Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Doubt feeds on loneliness.”

 

One of the worst things we can do when we’re struggling with doubts, unanswered questions, and difficult situations is to isolate ourselves from other Christians. But that’s often exactly what some people do. When we’re going through tough times it’s sometimes hard to be around others who aren’t struggling, and so we might be tempted to withdraw and just stay home.

 

That’s exactly what Satan wants you to do. There’s strength in numbers. There’s encouragement and comfort and possibly even answers to be found when you spend time with your Christian brothers and sisters. So Satan will encourage you to withdraw and stay home. And when you do, your doubts and fears will increase, your faith will be weakened even more, and your frame of mind will be worse not better.

 

That’s why in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 the Apostle Paul reminds us that one of the important reasons we gather together as a church family is so we can encourage and build each other up. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews expressed this same thought and for the same reason. In Hebrews 10: 24-25 we read, “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 you see the day drawing near.”

 

Resist the temptation to isolate yourself. Doubts feed on loneliness. That often leads to depression. One of the best steps you can take during such times is to keep attending church and stay close to other Christians.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Your situation is not too big or too hard for God.”

 

Mary was just a teenage girl from a small backwater village called Nazareth. She was probably uneducated, lived a simple life, and had little more to look forward to than many quiet years of raising a family in their sleepy little village.

 

But then God sent the Angel Gabriel to tell her that she was about to become pregnant by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit and that she would give birth to the long-awaited Messiah.

 

I don’t know about you but if I had received news like that I’m sure I would have had serious doubts about what I was hearing and whether or not it would actually happen. But Mary believed that anything was possible with God and that if He said it – that settled it. “For nothing is impossible with God.”

 

What situation do you have going on in your life that seems too big for anyone but God? Our God is the God of the impossible. He can cause a virgin to give birth; He can part the Red Sea; He can bring water from a rock; He can raise the dead; and He can deal with your situation too, whatever it is.

 

Sometimes God resolves impossible situations in a moment, with no delay. More often the resolution comes slowly over time. Mary had to wait nine months for her baby. Moses had to wait forty years in the wilderness before he was ready to begin the mission God had been preparing him for his entire life. You will probably have to wait too as God prepares to resolve your impossible situation. What should you do in the meantime? Here are some ideas:

 

1. Sometimes the reason for the delay is that God wants to do something in you so you will be ready to receive the answer. That was the case with Moses. He needed forty years of preparation before he would be ready. So spend this time of waiting by asking God to show you what you should be learning and how you should be growing and changing as He prepares to do some wonderful thing in your life.

 

1. Sometimes the reason for the delay is because God is waiting on you. Often there are things we’re supposed to be doing to help resolve our own situation and God is waiting for us to get moving. So ask Him to show you what actions you should be taking in order to be a part of the solution to your own problem.

 

1. Sometimes the reason for the delay is that God intends to use another person (or persons) to be a part of the answer to your situation but they aren’t ready yet. So now you’re waiting while God accomplishes things in the lives of other people to get them to the point that they are ready to be part of God’s plan in your life. In that case you need to be praying for them. You might not even know who they are, but you can be praying that God will have His way in the lives of others who He intends to use in the resolution of your situation.

 

Those are just a few suggestions for how you can be thinking about this “impossible” situation in your life as you continue to wait patiently for resolution. Don’t doubt that God has a plan, and that it is a good plan. Also don’t doubt that His timing is perfect. And, He is the God of the impossible. He can and will deal with whatever your situation is.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Rely on the counsel of others.”

 

As I mentioned in a previous devotional in this series, the primary way in which God speaks to us in our day is through the Bible. If you have doubts about a course of action you’re considering, the first step you need to take is to open your Bible and see if this action would in any way conflict with a Biblical principle or command. If it does, then you have your answer. God will never direct you to do anything that in any way conflicts with the Bible.

 

But as was also noted in that same devotional message, another way God commonly speaks to us in our day is through the counsel of other Christians. Four times in the book of Proverbs Solomon stresses the importance of seeking good counsel as we make important decisions.

 

Conversely, God repeats the caution, over and over again, that we are not to trust in our own understanding alone. For instance, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding … “Proverbs 3:5. And, “Do not be wise in your own eyes …” Proverbs 3:7. And also, “He who walks with the wise, grows wise.” Proverbs 13:20.

 

Even conventional wisdom warns against trusting exclusively in our own counsel: “He who serves as his own attorney has a fool for a lawyer.”

 

In my own life repeatedly been blessed by the good counsel of others. My closest and most trusted counselor is my wife. She knows me better than anyone and she is a very wise woman. Throughout the course of our forty years together, at the most strategic times in our lives, when the most important decisions had to be made, she was the one who had the most penetrating and valuable insight into the situation. It has been said that “The man may be the head of the home, but the wife is the neck that turns the head.” I have certainly found that to be true in my life. Linda has become so good at this that she can direct me without me even realizing I’m being directed!

 

I also learned a long time ago the value of having a small group of trusted friends whose spiritual maturity and insight I trust and respect, and who I turn to when I need help thinking about and praying through difficult decisions.

 

Additionally, in my role as a pastor I have always had a small group of trusted Deacons or a Church Council to help me see things clearly and to make wise decisions.

 

When it comes to working through doubts and making good decisions about important issues, we all need the help of wise counselors. Do not trust just in your own understanding. Seek the counsel of others.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: Once saved, always saved.”

 

One of the most common doubts many Christians wrestle with at one time or another is whether or not they are truly saved; and also, whether or not they can lose their salvation.

 

Personally I believe strongly in the doctrine known as “The Security of the Believer”. This doctrine holds that once you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you are saved and nothing can ever change that. Jesus paid too high a price for your eternal soul to allow you to be lost again once you are saved. And the Holy Spirit works constantly, all throughout a person’s life, to draw that person to Jesus. That being the case, after all that effort on God’s part, once you are saved He’s not going to let you go. There is a solid body of Scripture that supports that belief and I want to share just a few of those passages with you this morning.

 

First, you need to know that it doesn’t take a lot of faith in order to be saved. Even a little bit of faith is a very powerful thing. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed …” Jesus said in Luke 17:6. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then of course John 3:16: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

 

Salvation occurs in a moment of time when you make a heartfelt, sincere, and intentional decision to turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.

 

Second, once you are saved you are saved for all time. Jesus will never let you go. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish –ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:28).

 

“For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:38-39). (Please note that in this verse Paul effectively stated that there is nothing in the physical creation or in the spiritual dimension that can ever separate us from God once we belong to Him through Christ Jesus.)

 

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13).

 

Yes, even in John’s day there were those who doubted their salvation. So John wrote this letter to reassure them that if they have placed their faith in God’s Son Jesus, they are saved for all eternity. “I have written these things … so that you may “know” that you have eternal life.”

 

In this devotional I’ve cited a handful of the most convincing passages which clearly teach about the eternal security of the believer. There are others, but the point is that there is a solid body of Scripture which supports this important doctrine.

 

Like John in 1 John 5:11-13, I have written you these things this morning “… so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If you have placed your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you should never again doubt your salvation.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “There are good answers for the hardest questions.”

 

Lee Strobal was an award-winning journalist and a committed atheist. He had no patience for the claims of Christianity and he considered the faith little more than a crutch for weak people. But then, the worst thing that could have happened to Lee (from his perspective) did happen – his wife became one of those Christians.

 

In an attempt to convince her that Christianity was false, Lee turned his considerable intellect, and his well-developed investigative reporting skills, to uncovering proof that Christianity was a big fat lie. He conducted massive amounts of research and much to his surprise, the deeper he dug into it the more convinced he became that Christianity was in fact true. Eventually Lee also placed his faith in Christ and he went on to become a best-selling Christian author, a teaching pastor at a mega-church, and a popular conference speaker.

 

What Lee discovered in his research was that there were indeed some very good answers for all of his doubts and questions. So-much-so that he ended up writing three best-selling books based upon his research. They are “The Case for a Creator”, “The Case for Christ”, and “The Case for Faith”. Each of the books deals with the most common questions and doubts that people have about God, Jesus, and the Christian faith. The books provide well thought-out and easy to understand answers that are helpful to anyone who is sincerely seeking answers to tough questions of faith.

 

This is important because we all have doubts and questions about issues of faith. “Why does God allow pain and suffering?” “Why do good people suffer while bad people prosper?” “Would a good and loving God really send people to a place like hell?” Christians and non-Christians alike wrestle with such questions but as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 above, we as the followers of Christ have a Biblical responsibility to seek the answers. We must do so in order to strengthen our own faith, but also so we will be prepared to help non-believers in their search for answers.

 

On Sunday August 14^th at 6:00 at Oak Hill Baptist Church we will begin a Sunday evening Bible study of “The Case for Faith”. The book provides excellent, well-researched answers to some of the most perplexing questions and doubts people tend to have regarding issues of faith. I encourage you to plan to join us.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Living without faith can be a miserable experience.”

 

The other day I began reading Os Guinness’ new book “Impossible People”. Surprisingly, the “Impossible People” he’s writing about are bold, courageous, faithful Christians. The point he makes is that we live in an increasingly secular world that is humanistic, fatalistic, and pessimistic. In such a cultural setting people who insist on clinging to, and living by, a strong faith in the God of the Bible are viewed by society as being “impossible people” – people who are needlessly difficult and uncooperative; people who refuse to do the logical thing (so they say) of just going along in order to get along. In the eyes of the culture such people are simply “impossible”.

 

To help illustrate the sense of despair and meaninglessness that more and more permeates our culture as a result of such widespread humanistic and fatalistic thinking, Os begins the book with numerous quotes from influential non-Christian thinkers. Here’s a gem from German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Fichte lived and wrote in the 1700s but his writings are still popular and influential among secular humanists in our day:

 

“Should I eat and drink, only in order to hunger and thirst again, and eat and drink, merely until the open grave under my feet swallows me up as a meal for the earth? Should I create more beings like myself, so that they can eat and drink and die, and so they can leave behind beings of their own, so that they do the same as I have already done? What is the point of this continual, self-contained and ever-returning circle, this repetitive game that always starts again in the same way, in which everything is, in order to fade away, and fades away in order to return again as it was – this monster continually devouring itself in order to reproduce itself, and reproduce itself in order to devour itself?”

 

Do you hear the utter sense of meaninglessness and despair regarding the purpose of life in Fichte’s lament? That sense of despair and meaninglessness is widespread in our world today. Sadly, sometimes even the people of God experience it. King Solomon himself went through many years of that kind of doubting and questioning and searching for answers. That’s what the book of Ecclesiastes is all about.

 

But go back to the beginning of this devotional message and read Solomon’s ultimate conclusion again. Eventually he found the answers to his doubts and questions and no surprise, the answers were found in God.

 

On Sunday August 14^th at Oak Hill Baptist Church we’re going to begin a Sunday evening Bible study based upon the great book by Lee Strobal entitled “The Case for Faith.” It will be taught by Scott Lacy and you will find that it very effectively addresses some of the most difficult questions spiritual searchers, and committed Christians too, commonly wrestle with.

 

More about “The Case for Faith” tomorrow.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.” Genesis 3:4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Yes you will.”

 

One of Satan’s most effective strategies to get us to sin is to convince us that we can sin without suffering any consequences. That’s what we’re reading about in Genesis 3:4. Just before that, in Genesis 2:17, God had said very clearly that if Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they would in fact die. He didn’t mean that they would die immediately, but rather that the results of the disobedience (sin) would bring about their eventual death. The sin would launch a slow steady downward slide that would end in their death.

 

Going on to Genesis 3:5 we find Satan even convincing Eve that not only would she not suffer consequences for disobeying God’s command, she would actually gain benefits from it, benefits that God had been withholding from her, “ … your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”

 

Satan was lying. He always does. Don’t doubt it, sin always has consequences. Yes you will die. Yes you will suffer. Somehow, at some time, and in some way, you will pay. It’s like the old saying goes, “Sin takes you further than you wanted to go, keeps you longer than you wanted to stay, and costs you more than you wanted to pay.”

 

As I’ve written in previous devotional messages, in the Bible God has established the boundaries within which His people are to live their lives. The boundaries are actually pretty wide – they allow us lots of room to live well and to fully enjoy life. But there are boundaries. When we stay within the boundaries we are living within the realm whereby God can and will bless us. When we’re outside of those boundaries not only will God not bless our lives, but He will take the actions needed in order to draw us back into a life lived within the Biblical boundaries. We call such actions “discipline”. In Hebrews 12:6 we read, “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves.”

 

Please don’t allow Satan to fool you into thinking you can sin without consequences. You can’t. God will not be mocked and He will not ignore disobedience. At the very least He will withdraw His blessings. But He will also administer discipline in an attempt to correct you. And, He will allow you to suffer the consequences of your choices too.

 

Satan told Eve she wouldn’t die as a result of disobeying God. He was lying and she did indeed die. Satan will attempt to convince you that you can disobey God and get away with it. He’s lying to you too.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel …” 2 Samuel 11:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A little sin could be the beginning of a big fall.”

 

There’s a contemporary Christian song by the group Casting Crowns that I like very much. The title is “Slow Fade” and it’s about the fact that major failures in life never happen in an instant. They’re always the result of a long pattern of compromise that ultimately leads to major failure. Here’s just a part of the song:

 

“It’s a slow fade, when you give yourself away. It’s a slow fade, when black and white turn gray. And thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid … when you give yourself away. People never crumble in a day. It’s a slow fade … it’s a slow fade …”

 

In 2 Samuel Chapter 11 we read the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba. As the leader of the nation, David was supposed to have been with the army out in the field leading the battles. But he had gotten lazy and casual. So he sent the army out without him and he stayed at home hanging out on the couch.

 

One evening he was strolling on his rooftop and he noticed a very beautiful woman (Bathsheba), on the roof of another house. He lusted after her, had her brought to his palace, and he had sex with her – even though she was married to another man (Uriah), who was a soldier out in the field with the army David was supposed to be leading.

 

Long story short, Bathsheba got pregnant, David tried to cover it up but wasn’t able to, and he ended up having Uriah murdered so he could marry Bathsheba himself.

 

The point is that David’s lust, the resulting adultery, and then the conspiracy that resulted in Uriah’s murder, didn’t all happen on the spur of the moment. Those events were just the culmination of a long slow fade that occurred in David’s life as he became physically and spiritually lazy. He had stopped doing the things he was supposed to do and he had stopped being in the places he was supposed to be in. And then, he fell.

 

The same is true with us. Spiritual erosion is a gradual thing that occurs over time as we get lazy and casual in the practice of our faith. Ultimately it leads to ethical and moral compromises, compromise that we probably would never have envisioned on that first Sunday morning when we decided to stay home from church instead of attending like we knew we should. And then it begins: one excuse leads to the next, and to the next, and then to the next. Then standards start to slip. Then more excuses are made. Then rationalization takes over. And then one evening you find yourself lying in bed with someone else’s spouse wondering how you ended up there.

 

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away.

 

If you’re having doubts about an action you’re contemplating taking; if you have to stop to wonder if this thing is OK or not; then the answer is “No, don’t do it”.

 

If the correctness of a decision is uncertain; if the godliness of it is in question; if there is any doubt at all, then don’t do it. Why take the chance? People never crumble in a day. It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away. So don’t even start down that road.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Mephibosheth bowed down and said, ‘Who is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?” 2 Samuel 9:8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Err on the side of grace and compassion.”

 

I love the story in 2 Samuel Chapter nine of King David and Mephibosheth the grandson of King Saul. David had recently been elevated to reign as King over the united Israel. He remembered his promise made years earlier to his best friend Jonathan, the son of Saul, to have mercy on and to bless his descendants. So David instructed his aides to find out if there were any surviving descendants of Jonathan’s that he could bless.

 

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and he was crippled in both feet as a result of a childhood accident. Normally in those days when a new king took the throne he would root out all family members of previous kings (who could potentially be a threat to his own dynasty) and he would have them killed. Therefore when David’s men came looking for Mephibosheth he rightly expected to be executed.

 

But instead of killing him, David drew Mephibosheth into the royal court, invited him to dine at the king’s own table, and bestowed land and riches upon him as well. Mephibosheth, this crippled outcast, was flabbergasted by this unexpected expression of kindness, compassion, and grace.

 

The editors of the Daily Walk Study Bible challenge us to consider if God has placed a Mephibosheth in our lives. Do you know of a needy person who is struggling, maybe being ignored by others, and who would be blessed by an unexpected act of kindness and compassion from you? The world is full of them. They’re all around us.

 

Often when we consider situations like that we have doubts as to whether or not we should get involved. After all, as I said, the world is full of needy people, they’re all around us, and nobody can do everything for everyone. My advice to you? Err on the side of compassion and grace.

 

Now it’s true that you shouldn’t be naïve about it, and you do need to use good judgment, but if you’re struggling with the decision of whether to help or not, the best choice is to err on the side of compassion. If the situation isn’t clear and therefore there’s a chance that whatever action you take could be wrong, then be wrong on the side of helping rather than not helping.

 

I recently read a statement about this that, while not a rigid truth etched in stone, it does accurately capture the essence of Biblical teaching on the subject: “To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian – to help them is.”

 

So, keep your eyes open and your heart soft. There are Mephibosheths all around you who will be blessed to the tips of their toes if you were to reach out to them with a little act of kindness and grace.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Doubts”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “When doubts filled my mind, Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.” Psalm 94:19 (NLT)

 

Our thought for today: “Doubt can draw you closer to God.”

 

It’s not uncommon to have doubts about all sorts of things. We doubt ourselves, we doubt others, we doubt the future, and sometimes we even doubt God. We humans are fickle creatures and we often need to be reassured.

 

Even some of the greatest Biblical heroes had their times of doubt. In Genesis chapter 15 Abraham had an encounter with God where God promised him that he would indeed have a son to be his heir (Isaac), and that his descendants would become a great nation. What was Abraham’s response to that wonderful promise from God? “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure?” Genesis 15:8.

 

It wasn’t so much that Abraham’s faith was weak or flawed, it was that his faith was being challenged in a new way. So he was asking God to help him embrace the promise with confidence.  That’s actually pretty common in the Bible. We could refer to the stories of Moses, Gideon, David, Solomon, Peter, Thomas, Paul, and many others, and see the same thing.

 

Your doubts don’t bother God as long as you come to Him seeking answers. If you do, then your questions and doubts will serve to draw you closer to Him. Doubt only becomes sin if you let it lead you away from God. If in the midst of asking questions and searching for answers you look more closely at Him and His ways, spending even more time in prayer and study, your doubts will ultimately serve to strengthen your faith.

 

I encourage you to remember His promises to you and all of the ways He has blessed you in the past. Then let those memories be a source of confidence and hope as you work through whatever doubts, questions, or issues you are dealing with at this time.

 

In Hebrews 13:5 Jesus promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

 

That’s a great promise. He is always there for you. So as you wrestle with questions and doubts about difficult issues, draw even closer to God as you dive in and dig deep in your search for answers and reassurance.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim