Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…: Colossians 3:12 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Rational compassion is best”   This morning, we will continue our thinking from a previous devotional regarding how it is possible for us as Christians to exhibit the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience as Paul calls for in Colossians 3:12, in such a way that it helps a suffering person to feel better and gives them renewed hope.   In his great book, “Build the Life you Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier” Arthur Brookes draws a distinction between sympathy, empathy, and rational compassion. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone who is in physical or emotional pain, or to whom some unfortunate or bad thing has happened. Sympathy is a normal healthy human emotion and it is one we should feel when we encounter someone dealing a with sad situation. To be unfeeling about the misfortune of others is an indication of emotional dysfunction. Sympathy is good.   But empathy is better. Empathy is more than just recognizing someone else’s pain but actually feeling it along with them. It is putting yourself into their shoes and imagining what they must be feeling, to the point that you are feeling it too. Empathy is better than sympathy but it is also potentially dangerous. When you are empathic you are experiencing all your own trials in life, and now you are experiencing theirs as well. That can get heavy. Especially if you are an empathic person by nature and tend to take on lots of pain and sorrow from lots of other people.   Rational compassion is the way to bless people and avoid the pitfalls of empathy. Rational compassion recognizes the suffering of others, cares about their suffering, even feels their pain. Then it goes one step further and, if possible, it does something to help alleviate or lessen their suffering. That’s compassion. The rational part is that we recognize that we cannot eliminate the other person’s pain and suffering. We can only help them with it. The sad fact is that this is a broken world and from time-time-time, we all suffer in many ways.   Rational compassion moves beyond empathy by adding action that makes a real and meaningful difference. As a Christian with the Holy Spirit in your heart, you already have all the tools you need to help a suffering person find a sense of renewed hope. Sympathy and empathy are good and needed, but rational compassion is best.     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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.” Proverbs 15:13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Lighten up, Francis!”   The other day I was looking through family photos and I came across one of my wife Linda, looking directly into the camera and sticking her tongue out. It was actually a fairly recent photo, perhaps a year old. So, it was taken near the end of her life as she was rapidly declining in health. But there she was, mugging for the camera and having fun.   That picture reminded me of another time many years ago when I was taking a break from being a pastor and we were members of a large church in our town. I was the teacher of a Sunday school class and Linda was a member of my class. Sometimes, if I was getting a little too serious about something I was teaching, and was being a little preachy and overly pious, she would make that same face, sticking out her tongue and causing the rest of the class to bust out laughing. It helped to get me off my high horse and to lighten up a little. She was always doing things like that. Linda loved to goof around and have fun, even when she wasn’t feeling well. Her playful attitude always served to brighten up the mood in the room for everyone else.   In the last two devotionals we thought about ways in which we can lighten our own moods and thereby improve our mindset. We thought about avoiding emotional monkey traps, as well as people who could be described as nattering nabobs of negativism. Today I want us to think about other ways we could potentially lighten the mood a bit.   Being playful like Linda is a good one. Another one that I enjoy is reading newspaper comic strips. I love them. I’m one of those dinosaur people who still has a physical newspaper delivered to his house every day. I especially love the Sunday paper because it has what we used to call “The Sunday Funnies.” I’m talking about the comics section – large and in color. My favorite comic strip of all-time is “Calvin and Hobbes.” Although it isn’t published anymore, I have a Calvin and Hobbes collection and I read one or two of those comic strips from my collection almost every day.   The term “Lighten up, Francis” comes from a scene in the 1981 movie “Stripes” starring comedian Bill Murray. The line was said by a hardcore drill Sargent to one of the characters in the movie who was being entirely too tense and too serious. The guy hated to be called “Francis” and he threatened to kill anyone who called him that. So, the drill Sargent got right in his face, nose-to-nose, and snarled, “Lighten up, Francis!”   Many of us need to lighten up a little. It would do us good. Maybe your thing isn’t walking around making funny faces at your spouse (Linda), and maybe your thing isn’t a daily dose of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips (me). But there are certainly other things you could do that will put a smile on your face today. So, lighten up a little, Francis.   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t make friends with an angry person, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one, or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in s snare.” Proverbs 22:24-25 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Avoid nattering nabobs of negativism”   Today I want to continue our thinking from yesterday about avoiding the emotional monkey traps in life (or getting out of one once you’re in it). In yesterday’s devotional we thought about the guidance from Psalm 42:5, Philippians 4:8, and other passages like them which teach us to fill our minds and hearts with uplifting, positive things that promote Godly virtues and Biblical thinking.   That’s all about putting good things in. But sometimes the answer is to take bad influences out (and then replace them with good). Bad influences and toxic people pollute our minds and hearts. They poison our thinking and often lead us into those emotional monkey traps we thought about yesterday. Worse, as Proverbs 22:24-25 warns, over time we can become like those we associate with. The Apostle Paul taught this as well in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good character.” Sometimes there is negative stuff that has to be dealt with and removed so we can have a positive attitude and a sense of peace.   The presidential speech-writer for Richard Nixon, William Safire, once coined the phrase “Nattering nabobs of negativism” to describe critics who constantly found fault with everything the President did. The word “nabob” has been around for hundreds of years, dating back to the 1600s in England. It described snooty rich people who looked down upon and were critical of everyone they considered to be beneath them in social standing. They were arrogant, unkind, and incessantly critical. They were nabobs and they were constantly nattering.   Nattering nabobs of negativism are a toxic presence in our lives and we need to remove them, or at least counter their influence on us, for the sake of our own sanity. If you don’t, they will drive you crazy, steal your joy, and perhaps even lead you to be like them.   So, first, don’t be a nattering nabob of negativism yourself. Second, pray for those who are. And third, take the steps necessary to mitigate their influence in your life. It’s hard to be upbeat, positive, and hopeful if somebody keeps blocking your sunny day with their dark cloud of despair.   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Avoid the emotional monkey traps”   Are you familiar with the monkey trap? The monkey trap is a hollowed-out coconut that has a hole in the top that is just wide enough for a monkey to insert his extended hand into. Inside the coconut is a small pile of rice. The coconut is then chained to a stake in the ground. A hungry monkey will insert his narrow, extended hand into the small opening in the top of the coconut and grab a fist full of rice. But then he discovers that he cannot pull his closed fist with the rice back out of the coconut – the closed fist is too wide. To get his hand back out he will have to open his fist and let go of the rice – which he won’t do. Instead, he stubbornly holds onto the rice and remains trapped by the chained coconut. The monkey hunters then simply walk up and grab the monkey, who then becomes dinner.   There is an emotional monkey trap that we sometimes allow ourselves to get trapped in. We grab ahold of a negative emotion and cling to it, ruminate on it, and refuse to let it go. If we would let it go, we could simply withdraw our mind from the trap and be on our way, but stubbornly we cling to it instead and remain trapped by it. The negativity then ruins our day and perhaps damages relationships when all the time, we could simply choose to let it go. But we don’t. We won’t.   Have you noticed that when someone offends you or is unkind in some way, or you experience something unpleasant, you tend to ruminate on that thing and you can’t seem to get it out of your mind? You can receive nine compliments and one criticism and which will your mind focus on, the nine compliments or the one criticism? You know the answer. We quickly forget the compliments and become preoccupied with the criticism. Welcome to the emotional monkey trap.   What’s the solution? How do we avoid or get out of the emotional monkey trap? The Bible tells us in Psalm 42:5, and Philippians 4:8, and in many other passages – praise God; thank God; fill your mind with the positive things of God; read Scripture; listen to Christian music; count your blessings; hug a baby; pet a puppy; have some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (this one may not be in the Bible but it’s a really good idea anyway).   There’s a whole world full of happy, joyful, and enjoyable thoughts and experiences we can choose to focus on rather than stewing over negative stuff. It’s difficult to find renewed hope if we allow our minds to be filled with things that are not hopeful, positive, and uplifting.   Avoid the emotional monkey traps of life. Stop being so stubborn. Open that fist, let go of the negative, and then move on in life in a better frame of mind.   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “God sets the lonely in families …” Psalm 68:6 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “We need our families”   Hope is such an important ingredient to having a happy and fulfilling life, and renewing hope once we have lost it is so vital, that we are going to continue our study of finding renewed hope into the month of May.   I mentioned in a previous devotional that in his research for his book “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier” Arthur Brookes discovered that there are four pillars upon which a happy and hopeful life is built: family, friends, work, and faith. We have already explored the role faith plays in quality of life, and we have spent several days considering the importance of friendship. Today I want us to think about family.   Brookes devotes a lengthy chapter to the role healthy family relationships play in quality of life (and please note that the emphasis is on “healthy” family relationships). Few things in life are as comforting as being part of a healthy family dynamic, and few things in life are as hurtful and destructive as being part of an unhealthy family. Putting the time, effort, and attention into nurturing healthy family relationships is one of the most effective ways of improving and maintaining a high quality of life. We need our families.   But what about those who don’t have a biological family, or don’t have one close by? What about their quality of life? God took care of that too and He tells us about it in Psalm 68:6 – He gives us church families. This has become increasingly important to me in this current season of my life. Family has always been a huge factor in my life. Being a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and uncle have been important roles in my life. But at this point in life, I have lost my father and mother, wife, son, daughter, two brothers, and two nephews.   Fortunately, I still have two sons, a daughter-in-law, a grandson, a brother, two sisters, and various nieces and nephews, but none of them live close to me. So, in terms of day-to-day living, I now have no biological family with a frequent physical presence in my life. But God has helped me by giving me an exceptional church family, some of whom even treat me as if I am part of their biological family. That is precisely what King David was referring to in Psalm 68:6. A good church family takes special care of those who are alone.   Whether we’re talking about biological families or church families or both, being part of a healthy family is one of the most important and powerful ingredients of living a life that is happy and hopeful. Guard those family relationships. Care for them and nurture them, and regularly thank God for your family. We need our families!   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Onward into the future”   This morning, I want to continue our thinking from yesterday about the importance of having friends – especially a few close friends. In his great book, “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier,” Arthur Brookes says his research revealed that one of the best indicators a person is doing well in life is when they can name several truly close friends. People who have close friends to go through life with generally are better adjusted and happier than those who don’t have close friends.   Brookes also discovered that, “One source of happiness for almost everyone is hope about the future, a sense of life-purpose, and self-esteem.” I personally believe those two revelations work together and they play a role in the way that Jeremiah 29:11 progressively unfolds in a person’s life.   If you understand your God-given purpose in life, and if you have a few close friends with whom you are open, honest, and transparent, and if you share with them your God-given hopes, dreams, and plans for the future, those close friends can then be your cheerleaders and encouragers to help keep your focused and moving forward with God’s plan for your life.   This is critical because God’s plan for us develops over the course of years -indeed, over a lifetime. But life is hard and there are many valleys we have to walk through along the way, many confusing situations we have to deal with. During those times it’s easy to get discouraged and to lose sight of where we’re headed. We might stop moving forward altogether, or we can get sidetracked and wander off in directions God never intended for us.   That’s when those close friends can come alongside and help us to stay on the right path. Because they know us well and since they have insight into how God is working in our lives, they can encourage us and help us to keep moving forward and in the right direction. And, in keeping with our theme for this month, God can use those friends to renew our hope for the future when we ourselves are having trouble seeing it.   God does have a good plan for your life and it is unfolding. He can and will use your close friends to help you see it and to stay focused on it. But for that to happen, you must develop those friendships and you need to share those insights with those friends so they can help you.   God is good; His plan is perfect; and good friends are one of life’s greatest blessings. With Jesus in our heart and with our family and friends by our side, we can move confidently onward into the future.   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” Proverbs 17:17   Our thought for today: “Friends help us find renewed hope”   I had trouble selecting a Bible verse for today’s devotional. There are so many powerful verses that teach about the value of friendship – especially as we go through the valleys in life. Proverbs 17:17 is just one of them. Then there’s Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.”   In his great book, “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier,” Arthur Brookes outlines what he calls the four pillars upon which a happier life is built. The four pillars are family, friends, work, and faith. Friendship is one of the essential elements of a happy life. People with friends are happier than those without them.   Brookes tells the story of the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s writing was a reflection of his own inner self (which was a rather dark world). He was an unhappy person given to bouts of deep depression and severe pessimism. He was also a loner. He did not like people and he avoided them, but he suffered terribly for that choice. He even wrote a poem about his loneliness called “Alone” in which he described the difficulty he had connecting with people emotionally. Poe didn’t like people and therefore, as Brookes noted, “It’s not that no one wanted his company, it’s that he didn’t much want theirs. His loneliness was self-imposed.” How sad and tragic.   In his research Brookes also discovered, “Without friends, no one can thrive … A life with close friends can be happy even when many other things are wrong. A life without close friends is like a house in winter (in Massachusetts) without heat.”   Having friends is a critical element in having a happier life. And when it comes to gaining a sense of renewed hope, especially when we are struggling with life issues, friends are a gift from God.   I’ll leave you this morning with the words of the Apostle Paul, found in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” That’s what friends do for each other and we all need those friends. I encourage you to make it a point today to reach out to someone who needs a friend right now. Lift them up. Encourage them.   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, T 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You don’t have to do this alone”   It has been almost five months now since my wife Linda went to heaven. Three weeks after that, our son Rick died too. Those were devastating losses for me but I was comforted by the overwhelming outpouring of love, encouragement, and support I received from the church. As bad as I was hurting and as uncertain as the future looked, I knew I could count on my church family to walk through that with me. Allen and Rebecca Foster were two of my biggest comforters during that time. They were concerned and so kind, and they made sure I knew I could count on them. As a result, thanks to people like Allen and Rebecca, I did have a glimmer of hope for the future. I knew I didn’t have to do this alone.   Little did I realize that less than five months later I would be sitting in Allen’s living room attempting to comfort him because of his loss of Rebecca. I found myself trying to return some of the love, concern, and comfort he and Rebecca had given to me during my time of grief.   But it wasn’t just Allen and Rebecca comforting me then, and it isn’t just me comforting Allen now. In situations like these God mobilizes the saints and He orchestrates an outpouring of love, comfort, and support. Immediately upon hearing of Rebecca’s passing, family, friends, and church members began calling, texting, gathering for prayer, offering assistance, and searching for ways to be helpful.   Why do Christians respond like that in situations like this? Because the Holy Spirit moves us to do this for each other. We are the hands and feet of Jesus for each other. As Paul noted in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, God is the God of all comfort, but most of the time He delivers that comfort through other Christians.   Five months ago I was the one in desperate need, and my church family was there to meet that need. Today it is Allen and his family. In the future it could be you and your family. If so, we will be there for you too. God will make sure of it. God is the God of all comfort, and He delivers that comfort to us through our brothers and sisters in Christ.   One of the greatest benefits to being part of a good church is that you know that in your time of need your church family will be there for you, and that gives you a glimmer of hope for the future. You are not alone, and you don’t have to do this alone.   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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.” “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Still thinking about Rebecca”   In Biblical terms, hope is more than just wishful thinking. Instead, it is the eager anticipation and the certain expectation of good things to come. Biblically, hope is based in faith, and faith, as Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “… is the reality of what is hoped for; the proof of what is not seen.” Biblical hope is based in reality because God has given us all the proof we need in order to fully trust His promises. That is the faith and hope (the eager anticipation and certain expectation of good things to come), that Rebecca Foster had. It is the faith and hope that carried her through life and it is what sustained her through the most difficult of times.   I love the picture Jesus painted for us in John 14:1-3. Forty days after His resurrection He left the earth, returned to heaven, and began preparing special places in heaven for all those who belong to Him. It reminds me of how an expectant mother anticipates the birth of her baby. She prepares a nursery, purchases baby clothes and supplies, prepares in numerous other ways, and then she waits patiently and in eager anticipation for the day her child arrives in this world.   That’s what’s going on in heaven as Jesus awaits, anticipates, and prepares for the arrival of each of His children. That’s why Psalm 116:15 tells us that “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Here on earth the death of our loved one seems like the end of life and it is therefore a time of sadness and grieving, but in heaven it is cause for joyful celebration because a much-loved child of God has finally arrived. That explains the hope with which Rebecca lived and it is why she was able to tell her husband Allen, just a couple of weeks ago, that she had no fear of dying.   But please don’t miss the essential truth contained in verse 6. Jesus said there that He is the only way to eternity in heaven. When He said those words, He eliminated every other possibility. If those words of Jesus are true (and they are), then eternity in heaven is not attained through faith in any of the other gods of the world; or by being a good enough person; or by performing enough religious rituals; or by any other means. Eternity in heaven comes through faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and by no other means.   Many decades ago, Rebecca embraced that truth. She chose to put her faith in Jesus Christ and then she lived the rest of her life with the certain assurance that when her time to leave this life came, she would immediately pass into the arms of Jesus.   The reason Rebecca Foster lived her life with such joy, enthusiasm, and gusto, and the reason she was able to approach death with such dignity, grace, and confidence, is precisely because she knew for certain what was waiting for her right on the other side of death. You too can have that hope – that confidence and certainty. Jesus is there for you too just like He was for Rebecca. Trust Him. Have faith in Him.     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: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Thinking about Rebecca”   Yesterday a great lady left this world and went home to heaven. Rebecca Foster was many things to many people but to me she was first and foremost a great friend and a dear sister in Christ. Over the course of her fifty-five years of life she was also a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, nurse, Chief Nursing Officer at Cumberland Medical Center, Reginal Director for the office of Congressman John Rose, recording artist, Music Director at Oak Hill Baptist Church for almost fifteen years, and a great friend to many. But most important of all, Rebecca was a Christian. A strong Christian. A woman of great faith.   Last year Rebecca was diagnosed with colon cancer. She underwent a surgical procedure and months of chemotherapy to deal with it, and was ultimately declared to be cancer-free. During those long months of therapy and recovery Rebecca never missed a beat. She continued her work for Congressman Rose and she continued leading our music every Sunday. She did so with a smile and an upbeat attitude. You would never have known she was fighting cancer. She didn’t talk about it and she didn’t give in to it.     Several months ago, the cancer reappeared. Only this time it was widespread, aggressive, and spreading quickly. Treating it was going to require radical surgery and extensive chemotherapy. Rebecca handled this new development exactly the same way – she committed it to the Lord, she resolved to do her part by submitting to the treatments, and then she simply got on with living life fully. She went places; she did things; she continued her work for Congressman Rose; with her daughter Brooke she continued to lead music at our church every Sunday; and she lived – she really and fully lived, and she did it with a smile and with great faith.   The cancer spread quickly and Rebecca got sicker and weaker. Yet, she continued to live life large. This past Sunday (three days before she died) she was in church, on the stage, leading music with Brooke. With hands raised to heaven and with gusto she sang her heart out. She sometimes had to hold onto the pulpit to steady herself, but in typical Rebecca fashion, she would not give in and she would not give up. On Tuesday (the day before she died) she was so weak she had trouble getting out of bed. So, she stayed in bed, with her laptop, still doing work for Congressman Rose. Then on Wednesday morning she went home to heaven and received her eternal reward.   This month’s theme for our daily devotional messages has been “renewed hope.” It has been about all the ways in which God renews us and gives us a new sense of hope as we carry on in life despite trials, challenges, and difficult circumstances. Sometimes that renewed hope comes to us through Bible verses like 1 Peter 1:3-4, cited above, which speak of the hope we have of heaven. Other times the source of hope and inspiration comes to us in the form of the example set for us by people of great faith – like Rebecca Foster.   There’s much more to this story about how Rebecca handled all of this with dignity, grace, and great faith – more than can be told in a single daily devotional. So, we will continue this tomorrow.   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