Oak Hill Baptist Church

Train yourself to be strong

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into the house. The windows in its upstairs room were opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Train yourself to be strong”

This morning I want to continue our discussion from yesterday regarding how it is that God uses our difficulties to make us stronger. Let’s consider the Old Testament example of Daniel. Daniel was one of the young Jewish men taken into captivity by the Babylonians. He was taken from his home in Judah to a life as a slave in Babylon. But Daniel was a strong man of faith and even though he was immersed in a hostile pagan culture which sometimes demanded he surrender his own beliefs and engage in practices contrary to his faith, Daniel refused – multiple times. Instead, he resolved to stay faithful to God no matter what.

In Daniel 6:10 we read of one of those times. In this case the advisors to the king had convinced him to issue an order declaring that anyone caught praying to a god other than the king himself, would be thrown into the lion’s den. They did this specifically to set a trap for Daniel. They were jealous of him because of the influence he had with the king, and they knew he wouldn’t comply with the king’s edict.

Long story short, Daniel once again refused to compromise his faithfulness to God, and once again God honored Daniel’s faithfulness by making him strong and delivering him from danger. The point of the lesson though, is that throughout his life Daniel was faced with repeated difficulties and dangerous situations which challenged the practice of his faith and in each case, he resolved to remain faithful to God. As a result, Daniel continued to grow stronger and stronger in character and integrity. He was fearless. And the older he got, the more that was true of him.

It’s simply a fact that God uses our tough times to make us stronger, but we have to cooperate with Him in this. We have to resolve, as Daniel did, to face our trials and difficult situations with rock-solid faith in God and with a firm resolve to use the current difficulty as an opportunity to bring honor and glory to Him through the way that we handle it. When we do that over and over again, God continues to make us stronger and stronger – just as He did for Daniel. But Daniel’s focus was always on God’s strength and on God’s faithfulness. Daniel didn’t rely on himself, he relied on God. He knew that if he was just faithful and if he trusted God, God would enable him to be strong.

One of the primary causes of anxiety and despair in our lives is weak faith and wrong focus. We face our difficulties by thinking about whether or not we are able to handle it, not whether or not God is able to handle it for us. But our strength comes from God. Our resolve and fortitude are a product of, and is determined by, our faith in God not our faith in ourselves.

I encourage you to train yourself to be strong by training yourself to rely on God.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

God is making you stronger

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “He has made his people strong …” Psalm 148:14 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “God is making you stronger”

For most of my adult life I have included weight training as part of my overall workout routine. Once upon a time it was five days a week using heavy weights. These days I’m down to two days a week using much lighter weights. The other days I do mostly cardio.

Weight training is also known as resistance training. The idea behind it is to intentionally create a significant amount of resistance that you have to push back against. Doing so forces your muscles to stretch and strain, and that then leads to muscle growth- the muscles grow larger and stronger as a result of pushing back against the resistance.

Problems in life often serve the same purpose. They create a resistance that we have to push back against and when we do, it makes us stronger. Our problem is that today we live in what author John Eldredge refers to as “the comfort culture”. Everything is so much easier for us than it used to be. We don’t have to hunt for our food – we just go to the store to buy it. We don’t have to fix our own cars – mechanics do that for us. We don’t have to actually do math in our head – the calculator on our smart phone does the math for us. And on and on it goes. We have gidgets and gadgets and experts to take care of almost everything for us.

As a result, we can become soft – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually soft. One college administrator, commenting on the maturity and resilience of the average college student these days was quoted as saying, “Eighteen is the new twelve. Our students are emotionally underdeveloped. They’re much less resilient than any we’ve ever encountered …”

In Psalm 148:14 we learn that God makes us strong. That usually doesn’t happen magically. Sometimes He might simply infuse us with instant strength we didn’t have a moment before, but usually the strengthening is a process that occurs over an extended period of time. He either has to initiate actions in the lives of His people specifically designed to challenge us and to make us strong, or He allows tough situations to exist that will challenge us and stretch us. The concept is the same as that of weight resistance training. We need to grunt and groan; we need to face challenges, exert extra effort, and push through the difficulties in order to become strong.

The fact is that God uses the difficult times in our lives as a way of strengthening us. The key is for us to recognize our struggles for what they are (opportunities to grow) and then learn our lessons, gain the strength, and come out of it stronger and better. This is an important understanding and so we’ll explore it a little further tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Get that sparkle back

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eye …” Psalm 13:3 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “Get that sparkle back”

I love the time of fellowship during our morning worship service at Oak Hill Baptist. It happens early in the service, right after the greeting and announcements. I encourage people to take a few moments to move around the sanctuary greeting people, shaking hands, hugging, and just enjoying one another. It’s always a time of happy chaos with people making their way up and down the aisles. There’s a lot of talking, laughing, back-patting, hugging, and, generally, well … chaos. But happy chaos.

And yes, it is an element of worship. It’s a beautiful example of God’s people enjoying being together. It captures the spirit of what King David joyfully expressed in Psalm 122:3, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the Lord.’” I once overheard a visitor remark, as he gazed upon our fellowship time, “This is such a happy place!” And it is. People often jokingly complain to me that the fellowship time of the worship service is too short – that they need more time to greet everyone they want to say hello to, or hug, or laugh with.

I like the way the New Living Translation translates Psalm 13:3. There the writer pleads with the Lord to “Restore the sparkle to my eye …” Having an eye that “sparkles” is an expression that indicates joy, cheerfulness, amusement, and even playfulness. The person is in good spirits and you can see it in his or her face. You can see it by the sparkle in their eye.

Now, go back to the scene of our happy chaos on Sunday mornings. There are always a lot of sparkling eyes in that place – happy people sharing joy, cheerfulness, amusement, and even playfulness. And again, yes, that is part of our worship. Our Father in heaven loves to see His children gathered together and truly enjoying it. I’ll bet He has a smile on His face and sparkle in His own eyes are He watches us.

Are you struggling with anxiety and despair, maybe you’re even a little depressed? Well, come to church! Like the Psalmist you need God to restore the sparkle to your eye. Immerse yourself in a crowd of happy, cheerful, amused and playful fellow Christians who will greet you, hug you, love you, and include you. Soon your own eyes will be sparkling again.

If you need the sparkle returned to your eye there’s no better place for that to happen than in the fellowship of a good church gathering. Join us!

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Reject that which drains you

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Reject that which drains you”

I once read a statement which really resonated with me at the time, and which I’ve hung onto ever since. It said, “Reject that which drains you; embrace that which renews you.”

That sounds like good advice. I’m going to do it.

Anxiety and despair drain me. So, I reject it. Negative people drain me. So, I reject their negativity, and if it persists, I reject them by allowing them little or no room in my life. Endless political debates drain me. So, I choose not to engage in them. Negative thinking drains me. So, I try to stay positive.

What renews me? The Lord. He renews me. So, I engage in what Eugene Peterson once called, “A long obedience in the same direction.” That means intentionally filling my life with lots of prayer, Bible study, worship, Christian music, reading good Christian books, and enjoyable fellowship with other positive Christians. The Bible tells me I need to do those things, every day, just in order to stay spiritually healthy. And so, I make it a point to do them, every day, even if I don’t feel like it. It’s a long obedience in the same direction. It’s a discipline and a habit. I do it because the Lord tells me I need to.

By sharing that with you I’m not trying to portray myself as some sort of super-saint, because I most certainly am not. I’m simply sharing with you what has been taught to me, and which I’ve found to be helpful in my own life. There’s a lot of negative in our world, and it will drain you if you let it. But there’s also a lot of positive too, and it will renew you if you will embrace it.

Each of us can exercise control over our own environment and we can choose the influences we allow into our lives. What Paul described in Philippians 4:8 is a choice that is made by the individual about what we will allow into our mind and heart and what we will not. To a very large great extent we can control our personal environment.

I encourage you to reject that which drains you and embrace that which renews you. Doing so will go a long way towards bringing an end to anxiety and despair in your life.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Be strong in the Lord

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength …” Luke 21:36 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be strong in the Lord”

In recent days we’ve been considering the example of the camel. We’ve learned that the camel is an amazingly resilient animal that has deep reserves to draw upon which enable it to persevere in the worst of conditions for long periods of time. We’ve also learned that we need to be like the camel in that we need to have deep reserves we can draw on, and we need to keep those reserves adequately replenished.

But how do we do that? This is important. Simply stating that we should do something is helpful to a degree, but we need to know how to do it if it’s really going to make any difference in our lives.

The answer is that we must have a deeper strength to draw on than our own. Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves have to be regularly replenished by the Lord. In Luke 21:36 Jesus instructed us to pray for strength. The Greek word used there means “to be strong to another’s detriment; to prevail against; to be superior in strength; to overcome; to prevail.”

That’s the kind of strength Jesus tells us we need and should want and should ask for. It’s a combative strength that implies a battle must be fought and we will need help to win it. So, we are instructed to pray for such strength. In other words, we don’t have it and therefore it’s necessary that we ask for it, and then it will be given to us.

The fact is that life is combat. It’s spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18). We have a spiritual enemy (Satan), and he brings the battle to us every day. This is where much of our anxiety and despair comes from. Jesus instructs us to pray for combative strength and then to fight the enemy. This is you being proactive. This is you refusing to be defined by or defeated by anxiety and despair. This is you praying for strength and then fighting for yourself.

How does God impart that strength to us? Go back to our example from yesterday from Psalm 42. God’s blessings of renewal are like the mighty waters of a great waterfall just washing over us. But we have to place ourselves in the flow. We have to place ourselves in a position before God every day whereby He can renew us, replenish us, and impart His strength to us. We must have a deeper source of strength than just our own.

This is important and we’re not done considering it, so we’ll come back to this again tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Most camels do not simply, suddenly, drop dead

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” Psalm 42:7 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Most camels do not simply, suddenly, drop dead”

I love Psalm 42. It’s one of my favorites. If you read it in its entirety, you realize it was written by a man who was heavily burdened and facing many problems. In verses 1-2 we read that he was looking for God like a thirsty man in need of a drink of cool refreshing water. In other verses we discover that he was being tormented and mocked by his enemies. In verse 10 he says that he was in agony to the point that his bones hurt. And in verses 3, 5, and 11 he reveals that he was distraught and depressed.

But verses 7-8 are the lynchpin that the entire Psalm turns on. In those verses the writer affirms that God’s deep provision is more than enough to meet his needs. Out of his deep need, the writer appeals to God’s deep provisions. He likens God’s blessings to the mighty rush of water from a great waterfall that is just pouring over him. Despite his despair and depression, this guy knows where his hope and help are found. His needs might be deep, but God’s provisions are even deeper.

This morning I want to take us back to yesterday’s devotional and the story about the camel. In that story we learned that the camel is an amazingly durable animal that can go for a very long time without food or water and still carry its load. But then suddenly, with little or no warning, the camel will simply fall over dead. It happens because although the camel showed no outward signs of weakening, inwardly its reserves of water, food, strength and stamina were being depleted. And we learned that we Christians sometime allow the same thing to happen to us – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

But the fact is that most camels do not suffer that fate. Most camels do not simply, suddenly, fall over dead. And the reason they don’t is because their needs are not neglected. Most camels are properly cared for. In order for them to be able to carry their heavy loads and to complete their long and arduous journeys they are fed, watered, and rested as they should be, and that’s done even if they don’t appear to need it.

The truth about the camel is that when he is properly cared for, he then has great stores of reserves to draw upon which enable him to have tremendous stamina and resilience. And as long as those reserves continue to be replenished, the camel will be just fine.

The same is true for us. We must be careful that our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves are not sucked dry. As we learn from our friend in Psalm 42, the Lord is a deep source of renewal for us and He will restore our vitality, but we need to frequently turn to Him for that renewal. Most camels do not simply, suddenly, drop dead – and neither should we (literally or figuratively), and that won’t happen if we don’t allow ourselves to become depleted.

We’ll continue to explore this important point tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Don’t be like the camel

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month; “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t be like the camel.”

I love the story John Eldredge tells about the camel in his book, “Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times”. The camel is an amazing beast – strong, resilient, dependable, and with incredible stamina. The camel can carry heavy loads across a burning desert and go for weeks without water.

But the camel does have a weakness, a glaring one – an Achilles’ heel that literally kills it. The camel will keep going for hundreds of miles, giving no indication that it is getting tired or weak and then suddenly, it will fall over dead. Just like that. One minute it appears to be fine, the next it collapses and dies. The reason that happens is because the camel’s reserves of water, food, energy, and strength were all being progressively depleted without being renewed, but the camel is so strong and so resilient that it gave no indication of the dangerous depletion that was taking place until it was too late.

People can be like that. Especially dedicated Christians. We take Philippians 4:13, abuse it, stretch it to justify pushing ourselves too hard, and we suffer because of it. We dutifully trudge onward, carrying our loads, meeting our responsibilities, working harder and longer, and all the while our soul is being depleted without being renewed. Our spiritual, emotional, and physical reserves are getting dangerously low but we show no signs of it. Of course not. That would be weakness, and we certainly can’t admit to being weak, or needy, or even tired.

And so, we trudge on. Until we don’t. Until we fall over dead. Well, maybe not literally dead. Maybe we just suddenly bail out of our ministry activities; or we sink into a deep depression; or we quit our job, get a red Corvette and a blonde, and move to the coast. You know what I’m talking about.

We have the same Achilles’ heel that the camel does. We can force ourselves to keep going even while we’re getting dangerously close to falling apart. This is the cause of much of the anxiety and despair that people suffer from. We push ourselves too far for too long, and then we collapse.

The thing is, the camel could have been saved if it had just been properly cared for. If it had been given adequate water, food, and rest – even if it didn’t appear to need it – the camel would have been fine. The same is true for us. We have to take care of ourselves. Taking proper care of ourselves will go a long way towards preventing anxiety and depression to begin with, and it will help us to avoid just suddenly dropping dead (literally or figuratively), like the camel.

Don’t be the camel. Take care of yourself.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

We need wise counselors

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.” Proverbs 12:15 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Seek wise counsel”

This morning I want to take us back to our discussion from a few days ago regarding the ways in which God speaks to us. One of the most important ways is through the counsel of wise Christians. Pastors, counselors, and mature Christian friends can be an invaluable source of guidance – especially when we’re depressed and perhaps not thinking clearly for ourselves.

The story is told of the famous Saint Francis of Assisi. (He was the founder of the Franciscan order of monks and he was famous for his humility and servanthood). At the beginning of his ministry years Francis was struggling with whether or not to devote himself to a secluded life of prayer and meditation, or to engage in preaching, evangelism, missions, and service.

Although Francis was a deeply devoted disciple of Christ and very mature in his spirituality, he also knew better than to rely just on his own judgment, and he was very aware of the many passages like Proverbs 12:15 (above) which teach us to seek wise counsel before making important decisions. So, he sent letters to two trusted friends and asked them to pray about it, and to offer him their thoughts on the matter. Both of them, independent of the other, responded that Francis should be an active Christian rather than a secluded one. He took their advice and thus was born the Franciscan order (which is still active around the world to this day, almost 1000 years later).

One of the biggest mistakes Christians make is to try to figure things our for ourselves, or to make important decisions based on our own judgment. Another mistake I’ve often seen is when a Christian does seek counsel, but they seek it from those who are likely to tell them what they want to hear. (We see this a lot when a husband and wife think too much alike and then rely only on the counsel of each other. That’s very close to relying just on your own judgment).

We need wise counselors who can be depended upon to pray about the issue for us and then will give us straight talk about it, even if the answer isn’t what we want to hear. This is especially true when we’re struggling with issues which are causing us anxiety and despair. In such situations we’re almost never thinking clearly and we need good counsel from others.

I encourage you to seek wise counsel when you have important decisions to make, or when you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or despair.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Do you want to be found?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!” Luke 15:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Are you willing to be found by God?”

In Luke chapter 15 we find three parables from Jesus about lost things being found – the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.” All three are intended to teach an important lesson about how God feels when one of His own strays from Him and ends up “lost”. (It’s not that God doesn’t know where you are, it’s that you don’t know where God is. You have strayed from Him and are therefore lost).

In each parable the owner of what is lost is grieved and wants the lost thing back (the sheep, the coin, and the son). And in each case, there’s great rejoicing when the lost thing or person is back where they belong. This trio of parables are often misunderstood and thought to be about lost sinners who don’t know Jesus and who need to be saved. But that’s not right. In each case the lost thing belonged to the owner and was at one time in its proper place with the owner, but then strayed away and was for a time, lost. Folks, that’s you and me. This is about Christians who aren’t where they’re supposed to be in their relationship with God and who are therefore wandering, confused, and lost.

These parables show us the heart of God for those who are His but who have strayed. He wants you back. And when you are back with Him, His heart bursts with relief and joy. I encourage you to take a moment and read these three parables in Luke chapter 15 right now. See yourself as that lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. Hear the heart of God hurting for you, wanting so much to have you back with Him, safe and secure. Experience the joy of God as He embraces you and welcomes you back.

The problem sometimes is that the “lost” Christian isn’t willing to be found by God. Instead, they have intentionally moved away from Him. Anxiety, despair, troubles, and worries, should always move us closer to God, not further from Him. If you’re struggling with life right now and you have shut God and other Christians out, you are the precious lost thing that is grieving the heart of God. The way to move back to God is by more prayer, more Bible reading, more Christian music, more time with Christian friends, and more time in church.

Your peace and contentment, your sense of security and well-being, your hope and renewal, is all rooted in the overwhelming love God has for you. If you have moved away from Him, He wants you back. The question is, are you willing to be found by Him?

God bless,
Pastor Jim

God wants to be heard and understood

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and despair”

Our Bible verse for today: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God wants to be heard and understood”

In my opinion, one of the most helpful resources ever developed to teach Christians how to be aware of God’s presence, develop a deep and intimate relationship with Him, and learn to hear His voice, is Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”.

In that study we learn that although God can communicate with us in an infinite number of ways, the five ways He most commonly speaks to us in our day is from the Bible, in prayer, through circumstances, by the counsel of other Christians, and through the testimony of the church. And almost always, He will speak to us in more than just one of those ways. In other words, He will communicate with us and then He will confirm it.

Yesterday we learned that God wants to be heard by His people and He wants to be understood, but we have to be paying attention. We have to seek to hear from Him and we have to be attentive as we wait for Him to speak. The Bible is the primary way in which God speaks to us. He also speaks in prayer (but this is subtle and we have to be careful not to confuse our own feelings with the voice of God). God often uses our circumstances to show us His will, and He speaks through the counsel of pastors and mature Christian friends. God also uses the church as His megaphone. That can come to us through sermons, Bible studies, music, or even congregational votes of affirmation such as affirming our call into a ministry.

God speaks to us in all of those ways, but we do have to be seeking to hear from Him and we do have to be paying attention. Here’s a prayer that Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family) often prayed for himself: “Lord, I need to know what you want me to do, and I am listening. Please speak to me through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, friends, and the things that I read.”

One of the most helpful exercises we can engage in when we’re battling anxiety and depression is to write out our fears and concerns in the form of questions to God. Ask Him for understanding and answers. Then listen in all the ways we’ve considered today. God wants to be heard and understood, and He will answer, but are you listening? If you want to get better at hearing from God, I encourage you to get a copy of the study “Experiencing God”.

God bless,
Pastor Jim