Hello Everyone,

As I write this I am still in Peru. Later today I will begin the long journey home but I will still be traveling tomorrow morning when I would normally send out the daily devotional. That being the case, I’m sending tomorrow’s to you today.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life lived well”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Have a plan for spiritual growth”

 

In his book “The Doctrine of Salvation”, Dr. James Robinson offers some thoughts about how it is that our spiritual growth in this lifetime directly affects our capacity for appreciating heaven for all eternity. To paraphrase an illustration he used, imagine that in this lifetime a person develops the spiritual maturity of a fifty gallon drum. In heaven that person is filled to overflowing with all the good things of heaven, enjoying them to their absolute maximum capacity. Another person developed the spiritual maturity of a thimble. In heaven that person too will be filled to overflowing, but their capacity for taking-in and enjoying heaven is vastly different from that of the first person- both of them fully enjoying heaven to their fullest capacity – just vastly different capacities.

 

That thought is biblically based and it is expressed in the Bible using a variety of examples including rewards, positions of authority, stature, the storing up of treasure in heaven, and more. The point is that how much we mature spiritually in this lifetime directly affects our nature and stature in eternity.

 

That being the case, what could be more important for a follower of Jesus in this lifetime than to do the things necessary to be growing spiritually? Certainly that would have to be one of the most important uses of our time now. Therefore as we continue to think about how we’re going to use our time in 2017, the changes we will make, the goals and objectives we will focus on achieving, the new habits we wish to form, spiritual growth must be high on our list of priorities.

 

The activities that help to facilitate spiritual growth are collectively known as “spiritual disciplines” and include things like prayer, daily Bible study, full participation in the life of a good church, involvement in ministry activities, and more. One of the most complete and easy-to-follow resources I know of for helping Christians to understand and implement the basic spiritual disciplines of the Christian life is Richard Foster’s classic work “The Celebration of Discipline”. In that book Foster identifies what he considers to be the thirteen most important practices a Christian could incorporate into his or her life to place themselves in a position before God, whereby God can have full access to their whole life.

 

I want to encourage you this morning to actually develop a plan for your spiritual growth in 2017. Ultimately it’s the work of the Holy Spirit in your life which brings about spiritual growth. You cannot do it by your own will or in your own power. But there are things each of us has to do in order to cooperate with the work of the Spirit in our lives. It’s up to us to engage in the practices which place us in a position before God where we are fully open to Him and surrendered to His will. The basic spiritual disciplines of the Christian life accomplish that.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “It’s always easier to do nothing than it is to do something.”

 

Those of you who know me well know that one of my favorite U.S. Presidents of all time is Teddy Roosevelt. To be sure, he was far from perfect. He had his share of warts and pimples and character flaws. But I love his spirit. He lived with enthusiasm, zest for living, and a never ending quest for adventure. I’m also inspired by his example of simply doing things. Teddy was not one to sit on his rear end thinking about things that needed to be done but never actually doing them. Instead, once he decided that a thing needed doing, he got up and did it.

 

One of my favorite TR quotes comes from a speech he delivered on April 21, 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He was speaking about the responsibility of citizens in a free society to be doers, rather than just people who talk about doing things but then never actually do them. This is what he said:

 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat.”

 

My friends, it is always easier to do nothing than it is to do something. A timid person will find excuses and think up innumerable reasons for not even trying. A bold person simply gets up and does it. Oh yes, they might stumble and fall, but at least they will have tried. And if they keep trying, their chances of success multiply exponentially. The credit belongs to those in the arena giving it their best.

 

As we continue in our month of devotionally thinking about living a “Life that matters”, I want to encourage you to avoid giving in to negative thinking. Don’t allow yourself to come up with excuses or rationalizations for why you won’t attempt this thing or that. In the days to come will consider multiple ways in which your time in 2017 can be well spent, but each of them will require both effort and risk. Nothing worth achieving is ever achieved without effort and risk.

 

In Romans 12:11 Paul urged us to live with zeal and fervor – especially in our service to the Lord. Let’s resolve to do exactly that.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God will hold us accountable for the life we lived.”

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:10 the Apostle Paul makes reference to a great Biblical truth that is often the cause of confusion. Some Christians mistakenly believe that the only ones who will stand before God for judgment are non-believers who did not accept Christ in this lifetime. That’s simply not true. “All” people will stand before God, believers and non-believers too.

 

It’s true that believers will not have to account for their sins – Jesus took care of that on the cross. But we will have to account to God for our stewardship of the time, skills, talents, abilities, and financial resources that he entrusted us with. That’s what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 5:10. He also addressed it in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. In that passage he wrote of how in that day, when we stand before God to give an account of what we did with the things He entrusted to our care, only that which was done for Christ will matter. Every other achievement will be looked upon as worthless by God and will be tossed aside.

 

That means that God will not be impressed with your career achievements, or with the size of your bank account, or with your level of physical fitness, or with your good looks, or with any other achievement, accomplishment, possession, or anything else that did not specifically and directly honor Him, bring Him glory, help to build His kingdom, and bless others in His name. Only that which was done for Christ will be considered to have been of eternal worth.

 

This same truth is addressed in numerous other places in the New Testament, including by Jesus Himself.  I encourage you to go online to the Oak Hill Baptist Church website at www.oakhillbaptist.net. Click on the “listen” tab and select the sermon for 10/23/16. There you will learn about a time when Jesus very directly taught this same lesson.

 

This is important and it applies to our theme for this month. As we prayerfully consider how we will use our time in 2017; as we think about changes we want to make, goals we want to set; accomplishments we want to achieve – we must do so with the thought in mind of what eternal value those things have. That does not mean that we shouldn’t focus on career achievements, or set financial goals, or attempt to improve our physical fitness and nutritional habits. But it does mean that we need to be sure our lives are centered on serving Christ and that the use of our time and our activities reflects that. We will talk more about how to accomplish this in the days to come.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters” 
Our Bible verse for today: “For my days vanish like smoke.” Psalm 102:3 (NIV) 

Our thought for today: “We must make the best use of our time.” 

One of my all-time favorite quotes about the proper use of time comes from Benjamin Franklin. He once posed the challenging question: “Do you love life? Then value your time, because time is the stuff life is made of.” 

Think about it. Your life is made up of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Time – you only have so much of it. The Bible tells us repeatedly that God has numbered our days and they pass quickly. Additionally, once each segment of time has passed, it is gone forever and you can never have it back. So what you do with your time matters very much. 

I have often counseled people to consider carefully who you give your time to because since your life is made up of time, when you give somebody some of your time you have in essence given them a little piece of your life. And since once the time has past it is gone and you can never get it back, that means that when you give someone some of your time you have given them a piece of your life, and you can never have it back. That being true, giving someone your time is a precious gift. But not everyone is worthy of such a precious gift. Not everyone deserves to be given a little piece of your life that you can never have back. So give careful thought to who you will allow to take up your time. 

As we approach the New Year beginning in January, and as we spend November thinking about how we will use our time in 2017, we need to remain conscious of just how precious that time is. Let’s not waste it on activities that really don’t matter, or on people who are not worthy of receiving such a precious gift.

Yes it’s true that all people are important to God and should therefore be important to us too. But it’s also true that we have a limited amount of time available to us, and it is precious time that can never be retrieved once it is gone. So we must be selective in our choices of the activities we will be involved in, and the people who will be allowed to have some of our time. 

Do you value life? Then value your time, because time is the stuff life is made of.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” Psalm 39:4 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Resolve to live your life well.”

 

Today is the last day of October but it is the first day of the new week. Therefore I have chosen to begin the theme for the month of November today. In just sixty-two days we will begin 2017. New Year’s is often when we take time to evaluate our lives and consider habits we would like to break, goals we would like to achieve, and things we would like to change.

 

I personally believe that is good. New Year’s resolutions are helpful. I think we should periodically take stock of where we’re at in life and identify areas in which we need to make improvements and changes. I also believe it’s important to have dreams and goals that we’re working on. A focused life is a life of purpose and direction. A lack of focus usually results in a person wandering through life with no real direction and consequently achieving little.

 

In Psalm 39:4 the great King David was prayerfully reflecting on the truth that life is short and therefore we need to be thoughtful and intentional about how we spend our days. He was asking God to help him better appreciate the value of life and it’s relative brevity. There’s a great truth there. Life is short, so don’t waste it.

 

I don’t know about you but I want to live a life that matters – a life that makes a real difference in ways that count. When it’s all said and done I want to know that I lived well and that I did the best I could with the time and opportunities I had.

 

To help us think about plans, goals, objectives, and changes we would like to achieve in 2017, we will spend the month of November considering how we can be sure we’re living a life that matters. In the Bible God gives us all the guidance on this issue that we will ever need. Therefore each day we will examine a different passage of Scripture and consider how it applies to living life well. I’ll then offer thoughts and suggestions about how we can go about incorporating those things into our lives.

 

A word of caution: Change takes time, and we can only effectively focus on a few things at a time and still do them well. Therefore each of us will want to select no more than two or three, and maybe only one, area in which we’re going to focus on making significant improvements in the coming year.

 

I look forward to learning and growing with you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Excellence”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Just live a simple life of faithfulness.”

 

Most of us know the story of Helen Keller. She was blind and deaf and therefore went through life without being able to see or hear. And yet, amazingly, she learned how to interact well with the world around her. She communicated well through touch, signs, and writing and she lived a life that was rich and full and which many others have since found inspiring.

 

Just like us, Helen wanted to live the best life possible, but she often felt hindered by her limitations and she longed to be better and do more than she could. Eventually she wisely realized that, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

 

That right there is the key to living an “excellent” life by God’s estimation. We are to simply focus on doing small things well. We are to live simple lives of faith, honoring God and blessing others in the normal ebb and flow of our regular daily lives.

 

In 2 Timothy 2:22 the Apostle Paul offers us some simple advice that captures the essence of what Helen wrote about. When he says we are to “flee youthful passions” he’s saying that we are to grow to maturity in our faith. Just apply yourself to spiritual growth.

 

He counsels us to pursue things like righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Those are godly values – Christlike characteristics – which are lodged deeply in our hearts and then show themselves in how we interact with the people and with the world around us.

 

And he tells us to do it “along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.” In other words, surround yourself with others who are also striving for godly excellence in how they live. This is a reference to the age-old truth that you become like those you associate with. So if you want to be a man or woman who is striving to live a life that is filled with godly excellence, then associate with others who are living that way too.

 

The best place to find such people is in a good church family. Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. The people of God in towns and cities across the nation will be gathering together in their churches. I encourage you to gather with them. If you’re in the area of Crossville, Tennessee then I invite you to join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church. We’re located at 3036 Genesis Road in Crossville. Sunday school beings at 9:00 and Worship at 10:00. I can’t think of a better group to associate with.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Excellence”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Take your eyes off of yourself.”

 

One of the most impressive and inspirational men I have ever known was a retired pastor by the name of Dick DeGrow. When I first met Dick he was already in his 70s. He was a member of the first church I was the Pastor of and he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and as the church custodian. Yes you read that right, he was a retired Pastor and he was the church custodian.

 

Dick was a calm and quiet man who always had a smile on his face and was usually softly humming some old favorite hymn. He had great knowledge of the Bible, a lot of life experience, and he was wise in the way that great men of God are wise. People came to him frequently for advice and counsel – including me.

 

One of the things I remember most about Dick was his servant’s heart. He loved people and he cared about them. He was available at all hours of the day and night to talk, counsel, and pray with others, and he was always looking for things he could do to help make their lives a little better, a little easier. He found great joy in simply and quietly being a blessing.

 

Jesus was like that. Matthew 20:26-28 is just one of the many Gospel passages that describe for us the servant-heart of our Lord. The main thrust of that passage, and of the others like it is “Go and do likewise.” As a follower of Jesus we are to be like Jesus. If He came to serve others, then that’s what we need to do too.

 

Interestingly, Dick DeGrow was also one of the happiest and most content people I have ever known. He just seemed to have a deep-seated sense of quiet contentment and peace. I believe that’s true in general of those who have a Christ-like servant’s heart. When we take our eyes off of ourselves and focus instead on being a blessing to others, our own cares and worries seem to fade away and become much less significant in our own minds. Those who focus endlessly on themselves and on their own problems tend to be consumed with those thoughts and as a result, they spend their time agitated and worried.

 

Jesus calls us to follow in His footsteps and to be a servant. If we make service to others our focus, we soon discover that the quality of our own lives improves significantly. Worry is replaced with peace and our own issues just don’t seem as big and bad anymore. I encourage you today to take your eyes off of yourself and to focus instead on doing things for others.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Excellence”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Transformation occurs slowly and progressively over time.”

 

There’s an old story about two men, members of the same church, who hadn’t seen each other in a long time because one of the men had stopped coming to church. One day they met on the street and the first man said to the second, “I haven’t seen you in church in a long time, how come?” The second man answered, “I decided it was a waste of time. I sat in church for years and during that time I listened to hundreds of sermons, but two days later I couldn’t even remember what the preacher had preached the previous Sunday. It had no real impact and so it was a waste of time.”

 

To that the first man responded, “I’ve been married for forty years. During those years my wife cooked a meal for me every day and I honestly don’t remember most of those meals. However, each of those meals nourished me at that time and kept me well fed and healthy. My body would have ended up in pretty poor condition if I had not had those meals.”

 

The point of the story is that every time you pray; every time you read your Bible; every time you attend worship services or participate in an act of ministry, your spirit is nourished and you grow a little spiritually. If you deny your spirit that regular nourishment it will wither and become sickly, just as your physical body would if you skipped meals each day.

 

The path to excellence in life is paved with numerous, seemingly small but very important, good daily habits. That’s true physically as well as spiritually. If you want to be spiritually healthy, if you want to keep growing spiritually, you have to do the things that facilitate spiritual health and growth.

 

That’s what Paul was writing about in Romans 12:2. Christ-like transformation occurs as the result of regular and steady spiritual nourishment. The term “Christian” means to be “Christ-like”. We become more and more Christ-like slowly and progressively over time as we consistently place ourselves in a position before God whereby He can mold us and shape us, slowly transforming us into the men and women He wants us to be.

 

Daily prayer and Bible study, along with regular and full participation in the life of a good church family, are essential elements for spiritual health and growth. The transformation will occur, but how much and how fast will depend to a large extent on how much spiritual nourishment you get.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Excellence”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A cheerful disposition is good for you and for those around you.”

 

I remember two men I used to work with. Both were Christians and both worked in a Christian ministry. The first man was intense. Well, that’s an understatement really. He was high-strung, temperamental, and often harsh. But he did get things done. He was usually extremely focused on the task-at-hand and when it came to producing results, he did. But he sure was tough to be around.

 

The second man was almost the polar opposite. He was relaxed and easy-going, usually happy and laughing. In truth, in didn’t accomplish anywhere near as much as the first guy did, but he sure was nicer to work with.

 

Now, which man was living an “excellent” Christian life? Well, neither, or both, depending on your definition of excellence. They both had strengths and weaknesses. If you’re looking for results then I guess you would have to vote for the first guy. If you’re thinking about which of them could be counted on to bring a smile to your face and make your day a little better, then hands down you would prefer the second man.

 

Biblically I would vote for the second guy. While getting things done is important, blessing people and making them smile is more important. There’s an old saying that goes, “God created us as human beings, not as human doings.” In other words, God is more concerned with how you are than with what you do.

 

Looking at Solomon’s Proverb in 17:22 above, the second guy had a joyful heart that was good medicine for himself and for those around him. The first guy was productive but relatively joyless. A broken spirit and dried up bones describes him fairly well actually. And, sadly, he had a way of making others feel that way too.

 

Ideally we want to be both joyful and productive – but with extra emphasis on the joyful part. As you go about your day today, establishing your priorities, checking things off your to-do list, and getting things done, don’t allow your push for productively to steal your joy.

 

A cheerful disposition is good for you – and for those around you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Excellence”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God is most interested in the condition of your heart.”

 

I recently read a statement by an anonymous writer which said, “When God measures the greatness of an individual He puts the tape measure around the heart not the head.”

 

By that I believe the writer meant that God isn’t so interested in the amount of education and intelligence we have, nor the size of our bank accounts, nor our career accomplishments, and not even necessarily our religious rituals. Instead He looks to see what’s in our hearts.

 

This was the theme of the greatest sermon ever preached – The Sermon on the Mount. That sermon, preached by Jesus, is recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5-7. Jesus began the sermon, in Matthew 5:3-12, by describing the heart attitude God is looking for in His people. These attributes have become known as “The Beatitudes”, sometimes also known as the “Be-Attitudes”, or, “Let this be your attitude.”

 

In that passage Jesus calls us to be gentle and peaceful, to thirst for righteousness and to show mercy, to strive for purity of thought, and to be humble. These are all matters of the heart. From there He then explains that He also wants us to be active in our world by being salt and light (5:13-16), and He wants us to conduct ourselves according to the Law of God (5:17-20). He also wants His followers to make extra efforts to bless others by doing things for them (5:38-42). But first we have to get our heart right.

 

That is so much the case that although three small sections of the Sermon on the Mount address activities Jesus wants us to engage in, the entire rest of the sermon is all about what takes place in the heart, including avoiding sinful thoughts, not giving into anxiety and worry, not being judgmental, how to pray, and much more.

 

The point in all of this is that an excellent life in God’s estimation is much more a matter of what’s in your heart than it is a matter of the things that you do. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day did a lot. They were always busy with religious rituals and loud public prayers, as well as dramatic displays of charitable giving so others could see them doing it. But spiritually they were as lost as could be. What mattered to God was the condition of their hearts, not their showy religious activities.

 

Doing things for God is certainly important. But having a heart that is right with God is much more important.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim