Devotional for Monday July 14th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Soul-care involves setting correct priorities”

 

“Hi, my name is Jim and I’m a multi-tasker.”

 

Yes, it’s true. If there was a support group for habitual multi-taskers I’d be the president. It’s not unknown for me be in the middle of a phone call while checking a text message while reading an email and munching on a sandwich. And even though we think otherwise, multi-tasking really is not productive. When we’re distracted with multiple things we’re not really focused on anything, and that’s when mistakes get made. Multi-tasking actually makes us less effective and less productive, not more.

 

The problem, really, is an inability to set priorities. Rather than deciding that one thing is more important than another, and therefore paying attention to that one thing rather than the others, multi-taskers tend to treat all things as being equally important and rather than prioritize, they just try to do it all – all at the same time!

 

While multi-tasking is bad for life in general, its death when it comes to taking care of the soul. You cannot multi-task your quiet time. While it is true that we are to pray at all times and in all situations – including in the middle of a busy work day, or in a crowd; and we can in fact sing praise songs and have worship time while we’re driving our car in heavy traffic; that’s not really “quiet” time. We absolutely have to have time with the Lord which is not shared with anything or anyone else. 

 

This is why they came up with the old-fashioned notion of a “prayer closet”. People used to actually go into a closet and close the door so they could be alone with God. Now-a-days it’s much more common for someone to simply have a special quiet place of solitude that they may figuratively refer to as their “prayer closet”, but which is actually just a quiet and private place for them to meet with God. I once read about a busy Mom with a large brood of kids, she would periodically go sit in a corner and draped a towel over her head in an attempt to shut out the noise and distractions for a few moments. When she did that the kids knew they’d better be quiet because Mom was having private time with God. 

 

In Colossians 3:2 the Apostle Paul urges us to be intentional about shutting out the things of earth so we can focus exclusively on the things of heaven. Soul-care involves setting correct priorities. Sometimes that will mean saying “no” to the things of the world so we can say “yes” to the things of God.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday July 12-13

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.” Romans 12:5 (NLT)

 

Our thought for today: “We are to help each other take care of our souls”

 

One theme the New Testament emphasizes repeatedly is the fact that we need each other. God does not intend for any of us to be “Lone Ranger” Christians. He intends for each of us to be part of a close-knit church family and He intends for us to support, encourage, and help one another.

 

The New Testament portrays the people of God has a family of believers on a journey through this world on our way to our real home in Heaven. We’re to make the journey together and we’re to help each other along the way. That’s why the Apostle Peter reminds us that we are not of this world (1 Peter 1:1). The writer of Hebrews teaches that the people of God are actually strangers and aliens on earth (Hebrews 11:13-16), and that while we are here we are not to neglect our times of gathering together (Hebrews 10:24-25). Paul tells us that we are actually citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). And Jesus promises that He will have a special place prepared for each of us once we arrive there. 

 

This world can be rough on our souls because we aren’t really designed for life in this world. We’re just passing through but because it can be such a tough and dangerous journey, and since our souls do get weary along the way, God puts us together in little groups called church families so we can help each other.

 

In the original New Testament Greek, the word that was used to describe the kind of fellowship God wants His people to experience among themselves is “koinonia”. It’s a rich word which includes things like love, intimacy, deep commitment, genuine communication, and a sense of community and belonging. In an environment like that the soul is nurtured and rejuvenated.

 

This is God’s desire and intent for His people and it is within the embrace and shelter of such a church family, that our souls find nurture, comfort, and restoration. Numerous studies have shown that loneliness is one of the most destructive and unhealthy experiences a person can be faced with. It hurts us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and it even takes a physical toll. Regular and full participation in the life of a good church family is God’s solution for loneliness. When you connect with a loving community of brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord ministers to your soul in a deep way. If you don’t have that kind of a church family, then I invite you to visit us at Oak Hill Baptist.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday July 11th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “…casting all your care on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Our problems can draw us closer to God.”

 

It can be tempting to think that our problems and difficulties make it harder to do the things necessary to take proper care of our soul. A busy schedule, relationship problems, financial difficulties, failing health, can all become major distractions that keep us from spending time with God.

 

Or not.

 

Looked at from another perspective, those can be the very things that draw us to God. In fact, I believe that God sometimes allows difficulties into our lives precisely for the purpose of drawing us to Himself. Those things often cause us to recognize our need for Him and they end up being the very things that bring us to our knees. As Peter expressed in the passage above, God calls us to cast all of our cares upon Him. He wants us to do it.

 

Also, there’s absolutely no reason for us to wonder whether or not God is willing to help us, He is. Here’s how Paul explained it in Romans 8:31-32, “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?” (HCSB)

 

When it comes to making the time and doing the things necessary to take care of the soul, many times it turns out to be the problems and difficulties of life that become the catalyst which propels us into the arms of God. Make no mistake about it, God cares for you, He is willing and even eager to help you deal with the issues of life, and He even calls you to cast all your cares and worries upon Him. If the problems you are currently dealing with, and which you wish were not in your life, end up being the very thing that drives you into the arms of God, then you will end up with a stronger and healthier soul as a result.   

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 10th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Your thoughts impact the health of your soul”

 

Probably one of the most important steps we can take to improve the health of our soul is to change what we allow into our mind. The influences we allow into our mind determine what we think about, and what we think about determines what we say and what we do. The fastest way to bring about any kind of change in our lives is to refocus our minds. This is what Paul was writing about in Romans 12:2. When our mind is renewed and refashioned with new patterns of thinking, it transforms us.

 

To renew your mind you have to stop allowing negative influences in, you have to let go of old thought patterns, and you have to dispense of the old images of yourself that you have been living with and which have been holding you back. You fill your mind instead with wholesome Godly influences such as Paul writes about in Philippians 4:8. You also refuse to indulge in negative and destructive patterns of brooding. And you ask God to give you an image of the man or woman He wants you to be. It is a well-proven fact of human nature that our mind moves us in the direction of whatever we allow it to focus on. Hold an image in your mind of the man or woman you want to be, dwell on that, and the mind will naturally move you in that direction.

 

In his book “The Daniel Plan” Pastor Rick Warren recommends a book entitled “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life” by Dr. Daniel Amen. I have not personally read that book but it sounds interesting and helpful – Pastor Warren certainly seems to think it is. If thought patterns, negative influences, and destructive self-images are holding you back from becoming the man or woman you would like to be, then you might want to check out Dr. Amen’s book.

 

Soul-care brings change at the deepest level of our being. That then affects every other part of who we are. Changing your thinking by the renewing of your mind might turn out to be the most transformative thing you have ever done.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday July 9th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul is in tune with God.”

 

Author Lance Witt writes about the psychological phenomenon that happens with young babies which psychologists refer to as “attunement”. “Attunement” is the exact moment when an infant makes eye contact with the face they’ve been seeing above the crib, and realizes for the first time that there is an emotional connection between them and that face. As the baby looks into the other set of eyes and the emotional attachment between them is established, a relationship begins to develop and grow. Smiles and giggles aren’t far behind. The baby and the face are “in tune” – they are “attuned” to each other.

 

Something similar happens between Christians and God. As we take care of our soul through the steps of spiritual formation, there often comes a moment of attunement between us and God. Spiritually, God is looking into our eyes and we are looking into His and something clicks. From that moment on the relationship grows in a completely different and much more personal way. We are in tune with each other.

 

In Numbers 6:24-26 God instructed the priests to bless the people by praying for them that God would turn His face upon them, that His face would shine upon them, and that they would experience His grace in a deep and personal way. To turn your face upon someone is to give them your complete, undivided, full attention. It is to look deeply into their eyes and connect on the soul level. That’s the kind of intimate interaction God wants with us and that is what soul-care helps to achieve. It is “attunement” with God.  Spend some time today getting in tune with God.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday July 8th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “While He was in Bethany at the house of Simon who had a serious skin disease, as He was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of pure and expensive fragrant oil of nard. She broke the jar and poured it on His head.” Mark 14:3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul is extravagant for Jesus”

 

I love this scene in Mark 14:3-9. A woman brings a container of the most expensive fragrant oil available in her day and she uses all of it at once to anoint Jesus. It was a lavish and extraordinary display of devotion. In all likelihood this was a poor young woman, the expensive nard was probably part of her dowry, and in a single shot she voluntarily uses it all to bless the Lord. We know this was a tremendous expenditure of wealth because of the reaction we see from the disciples in the following verses. They were indignant at what they considered to be an incredible waste of resources on something that wasn’t useful or practical.

 

But Jesus didn’t see it that way at all. Instead He rebuked the disciples for their small-mindedness and for their tightwad hearts; and He commended the woman for her beautiful act of devotion. Jesus was deeply pleased with what she did, to the point that He said it would be recorded and celebrated by people in all generations to come.

 

This was an act of submission and surrender on her part. It was a vivid demonstration of where her heart was really at. This thing that seemed important and valuable by worldly standards was immaterial to her. Blessing the heart of Jesus, bringing a smile to His face, and receiving His approval – that was what mattered to her.

 

A healthy soul will be eagerly extravagant for Jesus. A healthy soul will pour out its very best, in full measure, and without hesitation or worry, for Jesus. Maybe that will involve bringing some worldly treasure and offering it for His use as this woman did, or it could involve any of a number of other things such as an act of mercy and compassion to a person in need, or a renewed commitment to ministry, or kneeling at the altar and rededicating your life. 

 

When the soul is healthy the focus is on pleasing the Lord; earthly treasures and earthly pleasures pale by comparison.  I encourage all of us to consider if we’re really giving our best, and in full measure, to the Lord.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday July 7th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Here I am today, 85 years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then.” Joshua 14:10-11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “What kind of old person do you want to be?”

 

It’s a good question, really – “What kind of old person do you want to be?” Although unfortunately not everyone has the privilege of growing old because some people die young, statistically most of us will grow old. So, what kind of old person do you want to be?

 

I know what kind I do not want to be – I don’t want to be a grumpy old man. I don’t want to be the guy who is sour and petulant, always complaining about the younger generation and constantly going on and on about his health problems, and what medicines he’s on, and how much his gout is bothering him today, and so on. I don’t want to be Mr. Wilson from the Dennis the Menace comic strip.

 

I want to be like Dallas Willard who, the older he got the more peaceful, joyful, and serene he became. I want to be like Dick DeGrow, a retired pastor who at 75 years old joyfully cleaned the restrooms at church every week simply because he loved being useful in the house of the Lord. I want to be like former President George H.W. Bush, 90 years old and still jumping out of airplanes. And I want to be like Caleb (see Joshua 14:10-11 above), 85 years old and still ready to storm the gates of hell with a water pistol.

 

But here’s the thing – none of those men woke up on the morning of their 75th birthday to discover they had suddenly, magically, become the men they now were in their old age. No, they became those men slowly, progressively, over the course of many years. Here’s an important truth to consider and embrace – “In order to be the person you want to be then, you must be in the process of becoming that person now.” Think about that: “In order to be the person you want to be then, you must be in the process of becoming that person now.”

 

This is the business of spiritual formation. This is what soul-care is all about. It’s about the process of slowly but progressively – over decades of transformation, becoming the man or woman God wants you to be. Ideally, after walking closely with Jesus for decades, and by paying careful attention to the health of your soul, you should be at your very best spiritually in your twilight years. The twilight years should be the highlight years. Physically you might be in decline but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually you should be a champion prize fighter. But that will only be true if the growth and transformation is taking place now.

 

It really is true that in order to be the person you want to be then, you must be in the process of becoming that person now. That happens when you do the things necessary, on a daily basis, to take care of your soul.  What kind of old person will you be?

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday July 5-6

Good Morning Everyone,

 

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

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, dedicated to the Lord.” Exodus 31:15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “The soul needs the Sabbath”

 

This year the fourth of July fell on a Friday and therefore many people get to enjoy an extended weekend. That’s good because most of us can use the rest. Just start thinking about a three day weekend and you can feel the stress and strain begin to melt away – just the thought of it causes your body to begin to relax. Why is that? Because we need regular extended down times just to rest and relax. Our body needs it and our soul needs it too.

 

This was one of the two reasons God established the requirement of Sabbath. First, it’s a day when His people are to gather together for worship and to focus especially and specifically on Him. But it’s also intended to be a day of rest. It’s a day when our labor is to stop, we are to put all the busyness on hold, and we are to be intentional about resting in the Lord – physically resting but also spiritually resting. This is a time for renewal and refreshing.

 

When we observe a weekly Sabbath it helps to establish a healthy rhythm to life. It causes us to be intentional about unplugging from life and allowing the body and soul to rest. And as the term “rhythm” implies, once we have it down to a regular and consistent habit, it becomes part of the natural flow of our life. This is when we’re at our best. We humans are creatures of habit. We’re at our best when we’re in the groove and we’ve become conditioned to smooth and regular cycles in life. Faithfully observing the Sabbath keeps us in that groove; it establishes that smooth and healthy rhythm.

 

And once we have that healthy rhythm of life in place on a weekly scale, we can shrink the pattern down to fit our daily routine. As part of our daily rhythm of life we also need a regular time of rest and renewal. We often call this “quiet time” but it is in effect a daily Sabbath.

 

The soul needs Sabbath, weekly and daily. I encourage you to observe yours this week, and then every day.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday July 4th

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” Psalm 61:1-3 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “God calls us to higher ground”

Have you ever stood at the bottom of a high mountain and contemplated what it must be like up on the peak? You imagine that it would be a great adventure to get there and that the view at the top would be spectacular, but you also imagine that the space at the top would be small and limited, so-much-so that you might even be in danger of falling off. But then once you make it to the top you’re surprised to discover that what appeared to be a tiny peak from the bottom, actually turned out to be a wide plateau at the top and that if you wanted to you could actually have spread out, set up a tent, and safely camped out.

Higher spiritual ground is like that too. When the Lord is calling us to join Him at a higher spiritual place it can seem like a great adventure, and we can anticipate the prospect of a spiritual mountaintop experience, but we also often envision it as being constricted and limited. Surely the spiritual discipline required to get to that height with the Lord is not something we can or would want to try to maintain. We’re not cloistered monks after all.

But lo and behold, once we get there we discover that just like the physical mountaintop I described earlier, this new and higher spiritual ground also turns out to be a vast plateau where we can easily and comfortably spread out and live a full life with the Lord. The difference is that we are now at a new and better place with the Lord. This higher ground with the Lord is a better and safer place to live than where we were before. The predators that live and thrive in the lower lying regions of life aren’t such a threat in this new higher place. Oh, sometimes they may still manage to make it there where we are, but they’re out of their element and we are in a stronger place of refuge with the Lord.

Spiritual formation, and the associated soul-care, helps to bring us to new higher ground with the Lord and when we get there, we discover it’s a much better, and a much safer place to live. I encourage you to move up to higher ground with the Lord today.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 3rd

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “God has made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 TEV

Our thought for today: “We need a simpler lifestyle”

One of the books I was reading while on vacation was called “Replenish” by Lance Witt. The subtitle is “Leading from a Healthy Soul”. It was written primarily for pastors but the lessons apply to all of us. In one chapter Lance told a story that I and every other pastor can immediately identify with. It was about the phone call that comes at 3:00 AM regarding an emergency someone is going through. Lance told the story on himself but I’ve been guilty of this identical thing. The caller begins with “Pastor, I’m sorry to wake you but …” And I interrupted with, “That’s ok, I wasn’t sleeping”.

That, of course, was a lie. I was sleeping. I was sound asleep and I was enjoying it. So why did I say I wasn’t? Let me be clear that I did not intentionally lie to the person. The words were out of my mouth before I even realized I was saying them. However after thinking about it I realized I made that statement for two reasons. One was that I didn’t want the person to feel bad about waking me up, so I told them I wasn’t asleep anyway. But the second reason was I realized that I kind of liked projecting the image that I’m Super Pastor, I don’t sleep. Even at 3:00 AM I’m awake and I’m praying for you.

Many of us, me included, wear our busyness like a badge of honor. We think it makes us look important. People need us, we have responsibilities, things won’t get done (or get done right) without my involvement. However by living like that, over time we develop a hurried spirit. Even in those rare moments when the body is still, the mind is racing and the soul is unsettled. This is toxic. It damages the soul.

Lance tells the story of how when white men first started to come to Africa the Swahili invented a unique term to describe them – “mazungu”, or “one who spins around.” Many of you reading this, and the one writing it, could fairly be called “mazungus” – we spend much of our time spinning like tops.

In the NIV Psalm 46:10 only contains eight words, twenty four letters, but it is profoundly convicting, “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.”

Quiet time with the Lord helps to remind us that we don’t have to be productive all the time, we don’t have to always be doing things. In truth, we would actually end up being more productive and more effective if we would just spend a little more time doing nothing except sitting quietly with the Lord. We would then be refreshed and refocused and reenergized.

God has made us plain and simple, and that’s the way He wants us. We’re the ones who have made ourselves so darn complicated.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim