Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “…we have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you along with our dearly beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 15:25-26 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “We must be willing to take risks.”

The theme for this month is “Healthy Living”, but the verse for today talks about Paul and Barnabas putting their lives at risk. That doesn’t sound very healthy. In fact, considering all Paul went through in his life, (the persecutions, the beatings, the imprisonments) he doesn’t seem like such a good example of someone who lived a healthy life.

However as we’ve learned, an important part of living a healthy and balanced life is to have God-given goals that provide the direction for our lives. These are assignments from God which we’re enthusiastic about and which motivate us. These are the things that get us out of bed in the morning with a sense of eagerness and anticipation. Paul had that.

But those things always include some element of risk. Living the life that God has planned for you is a spiritual endeavor and as such, it will involve spiritual warfare. Satan does not want you to be the man or woman God wants you to be. Satan wants you to be defeated and miserable. And so you can bet he will do everything in his power to put stumbling blocks and obstacles in your way.

It’s true that God will empower you to persevere and to push through the obstacles, but that does not mean you won’t experience difficulties and even set-backs. You will. And that’s where the risk comes in. In order to walk the path that God has prepared for us we must be willing to accept the risks that come with it. We have to be realistic in acknowledging that there are going to be difficulties, set-backs, and even perhaps some failures. We must be willing to face those and push through them, in order to achieve the thing God has ordained for us.

In John 16:33 Jesus told us “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

How do we push through the troubles Jesus told us would come? Paul helps us with that in Galatians 6:9, “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” (NIV).

Nothing is over until you give up. You’re not defeated until you quit. If you’re pursuing a God-given goal you can count on satanic opposition, and therefore difficulties and challenges, but you can also count on God’s help to get you through. Accept the risk, face the challenges, push through, and don’t give up.

I want to recommend a book to you that you might find very helpful, it’s “Failing Forward” by Pastor John Maxwell. It’s all about how you can use your set-backs and even your failures as stepping stones to propel you forward toward accomplishing the plans God has for you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Our thought for today: “A God-given vision is essential to living well.”

When people have no vision, when they have no purpose or direction in life, they perish. In other words, they wander through their days aimlessly, attempting little and achieving nothing of significance. That’s a Biblical truth which we can all see played out everyday in the lives of people all around us. So many people are purposeless and it’s a sad thing to behold.

One of the keys to success in life is believing that God really does have a purpose and a plan for your life. You must then ask Him to reveal it to you, and once He does, you must then choose to embrace it.

Now, God’s plans for us are seldom revealed in their entirety upfront. If God did that, if He clearly showed us the starting point, and all the milestones along the way, and the end result, we would have the whole thing mapped out for us from start to finish and therefore we wouldn’t need a whole lot of faith to carry it out. We would be less inclined to depend on God.

Therefore, God will give us a general direction to get us started, but then we have to continue relying on Him step-by-step and moment-by-moment. God wants us to invite Him into all the moments of our lives. He wants us to lean on Him and to depend on Him. Therefore He shows us enough of the vision to get us started, and then as we walk it out moment-by-moment and day-by-day, He will continue to guide and direct as necessary to keep us moving in the right direction.

One of the keys to living a healthy and balanced life is to seek God’s plan for your life, and then to pursue it. You must believe that He does have a plan and a purpose for you and you must then choose to embrace it. We will be talking much more about this at Oak Hill Baptist Church when we conduct our Bible Study “What on Earth Am I Here For?” (The Purpose Driven Life). That study will begin on Sunday evening March 15th at 6:00 and we invite you to join us for it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God is the “secret” to success.”

As we begin to draw near to the end of our focus on healthy living, we need to give deeper thought to what it will take for us to maintain the changes we’ve been incorporating into our lives. Many of you reading this were not able to be at Oak Hill Baptist Church on Sunday February 1st, to hear the sermon “The God Factor” which was all about God being the “secret” to our success. That being the case, over the next few days I will draw out and build upon some of the key points from that sermon. You can listen to the sermon by going to http://www.oakhillbaptist.net, clicking on the tab “listen”, and selecting the sermon for 2/1/15.

First, the “secret” to our success really isn’t a secret at all. God is the secret to our success and He has told us so, repeatedly, in the Bible. Isaiah 41:10 is just one of numerous passages which reassure us that God has our back – He wants the best for us and we can rely on Him to help us to accomplish the plans He has for us. There are many others:

“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.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (HCSB)

“I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (HCSB)

“But remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18 (HCSB). (This verse isn’t just referring to money; it pertains to prosperity in life in general).

The point in all of this is that the secret to successfully achieving God-given goals isn’t a secret at all. God will enable you to achieve the things He has planned for you. Keep your eyes focused on Him and continue to walk it out in faith. Tomorrow we will explore this truth a little further.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one – to each according to his own ability.” Matthew 25:15 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God designs us and then equips us for the things He wants us to do.”

Yesterday we talked about finding your “sweet spot” in life – the thing for which God created you. Today we will continue that discussion.

In Matthew 25:15 Jesus taught that God equips people according to the unique abilities and talents He has given to them. He doesn’t have the same plan for every person and therefore He doesn’t equip all people in the same way. However, He will equip you for what He has called you to do.

How do you find the sweet spot for which God has designed you? One way is to consider what it is you love to do. What are the things which bring you the most joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment? What have you done consistently well? What have you loved to do? As Max Lucado writes, “Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.”

Too many people spend their lives doing things they don’t enjoy and are not fulfilled by. Far too many people go to work everyday to a job they hate. They have missed their sweet spot. They’re not doing the things for which God designed them. At other times, a person is aware of what their sweet spot is, and they do know what they enjoy and what they’re good at, but they don’t pursue it. They make excuses and procrastinate and end up spending their lives on things and in ways that God never intended. That is not a fulfilled life and it will not be the best life.

By the way, this lesson pertains to everyone, regardless of your age or the season of life you are in. In fact as we age, as the kids grow up and move out, or as we enter into the retirement years, we are often given new opportunities to find and enjoy that “sweet spot” that we might have missed earlier in life.

Beginning on Sunday March 15th we at Oak Hill Baptist Church are going to begin a Sunday night Bible study written by Rick Warren entitled “What on earth am I here for?” This is the updated version of “The Purpose Driven Life”. This Bible study will help you to discover your sweet spot and will show you ways to begin pursuing it. I hope you’ll plan to join us.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born.” Jeremiah 1:5 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Discover and pursue God’s plan for your life.”

Not everyone has specific goals for their life and clear plans for how they will achieve those goals, but at the least everyone does have dreams and aspirations. Even if they’re only daydreams and unrealistic fantasies, everyone has some idea of what they would like their lives to be like.

But where do those thoughts come from? Many people allow others to set the course of their lives for them. Sometimes it’s parents or other family members who pressure a young person into a particular profession. Some people are concerned primarily with making money, so they chose a career that will pay the most. Many of us fill our lives with all sorts of activities we don’t particularly like or want to be involved in, but we were pressured to do so by others and so we give in, even though we’re not really happy about it.

But when we allow the course of our lives to be determined for us by others, we’re almost always going to end up unfulfilled and unhappy. That’s because God has a specific plan and purpose for your life. He wants to be the one who sets you on the path that He has chosen for you. We see that clearly in the life of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. From the very beginning, even before he was formed in the womb, God had a purpose and a plan for Jeremiah. He has one for you too.

In his book “Cure for the Common Life”, author Max Lucado writes about discovering your “sweet spot”. The sweet spot is the spot where all the forces come together in exactly the right place and at exactly the right time to achieve exactly the right result. For the golfer finding the sweet spot on the ball results in a very long drive; for the baseball player it means a homerun. For you the sweet spot is discovering the thing for which God created you, and then doing that. Max writes:

“But you don’t have to swing a bat or a club to know this. What engineers give sports equipment, God gave you, a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot.”

When it comes to healthy living, you will be at your best when you have found your sweet spot in life for which God created you. We will talk more about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:18 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Most of us need more rest.”

One of the best things most of us could do to improve our health is to get more rest. We’re just too busy, and we don’t get enough sleep. Researchers tell us that while the average adult body needs 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night just to function well, the vast majority of Americans get only 5-6 hours, and much of that is not deep sleep.

Insufficient sleep saps our energy, makes it difficult to concentrate, and is stressful on the body. We also tend to overeat and make poor food choices when we’re overtired. Additionally, we often try to compensate for the lack of energy by consuming too much caffeine. All of that is very unhealthy for us.

But God wants us to rest. Psalm 127:2 in the NLT reads “God gives rest to His loved ones.” That’s right – God gives rest as a gift to those He loves. In 1 Kings 19:5, when the prophet Elijah was super-stressed and not thinking clearly, God put him in timeout and made him take a nap. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus invited the weary and burdened to come to Him for … rest.

Do you need a better night’s sleep? Lay off the caffeine (especially in the evening); consume no sugar after dinner; do not watch late-night TV shows or movies that tend to get your heart rate up (like adventure thrillers); and do not attempt to deal with problems or stressful situations prior to bedtime. Instead, try listening to soothing music in the hour before bedtime; read your Bible; and pray asking God to give you good rest.

Most of us need more rest, and God wants us to have good rest. But we need to be smart about this too. There are steps we can take to help prepare body for the rest God wants us to have.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

I have felt led by the Lord to continue our theme of healthy living for two more weeks. At Oak Hill Baptist our study of the Daniel Plan, and the corresponding Sunday morning sermons, is six weeks long. Therefore they will conclude after the second week in February. Since these devotionals are intended to compliment that study, we will continue them for two more weeks as well.

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

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: “We do not need to fear set-backs”.

Do you fear failure? Most people do. Even a small temporary set-back can often be enough to make us discouraged and even to give-up on our goals. The fear of potential failure is one of the primary reasons many people never even attempt to achieve great things or big changes.

Many years ago John Maxwell wrote a great little book entitled, “Failing Forward – Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success.” John’s premise is that success in anything comes from simply not giving up. When we experience a set-back we should just evaluate what happened and why, learn from it, and then get moving forward again. When we do that, the set-backs simply become stepping stones which lead us to the achievement of our goals.

John wrote, “The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” Kyle Rote Jr. put it this way, “There is no doubt in my mind that there are many ways to be a winner, but there is really only one way to be a loser and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure.”

In Romans 8:1-2 Paul was writing primarily about the fact that all of our sins and all of our failures are forgiven by God because of our faith in His Son Jesus. That’s true. But it’s also true that God views all of our failures and all of our set-backs as teachable moments which can lead us to the ultimate achievement of the goal He set for us.

The fact is that nothing is over until you give up. We do not need to fear our set-backs. Learn from it; get up; dust yourself off; and get moving again.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.” Psalm 119:165 (NKJV)

Our thought for today: “Strong faith is good for your health.”

Many years ago Henry Blackaby and Dr. Henry Brandt co-authored a book written specifically for pastors entitled, “The Power of the Call”. The book was intended to encourage pastors to stay focused on their call from God and to stand strong in the face of all the pressures and challenges which are part of the pastoral ministry. It’s a very helpful book and it’s one I re-read very 4-5 years.

In one chapter, in an attempt to impress upon his pastor-readers the importance of what they do, Dr. Brandt wrote, “You are the custodian of the most important information in the world. How does that statement grab you? You are a specialist in what God has to say to people through the Bible. Your divine calling far supercedes all other professions.”

Dr. Brandt then goes on to explain that as good and as helpful as medical treatment can be, it is still only physical and it is still only temporary. Someday that person will get sick again and someday they will die. That being the case, spiritual care is much more important than physical care.

The reason I’m sharing that with you is not to pump up and promote pastors, but to illustrate the importance of what happens in our churches every week. The teaching, worshiping, and ministering that takes place within our church facilities is much more important than the medical care that takes place in our medical facilities.

In the context of our theme of “healthy living”, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to go to church. Physical health is important, but spiritual health is more important.

The condition of your physical health is mostly determined by the things you do or do not do everyday. But still, in order to be truly healthy you can’t skip your regular doctor’s appointments either. Likewise, your spiritual health is largely determined by your private practices of prayer, Bible reading, etc. But the regular gatherings of the church are also a crucial part of it. Spiritually you will not be healthy and strong if you’re not part of a good church.

Strong faith is good for your health. Being part of a good church helps to keep your faith strong. If you don’t already have a good church family you’re a part of, I invite you to visit with us at Oak Hill Baptist.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear …” 1 John 4:18 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God’s love makes all the difference.”

I love the thought Rick Warren shares in “The Daniel Plan Journal”:

“Many people are afraid to get close to others, even their friends, because they are concerned that if others see who they really are, they will be rejected … God’s answer to fear is love. God enables us to love the fear out of one another.”

People tend to fear getting close to others because they’re afraid that if they allow others to get too close, they will be seen for who they truly are and will consequently be rejected. How sad. How sad that someone would believe they could only be loveable and likeable if they pretend to be someone different from who they truly are; and how sad that we sometimes make others feel that way.

The answer to the problem is God’s love. God’s love is perfect. God’s accepts people as they are. When God’s love rules, there’s no longer any reason to fear what others might think or say about you, because others will be thinking and saying about you what God Himself thinks and says. Rick goes on:

“We drive fear from our community by loving one another so supportively that each person feels safe inside the group. This safety allows us to bring our humanity into the group, including all our joy and pain, our ups and downs, our victories and defeats. That is what deep and committed friendships offer.”

In order to help one another to be the men and women God wants us to be, we have to create an environment where everyone knows it’s safe to simply be real. That means there can be no criticism, no gossip, and no judging – just genuine love and concern, and a real desire to help one another.

Perfect love (God’s love) drives out fear. God enables us to love the fear out of one another.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”

Our Bible verse for today: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.” Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “Staying focused on God-given goals gives us peace.”

Life is busy and stressful. It just is. Often we feel distracted and pulled in a dozen different directions at once. Times like that can cause us to make unhealthy choices. Simply as a matter of convenience or as a quick temporary fix, we grab an unhealthy food choice, or we whip out that credit card we vowed not to use, or we give-in to the demands and expectations of someone else and end up devoting our time and energy to something we would rather not.

When we’re busy and stressed we often lose focus and clarity in our thinking. That then causes us to make poor choices. Focusing on our God-given goals can help to fix that problem. When we are clear about our priorities (because they came to us from God), we’re less likely to lose sight of what really matters – even when we’re being pressed and pulled by the pressures and demands of life.

God-given goals provide us with stability and balance and strength, especially when we need it most. That then, gives us peace. Because we are relying on God and not on ourselves; because we remain focused on the things that He said are important rather than what the world and other people would have us focus on; we have peace.

Life will always be filled with demands and challenges. That’s just the way life is. But staying focused on God and on the priorities He has established for us is a sure way to stay calm, peaceful and focused even during the most stressful of times.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim