Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We need discipline and self-control.”

 

I don’t know if the Apostle Paul was an athlete but I do know that he loved to use sports metaphors. He compared the Christian life to a race to be run, a fight to be fought, and a training regime that must be engaged in if we are to live successfully and be victorious.

 

From what Paul described of himself in his writings, a picture emerges of a man who was disciplined and who strived to exercise self-control in his life. Those are attributes which are essential for every man or woman who desires to be the best person he or she can be.

 

Yesterday I wrote of how it is that God sees within you the person that you can be, and that He is in the process of molding and shaping you into that person. He progressively bringing out from within you the new, better, and improved you. But it’s not all up to Him. Each of us has a role to play in the transformation too. God works in partnership with us. He does His part but we must also do our part. We have to exercise discipline in all areas of our lives and do the things that need to be done in order to become the man or woman God wants us to be. And we also have to be self-controlled in order to avoid the things we need to avoid.

 

For instance, you cannot fill your mind with pornography, violent images, and profane song lyrics, and then expect God to transform you into a holy and righteous person who exalts Christ in your manner of living. You have to be disciplined and exercise self-control in those areas and then God will bring out the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

Likewise, I would love to be able to live on a diet of ice cream, pizza, and chocolate, but have a healthy body that is slim, trim, and physically fit. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. I have to do my part to eat well and to exercise, and then I can reasonably ask God to help me stay healthy and fit. I cannot stuff myself with junk food and then expect God to magically make me look like Fabio.

 

Most of us need more discipline, structure, and self-control in our lives. I encourage you to consider the areas of your life that need to undergo some transformation and then consider what kinds of structure you can implement to help you become more disciplined and to have greater self-control. God will do His part in your transformation, but you also have to do our part.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God sees you as you can be, not as you are.”

 

“The Pygmalion Effect” is a version of the theory of the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Pygmalion was a figure from Greek mythology. He was a sculptor and he created a statue of what he considered to be the perfect woman. Day after day he studied his statue and thought deeply about the kind of woman she would be if she were real. He fell in love with the image of the statue and found himself longing for a real woman who would be a live version of his perfect woman. Well the gods favored Pygmalion by bringing his statue to life, and Pygmalion’s longing for the perfect woman became a self-fulfilling prophecy. It turned out that there was a real perfect woman hidden deep within the statue.

 

In the early 1900s the poet and writer George Bernard Shaw wrote a play about the self-fulfilling prophecy. This time the story revolved around a professor by the name of George Mason. George contended that what a person believed to be true about themselves would ultimately determine what actually was true about them. To prove his theory, George conducted an experiment with a poor, uneducated young woman by the name of Eliza Doolittle. George told her that deep within herself she was actually a beautiful, cultured, dignified lady of high society and if she would just allow him to help her bring those qualities out, it would transform her life.

 

Eliza was doubtful at first but she went along with the experiment. Over time George trained Eliza to conduct herself like a high society lady. As Eliza began acting that way, she slowly came to believe it to be true of herself. And the more she believed it to be true, the more she acted that way. Long story short, one day Eliza was presented to British high society and everyone was awed by this beautiful, charming, cultured lady.

 

What you believe to be true about yourself matters very, very much. More than that, what God knows to be true about you matters very, very much. You may see yourself as a hapless, uneducated Eliza Doolittle, lacking in self-confidence and expecting little of your life. God sees you differently. God sees you as the person you can be, not as the person you are.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 is just one of numerous passages which remind us that God is in the process of slowly transforming us into the men and women He intends for us to be. He is in the process of sanding off the rough edges of our personality, purging the sinful habits we used to engage in and which were so repulsive to others, and He is bringing out of us the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).

 

As God looks at us He sees the beautiful person within, and He is at work bringing that beautiful person into being. So when He assures us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a great future in store for us, He’s thinking of what lies ahead for us as He continues to mold us and shape us into the person He knows we can be.

 

God is doing great things in you, and He has great things in store for you. Believe it. And then let that great truth determine your attitude about yourself.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You can trust God.”

 

What you believe to be true about God is the most important thing about you. That’s true because your faith is at the very core of your being. It’s the foundational truth upon which everything else rests. How you view the world, what you think about the things that happen to you, how much hope for the future you have, the amount of fear and doubt you experience, and so much more, all of it depends on what you believe to be true about God. And what you believe to be true about God will determine your overall attitude about life.

 

In Matthew 6:25-34 (commonly known as the “Do not worry” passage in the Bible), Jesus reveals some great truths about God. He tells us that we should not be anxious about things like food and clothes and the general cares of life. He explains that God is aware of those needs and He is committed to providing for us. Jesus illustrates that by reminding us of how it is that God provides even for the birds of the air (and we are much more important to Him than mere birds). So if He cares enough to provide for them, He will surely provide for us as well.

 

Right there Jesus points out several important truths about God. First we learn that God knows everything. There is nothing about you and your life that He is not aware of. Second, God’s love for us runs deep, deeper than we can ever understand. And third we learn that He is all powerful and there’s nothing He cannot do, and that includes meeting your needs. What’s also being described for us in this passage is the sovereignty of God. He has complete authority and control over the affairs of your life.

 

We see this illustrated for us when we read the stories of the people in the Bible. Reading those stories allows us to see something that the people themselves did not see at the time. In those stories we get to see God at work behind the scenes in their lives. We see God orchestrating events, influencing multiple people, and pulling together many varied pieces and parts in order to accomplish His objectives. The people in the stories were seldom aware of that behind-the-scenes activity of God and yet it was crucial to what was happening in their lives. That’s a picture of God’s sovereignty at work in individual lives and it’s a picture of how He works in your life too.

 

The lesson in all of this is that you can and should have complete trust in God. He is sovereign, and He is also good and kind. He loves you more than you can begin to understand. Your life and your future are safe in His hands.

 

Now mediate on that great truth for a while and see what it does for your attitude!

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “It starts with you.”

 

I have always loved Psalm 51. This is a Psalm of David and it’s about the time that the prophet Nathan confronted the king regarding the sin he had committed with Bathsheba. If you remember the story, David the King was at home in his palace in Jerusalem when he should have been out in the battlefield with his army. One night from his roof he saw a beautiful woman (Bathsheba) taking a bath on the roof of a nearby home. What in the world she was doing naked on the roof of her home I don’t know, but the king saw her, lusted after her, had a servant go and get her, and he slept with her.

 

Bathsheba was married to one of David’s soldiers, Uriah, but she became pregnant by David. Long story short, David had Uriah murdered and he married Bathsheba. Then Nathan the prophet, under instructions from the Holy Spirit of God, confronted David with the sin he had committed. In Psalm 51 we read of David’s response to that confrontation. He acknowledged his sin, repented, and begged the Lord’s forgiveness.

 

Although this Psalm is about a very bad and very specific sin committed by one particular man, the lessons of the Psalm apply to all of us. Forget that these are David’s words of repentance and make them your own. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

 

All too often we’re convinced that it’s the other person who needs to get some religion; it’s the other person who needs to confess and repent. No, it’s probably you. Or at least, let’s start with you. How about if you get right with the Lord first, then we can think about whether or not others need to as well.

 

This is important. Usually if we will begin by asking God to deal with our own heart first we’ll quickly discover that 90% of the problem gets fixed right there. Maybe 100%!

 

Verse 12 goes on, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Repentance is tremendously refreshing and liberating. It lifts a great burden off of us and allows us to once again truly experience the joy of our relationship with the Lord and with others.

 

Every Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we end our service with an open altar call. This is a time for people to make a variety of different kinds of commitments but it’s also a time for individuals to simply come and kneel at the altar and do some business with the Lord. I hope your church offers that opportunity as well. If not, please feel free to come and kneel at ours. Doing so is good for the soul. It’s good for the attitude.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as we see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Bless others with your good attitude”

 

Your attitude impacts others. The way you think, speak, and act effects others and will have an impact on their own attitudes. Your attitude can be a positive influence or it can be negative, but it will have an impact.

 

I recently came across a statement in one of my study Bibles which I had seen before, and which I had underlined, because the truth it communicates is powerful and needs to be remembered. Here it is:

 

“I believe in you.’ Perhaps some of the most powerful words we can say to someone. These four simple words evoke confidence and anticipation in all that a person can and will become by God’s grace and power. If you have ever had the privilege of someone uttering those words to you, you know the emotion it evokes. They inspire you to become all God wants you to become.”

 

What’s being described there by the editors of “The Mission of God Study Bible” is the same truth written about in Hebrews 10:24-25 – words matter; attitude matters. We can either build people up or we can tear them down with the words we use and the attitude we display.

 

Hebrews 10:24-25 is a classic passage of Scripture which is intended by God to remind us of the responsibility we have to be a blessing to each other. We are to be concerned about each other, we are to spur one another on to love and good deeds, and we are to find ways to encourage and lift one another up.

 

And, in order to accomplish all that, we have to be together. That’s his point. Don’t neglect the times of gathering together for worship because in addition to the obvious purpose of worshipping, God also brings us together in those groups so we can have a positive impact on each other. But that won’t happen if you aren’t there. If you aren’t there then you don’t get blessed by others, and others don’t get blessed by you.

 

So, today is Friday but Sunday is coming. I encourage you to resolve right now that on Sunday morning you’re going to get yourself out of bed, put on your “Sunday go to meeting clothes”, and go to church. You need to be there and others need you to be there. Their good attitude will be a blessing to you, and yours will be a blessing to them.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.” Proverbs 3:11-12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You may need an attitude adjustment.”

 

My mother was one of the sweetest people you could ever know. There was no question that she loved me deeply. I’m the oldest of six and I’m sure that I was her favorite. I love to tell my brothers and sisters that but they don’t believe me. They all think that they were her favorite but they’re wrong, I’m sure it was really me.

 

My Mom was exceedingly patient with her children – especially when it came to correcting us when we misbehaved. She would calmly explain to us what we did wrong and give us lots of opportunity to correct our behavior. It took a lot – and I mean a whole lot – for her to lose her temper. When she finally did she would stamp her foot and say, “Alright, that’s it! You need an attitude adjustment!” And then the discipline would start. Most of the time it was hard to take the discipline too seriously and not laugh because my Mom was so sweet it was hard for her to get mad or to stay mad. So the discipline was usually pretty tame but still, we did get our attitudes adjusted.

 

Sometimes God needs to take action to adjust our attitudes too. Like my Mom, God loves us deeply and He is exceedingly patient with us. And also like my Mom, God doesn’t want to be angry with us and He doesn’t want to stay angry with us; but He will take the action necessary to help us adjust our attitudes.

 

The key when you’re on the receiving end of the discipline is to go ahead and adjust that attitude quickly so that the discipline can end. The worst thing you can do, whether we’re talking about a child being disciplined by a parent or you being discipline by God, is to get stubborn about it. The discipline will continue as long as it takes for you to adjust that attitude and bring your behavior back in line with what’s acceptable. It makes no sense to prolong it any longer than necessary by being stubborn.

 

The thing is, we can all see the wisdom of that when it comes to a child being disciplined by a parent. The child should just do what the parent says and make the needed adjustment to their attitude. But what about us when we get stubborn with God and persist in our unacceptable behavior rather than just accepting the correction? How many of us prolong the discipline from God because we stubbornly persist in doing wrong?

 

One thing I learned as a child was that I could bring the discipline to an end very quickly by simply accepting the correction and adjusting my attitude. The same is true with God. All He wants is our obedience. Give Him that and there will no longer be any need for correction or discipline.

 

If you’re in need of an attitude adjustment I suggest you just go ahead and adjust it and get it over with. God is patient and loving and kind and He doesn’t want this to go on any longer than necessary. But the discipline will continue until the attitude gets adjusted.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalm 32:2 (KJV)

 

Our thought for today: “Let your words be without guile.”

 

“Guile” is a word we don’t hear much anymore. It refers to someone who is cunning in their behavior, clever in how they explain things, and maybe just a little underhanded and misleading. Such a person is said to be guileful.

 

The other day I was riding in the car with my wife and I mentioned to her that I was still thinking and praying about what the theme for the daily devotional messages for February should be, but that I hadn’t received any clear guidance from the Lord about it yet. Without hesitation she immediately said, “I think you should continue the theme of “attitude” for another month. It’s been very helpful.”

 

That statement surprised me coming from her because Linda has a great attitude. Of all the people I know, she has a better attitude, and does a better job of maintaining it, than pretty much anyone else. Despite her multiple physical disabilities she is usually always upbeat and happy. She buzzes around with her little black walker on wheels, complete with Harley Davidson stickers, looking a lot like the Energizer Bunny. She pushes herself to do as much as she can, she laughs easily and often, and she doesn’t let much bother her.

 

I honestly didn’t think her attitude needed much adjusting. So then my suspicious nature kicked in and I began wondering if, in her sweet and understated way, maybe she was suggesting that my attitude was the one that could use another month of tweaking. But that would be contrary to her nature. She’s not that devious. I’m pretty sure she is without that kind of guile. But still, I wondered if perhaps this is really about my attitude not hers. Then the Holy Spirit started ganging up on me and I’m sure I heard Him say, “Hey pal, if the shoe fits, wear it!”

 

So now I don’t know what to think. At this point I don’t know if it’s her, you, me, or all of us who need another month of attitude adjustments, but evidently somebody does! So we’ll continue our theme of “attitude” for a while longer.

 

(Actually, it will be another three weeks (23 days), because on the 24^th of February I will leave the USA to take a small medical and dental mission team to the restricted region of the Amazon Rainforest. We’ll be pretty much out of touch with the outside world for much of those two weeks and therefore there won’t be any daily devotionals from the 24^th until Monday March 13^th. I’ll ask you to hang onto the last one I send and use it as a daily prayer reminder so you can pray for our team while we’re gone.)

 

But back to the subject of “attitude” (yours, mine, hers, whatever …) I invite you to join me as we continue to get our attitudes adjusted.

 

And for those of you who know Linda well please tell me, “Should I be reading between the lines or did she simply mean it like she said it?” “Is she truly without guile or is she maybe just a little mischievous and not quite as innocent as I give her credit for?”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: ‘The Bible is alive.”

 

What attitude do you have about reading the Bible? Some people just read for mileage. They set a goal of how many chapters they will read each day and then they just plow through it. Other people pick and choose certain passages and stories, and then they skip anything that might be boring or too hard or too convicting. Some people don’t read the Bible much at all.

 

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that the written word of God is alive and active and that our reading of it should profoundly affect us. Is that how it seems to you, alive and active, profoundly impacting you?

 

In his book, “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God”, Dallas Willard offers a helpful insight about how to read the Bible. First, Dallas reminds his readers that the people in the Bible were just people – no different really from you and me. And, if you or I had been them, if we had been where they were and experienced what they did, we probably would have reacted much the same way they did. Here’s how he explained it:

 

“… if we are to really understand the Bible record, we must enter into our study of it on the assumption that the experiences recorded there are basically of the same type as ours would have been if we had been there. Those who lived through those experiences felt very much as we would have if we had been in their place.”

 

Bingo! There’s the key to the Bible coming alive for you. Enter into the story as if it is your story. You be them. Put yourself in their place and do it with the understanding that this person on the pages of the Bible was a person very much like you. Therefore they would have experienced this situation much the same as you would have if you had been them.

 

Now live the story. See yourself in Peter’s place that night in the courtyard as Jesus was on trial. It’s dark, you’re cold, you’re scared, and you’re worried about your friend Jesus. Suddenly the people around you are questioning you, accusing you, and your fear escalates. They might arrest you. They might beat you. They might crucify you. They want to know if you are one of Jesus’ followers. Quick, what will you say? In his fear and confusion and uncertainty Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Isn’t it possible that under those same circumstances you would have denied Him too?

 

Is that how you read your Bible? What attitude do you bring with you when you sit down to read it? I encourage you to slow down and intentionally enter into the story you are reading. Be there. Be part of it. Make it your story. And then experience the Bible as you never have before.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Psalm 90:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Enjoy your life today.”

 

I read a statement recently which caused me to stop and think about how quickly life passes. It was this: “There are people who do not live their present life; it is as if they were preparing themselves, with all their zeal, to live some other life, but not this one. And while they do this, time goes by and is lost.”

 

It’s true. Many of us spend countless hours daydreaming about the life we hope to have in the future, and we forget to simply enjoy the life we have now. While it is important to have a vision for the future, and setting goals and making plans is essential, we cannot become so fixated on what we hope to have in the future that we fail to appreciate what we do have now. Many of us are so preoccupied with thoughts of the life we want to have that we forget to live the life we do have.

 

In Psalm 90:10 Moses was reflecting on the brevity of life. In his analogy he referred to an average lifespan of 70 or 80 years. A few get more than that but many get less – sometimes much less. We all know this. We know we’re not even promised tomorrow, or tonight for that matter. All we know for certain is that we have this moment – and perhaps the next, and maybe the one after that.

 

The fact is that you’re going to die. Maybe not today but someday, and chances are it will come sooner than you think. Even if you live 70, 80, or 90 years, you will inevitably find yourself sitting there wondering where the years went and how is it that they passed by so quickly.

 

So yes, plan for tomorrow, and for next week and next year and next decade. The law of averages says you will probably have 70 or 80 years of life. But don’t lose sight of the fact that it could all end much sooner than that. This moment is all you know for sure that you have. So live it well. Enjoy it fully. Make the most of it. Plan for tomorrow, but enjoy the life you have today.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Be a thermostat”

 

Do you know the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat? A thermometer simply reflects the temperature of whatever it is immersed it, a thermostat controls the temperature.

 

People can be like thermometers and thermostats. A person who is like a thermometer simply reflects back whatever it is they are experiencing. If they enter a room where there is anger, soon the thermometer will be angry too. If there is sadness, soon the thermometer is sad. If there is frustration, eagerness, resentment, you name it – whatever the surrounding environment is the thermometer quickly reflects it.

 

On the other hand a person who is a thermostat controls and changes things. If a thermostat enters a room and discovers anger they take steps to cool things down and introduce a sense of peace and calm. If they find sadness the thermostat offers comfort. If there is fear they offer courage; anxiety – peace; doubts – assurance. And if there is joy and celebration, the thermostat adds to it and ramps it up.

 

Where does the ability to be a thermostat kind of person come from? For the Christian it comes from the Holy Spirit living in your heart and working in your life. Such attributes are what Paul refers to as “The fruit of the Spirit”. As a Christian grows in Christ-likeness the fruit of the Spirit becomes more and more a part of that person’s personality.

 

These are the attributes which progressively become part of who that person is and what they are like. Your attitude becomes one of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That then is what you bring with you wherever you go. As a walking, talking, mobile temple of God’s Holy Spirit you bring the fruit of the Spirit with you and you can introduce those attributes into any situation you’re involved in.

 

Over time the fruit of the Spirit should come to define a believer’s personality as that person matures in their Christian faith. That being the case, the more you do the things that place you in a position before God whereby He can mold you and shape you, the more the fruit will be evident in your life. I’m referring to the basic disciplines of the Christian life and they include things like prayer, Bible study, worship, acts of service to others, and regular participation in the life of a good church family, just to name a few.

 

You can be a thermostat. When the fruit of the Spirit defines who you are as a person, you can be an agent of change in whatever situation you find yourself. A good place to nurture the soil of the soul so that fruit grows in your life is in church on Sunday mornings. We’d love to have you with us at Oak Hill Baptist. I hope to see you there.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim