Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “The Bible teaches us how to have a good marriage.”

 

Yesterday I made the statement that “The Bible is our rulebook”. I imagine some readers bristled at that statement because first and foremost, the Bible is much more than just a list of do’s and don’ts. More than just a list of rules and regulations, the Bible is God’s revelation of who He is and what He is like. But with that said, it is also our guide for Christian living and it is filled with commands and instructions about many important subjects, marriage being one of them.

 

In Ephesians chapter five the Apostle Paul gives us the Biblical model for a good and healthy marriage. It’s based on the concept of “mutual submission.” Paul actually sets-up the discussion in verse twenty-one by telling us that we are to be submitted to one another. He then immediately launches into instructions for husbands and wives on how they are to behave within the framework of marriage. It begins by being submitted to each other.

 

This seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. It’s widely believed by many that since the man is supposed to be the head of the household, that must mean that the woman must humbly and quietly assume an inferior role in second place – maybe not barefoot and pregnant, but subservient none-the-less. But such an understanding is not Biblical. Read Ephesians chapter five.

 

It’s true that Biblically the man is required by God to lead his home, but he is to do it in “partnership” with his wife. The man and the woman are equally important within the structure of the marriage they simply have different roles. It’s similar to the make-up of the Holy Trinity. Within the Trinity the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God and equally important, they each simply have different roles. Well, so too the husband and wife within the structure of a marriage.

 

Yes, Paul teaches that the wife is to submit to the leadership of her husband, but he also teaches that the husband is to treat his wife as being more important than Himself, even to the point of sacrificially surrendering his life for hers. Paul says that the husband is to serve his wife and sacrifice for her, just as Christ served and sacrificed for the church.

 

Men, are you serving your wife like Christ serves the church? Are you treating her like your equal partner? Are you submitted to her just as she should be submitted to you?

 

Some men can’t handle that. They’re intimidated by the idea of their wife being a fully equal, and equally important, partner in the marriage who simply has a different role to play. But as Christian author Jill Briscoe once wrote, “A man of quality is not threatened by a woman of equality.”

 

There is much, much more that needs to be said on this but space doesn’t permit it here. For an expanded teaching on this subject please read chapter eleven of my book “Walking with Paul”. If you don’t have a copy of it you can get one at www.JimMersereauBooks.com. Or visit us at Oak Hill Baptist Church and I’ll be happy to give you a copy as a gift.

 

There is no secret about how to have a good marriage. The Bible explains it for us. All we have to do is play by the rules.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “The Bible is the rulebook.”

 

Yes, there are rules. Sorry, but that’s just how it is. It’s true that we in the New Testament age live in what is called “The Age of Grace” but that doesn’t mean that there are no rules and therefore everyone is free to make it up for themselves. That would be anarchy not grace (you can read the book of Judges to see what that looks like).

 

The primary reason God gave us the Bible is to reveal Himself to us. Another reason is so He could clearly communicate His will to us. But another reason He gave us the Bible is so that we would have a guide for Christian living. This is what Paul was writing about in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. All Scripture comes to us from God and is meant to provide us with all the structure we need in order to live life within God-ordained boundaries.

 

Now, let’s be honest. We know this. If you’re a professing Christian, and if you’ve spent any time at all in a good Bible-believing Bible-teaching church, then you know this. But we also know that we can be prone to cherry-pick the Scriptures. Sometimes we pick and choose which verses and passages we will accept and obey, and which we will conveniently ignore or attempt to explain away.

 

And so, a man obeys the command about not committing murder, but he finds ways to rationalize in his mind the occasional viewing of porn. His thinking is, “At least I’m not having an affair and cheating on my wife”. Or a woman attends church faithfully, as Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs, but quietly behind the scenes she’s a terrible gossip. But she dresses the gossip up in God-talk by saying, “I’m only telling you this so you can pray for her.”

 

You get the idea. From time-to-time we’re all guilty of this. But some people live this way. Some people have adopted patterns of living which are in direct contradiction to the clear guidance provided by the Bible, and then attempt to rationalize why it’s really ok and understandable.

 

Well, it’s not ok and it’s not understandable. God gave us the Bible for a reason and He didn’t make any mistakes when He wrote it. It’s not as if He just wasn’t thinking about your particular situation when He provided mankind with His guidance on the issue you’re currently dealing with. Therefore the Scriptures about sexual immorality, or financial stewardship, or church attendance, or (fill in the blank) apply as much to you right now as they do to everyone else all the time.

 

“All” Scripture is inspired by God. All of it. So as the people of God we must know it, we must live by it, and in those cases when we are straying from it, we have to correct our behavior and come back into line with it.

 

The truth is that God is smarter than us. He knows what He’s talking about. The best life any of us will ever have is the life that is lived right in the center of His will. That life is described and explained in the Bible. It’s our rulebook.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Playing by the rules”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We want what we cannot have.”

 

Recently I saw a humorous post on Facebook. It was a picture of a blazing forest fire. Across the top of the picture the caption read, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Across the bottom it said, “Darn it Jim, you had one job, just one job!”

 

That’s funny. Modify the joke slightly and it reminds me of Adam in the Garden of Eden. “Darn it Adam, there was one rule, just one rule!”

 

Why is it that we always want the one thing we can’t have? A man has a beautiful loving wife, but his eye wanders and he’s attracted to others. Or, just as common, it’s the woman who wants a man other than her husband.

 

I read a story recently about a wealthy celebrity – a “wealthy” celebrity – who was arrested for shoplifting. She could easily have purchased the entire store! Not just the contents of the store but the entire business. Yet they caught her stuffing a shirt into her purse!

 

Tell a four year old he can have an apple but not a cookie, and then leave the room. Does he head to the fruit bowl for the apple? No. He makes a beeline for the cookie jar!

 

We want the thing which we cannot have. It’s human nature. But, there are consequences. The four year old gets a spanking. The shoplifting celebrity goes to jail. The unfaithful spouse ends up divorced.

 

Adam and Eve had it made. They had the run of the Garden. It was all theirs to use as they liked. They were free to lounge around all day in their birthday suits, luxuriating in paradise, enjoying all the fruits from all the trees – expect the fruit from that one tree. But, (come on, say it with me) “They wanted the one they weren’t allowed to have!”

 

You know the rest of the story. Broken fellowship with God, expelled from the Garden of Eden, difficult work for Adam, labor pains for Eve, a dysfunctional family life with one son murdering the other, and the downfall of the entire human race – all because they didn’t play by the rules.

 

So, in what way are you not playing by the rules God has given us? In every person’s life there is something, and in every person’s life there are consequences. I want to challenge all of us today to give serious thought to how we’re living and then, compare that to the standards God has given us. Let’s be willing to make adjustments now, while we still can, before the painful consequences begin.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “It’s not that hard.”

 

“Playing by the Rules”- on the face of it playing by the rules seems like the only right thing to do. Playing by the rules ensures fairness and justice, and it also brings order out of chaos and it leads to outcomes that are best for everyone involved. Fundamentally, that’s why there are rules.

 

But the idea of “playing by the rules” is rapidly going out of fashion in our society today. It’s become common to hear about professional athletes who make a science out of breaking the rules in order to gain a slight advantage over their competitors; or of wealthy businessmen who, although they are already rich, skirt IRS rules in order to gain just a little more financial advantage; or elected officials who lie, manipulate, and disregard the Constitution; or of special interest groups who lobby to have laws amended or bent to their own advantage even though doing so will hurt others; and on it goes.

 

It happens in the Christian world too. We know God’s rules. His standards are clear. Yet how often do we decide to simply do what we want to do, regardless of the clearly established Biblical standards, and then we expect God to bless us anyway? We all do it from time-to-time. This is the most serious and grievous example of not playing by the rules because it involves God’s people disobeying Him.

 

But as Micah explained to the Old Testament Jews of his day, obeying God and living according to His standards is really not that hard. In the Bible God established boundaries within which His people are to live. Those boundaries are really very wide and God gives us a lot of room in which to fully enjoy life. But still, there are boundaries, and we do have to stay within them. When we don’t, when we stray outside of those boundaries, there are always consequences.

 

Playing by the Biblical rules is always in our own best interest. It may be out of fashion culturally, but it is always right and it is always best.

 

All this month we will explore the Biblical principle of playing by God’s rules. We’ll think about what those rules are – and what they are not. We will look at examples of people who lived within God-given boundaries and were blessed because of it, and we will consider examples of people who have chosen not to play by God’s rules, and who have suffered as a result.

 

Folks, it’s not that hard. It really isn’t. While it’s true that none of us will ever live a perfect life, and therefore we will from time-to-time break the rules, we can still structure our lives according to God’s standards and then do our best to live within those boundaries. By the time we’re done with this month of devotional messages, it’s my prayer that all of us will have resolved to do exactly that.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 21:25 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Great people live according to Biblical standards.”

 

The final words of the book of Judges accurately sum up that entire dark period of Israel’s history, “everyone did as he saw fit.” There was no king in those days and there were no strong godly leaders. Living Biblically was not the culturally accepted way of life, and so everyone simply made-up their own rules and lived in whatever way they wanted.

 

The people had abandoned God and as a result their moral values were derived from their own opinions and desires rather than from God’s absolute standard of truth and righteousness. But when people abandon God and His standards, truth and morality become relative and evil prevails.

 

As we conclude our month of considering True Greatness as defined by God, we should by now realize that the single most important dominate characteristics of a great man or woman of God is that they know the Bible, and they live by it. Regardless of the standards of greatness promoted by the world, and regardless of their own preferences and desires, great men and women of God study God’s word, know it well, and then resolve to live by it.

 

God has promised that He has a good and perfect plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11); He has also promised that He will speak to and guide those who call out to Him with a sincere heart (Jeremiah 29:12-13); He will lead us down paths of righteousness for His own sake (Psalm 23:3); He will be with us always as we live this life that brings Him honor and glory (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5); and He will bring to a successful completion that which He is in the process of working out in our lives (Philippians 1:6).

 

Living as godly men and women really isn’t that hard; God Himself helps us to do it.

 

I want to leave you this month with a passage of Scripture that I hope will give you great comfort and assurance as you continue to try to live a life that is pleasing to God. It is Proverbs 3:5-6, “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.”

 

Trust God with your whole heart. Do not depend on your own understanding but instead, acknowledge Him in all your ways (study His Word, pray, do what you know to be right); and then you can count on Him to make your paths straight. Great men and women of God know this to be true, and they live accordingly.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Great men and women of God give the glory to God for the success they have.”

 

I was once in a meeting with a group of Pastors, including the Pastor of one of the largest churches in America. This Pastor was telling the rest of us of how, since his church was so big, he received lots of requests from many high profile individuals asking for the opportunity to speak at his church.

 

He told us the story about one nationally known speaker and author who called. The man called to offer his services to the Pastor of this big church, explaining that he would be a great blessing to the people of the church. He then went on to explain that of course he would need a first class plane ticket for himself, and a coach class ticket for his assistant; he would require a suite in a five star hotel; a driver to transport him; the refrigerator in his room would need to be stocked with a detailed list of the drinks, snacks, and other amenities; and then there was the issue of the $10,000 speaking fee.

 

Obviously this guy was way too impressed with himself and was behaving more like a rock star than as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And needless to say, he did not receive an invitation to speak in that church.

 

In Deuteronomy 8:18 Moses exhorted the people to remember that it was the Lord God who gave them their ability to create wealth. In other words, whether you are a farmer, a carpenter, a shopkeeper, a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker, it is God who endowed you with the skills you have and it is God who should get the glory for whatever good is accomplished in your life.

 

Yes, even if you happen to be a big-shot author and speaker, your skills and abilities come from God and therefore you need to get over yourself and give the glory to God.

 

Moses, by the way, was the greatest leader the nation of Israel ever had and one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, but he was also an extremely humble man who did not think too highly of himself. Numbers 12:3 tells us, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”

 

As you read the story of Moses you quickly discover that he realized that any great thing accomplished through him was actually a result of what God had done, not because of any skill or ability he possessed.

 

One of the great dangers of any accomplishment on our part is that we can start to deceive ourselves into believing that we ourselves have brought it about. Great men and women of God don’t allow themselves to think that way. Like Moses, they are very aware of their own weaknesses and limitations, and they give the glory to God for any good thing that is accomplished in their lives.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.’ ‘Very well,’ Deborah said, ‘I will go with you.” Judges 4:8-9 (NIV)

 

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

 

The period of the Judges was one the saddest times in the history of the nation of Israel. Their leader Joshua was dead and the people had lost their way. The phrase “And every man did what was right in his own eyes” appears numerous times throughout the book.

 

God did raise-up Judges to rule over Israel during this time but as soon as a Judge died, the people lapsed back into anarchy with everyone doing whatever they wanted to do. Then, after an extended period of lawlessness, God would bring another Judge onto the scene to try to bring the people under control.

 

Deborah was one of those Judges. She was the only female to serve in that capacity and by all measures she was one of the most effective of all the Judges. Deborah led Israel during a time when they were threatened by an army of Canaanites led by the commander Sisera. This was the mightiest fighting force in existence in that day. They had over 900 iron chariots and other heavy armaments which would crush Israel’s army.

 

In response Deborah summoned Barak, the commander of the Israelite army. She told him that he was to lead the army of Israel to confront and defeat the Canaanites. Deborah assured Barak that God would give them the victory, but even with that assurance, Barak was afraid. He told Deborah that he would only go if she went as well to provide leadership and inspiration. Deborah agreed, and she went, and the Canaanite army was defeated.

 

Have you ever known great women of God like Deborah, women who were confident in the Lord and who were consequently fearless in the face of great challenges? I have, and I thank God for them.

 

In the churches I’ve been the Pastor of I’ve always had the good fortune to have had one or more “Deborah’s” in the congregation. They were women of strong character and deep faith; women who knew God well and who had great confidence in His watch-care, His protection, and His provision. And on more occasions than I can count, God has used such women to encourage me and to keep me moving in the right direction. I think of women like Louise Teel, Jane Fish, Mary Rose Kemmer, Mary E. Henry, and my wife Linda, as well as others who I won’t embarrass by mentioning by name because they’re alive and well and members of Oak Hill Baptist Church today.

 

We should all thank God for the great women God has placed in our families and in our churches. They’re more important than they probably realize. I’ve heard it said and I know it to be true that, “The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck that turns the head!”

 

And all God’s people said, “Amen!”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “So here I am today, eighty-fives years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.”  Joshua 14:10-11 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Great people are enthusiastic.”

 

I have always loved the example set for us by Caleb. This was a man who approached all of life with enthusiasm and vigor, with passion and purpose, with courage and confidence.

 

Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to spy out the Promised Land and along with Joshua, he was the only one who was not intimidated by the challenges it presented. While the other ten were afraid and counseled the people to turn around and not attempt to take possession of the land, Caleb, along with Joshua, urged them to just go forward with courage and confidence, obeying the Lord and trusting Him. Unfortunately the people didn’t listen to Caleb and Joshua and they paid a big price for it.

 

Forty-five years past for Caleb, forty of them where spent wandering in the desert and five years of finally conquering the Promise Land. Now Caleb stood before Joshua, eighty-five years old and still full of vim and vigor. He was looking forward to the future and was eager to take possession of his portion of the land, ready to get busy building an inheritance for his family – at eighty-five!

 

I don’t know about you but I want to be a Caleb! I want to spend my years in the passionate pursuit of the promises of God, facing challenges with courage and confidence, trusting that God has a good and perfect plan and that if I just keep moving forward in faith and obedience, it will come to pass.

 

The secret to Caleb’s greatness is revealed to us in this same passage of Joshua 14. Three times (in verses 8, 9, and 14), we’re told that Caleb followed the Lord “wholeheartedly”. In other words, with nothing held back. He was enthusiastic, gutsy, passionate, and determined, and he followed God with His whole heart.

 

People like Caleb live lives that are unusually productive and rather than whining or complaining, they just do what needs to be done. I want to be more like Caleb and I hope you do too. I hope to someday be eighty-five, still full of fire and passion, and still accomplishing the plans God has established for me.

 

As the editors of “The Leadership Bible” noted, “Caleb was a great leader because he had a great passion. He had a great passion because he had a great purpose. He had a great purpose because he had a great God. And he knew his great God well.”

 

May that be true of us as well.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Then Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel, saying, “I am now 120 years old; I can no longer act as your leader. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross this Jordan  … Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the Lord has said.” Deuteronomy 31:1-3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Pass it on”

 

Yesterday we considered a passage that was also from Deuteronomy where Moses spoke of the importance of sharing the faith. The primary emphasis in that passage was the responsibility of one generation to pass the faith on to the next generation.

 

This morning I want us to continue that line of thinking, but in a slightly different vein. In Deuteronomy 31:1-3 Moses was speaking to the nation of Israel regarding his impending death and the fact that Joshua had been selected by God to succeed him. That being the case, Moses invested much time and energy into preparing Joshua so he would be ready when the time came. We’re seeing a Biblical pattern here.

 

One of the marks of a great leader is that they have the foresight and the confidence to have in place a well-trained and fully-prepared replacement. It’s all too common to see a leader ultimately fail to finish well because they never bothered to prepare the organization for the day in which they would no longer be there. In those cases the organization and the people always suffer.

 

Preparing the next generation, and then passing the baton to them at a reasonable and realistic time, is a Biblical pattern we see modeled for us all throughout Scripture. In terms of the leadership of groups, churches, or nations, we see that Moses did it with Joshua, Elijah did it with Elisha, Jesus did it with His disciples, and Paul did it with Timothy and Silas.

 

In yesterday’s passage from Deuteronomy chapter six, Moses wrote about the importance of parents passing the faith on to their children and preparing their children to provide the next generation of leadership. Abraham did it with Isaac, David did it with Solomon, and Naomi did it with Ruth, just to cite a few examples. There are many more.

 

Are you actively and intentionally preparing the next generation of leadership in your family, or as the teacher of your Sunday school class, or as the leader of the organization? If you were to die today is there someone on the scene who has been taught, trained, and prepared to step into your place?

 

Great men and women of God recognize their God-given responsibility to prepare the next generation for positions of leadership.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “True Greatness”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Great men and women of God share their faith.”

 

A common characteristic found among virtually all great men and women of God is not just that they have a strong faith of their own, but also that they then share their faith with others. They communicate their faith in both word and deed, and they help others to develop a strong faith of their own.

 

But we cannot give what we do not possess. You cannot live, model, and teach a strong faith if you haven’t first taken the time to develop a strong faith. Great men and women of God have invested the time and discipline, day-after-day, for years on end, to nurture and develop a strong faith.

 

Then they model that faith for others by their actions. Those around them – their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers, can see the impact that strong faith has had on this great man or woman of God by the way they live.

 

Then, a great man or woman of God talks about their faith. They talk about it while sitting at home with their children and grandchildren; and while doing things with friends; and while conducting business out in town; and at work, etc. They share testimonies about what God has done in their own life; they speak about the wonders and the glories of God as seen in creation; they listen quietly and compassionately to the problems and trials of others; and then they share Biblical principles to help that other person deal with their life issues Biblically.

 

A person who has a deep, abiding, and passionate faith which is mature and well-developed, will model that faith, they speak about their faith, and they will find ways to share that faith with others, because that’s what great men and women of God do.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim