Oak Hill Baptist Church

We have to come to our senses

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!’ I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” Luke 15:17-18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “We have to come to our senses”

Yesterday we thought about how it is that experience is such a great teacher. We also learned that sometimes learning hurts and our education comes in painful doses. I don’t want to be too quick to leave this subject because the fact is that we learn more from our difficult experiences in life than in almost any other way.

On Sunday nights at Oak Hill Baptist Church, we are conducting and in-depth study of the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is found in chapter fifteen of the Gospel of Luke. If you aren’t familiar with the parable, it’s the story of a young man who was raised in a wealthy family by a good and kind father. But as a rebellious teenager he demanded his share of the family inheritance from his father, and then he went off to a foreign land and wasted his wealth on wine, women, and song. Soon, his money was gone and he found himself living in great poverty – in a pigsty, starving and longing to eat even the fodder the pigs were feeding on.

Long story short, the boy had hit rock bottom. And it was then that he came to his senses. He realized what a fool he had been and that he had brought all his suffering on himself through a series of phenomenally bad choices. He also realized that the only thing that made any sense at this point was to return home and to beg his father’s forgiveness. He did, and … well, it’s a happy ending. You can read the entire story in Luke 15:11-32.

But why? Why did it turn into a happy ending for the prodigal? It was because he finally came to his senses. He acknowledged what a fool he had been, he repented, he asked forgiveness, he found forgiveness, and the rest, as they say, is history. The implication in Jesus’ story is that this was a major turning point in the young man’s life, and his time in the pigpen was one of the most profound and helpful lessons of his life.

Hitting rock bottom can be like that. Sometimes the best and most transformational life lessons come after spending some time in the pigpens of life (or, in some correspondingly bad set of circumstances.) But the key to getting out of the pigpen and to being restored is coming to our senses. We have to admit that God’s ways are right, our ways are wrong, and we then make the needed course correction in life.

Why does it sometimes take us so long to come to our senses? Probably because we are stubborn, thickheaded, and rebellious. But when we finally smarten-up and come to our senses, we often find that those prodigal son type experiences can end up being some of the most helpful and transformational moments in our lives. Why wait and longer? Forgiveness and restoration are available. You simply have to come to your senses.

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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Sometimes learning hurts

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:1-2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Sometimes learning hurts”

I’ve heard it said that “Sometimes stupid hurts,” and I’m sure that is true. It means that when we do stupid things, we experience unpleasant results. I remember also once being told that sometimes learning hurts, and education often comes through pain.

That was said to me by a college professor at the University of Kansas. I was taking a class in debate and was required to participate in a debate tournament. I hate debating. I always have. I don’t like to argue – not even for fun and certainly not for a grade. But for this class I was required to participate in a debate tournament against debating teams from other universities. It was torture for me and it showed. Thus, as he was chuckling at my discomfort, the professor said, “Sometimes learning hurts, and education often comes through pain.”

That statement is true and it is the lesson Job learned through his long period of suffering recorded for us in the book of Job. Job suffered a lot, but he also learned a lot and he came out of it a better and stronger man. (I suppose I also came out of my debating experience a bit better and smarter as well, but I still didn’t like it.)

There are many ways we engage in lifelong learning, but experience is certainly one of the most important. Sometimes we just have to experience things (sometimes painful things), in order to learn the lessons God wants us to learn. It’s usually not fun or pleasant, but it is important. Experience is an excellent teacher.

The question for us is if we will learn from our experiences, and if we will use those experiences to become better. Job did. He was a better man on the other side of those struggles. I suppose I was too. Through my unpleasant debate experience I learned a lesson about the value of good preparation, and about how to cross verbal swords with other people to make a point, and about sticking with something and seeing it through even if I’m not liking it.

Learning sometimes does hurt, and education does sometimes come through pain. But experience is a good teacher and the smart person will learn from his or her experiences.

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)

Will you worship Him in the middle of it all?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Will you worship Him in the middle of it all?”

The other morning, in my personal Bible study time, as I was reading through the book of Job, I came across something interesting that I hadn’t noticed before in all the other times I have read this story. The book of Job is forty-two chapters that record an extended period of terrible suffering for the man Job – all with little understanding on Job’s part regarding why these bad things were happening to him.

But in the middle of that mess, in chapter twenty-eight, Job pauses to recite what has come to be known by Bible scholars as “Job’s hymn to wisdom.” It’s a hymn (presumably sung), about Biblical wisdom. Most of the lines in it declare that only God is all-wise and that God’s wisdom is perfect.

A hymn. About the perfect wisdom of God. Sung in the middle of suffering.

A hymn is a form of worship and so that means that in the middle of all his suffering, Job pauses to worship God and to sing about the wonder and the rightness of God and His ways. Could you do that? Could I? In Job chapter one, as his story begins, we discover that Job was a man of complete integrity who feared God and who turned away from evil. In verse 8 of that chapter God Himself bragged about Job’s faith and integrity to Satan. We’re reading evidence of this now in chapter twenty-eight.

Job had spent a lifetime learning about God and coming to truly know Him. Therefore, he had strong faith in place to carry him through the worst of times imaginable. So much so, that in the middle of his great suffering he was still able to pause and sing a hymn declaring God to be all-wise and His ways to be right.

Today is Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday when the people of God will gather for worship. All of us will bring with us things going on in our lives that we wish were not there. We will all be struggling in some way – some of us in major ways. Do you know God well enough to sing praises to Him in the middle of your struggles? Can you still declare that He is all-wise and that His ways are right and perfect? Have you learned from past experiences that God is good and His ways are right even if your current circumstances are hard and you’re confused about what’s happening and why?

Do you know Him well enough to worship Him in the middle of it all?

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)

Do you know God in an experiential way?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent – Jesus Christ.” John 17:3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Do you know God in an experiential way?”

This morning we will continue our thinking from yesterday about the fact that the most important learning we can engage in is getting to know God better. That is without question the most important and helpful lifelong learning process there is and it is the thing the Christian should desire above all else.

In their excellent book “Recalibrate Your Life: Navigating Transitions with Purpose and Hope,” Kenneth Boa and Jenny Abel explain that periodically each of us needs to assess where we are in our relationship with God and “recalibrate” as needed in order to better nurture and grow in that relationship. The object is to really know God, but not just in the sense of knowing about Him. Instead, we are to “know” God in an experiential way – learning to know Him and interact with Him as a person. This is so much more than just accumulating information and knowing things about Him. It is getting to know Him as the most real person in your life.

Referring to the actual meaning of the Greek word used for “know” in John 17:3, the authors note, “From this verse we see that knowing God is not merely propositional and theological but personal and devotional. The greatest treasure a person can own is increasing intimacy with the living Lord of all creation.” That’s what it means to “know” God, and that has always been God’s desire. He has always wanted this kind of a relationship with His people. More than 600 years before Jesus spoke the words in John 17:3 God said this through the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah:

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me …” Jeremiah 9:23

In terms of lifelong learning, nothing is more important than learning to know God in an experiential way – as the most real person in your 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)

Nothing matters more

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instructions! Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all their heart.” Psalm 119:1-2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Nothing matters more”

Lifelong learning can take many forms and involve many things. As was noted in a previous devotional in this series, it can be driven by a general sense of curiosity about things and a desire to know more about them. It can come from a sense of adventure and wanderlust that leads you to travel and explore the world. It can come from an interest in people and a desire to learn about them, their culture, their interests, and their lives. Lifelong learning can involve studying a new subject, learning another language, developing new skills, or starting a new hobby – and we will consider some of those things in the weeks to come. There is also value in learning just for the sake of learning.

But as we discussed yesterday, the most important kind of lifelong learning for the Christian is the learning that develops Biblical wisdom and which results in spiritual maturity. Nothing matters more than this. No learning is more important than growing in our understanding of God and in our relationship with Him.

That brings us back to our devotional series from last month about learning to hear from God. Developing that deep, intimate, conversational relationship with God is the most important, most valuable, and most helpful learning you will ever engage in. The more committed you are to developing that relationship and the more time and effort you devote to it, the more wisdom you will acquire. This is what Solomon meant in Proverbs 4:7 when he said that wisdom is supreme and therefore above all else, get wisdom. Developing that kind of relationship with God is more important than learning Spanish, traveling to Nepal, honing your golf game, or enrolling in Gardening 101 at your local community college.

But it requires commitment and intentionality. It requires time and effort. You have to want it and you have to go get it. Perhaps a good first step in a renewed commitment to being a lifelong learner would be to go back and review the entire set of devotionals from last month (I will gladly send them to you), and maybe even complete the Bible study “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” Doing that would go a long way towards helping you to learn to engage with God in the five ways He most commonly speaks to us.

Of all the lifelong learning we can commit ourselves too, nothing matters more than becoming wiser in the ways of 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)

Commitment precedes knowledge

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Commitment precedes knowledge”

Before we move on to some of the methods and techniques that can be employed in our quest for lifelong learning, we need to spend a little more time thinking about the key factor of desire. As was noted yesterday, if you want it, you will have to go get it. We have to be intentional about being lifelong learners, especially as it pertains to our spiritual growth.

Lifelong learning for the Christian is first and foremost about becoming wise in the ways of God and applying that wisdom in our lives in a manner that honors God and which benefits ourselves and others. In all the world there is no person more inspiring, encouraging, or helpful than the mature Christian who has grown wise in the ways of the Lord.

Recently, authors Kenneth Boa and Jenny Abel published an interesting and helpful book with the title “Recalibrate Your Life: Navigating Transitions with Purpose and Hope.” One section of the book is designed to help us rethink our God-given purpose for each season of life. Life unfolds in seasons and that often involves a shift in purpose and a change in activities. It requires a commitment to go where God leads and to do what God wants for us in this new season. 2 Chronicles 16:9 reminds us that it pleases God when our desire is for our lives to be wholeheartedly focused on him and committed to His will, and He is actively looking for such people. He is looking for those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.

With respect to the issue of gaining Biblical wisdom (knowledge rightly applied) the authors offer this helpful reminder: “Commitment precedes knowledge.” In other words, when your heart is right, the Lord will show you what you need to know.

If you want wisdom, first seek the Lord with all your heart. He is looking for the heart that is yearning for Him. This is the starting place for being a lifelong learner who is in the process of becoming Biblically wise.

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)

If you want it, you will have to go get it

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “If you want it, you’ll have to go get it”

Lifelong learning in the Biblical sense is about acquiring wisdom not just knowledge. Knowledge is essentially the accumulation of facts; wisdom is the ability to apply what you know in a way that honors God and which makes a positive difference for you and for others. As the Proverb says, wisdom is supreme therefore get wisdom.

I’ve mentioned many times that my favorite inspirational life lessons book (after the Bible), is “The Traveler’s Gift” by Andy Andrews. It’s the fictional story of a man named David Ponder whose life is a train wreck and he doesn’t know what to do about it. In a dream God takes David on a trip through time, meeting historical figures along the way, and learning an important life lesson from each of them. This eventually results in seven key commitments that will alter the course of his life, giving him purpose and direction.

At one stop through time David has an encounter with King Solomon – the wisest man of his time and the writer of the book of Proverbs. From Solomon, David learned that a key to success in life is to seek wisdom. “Seeking” wisdom means a determined and diligent effort, day-by-day, to do the things necessary to become wise. The life lesson to be learned about wisdom is, “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.”

Throughout this month we will think about how it is that study, reading, listening, and choice of association can all serve to help develop wisdom in us. But this morning I want us to focus on the intentionality of it. In Proverbs 4:7 Solomon told us to “get wisdom.” In other words, you have to want it and then you have to go get it. You have to do the things every day that will serve to develop wisdom in you.

Let me say it again: You have to want it, then you have to go get it. Wisdom waits to be gathered but wisdom is a gift to the diligent, to those who will seek her out. We will think more about this tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

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

This is why we should desire lifelong learning

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “This is why we should desire lifelong learning”

Before we delve into the mechanics of lifelong learning, it will be helpful to consider why we should want it to begin with and what it is leading us to. Although there are many good reasons to be a lifelong learner, including career enhancement, developing new skills, keeping your brain strong and healthy, and more, I believe there are two reasons that are more important than the others.

One of those reasons was expressed nicely and musically by Jimmy Buffet when he sang “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.” In other words, life is better when we live it fully. Too many people shuffle through life bored and without direction. It’s as if they’re just trudging along to the grave, one step after another – just enduring life and getting through it. But an attitude of lifelong learning helps to keep us interested in life, focused and fresh. On the day I die I want to still be living fully.

But for the Christian there’s a more important reason to be a lifelong learner and it is expressed for us by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 (above). There he describes what he called “the fruit of the Spirit.” These are attributes of Jesus that the Holy Spirit works to develop and bring out in us. The more we learn and grow in terms of knowledge and life experience (Biblical knowledge and godly living), the more we are transformed into the image of Jesus. In other words, those attributes of Jesus progressively come to be true of us. This is what lifelong learning and continuous growth results in for the Christian. You become more like Jesus. That’s the ultimate goal.

There are many good reasons to be a lifelong learner, and we will discuss some of them this month. But for the Christian the two most important are to become more like Jesus, and to be fully and enthusiastically engaged in life, living every day as the gift from God that it is. An attitude of lifelong learning will help to ensure that is true of 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)

Let’s encourage and build each other up

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Let’s encourage and build each other up”

This morning I want to take us back to the first devotional in this series where I described my own journey to becoming a lifelong learner. I went from being a troubled child who struggled with learning to someone with college degrees, a career as a naval officer, and then another as a pastor.

But let me be clear, there’s no boasting in that story. Left to myself, I would have spent a lifetime struggling and believing myself to be dumb and inadequate. My life turned out differently entirely as a result of the influential people God kept putting in my path. The Lord was guiding me and directing me even when I didn’t know it and even when I wasn’t honoring Him with my life. He kept bringing people into my life who cared about me, encouraged me, and inspired me. They were people who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

Whether we’re talking about the division officer on my first ship who encouraged me to earn my high school diploma, or my wife who talked me into taking my first college courses, or the professor who counseled me not to quit just because the courses were hard, or those who led me to Christ, or my mentors in ministry, or the co-worker who encouraged me to write my first book, or a dozen other key influential people along the way, any success I’ve had can be attributed to them and their positive influences. I thank God for the influential people He has blessed me with all throughout my life. Without them, my life would have turned out very differently.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1 Paul tells us to be intentional about encouraging one another and to build each other up. He writes that because this is something we all need. All of us need to be encouraged and built up by others. We need people in our lives who believe in us and who will spur us on to bigger and better things. I encourage you to ask God to bring such people into your life.

No matter who you are or what stage of life you are in, we all need people to encourage us, build us up, and to help us to keep moving forward. Do you have such people in your life? And, are you such a person in someone else’s life? Let’s encourage and build each other up.

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)

Life is a grand adventure

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning”

Our Bible verse for today: “He awakens me each morning; he awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed.” Isaiah 50:4b (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Life is a grand adventure”

I know a man who is a morning person on steroids. He admits that as he wakes up his eyes open, he says “Good Morning” to the Lord, and then he pops out of bed like a piece of toast popping out of a toaster – eager to embrace the new day and to get going.

He immediately goes to his time with the Lord in prayer, Bible reading, and devotionals as he listens to what the Lord has to say to him as he begins his day. Then, he prayerfully writes out his schedule or “to-do list” for the day, asking the Holy Spirit to establish his priorities for him.

My friend is one of those people who approaches life with a sense of curiosity and wonder. To him the world is fascinating and people are interesting. He loves to explore, discuss, read, and learn. With that mindset, each day becomes a new adventure with untold possibilities, and that helps us to understand why he pops out of bed like a piece of toast. He’s eager to get at it and see what the Lord has waiting for him today.

Now, you may not be a morning person. And if you live with someone like my friend, you might sometimes think it’s grounds for justifiable homicide. Maybe you need a little more time to get your motor warmed up and running but still, there’s much to be admired about my friend’s approach to life. Each new day is an opportunity to explore new things, meet new people, and learn things you didn’t know the day before. The Christian life truly is an adventure and there is much about the world, about life, and about other people that God wants to show you.

Popping out of bed like a piece of toast might not be your thing, but approaching life with a sense of curiosity, wonder, and awe should be – along with a strong desire to learn and to grow. And if that is not the way you approach life, I encourage you to make it a matter of prayer and ask God to help you see life as the grand adventure it is. Each new day is a gift of life. I encourage you to embrace it, enjoy it, and get the most out 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)