Devotional for Friday October 17th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: ‘Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We learn how to obey God through the good examples of others.”

 

I am deeply grateful to the Lord for some of the fine Christian men and women He has brought into my life over the years. I have learned so much from them! Oren Teel was my pastor. He was the man who baptized me, discipled me, and then patiently raised me up in the ministry. It was Oren who led the church to license me to preach, and it was Oren who presided over my Ordination Council. To this day when I’m faced with a difficult problem in church life I find myself wondering “How would Oren have handled this?” 

 

There have been many others over the years. Phyllis Forte and Mary Rose Kemmer modeled for me how a Christian can age with grace and dignity. They also exemplified how to deal with serious medical problems and deteriorating health, and yet still be faithful to the church family while being a great blessing to all those around you.

 

This is what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 11:1. He wasn’t bragging. He was simply acknowledging the fact that over the years the Lord had brought him through a lot. Therefore he had learned how to faithfully follow Him – especially in difficult circumstances and in tough times. As a result, he was in a good position to teach those hard-learned lessons to others.

 

This is why in both the Old and New Testaments, God places such a heavy emphasis on the importance of His people living within a community of faith. We are to be fully engaged in the life of the church because we need to be around other Christians. When we skip the regular gatherings of our church family, we’re missing out on some of the most important lessons the Lord wants to teach us. There are people there that we need to be around – people we can learn from, people whose examples will inspire us and move us forward in our own growth. But that doesn’t happen if we’re sitting at home on Sunday morning reading the newspaper rather than sitting in Sunday School.

 

As the weekend approaches and the time for the Sunday gathering of the church family draws near, I encourage you to make plans to be there. There are people there that you need to be around. There are things the Lord intends to show you through the examples of others. We learn a lot from the examples of others – especially about how to live well and how to obey God in the tough times of life.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday October 16th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

Our thought for today: “Obedience showcases transformation.”

 

Richard was one of the least likely converts to Christ I have ever known. He was a crusty old sailor who had all the mannerisms of a crusty old sailor. He was short and squat with heavy jowls and a bulldog face. He walked bent forward at the waist a little, his head held high, his jaw thrust forward, and he looked mean. When you saw him coming towards you, you just sort of figured you were about to get in a fight.

 

But Richard had given his life to Christ and he truly was a new creation. Despite his tough exterior, he was actually a pussycat who loved the Lord and who could always be counted on to lend a helping hand. People were always amazed to discover what a nice man he was. And that discovery was a great testimony to the mighty transforming power of Christ. Jesus can transform the toughest most profane sailor into a gentle pussycat who is eager to hold the door for you, or to mow your lawn, or to visit you in the hospital.

 

Now, it wasn’t always easy for Richard to act like that. It’s true that he was a new creation in Christ, but it’s also true that old habits die hard and transformation takes time. There were many days when Richard would probably just as soon have smacked me up the side of the head as smile at me, and therefore being nice required extra effort on his part. But he knew it was important to make the extra effort and to show people that he was a new man.

 

You see, people were watching – especially people who knew the old Richard. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Today men are asking not so much if Christianity is true, but is it real? Does it amount to anything in actual life? If I have a personal relationship to Jesus on the basis of His redemption, it will show in the way I live, in the way I act toward men.”

 

When we are obedient to God in the way in which we behave, especially when such obedience isn’t easy, it highlights the power of transformation – it showcases the difference God is making in our lives. Today I encourage you to make sure people can see the new creation that you are.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday October 15th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Focus on what really matters.”

 

As was noted in yesterday’s devotional message, possessiveness is a natural human tendency which leads people to become compulsively preoccupied with material things. It’s a condition which is especially prevalent in our society.

 

In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus told a parable about a rich fool who had many earthly possessions, but his preoccupation with those possessions distracted him to the point that he had little or no relationship with God. The story ends with the man dying suddenly, leaving his earthly possessions behind, and he then discovered that he had to face the very God he had not bothered to build a relationship with.

 

The problem of greed and possessiveness is such a problem that Jesus taught about it frequently. In Matthew 16:25 He taught that a person who clings to the things of this life will actually end up losing much more in eternity. In Matthew 6:25-33 He taught that our Father in Heaven is well aware of our needs and He is committed to meeting them for us, if we will just focus our thoughts and efforts on His kingdom and on His righteousness.

 

The famous missionary Jim Elliot once wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

 

That statement is true – we know it is. Material things are temporary, but a healthy relationship with God is eternal. Yet we cling to our possessions anyway and greed consumes our souls. Why? Because our faith is weak and because we are focused on the things we can see rather than on those we cannot see. It’s like C.S. Lewis once wrote:

 

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

 

Since we are material beings, it’s easy to become preoccupied with material things. But we do so at our own peril. In His teaching Jesus emphasized over and over again how truly temporary material things are, and therefore how lacking in real value. Only the things of God have eternal value, so that’s where our focus needs to be.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday October 14th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 NIV

 

Our thought for today: “We must resist the temptation to cling to stuff.”

 

Many years ago my wife and I adopted a general philosophy regarding the acquiring and giving away of stuff. It goes like this: “If God has blessed us to the point that He has allowed us to get a new item (whatever the item is), if we can, we will attempt to bless someone else who is in need by giving them the old item.”

 

Over the years that philosophy has led us to give away (instead of selling), a dining room set, a bedroom set, two sofas, several recliners, two refrigerators, a washing machine, a dryer, and two cars, that I can remember.

 

Now, I would like to claim that we did that because we have such big generous hearts, but the exact opposite is true. We came to the conclusion that God wanted us to do that precisely because we were not really that generous. Over the years, like many people, we had become very possessive of our stuff. We had accumulated lots and lots of stuff, we were always longing for new stuff, and when we did get the new stuff, we would then try to sell the old stuff for as much money as we could get so we could then get even more new stuff!

 

Yes it was true, we had come to the point that we no longer owned our possessions, our possessions owned us.

 

So to remedy that, not only has God moved us to possess less, but He also requires us to give things away that we could otherwise sell. And it has not been easy. I like my stuff just as much as the next guy does. And when I don’t need my stuff anymore, I like to get money for it. So making do with less, and giving things away, has always been a struggle for me. But it has gotten easier over the years and I’ve actually come to enjoy it.

 

Maybe possessiveness isn’t a problem for you. Maybe you have learned to hold everything lightly. Maybe you recognize that everything you have is a gift from God and it’s easy for you to share with others. But if so, you’re the exception, because in our consumer-oriented society which is so fixated on conspicuous consumption, we’re conditioned to get all we can and to keep all we can.

 

The lesson Jesus wants us to learn is that God has blessed us, so now we need to bless others. It’s not an easy lesson to learn and it’s certainly not an easy practice to live by, but it is an essential part of obeying God. “Freely you have received, freely give.”

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday October 13th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

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

 

Our thought for today: “We must take advantage of our opportunities to speak-up for Jesus.”

 

In his book “The Insanity of Obedience” Nik Ripken writes about the stark differences between the boldness to speak-up for Christ which Christians in areas of intense persecution often demonstrate, and the unwillingness to speak-up which is demonstrated by Christians in places like the USA. Nik writes:

 

“It is humbling to know that the vast majority of movements toward Christ today are in countries among people groups where persecution abounds. There is less kingdom growth in the Western, democratic, and so-called “Christian” countries today. The horrible fact is, in almost every Western environment Christianity is in decline.”

 

What Nik writes is true and it has been confirmed in study after study. In the places where Christians suffer the most persecution for witnessing for Jesus, there is boldness and great growth of the church. In the places where there is the most freedom and the least persecution (and therefore the least risk), Christians are largely apathetic and silent.

 

It is true that there are many cases where Satan brings so much pain and suffering to bear upon Christians in areas of great persecution that he is able to silence them. But it’s equally true – perhaps even more so – that Satan works hard to create a sense of apathy and laziness in believers in un-persecuted settings which renders them silent as well. Nik goes on:

 

“It was a startling thought to realize that the persecutor’s use of violence to inhibit the faith and the believer’s refusal to speak openly of Jesus yield the same result. In both cases, people are denied access to Jesus. How tragic that the silence of believers could yield the same result as the violence of the persecutors!”

 

We here in the USA live in a time and place where we can openly and freely speak for Jesus with few or no repercussions. So why don’t we? Peter exhorted his readers to always be ready and to speak openly and passionately for Jesus. I encourage you to do that today.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday October 10th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God commands us to take care of those less fortunate then ourselves.”

 

In his book “The Insanity of Obedience” missionary and author Nik Ripkin explains that in the era of the early New Testament churches, and in much of the Christian world today, it is understood that an important part of reaching the world for Christ involves actually getting out into the world and providing physical care for those in need. The spreading of the Good News is centered on physical ministry that is designed to meet the needs of suffering people, and it is combined with telling the story of Jesus.

 

The one place that model is not practiced by very many churches is in the Western world – especially in the USA. In our church culture there is an inordinate, unhealthy, and excessively unbalanced over-emphasis on discipleship, rather than on service and evangelism. Almost all of our time, energy, and resources are focused inward on ourselves in the form of worship services, Bible study groups, and fellowship events. We label all of it “discipleship” and pronounce it “good” because after all, discipleship is a good thing, right?

 

Well yes, but only when it is balanced with evangelism and service.

 

Nik invites us to consider if perhaps the church in our country has become so inwardly focused and so preoccupied with ourselves, that we use our celebration of “discipleship” as camouflage to conceal the fact that we’re doing precious little evangelism and service outside the walls of our church buildings. Such a church life is unbiblical and it is not common in the rest of the Christian world.

 

There is great value in getting out of our church buildings and taking the practice of our faith out into the world, as a group, in the form of service to those in need. It’s what Jesus did. It’s what the early church did. And it’s what most Christians around the world do today as a regular practice of the Christian faith.

 

This Sunday night (October 12th) we at Oak Hill Baptist Church will move our regular Sunday night activities to the Bread of Life Rescue Mission on 4th avenue in Crossville. We do this every quarter as a regular part of our church life. Our children and teens will join the adults as we all go out to serve. We will hold an evangelistic service at 5:00. While that service is going on, some of our people will be in the kitchen preparing the evening meal. Then at 6:00 we will serve the meal. After that we will go into the dining room and enjoy the meal along with everyone else at the mission. The topic of conversation will be Jesus. We would love to have you join us.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday October 9th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God wants us to demonstrate strong faith in tough times.”

 

Although it’s a little embarrassing to do so, I feel I have to admit that when I’m sick I tend to be a little bit of a baby. I’ve been blessed by God with pretty good health, and so I seldom get sick. Therefore I’m not used to being sick. And so I tend to get grumpy and whiny when I am sick. I’ve always admired those who can handle sickness – real sickness – with a sunny disposition and strong faith. I’m trying hard to learn how to do that, I really am.

 

In 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 5:5 Paul described this very thing for us. In verse 16 he urged us, don’t give up (don’t become discouraged or depressed) because your outer person (your body) is withering away. Because (if you’re a Christian), your inner person is being renewed. In verse 17 he reminds us that whatever affliction we’re suffering from, it’s light and temporary when compared to the eternal glory which awaits us. Then in verse 18 he urges us to therefore focus our attention on that great eternal spiritual truth and not on the temporary physical problem.

 

In 5:1-6 he notes that as time passes, the body ages and is always moving in the direction of deterioration and ultimately death. But God has something better waiting for us. While the physical body is always in a continual, long and slow process of moving towards the day of death, God has a glorious eternal body for us that will never experience sickness or pain. That’s what our focus needs to be on.

 

While it’s ok and even good to make others aware of our health issues so they can pray for us and help us, don’t be the person who drones on and on, moaning and groaning about aches and pains and doctors and pills and medical procedures.

 

We bring glory to God when we handle sickness well. People do notice and they are impressed. Unbelievers especially will be curious to know how you are able to handle such a tough situation so well. What a great opportunity to tell them the reason for the hope that we have! God wants us to demonstrate strong faith in tough times.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim



 
 

Devotional for Wednesday October 8th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We must stand firm on Biblical principles regardless of what society says or does.”

 

In Isaiah’s day the people of God in the nation of Israel had given-in to the pressures from the cultures around them. The Jewish faith was not popular with non-Jews. It called for standards of moral conduct which were at odds with how the surrounding cultures desired to live. Not only did the surrounding cultures object to and resist the God-given teachings of Judaism, but they even resented the very presence of the Jews, because just the mere presence of such God-obeying people was in itself convicting.

 

Sadly, rather than standing firm in the beliefs they knew to be true, many of God’s people surrendered to the pressures of the cultures around them. After all, if you want to get along then you have to go along, right? So, many of the Jews began to embrace the standards of the surrounding cultures. They engaged in the practices of the cultures, and even adopted the worship of their Gods. And in order to justify such actions, they equivocated, rationalized, and constructed clever and twisted reasoning’s to explain away their new beliefs and behaviors. Before long what used to be clearly understood as evil behavior was suddenly being called good, and Godly standards were reclassified as evil – even by the people of God.

 

I’m sure you’re having no problem seeing the contemporary application here. This is a perfect picture of our society today. The cultural pressures upon the people of God in our day are extreme. Time-honored Biblical standards of morality and conduct are now seen by many as antiquated and small-minded. Christians are ridiculed and sometimes persecuted for attempting to bring the Word of God to bear on the social issues of our day. And sadly, like those ancient Israelites, many Christians are giving-in rather than standing firm. Why? Because it’s always easier to go along so you can get along, rather than standing strong in the face of withering opposition from the cultural thought police.

 

The answer for God’s people today is the same as it has always bee: Know the BIble and stick to it. Do not give in to the cultural pressures. We must have the courage and conviction to obey and to promote God’s standards of morality, regardless of what the rest of society says or does.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday October 7th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For government is God’s servant for your good … Therefore you must submit.”  Romans 13:4-5 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God requires us to both obey and to disobey civil authorities.”

 

I once knew a Christian man who cheated on his tax returns and attempted to justify it by claiming that the taxes were excessive and therefore he was engaging in an act of civil disobedience. When I pointed out to him that he was essentially stealing from the government and therefore violating the eighth commandment, he got angry with me and ended the conversation.

 

I am also aware of Christians in China who willfully disobey the government by worshiping in unauthorized churches. In China there are only certain churches approved by the government. The pastors are told what they can preach, there are certain Biblical doctrines which are forbidden, and the activities of the church are supervised by government officials. Those who worship in the unauthorized churches are breaking the law and are routinely arrested and imprisoned.

 

Both of the examples cited above are similar in that in both cases, the Christians involved are breaking the laws of the land they live in. They are also similar in that obeying God in each of those situations poses some difficulties for the individuals involved. But that’s where the similarities end. In the first case, the man might feel as if the tax burden is unfair and creates a financial hardship on him, but Biblically he’s required to pay those taxes anyway. If he doesn’t like the law then he is free to work within the framework of the established legislative process to try to get the law changed. But he is not free to disobey the law.

 

In the second case the Christians involved have to disobey the civil authorities because obeying that law would require them to disobey God. Their situation is exactly like that of the early disciples in Acts chapter five. In that case the religious authorities were demanding that the Apostles stop preaching teaching and practicing the Christian faith. Otherwise they would be arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and maybe worse. But the Apostles responded “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

 

That’s the standard for us. We must obey God rather than men. And we must do it whether doing so is easy or hard. As long as the laws of the land do not conflict with the laws of God, then we must obey them whether we like it or not and whether doing so is easy or difficult. But if the laws of the land do conflict with the laws of God, then we must disobey them, and we must do so whether standing with God is easy or hard and whether we like it or not.

 

Most of the time God requires us to obey civil authority, but at other times He requires us to disobey civil authority. The determining factor is always what the Bible says, not our personal feelings or desires.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday October 6th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Obey God and go to work!”

 

It’s Monday morning and a new workweek is beginning. Maybe you’re groaning and wishing you could just stay in bed. Maybe you’re wishing you were independently wealthy and didn’t need to work. Maybe you want to retire at the ripe old age of 33. Well, if you’re healthy enough to work and you have a job, then praise God and get moving.

 

The truth is that work is God’s idea and it is a good thing. From the earliest chapters of Genesis, when God put Adam in charge of the Garden of Eden, right up to the closing chapters of the book of Revelation where we discover that even in eternity we will do the work of ruling and reigning with Christ, the Bible portrays work as a good thing and therefore God commands us to work. For a deeper study of the Biblical command to have a job, and the benefits of work, see chapter thirteen of my book “Walking with Paul”, or read the article I wrote, “Who’s the Boss?” You can find them both on my website at http://www.JimMersereauBooks.com.

 

Unfortunately many people do not work when they could and should. I frequently encounter relatively healthy people who, while they do have some health problems, they have managed to game the system by getting themselves declared 100% disabled. Now they live at the tax payer’s expense as they collect disability, food stamps, and subsidized housing. As a society we have to reform this system and stop the abuses. It is un-biblical for a person who could be supporting themselves to instead be living off of others. If a person can work, they should.

 

I also sometimes meet young adults who have figured out how to game their parents. These are shiftless and unproductive young adults who are accomplishing nothing with their lives and who continue to live off of mom and dad. And the parents are over-indulgent to the point of chronic enabling. By being an enabler those parents are ensuring their child will never amount to anything in life. Biblically the young person is required by God to work and to support themselves. And Biblically the parents are required by God to either make that young person take care of themselves, or to cut the cord and let them suffer the consequences. That’s exactly what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 3:10. If the person gets hungry enough, they’ll get a job so they can buy some food. Paul wasn’t counseling us to be hard-hearted regarding true need, but he was cautioning us to not allow ourselves to be gamed by those who are just lazy.

 

Ok, back to the subject of getting out of bed and getting on with your workweek. Obey God. Go to work. Be the best employee in the company. And thank God that you have a job to go to.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim