Oak Hill Baptist Church

Listen Deeply

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

Our thought for today: “Listen deeply”

Most people are not very good listeners. Usually, they’re just waiting for the other person to stop talking so they can start. In “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” Stephen Covey notes that “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” You can tell when someone isn’t really listening to you because they don’t maintain eye contact, they interrupt you before you are done speaking, and they quickly shift the subject back to whatever it is they wanted to talk about and away from what you were trying to say.

Covey teaches that one of the habits that distinguishes highly successful people from all others is that they have learned to be good listeners. The reason good listening skills is one of the habits of highly successful people is because people love to feel as if they are being listened to. It makes them feel valued. Also, we learn from others when we really listen to them, and one of the reasons successful people are successful is because they do learn from others.

Good listening skills are important in order to have healthy relationships with other people, but they are absolutely essential for a good relationship with God. But if it’s true that most of us are not good listeners in our communications with other people, it’s even truer of our relationship with God. Most of us spend much more time talking to God than we do listening to Him. But that’s backwards. It’s more important for me to hear from God than for God to hear from me.

In Psalm 46:10 we are called to quietly sit before God and just listen. When was the last time you did that? When was the last time you withdrew to an isolated and quiet place and simply sat still before God? No other people, no radio or television, no music, no cell phone, no nothing. Just you and God in the deep solitude of peace and quiet.

Periodically we all need times like that. And for most of us, our lives are so busy that if we don’t actually schedule quiet time with the Lord and then guard it (as we noted in yesterday’s devotional about guarding our wells), then we can pretty much count on it being intruded upon and stolen from us. Our quite times with God need to be intentional and protected.

Train yourself to be a good listener. Listen attentively and deeply to other people, but even more so, train yourself to listen deeply to God.

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

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Guard your well

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Guard your well”

Deep wells and cool refreshing water are metaphors the Bible uses as a picture of deep discipleship that yields spiritual renewal. The person or people involved are urged to go deep with the Lord, and the result is a refreshing encounter with God and spiritual renewal.

In John chapter four Jesus had His famous encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. He asks her for a drink of water and she points out to Him that the well is deep and He has nothing to draw the water with. That then leads to the response from Jesus that we just read in John 4:13-14.

In the Swindoll Study Bible, Pastor Chuck Swindoll uses the incident in Genesis 21:22-24 to make a similar point. In that scene, Abraham’s men dug an actual deep well to access real water in a remote location out in the wilderness. After the well was dug, they then guarded it from the enemy soldiers of Abimelech who had a history of seizing wells that belonged to other people. The water was precious to Abraham and his people and access to it needed to be protected.

Pastor Chuck used that scene to teach a spiritual lesson. He notes that we all need deep spiritual wells that we can draw from, and those wells of ours need to be protected too. Those spiritual wells that refresh us can be quiet times with the Lord, group Bible study, weekly worship services, or other spiritual disciplines. We need to protect our times at those wells from encroachment by people, events, or demands on us that might draw us away from our time at the well.

Chuck writes, “Think about your well of refreshment. Think about the value of time at the well. Watch out for the soldiers of Abimelech. Guarding your well isn’t selfish. It is of paramount importance to your survival and productivity.”

One of the deep wells which provides spiritual refreshing and which we need to guard is the faithful participation in the full life of a good church. When your church gathers this weekend for Bible study, worship, and fellowship, you need to be there. Don’t let anyone or anything draw you away from that time of deep spiritual renewal. Guard that 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

Respect the wisdom of the elderly

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.” Job 12:12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Respect the wisdom of the elderly”

I think it’s a tragic aspect of our society in the USA today that the elderly get so little respect. We live in a society that is fascinated with youth and is compulsive about clinging to it. The exchange between the young man and his grandfather that I related in yesterday’s devotional is typical of our society’s attitude toward the elderly: “Grandpa, you’re too old to understand my problems.” The grandson’s attitude was dismissive and perhaps a little disrespectful, not to mention that it missed the mark because the grandfather had a lifetime of experience and hard-earned wisdom to share. The grandfather’s reply was spot-on: “Son, you have never been as old as I am; but I have been as young as you are.”

Most other societies around the world do a better job of respecting, admiring, and learning from the elderly. Asian, Hispanic, Muslim, Jewish, and African cultures especially revere and respect old age. The Bible also teaches us to respect and learn from the elderly. Job 12:12 (above) is just one of the many passages that speak of this and model it for us.

There is so much we can learn from the elderly if we only would. In truth, we know this. Even in our own culture, which is so fixated on youth, we still create and love figures like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movie; or Yoda and OB 1 Kenobi from Star Wars. In the Old Testament we have Father Abraham and Moses. In the New Testament we find in 2 and 3 John the elderly Apostle John referring to himself by the title “The Elder”, which was evidently a term of endearment that the people used for him and by which he was therefore recognized.

I am so grateful for the wise older people the Lord has placed in my life over the years who had such a profound impact on my own growth and development. My mother; my pastor and his wife, Oren and Louise Teel; a former pastor and deacon in my first church, Dick DeGrow; church historian Mary Henry; feisty and faithful Mary Rose Kemmer; we even have a sweet lady in our church today who is 104 years old but she is spry and full of life, and she is in Sunday school and worship service every Sunday. What an inspiration!

One of the ways in which we grow in deep discipleship is to pay attention to, respect, and learn from the wise elderly people the Lord has placed in our lives. I encourage you to develop a relationship with a wise older person and to spend time with that them on a regular basis.

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

Take the long view

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets … it returns to the place where it rises.” Ecclesiastes 1:3-4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take the long view”

The other day I read about a young man who dismissed the advice of his grandfather with the statement, “Grandpa, you’re too old to understand my problems.” To that the grandfather replied, “Son, you have never been as old as I am; but I have been as young as you are.”

Age gives us a different and hopefully better perspective on things. As I’ve aged, I have discovered that my perspective has changed about a lot of things. For one thing, I find myself getting less anxious about events unfolding in the world. I noted in a previous devotional how it is that every generation since the time of Jesus has believed they were living in the last days, and they have all been wrong. That causes me to remember all the times just in my lifetime when high profile Christian leaders were loudly proclaiming the end of time because of this event or that war or the blood moon, or whatever. They were all wrong. So, I find myself less than impressed with today’s claims of the imminent demise of all mankind.

Likewise, just in my sixty-nine years of life there have been thirteen U.S. Presidents – seven Republicans and six Democrats. In each case the other side acted like the election results were a disaster for their party and for the country. Yet, we lived through it and in time the political pendulum swung in the other direction, and here we are seventy years later. The same has been true for wars and other conflicts, economic ups and downs, social changes, and so much more. We go up, we go down, the pendulum swings in one direction and then in the other, and life goes on.

And life will continue to go on. Until it doesn’t. Until God calls us home to heaven or until He decides enough is enough and it’s time for Jesus to come back. In the meantime, we are to keep our heads; we are to view things horizontally (the long view over the course of years), and vertically (from 30,000 feet – from God’s perspective); and we are to live life. As I noted in yesterday’s devotional, we know what to do. God has told us. We are to lean into life, be on-mission with Jesus in our world, share the Good News of the Gospel, and serve people in His name.

King Solomon took the long view of things. That’s what the entire book of Ecclesiastes is about. Life ebbs and flows but always, it moves forward. And Solomon’s conclusion? “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

I encourage you to take the long view of things and trust God for the outcome.

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

We know what to do

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “All the Lord has spoken we will faithfully do.” Exodus 24:7 (New Jewish Publication Society)

Our thought for today: “We know what to do”

In Exodus chapter twenty-four Moses had been conducting an extended teaching session for the people, explaining in detail the commands of the Lord and how the people were to conduct themselves. In Exodus 24:7 the people enthusiastically responded, “All the Lord has spoken we will faithfully do.” That attitude was crucial because at that point their world was still very unsettled and their future seemed uncertain.

In his commentary of Exodus, Dr. Dennis Prager explains that the actual Hebrew translation of that verse reads, “We will do and we will understand.” In other words, the people would gain understanding of God, His ways, and His plans, by doing what He commanded. They would do first and they would understand second. Doing leads to understanding. We obey first, we understand second. God told you what to do, so just go do it.

This is a lesson many Christians need to learn. God doesn’t necessarily give us understanding upfront. Instead, He gives us instructions, and He expects us to faithfully obey Him whether we understand or not. This is one of the lessons we’re learning in our Sunday evening Bible study at Oak Hill Baptist Church, “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” We experience God by obeying God.

As we live in this very chaotic and confusing world of ours, we need to remember the primary task God has given us. We are to be on-mission with Jesus carrying out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. We are to go into the world, share the Good News of the Gospel, make Disciples, and demonstrate love for others in the name of Christ. We won’t have all the answers to all the questions. World events will confuse us. The future may look uncertain. That’s okay. We have our assignment and so we know what to do.

Doing leads to understanding. Just be faithful to the primary task God has given you and in time you will either gain a better perspective and understanding of things; or perhaps circumstances and events will come to seem a little less important; or maybe issues and situations will resolve themselves, fade into history, and be replaced by something new. Either way, God has given us our instructions. We know what to do.

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

Are these the last days?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.” Revelation 2:3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Are these the last days?”

War is raging in the Middle East again. Israel has been attacked and they are at war against Hamas. The conflict is large, it is serious, and it appears to be spreading. As Christians we need to be praying for Israel, and as Americans we must insist our government provide Israel with all the help they need in order to defeat this enemy and win this war.

Some Christians are also concluding that this war is a clear sign that we are nearing the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ. Are we? Does this war signal the beginning of the end?

To address that question let me take us to the book of Revelation. God had the Apostle John write it more than 1900 years ago (best estimate is A.D. 95). It was written originally to seven churches in Asia Minor with the intent that it would then be shared with all other churches throughout the Roman Empire. In their introduction to the book of Revelation the editors of the Experiencing God Study Bible note that those original readers were living in a world of terrible oppression, under the hand of a tyrannical government (Rome), and many of them believed they were living in the last days and that the Second Coming of Christ was about to happen.

Obviously, they were not living in the last days. That was 2000 years ago and we’re all still here. The truth is that every generation of Christians since the time of Jesus have thought there were events occurring in their world that proved they were living in the End Times. And every one of those generations have been wrong. Someday, some generation will be correct but until then history will continue to unfold – and that will be true despite how desperate circumstances appear at any given time in history.

The current war is serious. However, since its declaration of independence in May 1948 Israel has fought and won eight declared wars, as well as two other major Palestinian uprisings and numerous other armed conflicts. They won them all, and they will win this one too.

Could we be living in the End Times? We could be. That is always potentially true. But historically and statistically we probably are not. How then, should we as Christians approach the times in which we do live? We find a clue in the words the Lord had John write to the church in Ephesus. In 2:3 (above) He commended them for their past faithfulness in the face of difficult circumstances. Then in verses 4-5 He said, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.”

We have a job to do. Our focus needs to be less on whether these may or may not be the last days and more on simply being on-mission with Jesus in the world as it is. The Great Commission (to share the Good News and to make disciples), and the Great Commandment (to love others), is still our gameplan. Nothing has changed. Love others in the name of Jesus; tell them the Good News of the Gospel; and leave it to God to determine dates and times.

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

Just fill in the blank

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “I Am Who I Am” Exodus 3:14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Just fill in the blank”

This morning I want to share with you our lesson from the Bible study, “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God” that our study group had for today. It was all about coming to know God through personal experience and it was based on Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush in Genesis 3:1-22.

In that encounter God instructed Moses to go to the Israelites in Egypt and tell them that God had sent Moses to lead them out of captivity to freedom. But Moses was afraid and doubtful. Not doubtful of God, but doubtful of his own abilities and afraid that the people wouldn’t believe the message he was bringing to them. In verse 13 Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, “What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” To that God answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” As Henry Blackaby explained in our lesson, “He meant ‘I am the eternal One. I will be what I will be.” God was essentially saying to Moses, “I am everything you will need in any situation you will face. Just fill in the blank for whatever your need is in any situation.”

Moses was unsure of himself and he needed to know that God was able to help him and that God would be there for him. God reassured him that He could and He would. The same is true for you and me. God is always here; He is always able; and He is always willing. He is everything you will ever need in any situation you will ever face. “I AM WHO I AM. I am everything you need. Just fill in the blank for your particular situation.”

In the lesson today, Henry Blackaby notes, “You come to know God through experience as He reveals Himself to you and you respond to what He says.” That was true for Moses, he came to know God as a result of the encounter at the burning bush – but even more so by then walking forward in obedience and doing the thing God had instructed Him to do. It was only when Moses obeyed that he actually got to experience the presence, power, protection, and provision of God. It required faith and obedience. Then, in retrospect, Moses was able to look back and see just how real and just how present God was.

The same is true for us. We come to know God by experiencing Him when we are faithful and we obey Him. Then we can look back and realize just how present and powerful and active He was in our situation. That then should increase our faith for today and for the future, and we end up knowing God better.

God is the great “I AM.” He is everything you will ever need in every situation you will ever face. Just fill in the blank.

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

The end of anxiety and despair

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying?” Matthew 6:27 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The End of Anxiety and Despair”

I love the Sermon on the Mount. It is by far Jesus’ most famous sermon. Also, being able to say that a lesson comes from “The Sermon on the Mount” seems to add extra weight to it. (It actually doesn’t add extra weight to it, not really. All of Scripture is the inspired Word of God, but adding the kicker “He said it in The Sermon on the Mount” makes me as a preacher and writer sound even more authoritative. So, let me just tell you that, “He said it in the Sermon on the Mount!”)

And what did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount in this instance? He said that anxiety does nothing to help my situation. It doesn’t add a minute to my life; it doesn’t solve my problems; and it doesn’t make me feel better. So sayeth Jesus! The Apostle Paul said it too: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

Experiencing anxiety and despair is part of the human condition. Those are normal human emotions. But they are unhelpful human emotions, and the more we learn to master them the happier and healthier we will be. Also, the better our overall quality of life will be. This is why Jesus said what He said in Matthew 6:27, and why Paul wrote what he wrote in Philippians 4:6-7. This is where deep discipleship comes in. As we grow in spiritual maturity anxiety and despair should become less and less of a problem for us. That’s one of the goals of our spiritual growth.

Anxiety and despair are such a big problem for so many Christians that I wrote a new book about it. The title is “The End of Anxiety and Despair.” It’s a collection of fifty short and encouraging devotional messages designed to help us dispel anxiety and despair from our lives. It is due to arrive from the publisher today. If you would like to have a copy of it, just send me a note at pastorjimmohbc@gmail.com. I would be happy to send you one.

Anxiety and despair are not part of God’s plan for your life. Jesus wants you to have victory over them. The depth of the spiritual maturity we experience as a result of deep discipleship helps to achieve that. Anxiety and despair will probably never be fully absent from our lives, but its effects can be greatly minimized.

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

We need the divine perspective

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Mark 8:33 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “We need the divine perspective”

So, Peter was in trouble with Jesus again. Jesus had just explained to the disciples that the Son of Man was going to be rejected by the Jewish leaders, He would suffer, he would die upon a cross, and then He was going to rise again from the dead. But rejection, suffering, and death were not part of Peter’s understanding of what should happen to the Messiah and so, Peter rebuked Jesus.

Yes, you read that right, Peter rebuked Jesus. Then, Jesus rebuked Peter. Peter’s problem was that he was viewing things from a worldly perspective rather than from the divine perspective. He was not seeing God’s plan God’s way. It probably didn’t even occur to him that there was a difference. He was sure that the way he was seeing and understanding things was the right way.

Peter’s problem is also our problem. We view things from our own perspective rather than from God’s, and then we quickly conclude that our perspective is the right one, the only one. We think, “This must be the way God sees it too, right?”

Peter was brash, impetuous, way too sure of himself, and too quick to jump to conclusions. We are too. But the practice of deep discipleship gives us pause. It teaches us to slow down, think, pray, and to seek facts. It teaches us to place ourselves in a position before God whereby the Holy Spirit can speak to us, open our minds, and give us deeper understanding. And we are to stay there, in that position before God, until we are reasonably sure that we do see things from His perspective and not just from our own.

And lo and behold very often that sort of calm, reasoned, patient seeking of Godly wisdom and perspective will often lead us to surprising conclusions. Peter learned that the role of the Messiah was indeed to be rejected and to suffer and to die so that He could then be resurrected. After all, there can be no resurrection without a death.

As God reminds us through the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.

We need the divine perspective on our situations, but that doesn’t come from our own reasoning and in our own understanding. We must spend the time before God so the Holy Spirit can form our perspective for us.

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

Wisdom waits to be gathered

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!” Proverbs 16:16 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Wisdom waits to be gathered”

According to Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived) getting wisdom is better than getting gold. He’s speaking, of course, about Godly wisdom. He’s referring to being wise in the ways of God. Being wise in the ways of the world may get you some gold and other possessions, but being wise in the ways of God will bring you understanding of things from God’s perspective. It will develop in you a settled mind and a peaceful heart. This is what we were thinking about in yesterday’s devotional when we considered what it means to live as a non-anxious person in an anxious world.

Godly wisdom is understanding God and His ways, and then applying that understanding in ways that makes a real difference in your own life and in the lives of others. How do we get Godly wisdom? It comes to us from God, of course. He develops it in us. In James 1:5 we read, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God – who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly – and it will be given to him.” The fact is that God wants you to have this kind of wisdom. Ask Him for it, seek it, and He will develop it in you.

Referring once again to the book “The Traveler’s Gift,” on one of his stops through history the young man David Ponder gets to spend some time with Solomon. Through that encounter David comes to understand the importance of applying himself to seeking and developing Godly wisdom in his life. My personal paraphrase of David’s resolution that grew out of that encounter reads like this, “Wisdom waits to be gathered. I will seek her out. My reading, listening, and choice of association will serve to make me wise. Wisdom is a gift to the diligent.”

“Wisdom is a gift to the diligent … Wisdom waits to be gathered … Ask God – who gives generously …” If you want Godly wisdom all you need to do is ask God for it and then go after it. Pray, study your Bible, faithfully attend worship services, take notes during the sermon, participate in group Bible studies, read good Christian books, associate with Christians who are wise in the ways of God, and keep doing those things. Practice those disciplines day-in and day-out and in time wisdom will become yours. God wants you to have it.

Wisdom waits to be gathered. Go get 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