Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “For I know the plans I have for you – this is the Lord’s declaration – plans for your well-being, not for disaster; to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “What did you expect?”   So, what did you expect? Think about what you got, then think back to what you were expecting to get and compare the two. What were you expecting to get and what did you get?  There’s a basic rule of human nature that says your life will move in the direction of your strongest thoughts. That being the case, we tend to get the outcomes we expect to get, be they good or bad. Another way of thinking about it is that in general, optimism tends to lead us to good outcomes and pessimism leads us to bad outcomes.    Now, let’s apply that thinking to the future. As you look forward, thinking about significant events you are anticipating in your life, are you expecting a good outcome or a bad outcome? Are you optimistic about it or pessimistic? Since your life will generally move in the direction of your strongest thoughts, be careful about the direction of your thoughts.   Jeremiah 29:11 is a Biblical promise that is quoted so often by so many people and applied to so many situations that it can often lose its power in our minds. We hear it so often we sort of gloss over it and don’t give it the consideration it deserves. But the reason we hear that promise so often is because it is so true. God is for you not against you. He does have a good plan He is working out in your life and you should therefore be optimistic not pessimistic. You should be looking towards the future with eagerness and with the expectation of good things to come.   Your adventure of living the Christian life is determined and guided by your thought life. Again, your life will always move in the direction of your strongest thoughts. Pastor Craig Groeschel recently wrote a great book about this very subject called, “Winning the War in Your Mind: Change your thinking, change your life.” I recommend it to you and in coming days, I will share a few thoughts from that book with you.   For now, please remember that your life will move in the direction of your strongest thoughts and because that is true, what you are expecting to happen will play a big role in what actually does happen. I want to ask you again to consider: what are you expecting?   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Take heart!”   Jesus told us it was going to be like this. He told us there would be suffering and heartache; challenges and trials; sickness and death; unemployment and flat tires; misbehaving kids and overdue bills. Life is often good, but life is often hard too. “In this world you will have trouble…” Gosh, ya think?   And that’s just normal life for the average Joe and Sally. That’s without considering the special challenges and expectations that come with being Christian. We are expected to deal with all the normal stuff, just like anyone else, but we’re also expected to handle it in a way that honors the Lord and blesses others. We are called to live a holy life in a hostile world – a world that is broken and bleeding on its best day, and a world that often isn’t kind to Christians.   The Christian life isn’t for sissies. It’s not for the faint of heart. But no problem, Jesus didn’t call us to be sissies He called us to be victors – and then He empowers us to live victoriously. That’s why He told us in John 16:33 that we should take heart from the fact that He overcame the world. You see, by means of His Holy Spirit living in your heart and working in your life, He has already given you everything you need to deal with whatever you face. You are to do it in His power not in your own. What you need is already there within you because the Holy Spirit is already there within you. That’s also why Jesus told us in that verse that in Him we will find peace, and that peace can be yours despite whatever your current troubles are.   This is indeed a hostile world. Not just in terms of the opposition or persecution we may face because of our faith, but because it is a broken, sinful world filled with things like crime and disease and pollution, wars and injustice and corruption.   But by no means should we view it as all doom and gloom. This is not intended to be a depressing devotional but an encouraging one. You have a Savior who has overcome the trials and tribulations of this world and His Spirit lives within you – meaning that since He overcame it all, so can you.   There is nothing you will face today that you and Jesus cannot handle together. So, take heart!   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.” Philippians 1:12-13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Can you find the good in it?”   In her devotional book, “Treasures in the Dark: 90 reflections on finding bright hope hidden in the hurting”, author Katherine Wolf tells her own story about how she went from a beautiful and healthy aspiring actress and model, to a twenty-something stroke survivor confined to a wheelchair. The book is all about the lessons she learned as she struggled to come to terms with how her life had changed, and the reality of what her life was going to be like going forward.   In her case, life was going to be spent in a wheelchair. At first, she found that terribly depressing. But then she realized that the wheelchair was a gift from God. Rather than limiting her, the wheelchair gave her mobility and freedom she would not have had without it. She soon learned to rejoice in her wheelchair for the freedom it gave her. That story reminded me of my own wife, Linda. One year after her stroke and brain surgery she went on a mission trip with me to the Transylvania region of Romania to hold medical and dental clinics and Vacation Bible Schools in gypsy villages. Linda had to go in a wheelchair, but just like Katherine, she chose to view her wheelchair as a gift because it gave her the mobility and the freedom to be on that mission trip.   In Philippians 1:12-13 we read that the Apostle Paul viewed his imprisonment in Rome the same way. He didn’t want to be a prisoner, he wanted to be a free man. He had places to go, people to see, things to do. But he was a prisoner, chained to a Roman guard day and night. However, since the guards were in prison with him, and since not only was he chained to them but they were chained to him, he treated them as his prisoners and he used it as an opportunity to witness to them. He simply accepted his circumstances as they were and he made the best of them.   In Katherine’s and Linda’s perspectives, their wheelchairs didn’t confine them they set them free. In Paul’s perspective his imprisonment didn’t prevent him from working for the cause of Christ, it created new opportunities for him to do so.   Katherine writes, “True freedom is deciding to want the life I have because it’s the life I was given.” And, “We all have our own wheelchairs.”   Can you find the good in yours? It’s a matter of perspective and it is your choice.   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (NIV)   Our Bible verse for today: “Choose to enjoy it”   How we decide to approach each day goes a long way towards determining what each day will be like for us. Your attitude at the beginning of each day sets the tone for the rest of the day. That’s why it’s so important to begin the day with the Lord. Prayer, Bible study, encouraging devotional messages, all help to set a positive tone and to get us started off on the right foot. It’s like Billy Graham once wrote, “If I don’t start my day with God, I meet Satan around every corner all day long.”   In Psalm 118:24 the psalmist offers us an excellent verse of inspired Scripture to help us get the day going. We acknowledge that the new day before us is a gift from God, and then we resolve to rejoice and be glad for it. We go forward into it with a light heart and with eagerness and anticipation as we wonder what it is the Lord has in store for us today. We remember that, “Life is not a problem to be solved but an adventure to live; it is not a destination but a journey.”   That’s a great attitude, especially with respect to the weekend. I love weekends. There is so much opportunity for adventure and fun. For me, the weekend is Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (my normal day off). Saturday is sometimes a workday and sometimes a day off, but often there is time for hiking or other activities. Sunday is the best day of the week because that’s when God’s people come together and it is always an uplifting and encouraging time. Then Monday is a day of rest. Taken together, they are the three best days of the week.   Today is Friday. Do you have special things planned for the weekend? Hopefully you are looking forward to Sunday as much as I am; and hopefully you are approaching it with a sense of eagerness and expectation as the Holy Spirit brings the people of God together for a special encounter with God and with each other.   Attitude really is everything. To a very large degree we get what we expect. Approach each day with thanksgiving, joy, and the eager expectation of good things to come. (And that should be especially true of Sunday.)   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-40 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Love God, love people, and live life”   In recent days we have been considering the truth that living the adventure of the Christian life does not have to be complicated. It can be fairly simple. Not necessarily easy, but also not complicated. We have learned that for the most part, God just wants us to walk worthy, and to live quiet lives of doing good to others, and honoring Jesus in daily life. That’s what Jesus was explaining in Matthew 22:37-40 above.   Jesus was the great simplifier. He clarified, simplified, and demystified this business of living by faith. In the passage above, He taught that all the commandments and all the instructions from the various prophets could be distilled down into two matters of the heart: love God and love others. If your heart is right and if your guiding impulse in life is to love God and others, you will have checked every other Biblical box for living a righteous life that is pleasing to God.   Too often we tend to over-spiritualize things and make them unnecessarily complicated. That is certainly true when it comes to discovering and obeying God’s will for the details of life. Often, we’re looking for a detailed roadmap that directs every step, dictates every decision, and for God to tell us if we should have Cheerios or Corn Flakes for breakfast. But most of life doesn’t work like that.   I love the illustration from Dallas Willard about how when his children were young, he used to send them out to play in the fenced-in backyard. There were only two rules: behave yourselves and stay within the boundaries of the backyard. Beyond that, they were free to choose for themselves if they wanted to play in the sandbox, swing on the swings, play with the dog, sit in the shade and read a book, or almost anything else. Any of those choices were fine with the father. All he required of them was to obey a few simple rules and to stay within the boundaries. The children were then to exercise their own judgment and make their own choices based upon their personal preferences.    For the most part, that’s how God treats us. Sometimes He does give us very specific guidance regarding things He does or does not want us to do. But the rest of the time, there are many choices available to us pertaining to all sorts of things and for the most part, we are free to choose as we please. As long as we obey a few simple rules of the heart (love God and love others), and as long as we stay within the Biblical boundaries given to us by our Father in heaven, we are then free to use our judgment and make choices based upon our preferences.   I encourage you not to make life more complicated than it needs to be. Love God, love people, and live 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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Keep the focus where it needs to be”   This morning let’s continue our thinking from the last couple of days pertaining to walking worthy, and living simply and well. Matthew 6:25-34 is part of the famous “Sermon on the Mount”. In this part of His sermon Jesus was teaching about how we often allow the cares of life to worry us, distract us, and to get us off track with respect to practicing our faith and focusing on God.   The specific example He was using pertained to the essentials of life such as food, clothes, and shelter. In this lesson He teaches us not to obsess about such things but to instead, stay focused on honoring God and then trusting the rest to Him. (We still have a responsibility to work and to provide for ourselves. We should not expect God to just magically provide for us. This simply means we are not to obsess about such things.)   This was my wife Linda’s favorite passage during all the years we served in church ministry. We always served in small churches and at a small missionary agency, and often for small salaries. Linda was convinced that as long as we stayed focused on serving God and His people, the Lord would take care of our other needs (and He always did!)   Although the illustration Jesus used to teach this lesson pertained to the essentials of life, the larger lesson pertains to all of life – seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will fall into place in God’s time and in God’s way. That’s a life-lesson. Make God and His kingdom your primary focus and don’t obsess about the rest of it. Again, that doesn’t absolve us from personal responsibility, it just means we keep our primary focus where it needs to be.   This is the kind of thinking that eventually led me to adopt Proverbs 3:5-6 as my primary life-verse. “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.”   This great adventure of living the Christian life focuses primarily on God and His kingdom. Everything else in life falls into place after that. Tomorrow we will consider one more example of how God makes this work in our lives.   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Live simply and live well”   In yesterday’s devotional I encouraged all of us to strive to “walk worthy” – to live in such a way that we honor the Lord in thought, word, and deed. I also wrote that we can do that just in the normal course of simply living life – at home, at work, in groups or clubs we belong to, and while enjoying our hobbies and recreational activities.   Sometimes we Christians tend to over-spiritualize our understanding of what a Christian life lived well looks like. We think that pastors, missionaries, Christian authors, and musicians – they are the ones who live lives of significance and which are pleasing to the Lord. But that’s a misunderstanding of what it is the Lord is looking for from us.   In Micah 6:8 (above) the prophet reminds us that what God is looking for is regular people who simply do good things as they live their life of faith. The Apostle Paul wrote about this as well in 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12, “But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.”   I have written before about the helpful insight shared by Dr. Denis Prager regarding his own aspirations for his life. As a young man trying to discern his path in life (and long before he became known as “Dr. Prager,” he resolved that whatever he did in life he wanted to be sure it involved influencing people in good ways. Denis Prager went on to become an eminent Old Testament scholar, an expert in Biblical Hebrew, a college professor, and a bestselling author. He did indeed spend his life influencing people in good ways.   That’s a great goal for all of us. Regardless of whatever else you do in life, if you spend every day doing good things for others and influencing people in good ways, all in the name of and for the sake of Jesus Christ, you will have lived a good life.   It is a fine thing to live simply and to live well, just doing good and having a positive influence on people, all for the cause of Christ.   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God …” Colossians 1:9-10 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Walk worthy”   There are so many professions and activities Christians can engage in throughout the course of our lives as we are on this great adventure of living the Christian life. You can choose to be a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker. You can be an auto mechanic, a school teacher, a business owner, a medical doctor, or president of the United States. You can join the local chapter of Rotary Club, or the local PTA, or a chess club, or a bowling league, or any number of other groups or activities.   The point is that God has given us a whole world of opportunities and choices that are laid out before us and as long as it is legal and noble, it is a fine profession, group, or activity for you to be involved in. The big question in life is not so much “what” you do, but “how” you do it. This is what Paul meant when he wrote in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord not for people.”   That’s also what he meant in Colossians 1:9-10 (above) where he urged us as the people of God to “walk worthy.” Walk worthy of your calling as a child of God. Walk worthy as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk worthy of one who is charged to represent Jesus in this world, and to share the Good News about Him, and to lead others to faith in Him. Walk worthy.   Walk worthy is also the motto of our new Trail Life troop at Oak Hill Baptist Church. Trail Life is a Christian ministry that teaches boys how to live lives of honor and integrity based upon Biblical principles. It is designed to train boys to grow up into godly men. Trail Life uses discipleship principles that teach Biblical virtues and how to live by them in daily life. Although there are group meetings and classroom time, much of the learning occurs during outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, outdoor games, sitting around campfires, and other fun activities where boys are encouraged to be boys.   Our kickoff event is this Tuesday, September 17th, from 5:00 – 8:00. This is an open house and family night designed to introduce families to the program and to get the boys and dads signed up. It will begin at 5:00 with a family meal.   If you are close to Cumberland County, TN we invite you to come and enjoy the meal with us and learn more about Trail Life. If you are distant and unable to attend, please pray for us as we get our new troop started.   All Christians are called by God to walk worthy. Live a life that truly does honor the Lord and which blesses others in His name.   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, TN38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” Ephesians 6:10-12 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “It really is a spiritual battle”   Have you ever read “The Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan? John Bunyan was a Puritan minister and writer who lived in the late 1600s. His little book is considered one of the greatest works of Christian fiction ever written and it continues to sell well today, almost 350 years after it was first published in 1678.   The full title is, “The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which is to Come.” It is a story about a young man named “Christian” who is an everyman kind of character and who therefore represents each of us. The plot centers around his journey from his hometown in “The City of Destruction (the world), to “The Celestial City” (heaven). Along the way he meets a guide named “Evangelist” who provides guidance for the journey. The story is then a sequence of obstacles and challenges that Christian must deal with (life) as he slowly but steadily makes his way to his real and ultimate home in the Celestial City.   The book is available in modern language, including for children, and it really is a “must read” for Christians. Bunyan’s objective in his story is to remind his readers about the importance of the truth Paul taught in Ephesians 6:10-20, that we are on a spiritual journey through this world; we have an adversary who we cannot see (the devil) but who is very real and who must be dealt with; and our strength for the journey is only found in the Lord, not in our own strength.   Many years ago, I wrote an essay explaining the significance of each piece of the spiritual armor Paul addresses in Ephesians 6:10-20 and which we must put on every day. If you would like a copy of that essay let me know and I will be happy to send it to you.   The truth is that we are on a spiritual journey through this physical world and it is the spiritual reality, not the physical one, which matters most. Life really is a spiritual battle and therefore to be victorious in life we must be spiritually strong.   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: “The Great Adventure”   Our Bible verse for today: “…you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “The ultimate objective”   The ultimate objective of living the Christian life is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and to become more like Him. This is about spiritual maturity and it is the primary reason God has left you here on earth after He saved you, rather than immediately taking you to heaven. It was so you could spend the rest of your life engaging in daily spiritual disciplines and growing in your likeness to Jesus.   We are also to preach the Good News of the Gospel, serve others in the name of Jesus, and help to grow His kingdom here on earth. All of that is part of learning to be more like Him. But just like with every other thing we do for God, since He is all-powerful, He could do it Himself faster and better. He doesn’t need you or me to preach and teach. He could accomplish that through the mouth of a donkey if He wanted to. He involves us in all aspects of His work on earth for our own benefit so we can grow.   Once you have placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, the objective for the entire rest of your life is to grow in the grace and knowledge or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God’s people need to know who He is, what He is like, how He interacts with us, and what He expects from us. In the letter of 2 Peter, Peter then goes on to explain that as this spiritual growth is taking place, we will find ourselves better able to be strong in a very evil world that is against us. Peter’s primary objective in writing the letter was to strengthen and encourage believers who were living in difficult circumstances. Spiritual maturity was the thing that would help them the most.   One of the best summaries of the Bible’s teachings about God that I have ever come across is a wonderful little book written more than sixty years ago by the great pastor and author A. W. Tozer called, “The Knowledge of The Holy.” It is divided into twenty-three short chapters, each of which explains something important that we need to know about God. I recommend this little book to you highly. You will find it well worth your time.   The ultimate objective of your great adventure here on earth as you continue to live this Christian life, is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   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