Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.” 1 Samuel 12:23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Remembering my pastor”   I hesitate to write this devotional message because being a pastor myself, it could seem self-serving. But it’s really not intended that way. Instead, it’s an effort on my part to remember and honor a man who the Lord used to have a tremendous positive influence in my life. His name was Oren Teel and he was my pastor.   Traditionally, the second Sunday in October is celebrated as “Pastor Appreciation Day.” It’s the day that congregations across the land recognize and honor their pastor for his service to them. It’s also the day each year when I pause to remember Oren and Louise Teel and to thank God for the way He used them in mine and Linda’s lives.   Oren was the man who baptized Linda and I. Oren and Louise were the ones who taught me how to be a pastor and Linda how to be a pastor’s wife. Beyond that, our own parents and families were all on the east coast and we were in California, so we seldom got to see them. Therefore, Oren and Louise essentially adopted us. I used to call Louise my west-coast mother.   Yesterday I mentioned how it is that every Friday I pray for the members of our congregation individually, by name (in the tradition of 1 Samuel 12:23). That’s a lesson I learned from Oren. It was also Oren and Louise who taught Linda and I that a church is a family and it should be characterized by love. Oren once told me, “Jim, just love the people. They will overlook mistakes, forgive bad preaching, and even put up with your ugly ties – as long as they know you love them.”   Many years ago, I constructed a statement which I believe captures the essence of the example Oren set for me and which has guided my thinking ever since regarding the nature of good and healthy church life. I wrote it down and have kept it in my Bible for decades. It reads, “We must think in terms of church family. The health of a family is not measured in numbers but in things like love, unity, good character traits, and maturity.”   Hilltop Baptist Church was not a big church but it was a good church – a healthy church. So is Oak Hill Baptist (which I am the pastor of today). In many respects, the two churches are very similar. Oren’s strong leadership and godly character were influential in that church all those years ago, and his influence is still making an impact in this church today through my ministry.   Oren was a good man who served the Lord and His people well for his entire adult life. Today I’m remembering my pastor.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Your maturity can be their joy”   Many years ago, I adopted the practice of praying for every church member every Friday. I open the church pictorial directory, I look at every person’s picture, and I pray for them by name. (I also pray for those whose pictures are not in the directory, as well as for attenders who are not yet members, and for recent visitors.) I believe it’s helpful and a blessing for them to be prayed for like that, but it’s also a source of joy for me to take that time to think more deeply about each one of them and to bring them individually before the Lord in prayer.   In Philippians 1:9-11, as Paul continues this letter about joy and the things that bring him joy, he writes about how he prays for the Philippian Christians. He writes that he prays that their love, knowledge of Christ, and their ability to use good discernment will keep growing. In the previous passage he told them how much joy it gave him to witness the depth of their spiritual maturity, and now he prays that they will continue to mature even more. That will give him even more joy. (I can relate. As the pastor, it brings me a lot of joy to witness people growing in their relationship with Christ.)   Paul also prayed that they would be pure, blameless, and righteous – people who honored God with their conduct. All of that is the outgrowth of a life that is fully committed to Christ. Being a person like that, and being associated with people like that, is a source of great joy.   Lastly, Paul prays that all of this will be to the glory and praise of God. In other words, the more the virtues of love, discernment, good character, and godly righteousness were achieved in the lives of the Philippians, the more of a testimony it would be to glory of God. And so that is exactly what Paul prayed for them. Not only would all of that bring joy to the heart of God, it would bring joy to the heart of Paul.   I think we often underestimate the extent to which our spiritual maturity impacts others. A spiritually mature person brings joy into the lives of other people. Your spiritual maturity is a good thing for you and for all those around you. I encourage you to be intentional and thoughtful today about making the joy of the Lord in your life a source of joy in someone else’s life too.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “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. Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” Philippians 1:6-7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Spiritually healthy Christians”   In the New Living Translation Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”   You are God’s masterpiece. Not only did He create you and weave your together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13); and not only did He make you a new spiritual creation at the time you placed your faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); but since then He has been in the process of molding and shaping you into the person He wants you to be (Philippians 1:6), and He will continue that molding and shaping right up until the moment you arrive in heaven.   That’s what Paul was referring to in Philippians 1:6-7. It’s what was happening in the lives of the Philippian Christians and it gave Paul great joy to see it. Over the years of visiting and corresponding with them Paul could see the progress they were making as individual Christians and as a church. This was a healthy church filled with spiritually healthy Christians and therefore God was accomplishing great things in them and through them. Beyond that, He would continue to do so. (This kind of stuff warms the heart of every pastor!)   Then in verse seven Paul tells them that they have given him good reason to think and feel this way about them. In other words, he wasn’t making this stuff up and he wasn’t blowing smoke by giving them false compliments. This was a statement of fact and he was just calling it what it was. This was Paul telling them that they’re on the right track doing the right things, and he was urging them to continue doing so.   Your spiritual growth is not only a source of joy for you, but it’s a source of joy for the preachers, teachers, and mentors who have built into your life and who have helped you in your spiritual growth. Spiritually healthy Christians make spiritually healthy churches and that is a thing of great joy. So, keep growing and we will all share in the joy of it!   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The joy of good ministry partnerships”   For most of the rest of this month, as we focus on our theme of living with joy, we will be doing a deep-dive into Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christians. Philippians is known as “the letter of joy.” I’m also teaching through this letter on Wednesday nights at Oak Hill Baptist. I’m teaching a Bible study about it, and I’m writing devotional messages about it at the same time, because there’s such a need for an extra shot of joy in our world today. We live in a very troubled world. Also, here in the USA we’re going through yet another mean-spirited election cycle and the rhetoric is hot. Small wonder there seems to be so little joy out there these days. We all need a double-shot of joy, and Paul’s letter to the Philippians is exactly that.   In 1:5 (above) Paul notes yet another source of joy for him as he sat there in a prison cell. In addition to the joy he received from thinking about and praying for his good friends the Philippian Christians, their partnership in his ministry also brought him great joy. Good ministry partnerships do that – they’re a source of joy.   One of the reasons I so love the Acts 1:8 model of ministry that we employ at Oak Hill Baptist Church is because it has resulted in deep relationships with a wide variety of ministry partners. The Bread of Life Rescue Mission; The Lighthouse Christian Camp for disadvantaged children; New Beginnings Church in Hi Hat, KY; El Arca Children’s Home in the Amazon Jungle of Peru; Grace International Orphanage in Haiti; Liberty Baptist Church and Women’s Medical Clinic in Liberia, Africa; and the Gayhart Family who serve as Southern Baptist missionaries in Southeast Asia. They are all our ministry partners and they are each a source of joy for us.   We are a source of joy and encouragement for them, and they’re a source of joy and encouragement for us. We stay in touch with each other; we share news and words of encouragement; and we lift each other up. Also, sometimes we go to visit them, and sometimes they come to visit us. These are deep and rich ministry partnerships that have been intentionally and carefully developed and nurtured over many years, and those partnerships are a source of great joy for all of us.   I encourage you to be involved in good ministry partnerships in your own church, in your community, and with partners in places further away. You will be a source of joy for them, and they will be a source of joy for you.    God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer …” Philippians 1:3-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Remember them well”   I love the way Paul opens this letter of joy that he writes to his friends in the church in Philippi. This is Paul, wearing his pastor hat, expressing his heart for people he cared about very much. So, as he begins this epistle of joy, this letter that is all about joy in Christ, he’s being very transparent and revealing his heart for his people. This right here – the way he felt about these people, what he thought about them and how he prayed for them, was a cause of great joy for Paul. (I can relate. I feel this way about the people of Oak Hill Baptist.)   Paul was thankful that God had put the Philippians in his life. He says that he thanks God for every remembrance of them. He was grateful that God kept bringing them to his mind and every time he thought of them, it brought him joy. Paul was clearly grateful that God had made them a part of his life.   I think this is a crucial attitude for us to maintain as we think about people. We should be thankful for them and we should pray for them. Too often we forget about people altogether (out of sight out of mind), or we focus on the negative instead of the positive. Sadly, sometimes our thoughts about people lean towards what we don’t like about them, or how they annoy us, or ways in which they have failed or don’t measure up. That’s a guaranteed joy-stealer. Thoughts like that will not only cause us to think poorly of them, but thinking like that will also produce an overall sour disposition in us. The Philippians weren’t perfect, but they were good and Paul chose to think well of them.     If we chose to think in positive ways about people; if we remember all that is good and right about them; if we give thanks to God for them in prayer; and if we do it a lot; not only will that change our thinking about them, but it will go a long way towards improving our overall attitude in general. We will be someone whose thoughts are positive and gracious.      So, as he begins this letter about joy in Christ, one of the things that gave Paul great joy, and which created in him a sense of thanksgiving, is the fact that God had made the Philippian Christians a part of his life.   I encourage to look for the good in people and to then pray for them. Negativity is a guaranteed joy-stealer. Positivity is a source of joy. So, remember them well.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Discovering joy in the middle of it all”   We cannot consider the theme of living with joy without doing a deep dive into the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Philippians is known as “the epistle of joy.” Epistle is an old-fashioned word for “letter” and so Philippians can also be described as Paul’s letter of joy. Of all the books in the New Testament, Philippians is my second favorite. The Gospel of John is my favorite but Philippians is a close second. This letter of joy is just so joyful!   We can tell what Paul has in store for us just from verse two of chapter one. He wants us to experience God’s grace and peace in increased measure despite our circumstances (Paul wrote this letter as a sick old man sitting in a Roman prison and probably close to death.) The primary lesson Paul will teach us in Philippians is that God brings grace and peace in the middle of trials and struggles.   That’s the great truth for life as a Christian. There are plenty of times when the sun is shining and the birds are singing – we are safe, secure, happy, and the future looks good. During times like that we get to experience joy and peace. But life isn’t always like that. There are also lots of times when we struggle through difficult circumstances and painful situations. But joy can also be discovered, experienced, and appreciated during times of sorrow and struggle too.   For instance, at a funeral we have great sorrow because our loved one is gone, but we can also have joy in knowing that the person is in heaven. During a time of sickness, even while lying in a hospital bed, we can be struggling with the pain, discomfort, and uncertainty of the sickness, but we can also have an overwhelming awareness of God’s presence there with us. We can experience the joy of close fellowship with Him as we’re going through that. During a time of unexpected unemployment, as we’re trying to make ends meet and we’re wondering how we’re going to pay the rent, we can also learn the truth that God is the God of all provision and we can experience joy as He comes through for us time and time again.   True joy runs deep and flows from the confident assurance that we are never out of God’s loving embrace or His sovereign control. Regardless of your current situation in life you can find true joy in Christ. That’s the message of Philippians. It’s about discovering joy in the middle of it all.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The joy of the Lord makes us strong”   Nehemiah was a civil servant and a leader among the people. At the time of Nehemiah chapter eight, he was in the destroyed city of Jerusalem attempting to lead a small group of Jews who had returned to rebuild the temple, the city, and the walls around the city. Ezra the priest was there assisting him. All of it was good, but none of it was returning the temple or the city to the splendor of the days of Solomon.   In chapter eight Nehemiah and Ezra had the people gathered for a day of worship and study from the Law of God, and for feasting and celebration. But as the people surveyed the rubble that still existed in much of the city, and they considered the rebuilt temple that was so much less than the Temple in Solomon’s day, and as they listened to the reading of the Law of God and they realized how disobedient the entire nation had been, they grieved. So, in 8:10 Nehemiah told them to knock that off, to be thankful for what the Lord had blessed them with, and to give thanks, celebrate, and draw strength from the joy of the Lord.   There’s a lesson in that for us. The joy of the Lord is based on the internal condition of our heart and not on the external circumstances we find ourselves in. It doesn’t come from outside circumstances and work its way in (that’s happiness, which is temporary and fleeting). Instead, it comes from the Holy Spirit living in our heart. That joy then works its way up and flows out of us to impact our circumstances. Let me say it again: the joy of the Lord doesn’t come from the outside and work its way in, it comes from the inside and works its way out. It’s an inside job not an outside one.   Please don’t allow your circumstances to have the final say on the condition of your heart. Don’t allow them to beat you down, destroy you, or to be the determining factor regarding how you think and how much you enjoy life.   The joy of the Lord in our heart makes us strong so we can deal effectively with the circumstances of life.   God bless, Pastor Jim       (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart is good medicine” Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “It’s good for you and it’s good for others”   Medical studies consistently demonstrate that being happy is good for you. Generally, the happier you are the healthier you will be. Over-and-over again, one study after another confirms that happiness lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, it lowers your blood pressure, and it enables better sleep. On average, happy people also tend to take better care of themselves too by means of better diets, exercising more, and maintaining a better body weight.   Being joyful is even better. There’s a difference between just being happy and being joyful. Happiness is more of a fleeting and temporary feeling that is emotional in nature and is usually based upon external circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, comes from deep within the heart and is longer lasting. Joy is characterized by a sense of contentment and satisfaction with life and it flows out of a heart owned by a person who is at peace with God, themselves, and others. I guess we could say that joy is happiness on steroids, and remember, joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.   So, if happiness is good for you joy is even better. True joy really is good medicine. And better still, not only is your joy good medicine for you, it’s also good medicine for those who encounter you. Remember the story of my friend from yesterday’s devotional. He had a deep sense of joy that characterized his life. It welled-up from inside his heart and then flowed out of him; impacting everyone who encountered him. Not only did his joy make his own life much better, but it made the lives of others around him better too.   Pastor Chuck Swindoll once wrote, “One person in a strategic spot who is walking with God can do a world of good.” That’s true. If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ then you have His Holy Spirit living in your heart. One of the character traits He is working to develop in you, and then bring out of you, is joy. If the joy of the Lord is a dynamic reality in your own life, not only will it be good medicine for you, it will be good medicine for all those who encounter you.   So, there you have it: the joy of the Lord in your life is good for you and it’s good for those who encounter you. So, be joyful today, and then share some of that joy with others.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “A source of joy for others”   I once had the good fortune to work with a man who was perpetually joyful. He simply had an optimistic outlook and an upbeat, positive spirit. He was easygoing and mild-mannered. He laughed easily and often, and he liked people. He also was not bothered much by things and therefore he rarely got upset. He was just a very pleasant person to have around. He lifted everyone’s spirits and consequently he had a good influence in the workplace.   In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the Apostle Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit lives in the heart of every person who has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ. Paul even says that your body is now a temple of the Holy Spirit. It’s the place where the Spirit resides. That being the case, your body is a walking, talking, mobile temple of the Holy Spirit. You take the Spirit with you wherever you go and therefore you can potentially introduce a new spiritual dynamic into every situation you enter into.   In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul listed for us what he termed “the fruit of the Spirit.” These are character traits of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is working to develop in us and to then bring out of us. They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Please note that the second fruit of the Spirit that He is developing in you, and which He then wants to bring out from you, is joy.   If the fruit of the Spirit is healthy within you then it will be rising-up and flowing out of you. Like my old friend who I mentioned above, when you arrive on the scene and thereby enter into any situation, you introduce a new spiritual dynamic into that situation because the fruit of the Spirit is flowing out of you – and that will include joy.   You have it within you to be a source of joy for others. Because of the Spirit within you, you can introduce the joy of the Lord into any situation you are involved in today. I encourage you to do exactly that.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”   Our Bible verse for today: “Grey hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” Proverbs 16:31 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Growing old is a gift”   Before we go any further in our study of living with joy I want to address a pet peeve of mine. Please stop complaining about getting old. Many people never get the privilege. Instead, they die young. If you’re growing older it means God has blessed you with more days of life than many others get. Rejoice and be glad! Thank Him for it and then live that day as the gift that it is.   Yes, it’s true that as we age our bodies begin to wear down. We can do less, we hurt more, and maybe we don’t look as good as we did when we were younger – but so what? If that’s the price of growing old instead of dying young it’s a small price to pay. Take care of yourself, remain as healthy as you can for as long as you can, and learn to age with dignity and grace.   The Bible celebrates old age. Proverbs 16:31 is just one of many verses that speaks well of those in old age and which encourages us to view the aging process in a positive way. There should be joy in aging and your attitude and perspective will determine if that joy is there or not. Being “old” has less to do with your chronological age than with your perspective about it. If you think you are old then you are. If you think you aren’t, then you’re not. I know fifty-year-olds who act like they’re seventy-five and I know seventy-five-year-olds who live like they’re fifty.   I love being around older folks who are aging with dignity and grace. I have a widower friend who remarried at the age of 90 and then took his new bride on a Caribbean cruise and then on a trip to Israel. He also still goes to the gym three days a week. He is lively and fun and enjoying every day of life that the good Lord grants to him. He is determined to live until he dies (to live fully and joyful until he dies.)   Please stop belly-aching about getting old. Suck-it-up, live as fully as you can under the circumstances as they are, and thank God for every day you have on this earth.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2024 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571