Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Fresh Encounters keep us strong and fearless.”

 

Although I’ve never actually counted them myself, I’ve often heard it said that in the Bible there are three hundred and sixty-five variations of the command from God to “Fear not!” If so then that would be one “Fear not!” for every day of the year.

 

In 2 Timothy 1:6-7 the Apostle Paul writes one of those “Fear not!” statements. In this case it’s to his young protégé Timothy (and to us). Timothy was a young man who Paul mentored and then trained for the ministry. It seems as if Timothy served primarily as a “church fixer”. In other words, Paul kept sending the young man into situations where a church was having serious problems and Timothy’s job was to sort it out and get them back on track.

 

In my own years as a pastor God has sent me into three such situations and so I can tell you from experience that it’s a tough way to make a living! But at least in my case those assignments came to me after I had completed a twenty-one year career in the military. So I was able to bring a little military officer attitude to bear on the situations as well. Poor Timothy was in his twenties and still wet behind the ears. It must have been a rough ride for him.

 

So in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 Paul reminded Timothy of two very important truths that he needed to remain conscious of. First, Timothy needed to keep ablaze the passion that he had when he first started out in ministry. That blazing passion within him would be absolutely essential to keep him motivated and persistent as he faced what surely would seem like never-ending problems. But keeping that passion ablaze would require regular fresh encounters with God. Without those fresh encounters on a regular basis Timothy would quickly get weary, discouraged, and off track.

 

Secondly Timothy needed to remember that the Holy Spirit within him wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. Therefore the Spirit (big “S”) provided Timothy’s spirit (little “s”) with a sense of fearlessness in the face of adversity. Instead of being fearful Timothy was to have a sense of power, and love, and sound judgment. In the NIV it reads “power, love, and self-discipline.” But the best translation comes from the Amplified Bible:

 

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, or craven and cringing and fawning fear), but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”

 

By now I’m sure you get the picture. The same Spirit that was within Timothy doing all of that for him is also in you and giving you the same fearlessness.

 

I encourage you to keep the passion within you ablaze with continuous fresh encounters with God. Then go forward into life with a sense of power, and love, and calmness, and discipline, and self-control. In other words, “Fear not!”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Rather, train yourself in godliness, for the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Train yourself for godliness.”

 

I read an interesting statement this morning that caused me to appreciate all over again the importance of spiritual maturity and God-given wisdom. The statement reads, “Not every problem has only one solution. Wisdom is required: God’s Spirit must do the leading.”

 

The fact is that life is complicated, and often it’s not easy to discern the best course of action in any given situation. Many times there is more than one right answer and it can be tough to decide what choice to make and which action to take.

 

This is why spiritual maturity is so important. It’s crucial for us to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is one of the reasons we cannot afford to be lazy and lukewarm in our faith, because when we are, we drift from God’s standards and become increasingly insensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

 

In 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Paul urges young Timothy (and us) to train ourselves in godliness. Just as an athlete intentionally and vigorously trains his or her body so they will be at their best for the physical challenge of athletic competition, so too we must train ourselves spiritually so we will remain in tip-top spiritual shape.

 

Training ourselves in godliness infers that we have a system or routine in place. That then requires intentional actions and the discipline to stick with it. And just as an athlete will monitor their progress and development and periodically make adjustments as needed, so too must we in our spiritual training.

 

Training ourselves in godliness leads to spiritual maturity and the Spirit-led ability to make wise decisions in the face of multiple choices. One of my personal life verses is Proverbs 3:5-6. In the NIV it reads:

 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

 

That passage teaches that once we have this Spirit-led maturity and sensitivity which comes grows out of spiritual training, we can depend on the Spirit to lead us as we make wise choices. We may not have specific step-by-step instructions from the Lord but because we have a heart that is fully surrendered to Him, and because we are familiar enough with His ways and therefore are sensitive to His quiet voice and gentle guidance, we can count on Him to lead us in the way He wants us to go.

 

I encourage you to continue training yourself in godliness.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God disciplines you because He loves you.”

 

Yesterday’s devotional message was a little hard to write and it was probably a little hard to read. Nobody likes to consider God’s discipline and punishment. We want to focus instead on His blessings and mercies. But as we learned yesterday, God has many ways of dealing with His people, and the way He deals with us at any given moment depends on what is most appropriate to the situation based upon our behavior.

 

Yesterday we read of two times in the history of the Jews when they were so far away from God, that He had to withdraw His hand of protection and blessing from them and let them experience life fully exposed and totally unprotected from their enemies. And we also learned that sometimes individual Christians force God’s hand in a similar manner with our own behavior.

 

Now the question before us today is “why” would God deal with His people in that manner? Why would He let them (and us) suffer like that? And the answer is, “Because He loves us.” God loves us too much to leave us in our sins. He loves us too much to simply look the other way as we engage in conduct that is going to hurt us and those around us. So He will bring increasing levels of discipline into our lives as necessary to get our attention and bring us back into obedience.

 

Any good human parent would do the same for their children, so we should expect nothing less when God in dealing with us. His discipline is an act of love designed to bring us back to the behavior and conduct that He knows is in our own best interest, and which will honor Him.

 

In the Bible study “Fresh Encounter” Henry and Richard Blackaby explain it like this:

 

“Though difficult to endure, undergoing God’s discipline is a sure sign that we are in a relationship with Him. When we are corrected by God, it is a sure sign that he is watching our lives and desires to direct our steps.”

 

When we recognize and respond to God’s correction in our lives that is a fresh encounter with Him and it does bring us back into a full and healthy relationship with Him. It also places us back within the boundaries whereby He can and will protect and bless us.

 

God loves you too much to just leave you in your sinful behavior without at least trying to correct you. God disciplines us because He loves us.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:43-44 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God will withdraw His protection and blessings if He needs to.”

 

In Luke 19:43-44 Jesus was telling the nation of Israel what was going to happen to them in the near future. As individuals and as a nation they had drifted far from God. Although God had been calling out to them through the prophets, and He even sent them His Son to them, they were hard hearted and would not listen. So God was about to withdraw His protection and blessings and as a result, they would be overrun by their enemies.

 

This was not an isolated instance in the life of Israel. In Isaiah 5:5-6 God compared Israel to a vineyard that was supposed to have produced good fruit for Him but did not. Therefore God would remove His hand of protection from them: “Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.”

 

In the Bible study “Fresh Encounter” Henry and Richard Blackaby teach that one of the reasons we need a fresh encounter with God is to open our eyes to how far we have drifted from Him. They make the sobering observation that this is for our own good because if we continue to drift further and further away from Him, eventually we will place ourselves outside of the conditions within which He will protect and bless us. Like the nation of Israel, at some point God will withdraw His protection and blessings and then we are at the mercy of the world.

 

Many Christians experience this and don’t even realize it. In the Bible God has given us the boundaries within which He expects us to live our lives. But sometimes individual Christians, churches, and even nations make decisions to conduct themselves outside of Biblical standards. That then places them in a condition that God cannot and will not bless. When you are living in that condition you have essentially forced God to remove His hedge of protection, and to withhold His blessings. You are then exposed and at the mercy of the world.

 

A fresh encounter with God opens our eyes to how far we have drifted and it calls us back to obedience, fellowship, protection, and blessing. If you are living outside of Biblical boundaries I encourage you to correct that situation immediately. You are vulnerable and at great risk because you are in a situation God cannot and will not bless.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water. It sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A fresh encounter with God will result in deep spiritual roots.”

 

I love it when God paints word pictures for us like the one in Jeremiah 17:7-8. Here He compares our spiritual health to that of a living tree that has deep roots. Because the roots run deep, they have constant access to underground springs of cool and refreshing water. That being the case, even if there’s a drought on the surface, this tree continues to remain healthy and producing fruit while others with shallow roots are wilting and dying.

 

This is intended by God to be a picture of our spiritual lives. Our roots need to go deep so they are continually being nourished by the deep living water that is Jesus Christ. When that’s the case we will be strong and healthy, flourishing and producing spiritual fruit, even if on the surface life has become like a barren desert with the blistering heat of difficulty and the hot dry winds of adversity.

 

But roots don’t grow deep automatically or quickly. This takes time and in the case of spiritual roots, it takes work on our part. There are things that we need to do in order for our spiritual roots to run deep. Prayer, Bible study, worship, fellowship, acts of service, as well as the other spiritual disciplines of the Christian life are all essential to spiritual growth and deep roots.

 

Also, participation in the life of a good church family is crucial. I’m convinced that Biblically you cannot and will not be a spiritually healthy Christian if you are out of church. The Bible simply makes no allowance for it. Exactly the opposite is true. The Bible explicitly tells us not to skip church (Hebrews 10:24-25). Part of a healthy spiritual life includes full participation in church with other Christians.

 

It’s also true that the Bible makes no allowance for “pew potatoes”. These are people who do attend worship services, but mostly they just sit there. They arrive a minute before the service begins, they just sit there and watch, and they leave the minute the service is over. Then you won’t see them again until the following week.

 

Regularly attending worship services is certainly important, but a worship service is not a show to be watched, and it is also not just a religious duty that is performed once a week. Instead, attending and participating in the worship services is but one element in our participation in the full life of a church family, and active participation in the life of a good church is but one part in developing deep spiritual roots.

 

I encourage you to gather with your church family this Sunday and participate fully in the life of the church. If you don’t have a church home then I invite you to visit us at Oak Hill Baptist. Sunday school begins at 9:00; the worship service is at 10:00; and at 6:00 we will continue our Bible study “Fresh Encounter”. I hope to see you there!

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” Jeremiah 12:5 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Without God, life will wear you out.”

 

I love the word picture God created for us in Jeremiah 12:5. God was using the prophet Jeremiah to try to talk some sense into the nation of Israel. As a nation they had all drifted far away from God. They were focused on the cares and pleasures of life, and their hearts were given over to the idols of the surrounding pagan people.

 

What the Jews were finding to be increasingly true was that no matter how much they devoted themselves to the cares and concerns of life such as earning money, building houses, and pursing pleasure, it was never enough. In fact constantly pursing the things of the world was exhausting and it was wearing them out.

 

In Jeremiah 12:5 God compared their silly worldly pursuits to racing with runners – mere humans. His point was that if even the average everyday cares of life are wearing you out, how in the world will you be able to handle things that really matter – like good spiritual health and your eternal destiny?

 

When phrased in that way we see how ridiculous their focus was. In their own power, and without God’s blessing, even regular life and taking care of common everyday things was wearing them out. That being the case there was no chance that in their own power they could accomplish truly important things like being spiritually healthy, or being in right relationship with God, or ensuring their eternal salvation.

 

What they needed was a fresh encounter with God. They needed to return to Him and make Him the central focus of their lives. He then would help them to be successful in ways that truly mattered.

 

A New Testament version of this truth is found in Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus said “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest …”

 

This lesson applies at least as much to us today as it did to them back then. Many Christians have drifted away from God and have a lukewarm relationship with Him at best. They’re involved in unbiblical behaviors and are therefore living outside of His blessings. As a result they are finding that even common everyday life is difficult and exhausting and not going well. So if they’re not even able to handle normal life well in their own power, how could they achieve true peace and joy, as well as good spiritual health without God’s blessing? The obvious answer is that they can’t.

 

The truth is that without God, life will wear you out. Come back to Him today. You cannot and will not really thrive without Him.

 

God Bless,

Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands …”

1 Thessalonians 4:10-11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “There’s a lot to be said for living a simple and quiet life.”

 

I have a poem hanging on the wall of my office called “The Double Life” by Don Blanding. It’s about man who is torn between his love for exploring and adventure, and his strong desire to simply stay at home safe and warm, quiet and peaceful. The poem reads in part,

 

“How very simple life would be if there were only two of me.

A restless me to drift and roam, a quiet me to stay at home;

A searching one to find his fill, of varied skies and newfound thrill;

While sane and homely things are done, by the domestic other one.”

 

I always smile when I read that because it describes me so well. Next week I will turn 63. I’ve been in the full-time workforce since I was 17 – most of it in work that included traveling to far off lands and exotic locations. As a Naval Officer I circled the globe. As a mission team leader I have led more than 25 mission teams to places like the Amazon Jungle – and I’ve loved it all.

 

The only problem is that I’ve had to leave home to do it. You see, I love being at home too. The poem goes on, “With candlelight and well-loved books, and treasured loot in dusty nooks; with puttering and garden things, and dreaming while a cricket sings; and all the while the restless one, insists on more exciting fun …”

 

And so for forty-five years I’ve struggled with finding a balance between living life to the fullest, and slowing down enough to actually savor and enjoy that life.

 

What does all of this have to do with our theme this month of having a fresh encounter with God? Just that it’s hard to hear God’s “still small voice” in the middle of constant movement and activity and noise. Leading a busy life filled with lots of good and meaningful activities like a career, family, hobbies, and friends is fine up to a point. But we have to also make sure there is plenty of uninterrupted quiet time when we can simply sit in the presence of God and just savor being with him.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 4:10-11 the Apostle Paul encourages us to consider the virtues of a simpler, slower, quiet life. As I’ve gotten older I find myself increasingly drawn away from the adventure and travel and the high pressure world of a demanding career, and more towards a quiet and simple life. Oh, I still enjoy a long motorcycle ride on a pretty summer day, and I’m looking forward to going back to Haiti in September on another mission trip, but these days more quiet time with God and new fresh encounters with Him sound pretty inviting too.

 

How about you, is your life filled to overflowing with constant activity? Are you allowing enough time to just relax and savor life? If you go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com you can download a free article entitled “Room for the Singing of Angels”. You might find it helpful as you try to find the right balance in your own life.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” Jeremiah 3:22 (NKJV)

 

Our thought for today: “The drift away from God is almost always subtle.”

 

I’m not sure that anyone would ever want to boil a frog in a pot of hot water but if you did, you would not simply drop a live frog into boiling water. If you did do that then the frog would immediately leap back out of the pot.

 

The way to boil a frog (if you were so inclined), would be to gently place the frog in a pot of slightly warm water. The pleasing sensation of the comfortably warm water will cause the frog to relax and stay right there. Then you very slowly increase the heat until the water is boiling. The change in temperature will be so subtle that the frog won’t even notice it as its occurring. He will just keep adjusting to the subtle and acceptable changes until finally the change has become so severe (without him realizing it) that he boils to death.

 

That illustration of subtle incremental changes is also a picture of how Christians end up drifting away from the Lord. It happens very slowly, incrementally, over a long period of time. Because the changes are slight we usually don’t realize they’re happening, and because they are continuous we don’t realize how far away from God they’re taking us. That’s a condition many Christians are in today and they don’t even realize it. They are far from the Lord but because they’re sitting in a pew every Sunday they think they’re doing fine.

 

Usually when we think of a Christian in a “backslidden” condition we think of someone who used to be faithful but is now out carousing in the bars and cursing like a sailor. And while that is one description of being backslidden, the term actually refers to someone who has lost ground spiritually and has therefore “backslidden” to an earlier state.

 

For many Christians this means that they are actually less spiritually mature than they used to be. They have lost ground in their relationship with the Lord and it happened so slowly, so incrementally, that they don’t even realize it has happened. It has become the new normal for them, and all the while they’re sitting there thinking everything is fine.

 

In Jeremiah 3:22 God was speaking to the entire nation of Israel. They were all in a spiritually backslidden condition but they thought they were doing just fine. So in an effort to open their eyes to their true spiritual condition, God sent the prophet Jeremiah to speak words of conviction and truth to them. God’s solution to their problem was, “Return to Me!” That was it, just acknowledge that you have slipped and take the actions necessary to correct it. They needed a fresh encounter with the Lord.

 

Where are you at in your relationship with God? Is it possible that overtime you have backslidden – lost ground from where you used to be – and you don’t even realize it? Spend some time with the Lord today and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you about where you really are with God. Then be prepared to do something about it if needed.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Isn’t the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?” Isaiah 58:6-7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God wants obedience not religious ritual and good intentions.”

 

Repeatedly in Scripture God makes it clear that He is unimpressed with mindless religious rituals and that our good intentions are meaningless if they’re not followed up with action. He wants our faith to make a real difference in the real world and in the lives of real people.

 

The Israelites were great at religious ritual. They knew the rules, they had the policies and procedures of Temple worship down pat, and they could recite scripture frontwards and backwards. Any yet, God was unimpressed. More than that, He rebuked them. The practice of their faith had become little more than a religious game that they had become good at, but it made little practical difference in their own lives or in the lives of others whom they came in contact with.

 

As the people of God we are to be a constant source of help and blessing in our communities. We are to be a force for good, change agents who make a positive difference in the name of Jesus Christ. As individuals and as a body of believers the church must be intentionally on-mission with Jesus outside the walls of our buildings.

 

In Isaiah 58:8 God goes on to tell us what will happen when we do actually go out to bless people: “Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.”

 

Yes, the Lord’s glory will shine through us and He will use our obedience to bless others. But also, He will use our obedience to bless us. Remember the fresh encounter we’ve been learning about all month? Obedience in action is often the catalyst for a fresh encounter with God. Here’s the rest of that passage from Isaiah:

 

58:9-10: “At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer, when you cry out, He will say ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.”

 

And in 58:11: “The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry.”

 

Did you catch that? Put feet to your faith, live it out in a practical way in the real world, being a blessing to real people in need, and spiritually you will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry.”

 

There’s the fresh encounter. It comes through faith in action. Go wants obedience, not religious rituals and good intentions.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The people worshipped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You cannot live on yesterday’s walk with God.”

 

In the Bible study “Fresh Encounter” Henry and Richard Blackaby note that there is an observable pattern that exists in the lives of God’s people, and which repeats itself with respect to how they walk with God. For a while they are faithful in their walk and they honor Him with their conduct. Then they get spiritually lazy and begin to drift from Him. Then they become progressively more and more involved in unbiblical behavior. God then disciplines then and that then causes the people to repent and to once again walk closely with God.

 

We see that pattern most clearly in the lives of the people of Israel as recorded in the book of Judges. In Judges 2:7 we read of how in the days of Joshua the people were faithful. Then in 2:11 we read that the entire nation began to drift away from God, “The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” Then in 2:15, “So they suffered greatly.” And then in 3:9, “The Israelites cried out to the Lord.”

 

What we read about in the lives of those early Jews is a pattern of conduct that is all too common in God’s people throughout the ages. Most of us do at one time have a vital and dynamic relationship with God. But over time the passion often cools and we end up on cruise control, just going through the motions but thinking we are still being faithful. That’s the equivalent of trying to live on yesterday’s walk with God. Because it was good yesterday, we fool ourselves into believing it is still good today.

 

For many Christians that’s the beginning of a downward spiral which leads them away from God, out of church, and often into conduct that is unbiblical.

 

However many other Christians simply stay in a lukewarm condition. They never descend into the depths of serious sin, but neither are they on fire for the Lord anymore. They’re just sort of “being” Christian and “doing” church. That condition is much more common. Our churches are filled with people who are lukewarm and on cruise control.

 

Are you living today on yesterday’s walk with God? Have you been a Christian so long that the practice of your faith has become routine and your passion for God has become lukewarm? Do you even realize that has happened? When Christians drift away from God it’s almost always a subtle thing that happens slowly, almost imperceptibly, over a long period of time but which in the end, leads them to be far from God and they don’t even realize it.

 

I encourage you to spend some extra time today just sitting quietly before God and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you about where you are really at in your relationship with the Lord. Then be willing to make changes as needed to get back on track if necessary.

 

God bless,

Pastor Jim