Oak Hill Baptist Church

Breathe in, breath out, move on

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “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 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Breathe in, breathe out, move on”

A couple of weeks ago in a daily devotional message I mentioned that my new book, “The End of Anxiety and Despair” was due to arrive from the printer that day. But it didn’t. There was about a ten-day delay in printing, but last Friday it was done and ready to be picked up. Unfortunately, when I saw the final product, I realized there was a problem. I had done a poor job of conceptualizing the format and design of the book and consequently, it was quite different from what I had envisioned.

But I didn’t say anything to the owner of the print shop. He’s such a nice man and this was not his fault. Additionally, the production of my book had created special problems for him (thus the ten-day delay) and he was very glad to be done with it. So, I simply smiled, accepted the book the way it was, and went home and pouted about it. Seriously, I was disappointed and depressed. I was moody with my wife, irritated with the dog, ticked off at the world in general, and I sat out on my front porch and sulked.

Then I decided to go for a walk. I streamed Sirus XM radio on my phone, put on my headphones, and purely by chance (?) one of my favorite Jimmy Buffet songs came on. The title is “Breathe in, breathe out, move on.” It’s all about taking life in stride, not making a big deal out of little deals, accepting minor disappointments with grace and good humor, and getting on with life. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

As I listened, I started laughing at myself. What irony that I had just written a book about the end of anxiety and despair and here I was giving in to anxiety and despair because my book about anxiety and despair was causing me anxiety and despair.

Soon I was okay again. I realized that all I needed to do was call Steve on Monday morning, explain the problem, and he would fix it for me. And that is what happened. Steve was typically gracious and accommodating. We discussed some ways to improve the book and I brought it back to him. It really wasn’t that big of a deal after all. Or at least, it shouldn’t have been.

In Philippians 4:6-7 the Apostle Paul reminds us of the very truth I should have remembered when I had my little episode with the book – take life in stride, pray about things, trust them to God, and relax.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

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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Live out of your true abundance

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Live out of your true abundance”

I’m a blessed man. I get to do something I love for a living. I love being a pastor and I find my work spiritually rich and rewarding. True, it is also busy and demanding, sometimes stressful, but overall, it is a rich and rewarding experience. More than once over the years, when our treasurer handed me my paycheck I smiled and said, “All this fun and they pay me too? How lucky can a guy get?” I’m grateful that the church is able to pay me well, but I also realize that the paycheck is not the real payoff. It’s the spiritual blessing of the work that makes it such a rich and rewarding experience.

Sadly, not everyone can say that. Many people willingly accept decades in a stress-filled, demanding, all-consuming career that they don’t really like simply because it pays well. In their case they have succumbed to the allure of materialism and the mistaken belief that happiness is found in possessing material things – and the more you have the happier you will be.

But it just isn’t so. Jesus Himself told us so in Luke 12:15. Greed and materialism is a deceptive trap that consumes your life and slowly kills your soul. A good life is not measured by what fills your wallet, your bank account, your closet, or your garage. A good life is measured by what fills your heart. This is what the Apostle Paul meant in Galatians 5:22-23 when he told us about the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” If your heart, and therefore your life, is filled with those things, yours will be a truly blessed life and that will be true regardless of the size of our paycheck.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with earning a nice salary and having nice things. We just need to remember that spiritual riches are the true riches. That is our true abundance. We still need to work because we need an income. And we should work hard and well, but we must do so with the understanding that as a child of God and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, our true wealth is spiritual not material. The abundance we need will be found in our heart not in our bank account.

I encourage you to focus your life first and foremost on your relationship with Christ. Then, live out of your true abundance – the spiritual riches that are yours in Christ.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Protect yourself

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know me.” Jeremiah 9:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Protect yourself”

In Jeremiah chapter nine God was using the prophet Jeremiah to warn His people that they lived in a world filled with deception and if they allowed themselves to be misled it would result in disaster for them.

Our world is at least as bad as theirs was, perhaps worse. We live in a culture today that resembles something out of bad science fiction. Not only have Biblical values and traditional time-honored standards of morality been dispensed with, but even our basic understanding of biology has been stood on its head. Boys will be girls and girls will be boys and cultural elites insist that you’re a narrow-minded bigot if you say otherwise. Even in some parts of the Christian community Biblical truth is being twisted, especially with respect to sexual ethics.

So, what do conscientious Christians do? How to we protect ourselves, our churches, and especially our children from being engulfed in, overwhelmed by, and eventually carried away with, the cultural deceptions?

Deep discipleship. That’s the answer.

Deep discipleship refers to committed Christians who are passionate about following the Lord Jesus Christ. These are Christians who are committed to learning sound doctrine and living by it. That’s accomplished by faithful consistent practice of the basic disciplines of the Christian faith like prayer, Bible study, worship, full participation in the life of a good church, fellowship with other Christians, and participation in acts of ministry that serve others.

In his book, “Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God” pastor John Piper wrote about the importance of raising children in a strong Christian home and community: “It is a great philosophical gift to grow up in a Bible-saturated home where the atmosphere of Scripture gets into your bones. In a hundred places one can sniff something foul before the irrational flow is obvious.”

That’s true for children raised in a Christian home, but the same truth applies to all Christians who are committed to deep discipleship. When you are immersed in Scripture, and Christian community, and sound doctrine, it gets into our bones – it is woven into the fiber of our being. Then, when you are exposed to the lies of the culture that are deceptive and misleading, you can sense it. Even if you can’t put your finger on what exactly is wrong with it, you just know deep inside that something isn’t right and therefore alarm bells are going off and you are on your guard.

This is why deep discipleship is so vital – it protects you from being deceived and misled.

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

More like Mary; less like Martha

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary.” Luke 10:41-42 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “More like Mary; less like Martha”

For thousands of years Jesus’ story of Mary and Martha has been used in sermons, Bible lessons, and devotional messages to illustrate the difference between reflective contemplative people, and busy worker-type people. In this scene Jesus was visiting the sisters. Martha was in the kitchen fixing a meal and feeling stressed. Mary was sitting quietly just enjoying being with Jesus. Martha got frustrated with Mary for not helping in the kitchen and so she ends us snapping at both Martha and Jesus. The lesson is that sometimes we need to stop the busyness and just sit at the feet of Jesus.

We see in this story how distracted and off track we can become if we allow ourselves to get caught-up in busyness. It can result in our priorities becoming skewed and in losing sight of the things that matter most in life. A mindset of hurry, busyness, and frantic fussing distances us from the people around us and it steals our joy. We end up frustrated and anxious, banging pots and pans in the kitchen while missing the beauty and richness of the moment. It reminds me of something written by Pastor John Mark Comer in his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,” “All of my worst moments happen when I’m in a hurry.”

Another lesson for us here is found in the kindness of Jesus’ response to Martha. He wasn’t reprimanding her, not really. Instead, I think He was counseling and consoling her. This was His pastor’s heart speaking, urging her to take a deep breath and relax. Martha is the type who worries too much, and as a result, she spends a lot of time anxious and upset. To that Jesus says, “Relax, Martha. It’s okay.”

Martha needed to hear that. So do I. Maybe you do too.

The practice of deep discipleship teaches us to take a deep breath and relax. It causes us to slow down and sit at the feet of Jesus rather than bustling around in the kitchen, upset with our sister (or spouse, or kids), and banging pots and pans to express our irritation. Not only will the practice of taking a breath and taking a break calm us in the moment, but over the long-term, if that becomes our regular practice, that calmer and less anxious demeanor will become part of our character. Over time we will become a little more like Mary and a little less like Martha by nature.

Most of us worry and fuss too much. We would all benefit from becoming a little more like Mary, and a little less like Martha.

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

On the other side of the rainbow

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:12-13 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “On the other side of the rainbow”

I read a story recently about a Christian man who was a helicopter pilot for a police force. All day every day he flew a helicopter for law enforcement. One time, shortly after a heavy rainstorm, he saw a rainbow right in front of his flightpath. But it wasn’t the typical arch that we’re all used to seeing. In this case it was the full rainbow, a complete circle. The sight was so rare and so breathtakingly beautiful that the pilot flew his helicopter right through the middle of the rainbow. Then he turned around and flew back through it, and then he did it again. Chuckling like a kid enjoying himself, he just flew back and forth through the full rainbow and enjoyed the beauty and fun of it all.

A rainbow is a miracle of God’s creation. Scientifically, it is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light in water droplets, resulting in a multi-colored spectrum of light appearing in the sky. But its higher purpose is as a reminder of God’s promise to bless the earth and the people of the earth. It is a sign of hope and promise, but it only appears after a storm has passed.

There’s a spiritual lesson to be learned in the example of the rainbow. Life is full of storms, but our God is a God of hope and of blessings. God’s rainbow symbolizes His many promises of hope and blessings for the future – promises like Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you – this is the Lord’s declaration – plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

There’s a famous Native American proverb which reminds us, “The soul would have no rainbow if the eye shed no tears.” Meaning that some joys, some blessings, are only experienced on the other side of the rainbow and we have to go through the storm in order to get to them.

In yesterday’s devotional we considered Jesus’ convicting question to His disciples (and to us), “Where is your faith?” We learned there that Jesus deserves your faith and trust because He has brought you through so many storms in the past. Therefore, He can be trusted to get you through the current storm as well.

For you, a storm may be raging at this moment, but storms don’t last forever. Soon they pass. They always pass. And then, the rainbow. And on the other side of the rainbow – hope and blessings. I want to encourage you this morning to trust that God has a rainbow for 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

Where is your faith?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” Luke 8:24-25 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Where is your faith?”

In the passage from Luke chapter eight above, Jesus and His disciples were in a fishing boat out on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep in the boat when a fierce storm suddenly swept in upon them. It was so bad that the boat was being swamped and they were in danger of sinking. But Jesus just peacefully slept on. Finally, they frantically woke Him up proclaiming, “We’re going to die!” Jesus got up, rebuked the storm, looked at them and asked, “Where is your faith?”

Why were the disciples frantic and afraid? Afterall, they had Jesus right there with them. Beyond that, by this time they had been present when He drove out demons, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and healed a man of leprosy. Another time, after a full night of fishing and of catching nothing, at the word of Jesus their nets were suddenly filled with so many fish they needed a second boat to take them all in. He had healed a paralyzed man, restored a shriveled hand, cast out more demons, raised a boy to life, revealed profound spiritual insights, confounded the Pharisees time and again, and so much more. So, it was a good question, “Where is your faith?” Surely by this time, considering all they had experienced with Him already, they should have had a little more confidence in Jesus.

And so should we. Has Jesus calmed storms in your life? Has He provided for you, healed you, helped you, comforted you in the past? The question really isn’t “Did He” but, “How many times has He?” And therefore shouldn’t we, like the disciples in the boat with Him that day, remember all the times He has been there for us in the past? And shouldn’t the memories of those times serve to strengthen our faith in the present?

I can just hear Jesus asking me, “Seriously, Jim, where is your faith?”

One of the fruits of deep discipleship is that it teaches us to base our current faith in Him on His past faithfulness to us. When faced with a current challenge we should remember all the other challenges the Lord has gotten us through and instead of being doubtful and fearful, we should be confident and assured. Not confident in ourselves, but in the Lord.

I encourage you to take some time today to remember the past storms the Lord has brought you through. Thank Him for those, and then trust Him for whatever you are facing today.

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

First-hand experience

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship”

Our Bible verse for today: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life – that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us – what we have seen and heard we also declare to you … 1 John 1:1-3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “First-hand experience”

Do you know God, or do you just know about God? In other words, have you simply learned information about Him or have you actually experienced Him? Head knowledge is of some value but it isn’t until our relationship with God is experiential – at the heart level, that we really come to know God. That is first-hand experience and it’s what the Apostle John was describing in 1 John 1:1-3 regarding his own relationship with Jesus. John knew Jesus at the heart level. John experienced God because John walked with God. He didn’t limit himself to learning things about God, instead he lived his life with God.

Last Sunday evening, in our group session for our Bible study “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God,” our discussion centered around experiencing God by joining Him in His work. We learned of how God opens our eyes so we can see where He is at work all around us, and that then becomes our invitation to join Him in His work. Then, once we do join Him in what He is already doing right there where we are, we get to experience Him in a deeper way. We come to know Him better and experience Him more because we joined with Him in His work.

The members of our group told story after story about their own personal experiences with God by joining Him in His work. Some of those stories pertained to big things, like going on international mission trips, but most of the stories were not like that. Most of them were stories about helping a neighbor, or blessing and witnessing to a coworker, or other acts of kindness and compassion engaged in because God opened their eyes to a hurting and struggling person who simply needed a little attention. And person after person said “I received the bigger blessing.” Regardless of what they did for the other person, and regardless of how blessed and grateful that other person seemed to be, the person on the giving end reported feeling as if they had received the bigger blessing.

Why? Why do we feel as if we receive the bigger blessing when we do things like that? Because we are joining God in His work to bless and minister to a hurting world and when we do, it enhances our own relationship with God. We experience Him in a deeper way because we are working side-by-side with Him. Also, it feels good. It just feels good to interact with God like that, and it feels good to know that the practice of our faith not only makes a difference in our own life, but it also makes a difference in the lives of others who get blessed and helped by us.

When we join God in His work, we get first-hand experience interacting with Him in a real and tangible way. So, do you want to experience God? Join Him in His work.

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

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

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