Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Take care of yourself”   Our Bible verse for today: “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.” 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “Moderation is the answer”   There is a curious and perplexing dichotomy that exists in our society regarding physical health. On the one hand, we are compulsively fixated on the idea of maintaining good health and youthful looks. Americans spend billions of dollars each year on a wide variety of diet plans, diet pills, weight loss programs, gym memberships, tummy tucks, face lifts, liposuction, surgical procedures, and more.   But despite that, we are a nation of unhealthy people. According to the Center for Disease Control, 74% of Americans meet the criteria of being overweight, and 43% are considered obese. Approximately 10% of the adult population has type-two diabetes (which is lifestyle related), and that number is steadily increasing (among children as well). Many of the physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments Americans suffer from can be traced to back to bad lifestyle choices.   Part of the problem is that our society has been progressively conditioned for conspicuous consumption of all sorts. The science of advertising relies heavily on psychological manipulation and it is very effective. Additionally, we now know that food manufacturers manipulate the chemical content of processed foods to make them addictive (similar to how cigarette manufacturers manipulate the nicotine content in cigarettes to make them more addictive).   But there are ways to combat this. Diet programs, gym memberships, and surgical procedures can all be helpful. But the simplest and most effective means of maintaining good physical health is discipline and moderation. Teach yourself to eat moderate amounts of reasonably healthy food and get some exercise every day. Exotic and complex diet schemes are seldom helpful in the long term and are often unhealthy themselves because they are not nutritionally balanced. And extreme exercise programs can be difficult to maintain.   Moderation is the best answer. It’s the kind of discipline Paul was alluding to in 1 Corinthians 9:27 (above). Maintain portion control and consume mostly healthy foods (an occasional sweet treat is okay). Then get some exercise every day. Over time that will get your weight back to where it should be and it will improve your physical health dramatically. Good physical health is two-thirds diet and one-third exercise.   So, eat well and exercise. Your physical health will improve and that will have a positive impact on your emotional and spiritual health as well.     God bless, Pastor Jim    (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Take care of yourself”   Our Bible verse for today: “In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill … Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” 2 Kings 20:1;2   Our thought for today: “Stay as healthy as you can as long as you can”   I once read a story about a wealthy man whose health was rapidly failing. He was only in his early sixties but he had multiple lifestyle related health problems. He had spent his life as a hard-charging businessman. His focus had been on growing his businesses and making lots of money. He worked long hours under great pressure and he neglected his health, as well as his most important relationships, including his family and God.   Consequently, he had been divorced twice, he had broken and distant relationships with his adult children, and he had no relationship with God. Also, the older he got the more health problems he faced, until they became cascading. Now here he was still a relatively young man, very wealthy, but in rapidly failing health, alone, and desolate. At one point he cried out to his doctor, “I would gladly trade all my wealth for restored health and more years of life.” But his great wealth couldn’t reverse the damage he had done to himself.   King Hezekiah’s story turned out a little better than that. As the king he was wealthy and privileged beyond the wildest dreams of the average person. But still, when his health failed all his wealth, accomplishments, and privileges counted for little. What he wanted was more years of life but his wealth and earthly power couldn’t buy it for him. Fortunately for him, God healed him and granted him fifteen additional years.   When it comes to taking good care of ourselves physically, sometimes people shrug and say, “What’s the point? I’m going to die anyway.” Well, yes, that’s true, eventually we will all die anyway. But our goal should be to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible throughout every stage of life. Life is best when we are healthy enough to enjoy it.   As we age, our bodies begin to break down and fail. That’s just life. But at every stage of life there are things we can do to be as healthy as we can be at that age, and under the circumstances as they are. Tomorrow we will consider a simple and common-sense approach to staying as healthy as you can for as long as you can.   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: “Take care of yourself”   Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “A walking, talking, mobile temple of the Holy Spirit”   If we were to construct a list of the most important verses and passages in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 would certainly have to be in the top ten. In those verses the Apostle Paul reveals a truth that is essential for us to grasp. Your body is a physical temple of God’s Holy Spirit.   In the Old Testament the Spirit of God was present in the world in multiple ways. He was here in a general way in that God is everywhere all the time. He was also present in special ways for special people, such as Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and others. And He was present in the most Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the Temple. But on the Day of Pentecost, described in Acts 2:1-4, the Holy Spirit took up residence in the hearts of the followers of Jesus Christ, and that has continued to be true ever since.   When you placed your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, the Holy Spirit came to live in your heart. He is there now and He will be there right up until the moment your physical body dies and your spirit is released from it to go to heaven. That makes your physical body a walking, talking, mobile temple of God’s Holy Spirit.   That’s what Paul was describing in 1 Corinthians 6:19. He then went on and said “(therefore) you are not your own, for you were bought at a price.” Think about that. Your body is not your own. It belongs to Jesus. On the cross not only did He pay the price for your sins, but He paid the price for your physical body. He purchased your body to serve as a walking, talking, mobile temple of His Holy Spirit. “So, glorify God with your body.”   This is huge. This understanding should change everything about how we use our body, and about how we take care of it.  This is so important that before we proceed any further in our study of taking proper care of ourselves emotionally and spiritually, we are going to spend several days thinking deeply about why we must take proper care of this physical body of ours (which really belongs to Jesus now).   Your body is a physical temple of God’s Holy Spirit. Please take good care of it.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Take care of yourself”   Our Bible verse for today: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “We need a good balance”   We humans are amazing creations – unique, the highest form of God’s creation, truly amazing. God is three-in-one – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He created us as three-in-one creatures as well – spirit, soul, and body.   Now, we know what the spirit is. God created you as a spirit who will exist for eternity. And we know what the body is. It is this physical thing made of skin and bones, muscles and ligaments and blood. But what about the soul? What is that? The Bible is clear that we do have a soul, but it is not clear what exactly the soul is. Some theologians believe the terms soul and spirit are interchangeable and refer to the same thing. A more common belief is that the soul is a mysterious force that unites body and spirit, it is the interface between the two and our mind and emotions are used by the soul for the body and spirit to interact.   There is also debate about what happens to the soul at the time of death. Some believe that the soul ceases to exist at that point because the interface between the spirit and body is no longer needed. A more common understanding is that soul and spirit merge into a single eternal entity that will exist forever, and it is the soul that merges our human person with our eternal spirit.   What is clear right now though, is that as human beings we are three-in-one creatures. We have a physical body that serves as a vessel for our eternal spirit, and we have a soul that uses our mind and emotions. Those are the three parts of our being – physical, spiritual, and emotional/mental.   Not only are all three parts interrelated, but each impacts the others. Your spiritual health has an impact on your emotional and physical health. Your emotional health impacts you physically and spiritually. And likewise, your physical health affects you emotionally and spiritually. That being the case, it’s important for us to take care of ourselves in all three ways. It’s only when we have a healthy balance of physical, emotional, and spiritual health that we will be at our best.   This month we will explore the importance of taking care of ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We will also consider how each of those parts of us has a direct impact on the others. I’m looking forward to exploring this important subject with you.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” Ephesians 1:16-17 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “This is my prayer for you”   Today we will conclude our devotional thinking about discovering renewed hope when we are down and struggling. We have covered a lot of ground over these two months and I pray that you have found it helpful and encouraging. Tomorrow we will shift gears and begin a new theme for the month of June.   To conclude our time with this theme, I want to remind us that the starting place for gaining a sense of renewed hope is prayer. As we have learned throughout this study, God does use people and circumstances to encourage us and to give us hope, but prayer is fundamental and it is where we must begin. However, many times we don’t even know what to pray for or how to pray. In such cases one of the best methods of prayer is to simply pray the prayers recorded in the Bible right back to God. There are many prayers in the Bible regarding gaining a sense of renewed hope, especially in the Psalms. Make those prayers your prayers and simply pray them back to God.   In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we find two of the greatest prayers any leader ever prayed for the people he cared about, and I want to share them both with you this morning. Taken together, this is my prayer for you as we close out our time thinking about finding renewed hope:   “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with the light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called – his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 1:16-20   “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fulness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:16-20.   Thank you for reading these daily devotional messages. You are an encouragement to me.     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: “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “Life is short, live it well”   Having just turned seventy, I have recently begun my eighth decade on earth. On the one hand, seventy years seems like a long time and I feel like I have done a lot of living in that time. But on the other hand, I look back and I wonder where the years went. They seem to have flown by.   The truth is that even if we live 70, 80, or 90 years, it’s a relatively short time and our life will be over before we know it. But a life isn’t accurately measured just in terms of longevity, but in quality. The question isn’t simply how long you have lived but rather, what you have done with the time you had. Some people live a long time and basically just exist. They put in their time on earth, take up space, consume resources, and then they’re gone, having made little difference for good. Then there are others who live a shorter time but who have lived in such a way that their presence in this world made a notable difference and they left behind an inspiring legacy.   The lesson from Scripture is that life is short and we must resolve to live it well. We have limited time available to make a meaningful difference in this world. So, it’s foolish to waste the days of our lives doing things that don’t really matter, while leaving people and things that do matter unattended to.   You don’t have to find a cure for cancer, or be a famous movie star, or a millionaire. Just live each day by honoring Jesus and blessing others. Make a difference by making the lives of those you interact with every day a little better.     With respect to our theme of finding a sense of renewed hope – when you know you are living well and your life is making a positive difference in lots of little ways, you will have hope for each day. You will have a purpose for living.   Take a few minutes today to consider the ways in which your life makes a difference. If you are having trouble with this, please let me know and I will be happy to send you a copy of my little book “Your Life Matters.” It will help you to see that your life does matter and you can make a positive difference for good.   If you are living for Jesus and if you are honoring Him and blessing others in lots of little ways, your life is making a meaningful difference. Life is short, I encourage you to live it well.   God bless, Pastor Jim    (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”   Our Bible verse for today: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?” Job 38:2 (NLT)   Our thought for today: “He is God, and that’s enough”   If you are familiar with the story of Job then you know that his is the classic story of a man who suffered in unimaginable ways for seemingly inexplicable reasons. Job himself didn’t understand what was happening and why.   For the most part, through it all Job did pretty good. His faith remained intact and he didn’t allow the ridiculous counsel of his three misguided “friends” to confuse him further. But still, Job did do his share of complaining and questioning. Not that I blame him. I would have too. And under similar circumstances, you probably would as well. Job’s complaints about his circumstances and his questions about why it was all happening were simply expressions of his grief and suffering, and they were perfectly natural.   So, we wonder why, when God finally does begin speaking in chapter thirty-eight, He is so hard on Job. In those chapters God gives Job a pretty stern talking-to. And even when Job begins to back away from his complaining and questioning, God doesn’t quickly let up on him. Why?   I believe there were two reasons God was so hard on Job in these chapters. The first was to snap him out of it. Grief, sorrow, and questioning certainly are understandable and they do have their place, but if that goes on for too long it becomes emotional quicksand and we can become mired in feeling sorry for ourselves.   Second, there was an important lesson for Job (and for us) to learn from all this: “God is God, and sometimes that has to be enough.” In other words, God is sovereign and I am not. God is all-knowing and I am not. God has all the wisdom of the universe, and I do not. God is God and I am not.   That means that there is much about God and His ways that I am completely incapable of understanding. God illustrates this point over-and-over again throughout these ending chapters with questions like, “Who is this who questions my wisdom with ignorant words?” (38:2) and, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4)   Sometimes there will be no good answers to why we are experiencing whatever it is that has happened. Therefore, we won’t be at peace and we won’t find renewed hope until we come to the point where we simply accept the fact that He is God, and that’s enough.     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: “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all.” Psalm 34:18-19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted”   Psalm 34:18-19 is a great promise that we can all embrace and claim as our own – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” But who are the brokenhearted? Well, that’s us, you and me. At different times, in different ways, and for different reasons, we are all brokenhearted in some way. Some are in deep distress, perhaps mourning the death of a loved one. Others may simply have a low-grade sadness that might not be overpowering but which never fully goes away either. And others are somewhere on the sliding scale of sorrow.   At any given point, virtually everyone has something going on in his or her life that they wish was not there, and which is causing them some amount of concern and sorrow. Yes, this pertains to all of us. And for that reason, we all need the Lord – all the time. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, He is the God of all comfort. This is what the Psalmist was referring to in Psalm 34:18-19 and we read it again in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.”   However, seldom is the Lord’s comfort an overwhelming sense of immediate relieve. Sometimes it is, but more often it is subtle and less obvious and comes upon us slowly. His comfort and peace sustain us and helps us to keep on keeping on, and sometimes that does happen fast, but usually it comes out of what Pastor Eugene Peterson once referred to as “a long obedience in the same direction.” By that he meant that as faithful disciples of Christ, we continue to place ourselves in a position before Christ whereby the Holy Spirit can quietly and gently minister to our souls. We pray and read the Bible, we listen to worship music and we gather with fellow Christians, we serve in ministry and we do all the things that constitute the basic disciplines of the Christian life. And we do them whether we feel like it or not and even if it doesn’t feel like it’s making a big difference in that moment.   Placing ourselves before the Lord like that is simply the right thing to do, always. And so, we do it. It is a long obedience in the same direction. And out of that comes a developing sense of peace and comfort from the Lord. It’s in this way that we come to realize that He is indeed near to the brokenhearted (us).   When we are suffering or struggling (in big ways or in small), we want it to be better now. Immediately. Dramatically. Now. But usually, feeling better happens over time. So, take it to the Lord and trust Him to minister to your hurting soul in His way and in His time.   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: “Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Your suffering hurts but God has a plan”   Let’s be clear that when James writes that we should consider it “great joy” when we face serious trials in life, he did not mean that we should be happy that bad things are happening to us. If we consider his statement in the context of the rest of the verse, we realize what he means is that God can and will use our trials to make us stronger and better.   That still does not mean that the trial itself is a good thing, only that God can and will use it for our benefit if we let Him. This is essentially the same truth Paul taught in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” God will reach into the middle of bad circumstances and bring good things out of it for those who belong to Him.   This is what Job was referring to in Job 23:10 when, writing about the eventual outcome of his own trials, he had faith that “when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure as gold.” In other words, Job knew that God could and would use the times of fiery trials as a refining process in his life and that he would emerge from it stronger and better.   Applied to your life and mine, we realize that bad things happen to all of us, but God can reach into those bad times and use them to make us better, stronger, and more mature. Like Job, we can come out of it refined and of greater use to God and to others.   When we are hurting and struggling, like Job we often don’t understand what’s happening or why. Resist the temptation to feel as if it all has to make sense to you, because often it won’t. Trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God and know that God will honor your faithfulness by using this trial to make you better and stronger. That then will give you a sense of renewed hope. Your suffering hurts but God has a plan.   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: “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Doing something is better than doing nothing”   Yesterday we thought about our responsibility to choose joy. We learned that the Bible directs us to make a decision and to initiate actions that will bring joy into our lives. I also referred to the seven decisions described by Andy Andrews in his book “The Traveler’s Gift.” They are seven decisions we can make and actions we can take that will greatly improve the quality of our lives. The fifth of those seven decisions, which we considered yesterday, is “Today I will choose to be happy.”   Now let’s think about the third of the seven decisions. It is “I am a person of action.” The underlying premise to all seven decisions is that we have personal responsibility for our own lives and there are things we need to be doing to solve our own problems and to make our life better. In the case of the third decision, we must resolve to do something rather than nothing. Be a person of action.   Doing something is almost always better than doing nothing. That’s also the lesson of Luke 11:9-10. We often apply that passage to the subject of asking God for things in prayer. While it does apply to prayer, the larger truth is much broader. Jesus is teaching us a general life principle designed to move us to action. Ask, but also seek and knock. In other words, do something.     When it comes to gaining a sense of renewed hope, there are actions we need to take to gain that renewed hope. It really is true that “All my problems become smaller when I confront them and do something about them.”   Here’s my personal summary of that third decision. These are Andy Andrew’s thoughts condensed and rephrased in my own words: “I am a man of action. I will not dwell in a pit of despair. I will not waste time regretting lost opportunities. I will take the action necessary to make my life better. When faced with a choice of doing something or doing nothing, I will choose to act. All my problems become smaller when I confront them and do something about them.”   Whatever trial or difficulty you are facing in your life today, I encourage you to do something about it. Your problems will become smaller when you confront them and do something about 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, TN 38571