Devotional for Saturday and Sunday July 26-27

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, 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: “A healthy soul helps us to remain peaceful and confident in the face of adversity”

 

In my role as a pastor I tend to be allowed into people’s lives at a deeper level than most others typically are. People usually have enough trust and confidence in their pastor to open up and share with him some of the deeper and more painful struggles they’re dealing with. That being the case, one thing I have learned over the years is that everybody has issues. There’s nobody out there that doesn’t have something painful and difficult in their life. Even if it isn’t outwardly obvious, deep inside it’s there. It’s like C.S. Lewis once observed, “There is always one thing more going on in each person’s life of which you know absolutely nothing.”

 

Therefore everyone can use an extra dose of confidence, assurance, and peace. It’s God who provides this. One of the most frequent refrains in the Bible is “Do not fear.” Over and over again God’s people are told that they have no reason to live in fear because God is with us, He will strengthen us, and He will help us. And always, that promise comes to us within the context of a healthy and vibrant relationship with God. The deeper and more dynamic that relationship is, the more peace and confidence we will have, even in the face of difficult and painful circumstances.

 

This is one of the great rewards of soul-care. When we are intentionally and consistently doing the things necessary, on a daily basis to care for the soul, it nurtures our relationship with the Lord. That then results in increased peace, confidence, assurance, and less fear. A healthy soul does indeed help us to be peaceful and confident in the face of adversity.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday July 25th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God cares more about what you become than what you do.”

 

God the Father spoke the words recorded in Matthew 3:17 about His Son Jesus at the time He was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. In her book “Anonymous – Jesus’ hidden years … and yours”, author Alicia Britt Chole notes that the truly interesting thing about this scene is that God the Father spoke these words of approval over Jesus before Jesus had actually done anything. At this point Jesus had preached no sermons, He had spoken no parables, He had not restored the sight of any blind people, He had healed no lepers, He had saved no souls. And yet, God the Father was already pleased with Him.

 

Most of the previous thirty years of Jesus’ life had been what we call “The Hidden Years”. There is little recorded about them in the Bible, and Jesus was not in ministry per se at during that time. These were quiet years of devotion and preparation. Jesus was living a simple and humble life as He grew and matured and was prepared by God for the short three year ministry that was yet to come.

 

When we read in Matthew 3:17 that God the Father was already pleased with His Son, it must mean that He was pleased with what the human Jesus had become during those quiet hidden years. Chole writes:

 

“In unseen places over underestimated years, Jesus had been making unrecorded, unapplauded choices that had prepared him for everything to come. And Father God – who values the seen and the unseen alike – was very, very pleased.”

 

The same is true for us. God is much more concerned about what we become than what we do. In fact, the “becoming” must take place before the “doing” will amount to a hill of beans. That’s why soul-care is so important. If you attend to the health of your soul you will already be in a condition that pleases the Father very much, even before you serve a single person, teach a single Bible study, lead anyone to Christ, or even before you ever even get out of bed in the morning.

 

God cares much more about what you become than about what you do, and taking care of your soul is how the “becoming” happens.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 24th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded the house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul makes a good foundation.”

 

Arctic scientists who have studied ice burgs tell us that only approximately 10% of an ice burg is visible above the surface. 90% is submerged and is therefore unseen. But because of the enormous mass that exists below the surface and which therefore forms the foundation, ice burgs are virtually indestructible. The ice burg could sink the Titanic but the Titanic could not sink the ice burg.

 

Our soul can be a lot like that ice burg. It exists deep below the surface of our lives and it is the foundation upon which all the rest of life is built. The greater the mass, the firmer the foundation; the stronger, deeper, more expansive the soul is, the more substantial a foundation we have to build the rest of life upon.

 

Sadly, many people pay little attention to the growth and maturity of the soul. For them the proportions are reversed, their lives are 90% above the surface and only 10% beneath. Can you see how unstable that is? With most of their life existing above the surface rather than deep in the soul, their lives are very unstable and can easily come crashing down.

 

As a Christian – someone who is alive in Christ – you have a soul that is vibrant and strong and growing. It’s your relationship with Christ which makes that possible. Christ is your Rock and He’s the One who gives life to and animates your soul.

 

That means that the most important part of you, the most significant and substantive part of you, exists deep within you, not on the surface of life. The real substance of your being is your soul and the more developed it is – the stronger it is in Christ – the more firm your foundation. A healthy soul is the foundation for a solid and stable life. Are you doing the things necessary for yours to be healthy and strong?

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday July 23rd

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb, I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made, Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.” Psalm 139:13-14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “To take proper care of our soul we must also take care of our body.”

 

Recently I have been reviewing the popular health plan “The Daniel Plan”. It was written by Pastor Rick Warren and a group of friends from Saddleback Community Church. Their approach to a balanced and healthy life is similar to the approach we have been taking in this series of devotionals on the soul – that as human beings we are body, mind and spirit and all three parts of us impact the others. Therefore if one part of us is unhealthy, it has a negative effect on the other two. Conversely, when one part of us is healthy, it has a positive impact on the other two.

 

With that in mind, in the section about physical health, Rick writes, “Keeping your body in shape is a spiritual discipline.” Perhaps you’ve never thought of physical fitness and good nutrition as a “spiritual” discipline but it is. Our physical body is the vehicle God has given us to carry us through life in this world, and we have a stewardship responsibility to take good care of it. Unfortunately, many of us take better care of our car than we do of our body. But the physical body is intended by God to be used by us an instrument of ministry for Him. The worse shape we allow the body to be in, the less able it is to perform the tasks the Lord has for us. Also, the worse shape we allow the body to be in, the worse we feel – we have less energy, less strength, more sickness, and all of that impacts us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well.

 

Rick continues, “God created your body. Jesus died for it. The Holy Spirit lives in it. Your body is connected to Christ, and it’s going to be resurrected one day. On that day God will hold you accountable for how you managed your body.”

 

Yes, physical discipline can be a spiritual discipline as well. Maintaining a diet that consists mostly of moderate amounts of reasonably nutritious food and getting some amount of daily exercise is really not such a difficult thing, and it can be an act of worship and devotion as we make the effort to take good care of the God-given gift of our physical body.

 

To take proper care of the soul we must also take care of the body.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
 

Devotional for Tuesday July 22nd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul can be fully alive.”

 

“All men die but few men truly live.” I don’t remember who first said that but I believe it to be true. The great poet Henry David Thoreau once wrote that most men live lives of quiet desperation. Sadly, I’m certain that is true too. But one of the reasons Jesus came was so we can have life and have it in all its fullness. He meant eternal life, yes, but life now too. The goal of a healthy soul is to be fully alive in Christ, living a life that is robust and dynamic and overflowing with the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus came so we could have such a life.

 

In his book “Journey of Desire” John Eldredge writes that way too often the practice of the Christian faith is centered on accumulating information and obeying rules. We study the Bible, memorize verses, follow the rules, and end up with a faith that is often dry as dust. While those things are certainly important, the life Jesus wants us to have involves much more than just Bible facts and rule-following. Jesus wants us to be truly alive, and that requires a faith that lives in the heart, not just in the head.

 

That’s why soul-care is so much more than just an intellectual exercise. As we’ve already learned, taking proper care of the soul involves engaging the heart. It calls for quiet meditation – just sitting quietly with God; it involves time spent with other Christians in what yesterday’s devotional called “The gift of loitering”; and it requires us to be actively engaged in acts of ministry which we are passionate about. When the practice of our faith routinely involves giving out rather than always taking in, that’s when our heart will be aflame and full. Serving others in the Name of Jesus with acts of mercy and compassion and by means of ministry activities which strike a cord deep within us, is one of the best ways for the soul to truly come alive.

 

“All men die but few men truly live.” That’s sadly true of many Christians. The Christian life should be an exciting and wonderful adventure filled with love and laughter and challenging ministry. But way too many of us have turned it into a dull routine of empty gestures and meaningless rituals.

 

I encourage you to live large. Live with reckless abandon for the cause of Christ. Find a group of people who are eagerly and joyfully doing meaningful things to serve and bless others, and then join them in it.

 

When Jesus has full possession of your soul and when you are truly living for Him, you will be experiencing the full and abundant life He intends for you to have.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday July 21st

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus reclined at the table

 

Our thought for today: “We need to savor the special moments”

 

Have you ever noticed that you can’t pay attention in a hurry? When you’re in a hurry and both your body and your mind are racing, it’s tough to pay very close attention to anything. At such times it’s also virtually impossible to soak in and truly savor special moments. I wonder how many special moments I’ve missed or failed to appreciate in my life because I’m often in such a hurry.

 

Jesus was never in a hurry. Even though the crowds were frequently pressing in upon Him and even though the demands of ministry were usually intense, He always seemed to have time for people and for the things that were truly important – like reclining at the table and simply enjoying His friends.

 

If you read the Gospels you realize that this was something Jesus did fairly frequently. Evidently to Him one of the most valuable things He could do with His time was to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy being with people. He didn’t feel pressed to get through a meeting so He could move on to other ministry tasks. He just relaxed, soaked it in, and enjoyed it. Sometimes this is referred to as “The gift of loitering.” Just hanging out with your hommies.

 

Recently I spent a couple of hours visiting with some friends. They live out in the country on a nice piece of land. It was a warm summer day and there was a slight breeze blowing. We were sitting in the back yard in the shade, gazing out over a serene country scene, drinking iced tea and just talking. As I was sitting there soaking it in and truly enjoying it, it occurred to me how seldom I have times like that. I remember commenting to my friends, “This is really good. I need to do more of this.” One of them responded, “Yeah, me too. I’m usually way too busy.”

 

That relaxing time of just hanging with my friends was deeply satisfying and was good for my soul. I want more of it. Lance Witt once remarked, “I want more slow and deep in my life, and less fast and shallow.” Yeah, that’s me. That’s what I want – more slow and deep and less fast and shallow.

 

How about you? Would it do your soul good to have more slow and deep and less fast and shallow? We would all benefit from being more like Jesus in this respect. We need to cultivate the gift of loitering.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday July 19-20

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So the father came out and pleaded with him. But he replied to his father, “Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.” Luke 15:28-30 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Self-pity poisons the soul”

 

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the elder brother was consumed with envy, bitterness, and self-pity. Rather than being joyful and celebrating the repentance and restoration of his younger brother, the elder brother was consumed with thoughts of how he imagined himself to have been neglected and cheated. The result was an angry and self-absorbed young man.

 

It has been said, and I believe it to be true, that self-pity is the worst of all human emotions. It is so selfish! The great devotional writer Oswald Chambers once wrote that “Self-pity is of the Devil!” Amen brother! Satan uses the human emotion of self-pity to turn our thoughts fully upon ourselves. He convinces us that we have been unfairly short-changed and cheated, and that we have a right to be angry and bitter about it. He then quietly and cunningly urges us brood about it. We chew on the perceived wrong like a bull dog on a bone.

 

And the soul slowly withers and dies. It marinates in a toxic stew of resentment and self-righteous indignation and it evolves into a mean and ugly thing. How much better it would have been for the elder brother to have joined the celebration. His doing so would have been a blessing to his little brother and it would certainly have been better for the elder brother himself. Rather than making himself a miserable and lonely outcast, he would have instead been right in the middle of the joy and festivities. 
Yes, self-pity poisons the soul. It is indeed the worst of all human emotions. It is petty and small and so terribly pathetic. I encourage you to avoid giving in to self-pity. It’s bad for your soul.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday July 18th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

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 answer to fear is love”

 

The dictionary defines fear as “A feeling of agitation and anxiety; a feeling of disquiet or apprehension; a reason for dread.” Obviously if you have feelings of agitation, anxiety, disquiet, apprehension, and dread then your soul is unsettled and you are not at peace. Something is creating a sense of fear in you.

 

I love the statement Rick Warren makes in his book “The Daniel Plan”: “God’s answer to fear is love. God enables us to love the fear out of one another.”

 

What a great thought, “God enables us to love the fear out of one another.” Rick wrote that statement within the context of illustrating the importance of having a good church family or support group of fellow Christians who love and care about you. “The Daniel Plan” is all about creating and maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle. One of the key elements to doing that is to surround yourself with the right friends who share your values and goals, and who are committed to helping you achieve them.

 

This is essential. To live well, and to cultivate and maintain a healthy soul, we must surround ourselves with like-minded friends who love us, care about us, and who will support and encourage us. Fear lays waste to the soul. Fear robs our joy, stunts our growth, and poisons the heart. But love drives out fear. God’s answer to fear is love. And when we’re part of a group who loves one another, we can love the fear right out of each other.

 

Rick goes on to write, “We drive fear from our community (the church) by loving one another so supportively that each person feels safe inside the group.”

 

Can you think of times when your church family loved you so supportively that it drove your fear away? I’m sure you can. Have there been times when you’ve done that for others? I hope so. A soul that knows it is loved is a healthy soul. Being enveloped in the love of God and in the love of God’s people is the best thing you can do for your soul. If you already have a good church family who loves you, supports you, and encourages you, then I urge you to meet with them every chance you get. If you don’t have such a church family then I invite you to visit us at Oak Hill Baptist because you will find one there.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 17th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)

 

Our thought for today: “Staying focused on God helps to keep our soul at peace”

 

If we allow them to, the problems and stresses of life can rob us of God’s peace. When the issues of life are pressing in upon us it’s a natural response to give them our attention, but that’s not necessarily bad. In fact, if we ignore real problems we’ll be in denial about them and they will probably just get worse. So I’m not suggesting that we pretend they don’t exist. It’s when we dwell on the problems, and when we look to ourselves and to others for the resolution instead of to God, that’s when we surrender the peaceful state of our soul and we become unsettled and distraught.

 

I think of that scene in Matthew 14:22-31 where Jesus comes to the disciples walking on the water, and Peter, once he gets over his fear of seeing Jesus walking on water, asks Jesus to make it possible for him to walk on the water too. So Jesus commands Peter to get out of the boat and come to Him. Peter does and sure enough, he walks on the water too. Until he takes his eyes off of Jesus. As soon as Peter’s attention shifted off of Jesus and onto the wind and the waves he started to sink, and Jesus had to reach out and save him. Peter was fine as long as his focus was on Jesus. It was when he shifted his focus to the problems that everything fell apart for him.

 

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2 (HCSB).

 

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, not on the problem – that’s what Isaiah meant in 26:3-4. Pray, recite key verses of scripture over and over again, meditate as you visualize God handling your problems for you, and then pray some more. Staying focused on God instead of on our problems will go a long way towards keeping the soul at peace.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday July 16th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Spiritual formation occurs over time as a result of soul-care”

 

In Luke 2:52 Luke gives us a very brief summary of Jesus’ growing-up years. Over a period of years He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with men. It didn’t happen over night. Not even for Jesus. It was a process that unfolded as the weeks, months, and years passed. It certainly involved physical growth, but also emotional maturity, intellectual growth, and spiritual development. We usually don’t think of Jesus as having needed those things but this verse reminds us that although He was God, He was God in a human body, and he therefore experienced everything we experience. That includes the necessity of growth and development.

 

When it comes to spiritual formation and soul-care, what was true for Jesus is also true for us. It takes time. It’s a process which theologians call “sanctification”. Sanctification is a fifty-cent theological word which simply means “set-apart and made holy”. That’s what we are to be – set-apart and made holy for God. In one sense, Scripture teaches that we are set-apart and made holy for God in the moment of conversion. 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:11, and Ephesians 5:25-26 are all passages which teach that sanctification is something which we already have because we are “in Christ”.

 

But the New Testament also describes the spiritual formation of sanctification as an ongoing process which is to be pursued by us. Ephesians 1:4, Philippians 3:12 and Hebrews 12:14 all illustrate this ongoing process.

 

The lesson is clear that although at the moment of conversion we are set-apart and made holy for God, we are to then embark on a life of spiritual growth and transformation – and that requires cooperation and participation on our parts. Just as the human Jesus grew and developed and transformed physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually over time, so must we.

 

Author Eugene Peterson once referred to the basic spiritual disciplines of the Christian life as “a long obedience in the same direction”. In a variety of ways each day we obediently place ourselves in a position before the Lord whereby He can mold us and shape us into the people He wants us to be. Our obedience in these essential practices, over a long period of time, takes our soul in the direction it needs to go in terms of growth and development.

 

Spiritual development occurs over time as a result of taking proper care of our soul. If you don’t already have those practices in place in your life, I encourage you to begin today.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim