substance abuse, even early death are all common among those who have suddenly reaped a huge windfall of money.

 

We know that’s true and yet we don’t believe it would be true of us. We would be the one who would bless the world with it. Orphans would be fed, church buildings constructed, homeless people housed, a cure for cancer would be found, and the world would be a better place because I was suddenly rich. Uh huh. It almost never turns out that way. The truth is that most of us wouldn’t handle sudden riches well and God knows it. Most of us are better off having just enough, but not too much.

 

That’s the point the writer of Proverbs 30 was making in these verses. If we have too much, we become self-reliant and we tend to forget how much we need God. If we don’t have enough, we could become desperate and do things we shouldn’t do. Just enough is enough. This is a lesson the Apostle Paul made several times in his own writings:

 

“But we encourage you … to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.” 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12

 

“But contentment with godliness is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing we will be content with these.” 1 Timothy 6:6-8

 

Unfortunately contentment is something we struggle with in our culture. We are conditioned to never really be content. We live in an age of conspicuous consumption. The goal of advertising is to make us unhappy with what we have and to convince us that we must have something more. Therefore we’re conditioned to constantly consume whether we really need it or not. And that of course, will always require more money than we have. That’s where debt comes into the picture. In our day acquiring more stuff doesn’t require having the money to pay for it. You can charge it. But then your disposable income gets eaten up with debt payments and you have even less cash for the things you need and want. So you incur more debt. And on it goes.

 

The answer is to be content. The great Christian writer G.K. Chesterton once observed: “There are two ways to have enough: One is to continue to acquire until you eventually have it all, and the other is to be content with what you have.”

 

I encourage you to be content with what you have.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Don’t add to His words, or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God doesn’t need our help.”

 

Proverbs 30:5 reminds us of a vitally important truth that we need to always keep in mind: The Word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. It is pure and perfect and it actually serves as a means of protection for those who obey it and live by it. This truth is repeated for us by God numerous times throughout Scripture. In Deuteronomy 6:1-3 Moses told the Israelites:

 

“This is the command – the statutes and ordinances – the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly.”

 

In 2 Timothy 3:15-17 the Apostle Paul expressed the same truth for New Testament believers when he wrote: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

 

So there can be no question that the Word of God provides us with the principles and guidance we need in order to live well, according to God’s standards. However, we also need to remain aware of the truth expressed in verse 6 that the Word of God is complete, and therefore does not need to be added to by us.

 

This is important because far too many Christians over the years have come to the conclusion that God evidently left some stuff out of the Bible that He should have included. Therefore He needs to be helped along a little as we fill in the gaps for Him. Churches and denominations have historically compiled additional lists of do’s and don’ts of their own, and then they attempt to compel their people to obey those additional rules and regulations. And, almost always, they try to portray those additional rules and regulations as being from God. Although they usually don’t actually say it the implication is, “This is what God meant to say.” as if God wasn’t clear enough on His own.

 

In the Old Testament, and in the days of Jesus, this was the sin of the Pharisees. They created a massive list of additional rules and regulations that went far beyond anything God Himself required of His people. In our day there are many modern-day Pharisees who have done essentially the same thing.

 

The truth is that the Word of God is perfect and pure – and complete! We are not free to take anything away from it, but we’re also not free to add to it. If you want to make up additional rules for yourself that you are going to live by, that’s fine. But don’t try to insist that everyone else needs to live by them too, and definitely don’t attempt to say that those additional rules are from God. God doesn’t need our help in this area. He got it right the first time.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I am the least intelligent of men, and I lack man’s ability to understand. I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.” Proverbs 30:2-3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You can do something about it.”

 

Proverbs 30 was not written by Solomon. It was written by a man named “Augur”. We know next to nothing about his man, except that God selected him to write a Proverb that would then be preserved in the inspired Word of God and handed down to multiple generations for thousands of years, and it would be used to teach and inspire others.

 

And yet, he begins his Proverb with a somewhat astounding admission that he believed himself to be unintelligent compared to others, and unschooled in the ways of God. I wonder what caused Augur to feel this way. Maybe, since most of the other Proverbs were written by Solomon (the most intelligent man in the world in his day), perhaps Augur felt inadequate by comparison and was expressing that in verse two. And perhaps his claim in verse three that he didn’t know much about God was simply a statement of humility in the face of God’s majesty. He also evidently thought that he had little real wisdom. He was referring to the Godly wisdom as described in Proverbs, the kind that makes people truly wise. Augur felt he didn’t have it.

 

I can relate to how Augur felt. As I’ve mentioned before, as a child in school I was a terrible student. Second grade ended up being two of the hardest years of my life. Throughout all my years in grade school I was happy with any grade that was a “D” or higher. I ended up quitting school at 17, only part way through the 10^th grade, and I went in the Navy. There I discovered that everyone else was smarter than me, and I didn’t like it. That feeling of inadequacy instilled in me a burning desire to learn. Consequently I’ve been a student and a learner for the rest of my life.

 

Likewise, when I came to faith in Christ I was already in my late 30s. Almost immediately I felt as if I had wasted many years when I could have been learning about God and growing as a Christian. My awareness of how little I knew about God ignited a passion within me to read the Bible, to listen to sermons, to participate in Bible studies, read Christian books, pray hard, and to learn all I could about God and His ways.

 

The sense of deficiency that Augur wrote about with respect to academic knowledge, spiritual understanding, and godly wisdom, is a sense of deficiency that we all share to some degree. But fortunately there is something we can do about it. We can take the necessary actions to correct it. We can study different subjects; we can read good books; we can take classes in areas of interest to us; we can commit ourselves to being diligent students of God and of His Word; and we can gain godly wisdom by learning Biblical principles and then actually applying them to our lives.

 

I appreciate Augur’s transparency in admitting how he felt. I also suspect he was smarter than he gave himself credit for. The rest of his Proverb seems to bear that out. But still, a feeling of inadequacy in these areas could actually be a good thing. It can keep us humble and it can cause us to want to learn and grow.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check… An angry man stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered man increases rebellion.” Proverbs 29:11; 22 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Anger takes many forms.”

 

Are you an angry person? Don’t be too quick to answer that question. Typically when we think of an angry person we think of someone who has trouble controlling his or her temper and is therefore prone to angry outbursts. Those outbursts could result in words that should not be spoken, or it could take the form of shouting and irrational behavior, and sometimes he could result in violent actions. That certainly is a description of an angry person.

 

But anger takes other forms as well. One of the angriest people I have ever known almost never displays it with outbursts of anger. Although I have known him for close to thirty years, I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I’ve seen him display anger in the form described above. Instead, his is a quiet simmering anger. It percolates below the surface coloring his thoughts, causing him to be bitter and resentful and very critical of others. This man’s anger almost never seems to go away – so much so that it’s an integral part of who he is. He is just an angry man, but you would never know it if your only definition for “angry” involved observable outbursts of anger.

 

In their excellent book “The Anger Workbook: An interactive guide to anger management”, Doctors Les Carter and Frank Minirth offer a thirteen step process for effectively managing anger. Step one is to learn to recognize the many faces of anger. That’s the starting place. Before we can effectively deal with anger in any meaningful way we must first know what it is and we must understand how it manifests itself.

 

In the workbook they explain that anger is an emotion that is common to every person. The difference is in what we do with it. They then go on to help us understand that in addition to the most commonly recognized form of anger – angry outbursts – anger also commonly manifests itself in more subtle ways such as irritability, impatience, critical thoughts, withdrawal, bitterness and resentment, sarcasm, depression, a victim mentality, ambivalence, and more.

 

As Solomon teaches in Proverbs 29, it’s a foolish person who does not recognize and effectively control their anger. That person causes problems for themselves and for others. I encourage you to consider getting a copy of “The Anger Workbook.” It will help you to understand and effectively deal with anger, in all of its many manifestations.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy. Happy is the one who is always reverent, but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.” Proverbs 28:13-14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Live well, please God, inspire others.”

 

In these two verses from Proverbs 28 we find a Biblical prescription for living a good life: Be honest with yourself and with God about your sins; repent and receive mercy and forgiveness from God; then do your best to live in a way that obeys and honors Him. This is what God requires of His people. It’s what He has always required of them from the earliest of times. Way back in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy Moses told the people of Israel:

 

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:12-13

 

Solomon writes here in Proverbs 28: 13-14 that if we do live that way we will find true happiness. Of course he didn’t mean to imply that your life will be trouble free, because it won’t be. But overall, in a big picture way, you will have a life that is generally happy and content. That’s the reward of a godly lifestyle.

 

Beyond that, your godly lifestyle will have a positive impact on others as well. These verses in this Proverb don’t actually speak to that, but we know from experience that it’s true. People all around us are watching and they are impacted by how we conduct ourselves. Pastor Chuck Swindoll once explained it like this:

 

“Hey, who knows whom you could persuade if you walked with God? Few things are more infectious than a godly lifestyle. The people you rub shoulders with every day need that kind of challenge. Not prudish. Not preachy. Just crackerjack clean living. Just honest-to-goodness, bone-deep, nonhypocritical integrity. Authentic obedience to God.”

 

A godly lifestyle is its own reward. It brings you the best and happiest life you can ever have, and it will inspire and impact others. So honor God with how you live! Live well, please God, and inspire others with your conduct.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A clear conscience is a wonderful thing.”

 

One day I was driving down the street in a bad section of town when in the parking lot of a seedy motel I saw a young man I knew. He had descended into the depths of the drug culture, had dropped out of sight for some time, and we were all worried about him. So I stopped to talk to him.

 

It quickly became obvious that he was on drugs at that moment and he was very paranoid. He told me I shouldn’t be there because it wasn’t safe (that was true). He told me that there were detectives hiding in an office building across the street who were keeping the motel under constant surveillance (possibly true but probably not). And then he told me that those detectives followed him everywhere he went (almost certainly not true). In his paranoid state of mind, knowing full well that he was breaking numerous laws, he was convinced he was being constantly watched and followed.

 

I told him that if he wasn’t doing the things he was doing and living the life he was living, he wouldn’t have to worry about the police tailing him because they wouldn’t have any reason to. Unfortunately he didn’t get it and we both went on our separate ways.

 

The paranoid sense of being watched (and ultimately discovered) that that young man was feeling is a common experience for all of us when we’re in the wrong and we know it. God gave us a conscience for a reason. Further, in the lives of Christians, it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and to make us feel guilty about it. The idea is to make us so miserable that no sane person would want to continue living that way.

 

In Romans 13:3 the Apostle Paul asks a rhetorical question, “Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.” (NIV) This was Solomon’s point in Proverbs 28:1. It’s also what Bible commentator John MacArthur meant when he wrote, “A guilty conscience imagines accusers everywhere, while a clear conscience has boldness to face everyone.”

 

A clear conscience is a wonderful thing but a guilty conscience leaves you worried and paranoid. So the answer is simple, just live in such a way that you don’t have anything to feel guilty about.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim