Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live like it’s real”   Our Bible verse for today: “Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves.” Romans 11:11 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “Make them want what you have”   At Oak Hill Baptist Church we are conducting a study of the book of Romans on Sunday mornings. This Sunday we will be taking a deep dive into Romans 11:11-24. This is the section where Paul explains that the Jews are still God’s chosen people and that we Christians are simply an extension of the family God was already creating for Himself through the nation of Israel. The New Testament grew out of the Old Testament. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. Christianity has its roots in Judaism.   However, since the Jews largely rejected their promised Messiah, God then used Israel as a springboard to send the good news about the Messiah out to the rest of the world. Now the non-Jewish world is enjoying the salvation and blessings that were first and foremost intended for Israel.   In this section of Romans chapter eleven Paul is teaching that God did that for two reasons. First, to get the gospel out to the rest of the world so non-Jews could be saved as well. But also, He did it to make Israel jealous. He intended for them to see others enjoying the blessings that should have been theirs and for them to then want what they were seeing others receive. Another point in the passage is that we Christians received the gospel from Israel, and now we need to turn it around and bring it back to them. The joy of our salvation should make them want what we have.   That’s true with respect to Israel and the Jews, but it’s also true in a larger context. Ideally, all people should be able to see the difference our faith makes in our lives – the love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Those blessings are ours in increasing measure thanks to Christ in our lives, and it should make them want what we have.   Is that true of your life? Is your faith so real, so dynamic, and does it make such a positive difference in your life that others see it and want what you have? Does the evidence of your faith make others jealous?   I encourage all of us to live in such a way that others want what we have.   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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “It’s for you to enjoy and to share”   In his great devotional book, “A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living,” Alan Fadling made a statement that caught my attention. He wrote that, “This abundance (of the grace of God in our lives) is not just for our own benefit but also for the sake of others.”   2 Peter 1:2 is just one of several verses in the New Testament letters that include a prayer for the readers to experience God’s grace and peace in abundance. Paul was fond of using the phrase as well. It’s a kind and beautiful prayer to pray for someone, and we all certainly do need a better appreciation of the abundance of God’s grace and peace.   But getting back to that statement from Alan Fadling – such a blessing upon us is not just for our own benefit, it is also for the benefit of all those who will encounter us today. Peter continues his teaching by telling us what we should do with our experience of God’s abundant grace and peace in our own lives:   “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)     What Peter is saying is that when your life is suffused with the grace and peace of God, that grace and peace will radiate from you and impact those around you. Others will be blessed because you were blessed. Others will experience the grace and peace of God because you did.   Does your life reflect the grace and peace of God? It should. I join with Peter this morning in praying for you: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Then share that grace and peace 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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Have a healthy sense of holy humility”   Humility is good, right? Well, yes. Sometimes. Good humility is good. Bad humility is bad. Humility can be good or bad depending on its source. Humility is good when it is a holy humility. That’s what Peter was calling for in 1 Peter 5:6-7.   When a Christian has a healthy sense of holy humility, that person realizes that he or she is simply a sinner saved by grace. The person also realizes that because God is in the process of working His good and perfect plan in their life, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in their life that empowers them with gifts, skills, abilities, resources, and talents in order to live their best life. It is all grace and it is all from God. That’s good humility. That’s holy humility.   However, humility can also be bad – it can be unhealthy and unholy. Humility can be bad when it is a false humility. In other words, the person is putting on a show, pretending to be humble in an attempt to impress others with their humility. That’s not humility, it’s pride. It also deceptive, manipulative, and phony. An older pastor and I were once discussing the importance of humility as a virtue among Christian leaders. He made the point that it’s important for us to have mentors in the ministry who are truly humble and who model good humility for us. Then, with tongue firmly placed in cheek he said, “Take me for example, Jim. I’ve very humble, and I’m proud of that.” (Obviously, if you’re proud of being humble then you aren’t really humble.)   Another example of unhealthy humility is the self-depreciating kind that comes from insecurity and self-doubt. This is the person who thinks poorly of themselves. They believe they don’t measure-up compared to others and they’re always down on themselves. This isn’t false humility. In this case the person sincerely does think poorly of themselves. They find it hard to believe that God does not think poorly of them, and they struggle to believe that He loves them and finds them worthy in Christ.   To live our best lives – to live like our faith is real and true – we must have a healthy sense of holy humility. Realize that you are valued, loved, fully accepted, and esteemed by God because you come to Him through faith in His Son Jesus. Beyond that, understand that the Holy Spirit is working in you to transform you into the fully mature spiritual person God intends for you to be. I encourage you to embrace that truth and to thank God for 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 like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator.” Colossians 3:9-10 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “You will have to want it”   This morning I want to return us to our story from yesterday’s devotional about the eagle that grew up thinking he was a prairie chicken and therefore spent his life acting like a prairie chicken. Even when he witnessed other eagles soaring like eagles, and even when he sensed deep within himself that he too had the capacity to soar like that if he only would, he still stayed on the ground scratching with the chickens.   If that eagle wanted to soar, he was going to have to acknowledge and embrace his true identity as an eagle and stop acting like a prairie chicken. The point of the story was that sometimes Christians act like prairie chickens. We spend our lives scratching around on the ground when we could be soaring in the Spirit. But if we want to soar, there is action we need to take.   In Colossians 3:9-10 Paul tells us to take off our old selves and the practices that go with it and put on the new self, given to us by God through the Holy Spirit living in our heart. Please notice the intentional actions required of us in that verse. You must decide to take off our old self and to stop those old practices. You must also decide to put on the new self and to then intentionally engage in the new practices that go with the new self. There is action required on our part.   Paul also spoke to this in Romans 12:1-2 when he wrote, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (CSB)   This is why it’s essential for the follower of Christ to be committed to a life of serious discipleship that includes daily prayer and Bible study, full participation in the life of a good church, service to others in ministry, along with the other basic disciplines of the Christian life.   Living a life spent soaring in the Spirit is possible if you will embrace and live the life God wants for you. But you will have to want it, and then you will have to take the actions necessary for the Spirit to develop it in you. Your life should not be spent scratching with the chickens. You were meant to soar like an eagle.   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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living in you.” Romans 8:11 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “Soaring in the Spirit”   When it comes to living like our faith is real and true, God helps us more than we realize by means of His Spirit living within us. I want to share with you a story that appears in the Swindoll Study Bible. This is what Pastor Chuck wrote:   “Do you ever have the feeling that you have been wrongly programmed? Have you ever spent much of your life thinking a certain way only to realize that you have missed something vital the whole time? If so, it’s made you different than you otherwise would have been.             Imagine that somebody stole an eagle’s egg and secretly placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken alongside her other eggs. The little hen sat on the eggs, and after some time, along with her little chicks popped out a little eaglet. The eaglet watched and listened and scratched around in the dirt and ate stuff off the ground like the prairie chickens did, and he tried to learn to cluck. Every once in a while he would fly low to the ground like the chickens he had always been around. Then one bright, sunny day, the eagle, now grown, looked up into the cloudless sky and saw the inimitable sight of another eagle soaring. He said to his buddy, “Let’s try that!” The chicken said, “Are you kidding? We’re chickens.” So the eagle spent the rest of his days scratching in the dirt and eating from the ground. He never soared.             This fanciful story illustrates a point: What a shame it is when God has something better for us but we don’t realize it! If we do end up realizing it, we look back with regret, thinking, “Why haven’t I been soaring all this time?”   The point is that God has placed His Holy Spirit in our hearts and by doing so He has enabled us to soar through life as if we had wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:29-31). But many of us never fully embrace the life God wants us to live. Many of us hold back, procrastinate, and make excuses for not doing the things God has prepared for us, and therefore we don’t experience the life He has called us to.   This is why the Scriptures call us to be fully committed disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The best life any of us will ever have is the one that is lived fully surrendered to Jesus and right in the center of God’s will.   We can indeed soar through life in the Spirit. But to do so we will have to stop scratching with the chickens. We must embrace our true identity in Christ and let the Spirit take us where He wants us to go.   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: “Live like its true”   Our Bible verse for today: “But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Just do what you know to be right”   I find it interesting how many verses and entire passages in the Bible urge the people of God to resolve to do good (what they know to be right). Paul wrote about it in 2 Thessalonians 3:13 (above). He also wrote about it in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said it to in Hebrews 13:16, “Don’t neglect to do what is good.” There are many others as well.   “Doing good” applies to engaging in acts of kindness, compassion, generosity, and other acts of physical ministry to those in need. But it also pertains to doing good in terms of standing for what is right, just, and biblically true regardless of whether society, culture, or government authorities agree or like it. That was certainly a big part of the challenge those early Christians faced in the first century of Christianity. It was what the apostles were referring to in Acts 5:29 when Peter declared, “We must obey God rather than people.”   We live in a society today that has turned biblical values and traditional morality on its head. Values and standards that have been acknowledged as good and right for hundreds, even thousands of years have now been declared by some in our society to be bad, hurtful, even hateful. And behaviors that have been acknowledged as immoral and harmful by societies across the span of history are now declared to be good and right.   How does God feel about that? The same as He always has. More than 2500 years ago He said through the prophet Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” In other words, woe to those who twist scripture to suit their own desires.   More and more today, as conservative evangelical Christians simply declare and affirm the time-honored Biblical values given to us by God and honored across societies and generations for thousands of years, there are those who will attempt to shame us, shut us up, and shut us down. They will declare you to be hateful for not joining them in their biblical revisionism and affirming their declaration that good is bad and bad is good. The pressure can become intense and the temptation to go along in order to get along can be strong.   I encourage you to stand your ground. Base your faith and practice on what the Bible actually says. Don’t be unkind or disrespectful, but don’t be timid either. With grace and humility, with kindness and respect, just do and say what you know to be right and true, and stand your ground.   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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.” Romans 1:7-8 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “Good doctrine must be followed by good practice”   At Oak Hill Baptist Church the way we approach our Sunday morning sermons is I select a book of the Bible we are going to study, then we begin in chapter one verse one and whatever the next major theme in the book is, that’s the subject for this week’s sermon. We just work our way progressively through the book, major theme by major theme.   Right now, we are studying Paul’s letter to the Romans. I love the insight offered by Pastor Chuck Swindoll in his introduction to the book of Romans in The Swindoll Study Bible: “Beginning with eleven chapters of doctrine, the book then transitions into five chapters of practical instruction. This union between doctrine and life illustrates for Christians the absolute importance of both what we believe and how we live out our beliefs.”   Yes, that’s it precisely. Good doctrine must be followed by good practice. We must have a firm grasp on and an accurate understanding of the truth of God’s Word, but then we must put it into practice in the way we live. That’s why Paul was writing this letter to the Christians in Rome – so they would have sound doctrine to base the practice of their faith on.   That’s also why we are studying the book of Romans on Sunday mornings at our church, and it is also why I am spending an entire month writing about living like our faith is true and real. Beliefs aren’t worth much if they don’t make a positive difference in how we live.   I encourage you to join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church as we continue our study of Romans this Sunday. If you are close to Cumberland County, TN then please join us in person. If not, then join us online (see the YouTube link below). Also, the entire series in Romans is available for you to view in the archives on our YouTube channel.   By all means, let’s make sure our doctrine is sound. And then let’s put it into practice by the way we live.   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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity.” Titus 2:7 (ESV)   Our thought for today: “Dedicated to influencing others for good”   My friend Jim Goodrich is in heaven now and I miss him. Not only was he a good friend, but he was a good church member. He was faithful and always willing to help. One of the many things Jim did for me was introducing me to the Torah Commentaries written by Dr. Dennis Prager. These are the best practical application commentaries on the first five books of the Old Testament that I have ever come across. Dr. Prager titled the series, “The Rational Bible.”  As each volume was published, Jim gave me a copy as a gift.   Dennis Prager is a Jew not a Christian, but he is one of the most respected Old Testament scholars in the world today. Although his works are studied by Jewish students around the world, approximately 50% of those who study Dr. Prager’s works are non-Jews, like me. Over more than forty years he has taught millions of students through seminary courses, videos, conferences, books, and a daily radio show. The reason his teaching is so popular is because it is so practical. He clearly shows how the Old Testament applies to the issues of modern life.   The other day I was reading the introduction to his commentary on the book of Deuteronomy. Dennis was explaining his own background and how it was that he came to be a Biblical scholar, teacher, writer, and popular speaker. He shared an insight regarding his own early motivation that resonated with me to the point that I wrote it down and made it my own. Dennis wrote, “At the age of sixteen, I wrote in my diary that I wanted to devote my life “to influencing people to the good.” That mission has animated my life. In a nutshell, I love goodness, and I hate evil.”   I love that. His personal mission became, “My life is dedicated to influencing people for good.” What a noble aspiration for all of us! And that is precisely what Paul was counseling Titus to do in Titus 2:7, “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity.”  Dennis Prager does that on an international scale through his work as a scholar, teacher, speaker, and writer. But truthfully, this is something all of us can do. We can all strive to live a life (in word and deed) which influences others for good.   Let me ask you this morning, “What is your life dedicated to?” Deep down in your heart, what is it that motivates and drives you? A simple desire “to influence others for good” would be an admirable goal for any 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: “Live like it’s real”   Our Bible verse for today: “Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity (treating it as something precious). Colossians 4:5 (Amplified Bible)   Our thought for today: “Make the most of your opportunities”   We’ve all heard the exhortation to “make the most of your opportunities.” Typically, that is said with respect to some kind of advancement in life such as going to college if you have the chance, or applying for a better position at work that just opened-up, or taking advantage of a smart investment opportunity you just became aware of – and there is wisdom in that approach to life. Success is achieved by those who go for it, not by those who don’t.   But that’s not the context within which the Apostle Paul was using the phrase in Colossians 4:5. In this case he was speaking specifically of Christians interacting with unbelievers and taking advantage of the opportunities the Holy Spirit creates for us to share the Good News of the Gospel with them. He says that doing so will require wisdom. In other words, not only will we need to be spiritually sensitive enough to recognize the opportunity, but we will need to be wise enough to know the best way to approach the situation.   He then says that such opportunities are precious. If they are precious then it means they are valuable, and perhaps somewhat rare. The opportunity is valuable because the issue at hand is that person’s eternal salvation. It is potentially rare because when it comes to an unbeliever being open to discussing spiritual things, there are windows of opportunity. These are windows of time when circumstances have created an opening in that person’s mind and heart – an opening that might only last for a short time. We must be spiritually sensitive enough to recognize such moments, then wise enough to boldly and decisively move into the moment in the right way.   That sounds like hard work, doesn’t it? It sounds like this could be hard and perhaps the potential for failure is high. Yup. It is hard, it is work, and you might not be successful. But … try anyway. Remember, it is a precious moment – valuable and potentially rare. If the Holy Spirit has successfully orchestrated circumstances in that person’s life to create this opening, and He has placed you there to take advantage of that opportunity, then don’t be timid about it and don’t waste the chance to reach the person for Christ.   This is part of living like our faith is real. We pay attention to people; we learn to recognize spiritual openings; and then we take advantage of the opportunities the Holy Spirit presents to us.   I encourage all of us to pay attention to people today and to take advantage of the opportunities the Holy Spirit gives us to tell them about Jesus.   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: “Live like it’s true”   Our Bible verse for today: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3   Our thought for today: “Live with a “things above” perspective”   Do you sometimes get tunnel vision? I do. We all do. It’s so easy to get caught-up in the issues of life. When that happens, our vision narrows and moves everything else in life to the periphery and into the shadows. The situation or issue we’re focused on then takes on outsized proportions in our perspective and it can seem to us to be the most important thing in the world at that moment, when in fact, it isn’t. But we have tunnel vision and therefore our perspective is skewed.   We can get tunnel vision for many reasons and about many things. A relationship problem in our home can become all-consuming and we find ourselves unable to think about anything else. Financial problems can have a similar effect on us. Some people become obsessed with and consumed by their job to the exclusion of everything else – including family. Many people today have tunnel vision with respect to politics. They are so obsessed with political issues and candidates and campaigns that they convince themselves the fate of the world hangs on the next election (it doesn’t.)   While all those things may be important and deserving of extra attention from us, if we obsess about them and get tunnel vision because of them, it will negatively impact every other area of life. This is especially problematic for Christians because when we get trapped in tunnel vision regarding the things of this life, we lose sight of the things of God. The things of the world take on outsized proportions and move the things of God to the edges and into the shadows of life.   In Colossians 3:2-3 the Apostle Paul calls us to live with what one commentator called a “things above” perspective. In other words, take a step back from the issues and situations of life, take a breath, and view the situation from 30,000 feet – from a Biblical perspective. Remember, God is sovereign over all the situations we face in life. He is aware of what’s going on, He has control over what is going on, and He has answers for what is going on.   We are never seeing any situation clearly until we are seeing it from God’s perspective, not from our own. We can avoid getting trapped in tunnel vision. We can learn to live as if our faith is true and makes a real difference in how we handle the issues of life. We can learn to live with a “things above” perspective.   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