Oak Hill Baptist Church

Will you let Jesus be Jesus in your life?

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Will you let Jesus be Jesus in your life?”

One of the primary drivers of anxiety and despair is poor self-image. The truth is that we are our own worst critics and our own worst enemies. Nobody tears you down like you tear down yourself down. The most critical voice in your head is your own.

It would be helpful if we would learn to see ourselves as Jesus sees us. Oh, wait. On second thought, maybe that isn’t so helpful. At least, it’s not helpful if we see ourselves as we believe Jesus sees us. Many of us believe that Jesus is secretly unhappy with us, that He’s angry with us for our thoughts, words, and actions and therefore He’s disappointed in us as a person. But is that the picture given to us in the New Testament? Is that how Jesus really thinks of us?

In Matthew 9:36 we’re given yet another glimpse into the heart of Jesus, and what we find there is compassion. Yes, compassion. He saw how lost and confused and distressed the people were and it broke His heart. Jesus loved people, even flawed, confused, and distressed people like you and me. He has compassion on us. There are no examples in the Gospels of Jesus expressing disgust, distain, or dislike for anyone (except perhaps for the Pharisees who were misleading and mistreating the people and doing it in the name of God).

Let me ask you, do you believe Jesus likes you? I’m not asking if you believe He loves you, we know He does, He died for you. But do you think He likes you? Read Matthew 9:36 again. Then read Matthew 11:28-30 and hear His invitation to come to Him, just as you are, and to experience love, acceptance, rest, and renewal. Go ahead, read it, I’ll wait.

I hope you did take the time to read those passages. They illustrate the compassionate tenderness of the heart of Jesus. More than loving you, He likes you. He wants your company. He wants to heal your hurts and bring peace to your troubled heart. And that’s not just what Jesus is like, but it’s who Jesus is. Compassion and tenderness, love and kindness, mercy and acceptance, it’s all part of who Jesus is, and it’s what He wants us to experience in our relationship with Him.

Will you let Jesus be Jesus in your life? If you will accept the fact that He loves you and He likes you, and then simply relax and rest in the reality of that truth, it will go a long way towards improving how you see yourself. That then will relieve a lot of anxiety and despair in your life. I encourage you to let Jesus be Jesus in your life.

We’ll come back to this tomorrow. I want to tell you a story about someone who is one of God’s favorites – and she knows it.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Take it as it comes

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Come now, you who say, ‘Tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring – what your life will be! For you are like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” James 4:13-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take it as it comes”

For most of my adult life I was a jogger. Not a runner, a jogger. My legs are too short to go very fast, but I could go a long distance. And so, I jogged. A lot. Five times a week for years. Then age kicked in, my knees started getting sore, and jogging turned into walking. So, these days I walk. A lot. Pretty much every day.

And … it turns out this is better. When I jogged, I wasn’t going fast, which was okay because I wasn’t in a race, I was just jogging for the exercise and for the joy of jogging. Now I walk for the same reasons. It’s good exercise and I enjoy it. But I’ve discovered that I actually enjoy walking more than I enjoyed jogging because since I’m going slower, I appreciate my surroundings more. I take the time to really look at what’s around me and to appreciate the trail through the woods, the path around the lake, the well-manicured lawns in the neighborhood.

You see, I’m not walking to get anywhere. If I need to get somewhere I own a truck, a car, a motorcycle, a mountain bike, a skateboard, and roller skates. (Okay, the skateboard was left behind by one of my sons from his teenage years and I don’t actually use the roller skates anymore, but you get my point. I don’t have to walk to get anywhere, and getting anywhere isn’t the reason for the walking. Enjoying the walk is the reason for the walking).

The same should be true of life. As was noted in yesterday’s devotional, many of us spend way too much time rushing through life from one place to another, from one thing to another. It’s like the line from the old country song, “I rush and rush until life’s no fun”.

James 4:13-14 echoes Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 (cited yesterday). Slow-down and relax. Enjoy life. The future will get here when it gets here. The present is here now, so embrace it and enjoy it. In fact, as James points out, tomorrow may never come. Today may be the last one for you. So, embrace today. Appreciate it. Enjoy it.

A key to learning to live without anxiety and despair is to worry a little less about the future and focus a little more on embracing and enjoying the present. Just slow-down, relax, and take it as it comes.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Slow-down and relax

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance …” Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Slow-down and relax”

I love the tone and feel of the opening verses of Ecclesiastes chapter three. It’s so chill. There’s a time for this and a time for that, an appropriate time for every activity under heaven. No need to rush, no need to stress, just take things as they come, deal with them in their time and place, and move on.

But most of us don’t live that way. Most of us are rushing headlong into the future, eager and anxious to get to the next thing so we can deal with it, and then move on to the next thing, and the next one after that, and the next one after that. But the truth is, you don’t have to run into the future as if you’re trying to catch it. The future doesn’t run away from us it runs towards us. It will be here before you know it, right on time, all by itself. It’s coming to you. Wait for it, it’s about to arrive.

Jesus was never in a hurry. He was always busy but there are no accounts in the Gospels of Him rushing. He was relaxed and in control. He always took His time with what He was doing, accepting people and situations as they came to Him. He gave His full attention to the people and events of the moment, and then moved on to the next moment. Jesus was never in a hurry.

With respect to learning to live a life with less anxiety and despair, this is pretty important. We often allow the press of life to get us stressed and anxious. We sometimes work ourselves into a state of anxiety as we anticipate what we think is waiting for us just around the corner in the future. We become so consumed with thoughts about what’s coming next that we aren’t fully focused on what is here now.

The answer? Slow-down and relax. The future is going to get here when it gets here. The present is here now. So, live in the moment, take the seasons of life as they come, and remember that there’s an appropriate time for everything that God wants you to do. If it’s of God, there will be time for it. If it isn’t of God, then you shouldn’t be doing it anyway. We’ll think more about this tomorrow but for now, take a breath, slow-down, and relax.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Is the arm of the Lord too short?

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Is the arm of the Lord too short?”

So, how bad is it? I’m referring to your situation – whatever your situation may be. How bad is it? The rent is due, but so are a dozen other bills. Your teenager is in rebellion (again) and you’re sure you can’t stand it one more minute. The report from the doctor wasn’t good, the car is acting up, your boss is a jerk …

Maybe it’s just a minor annoyance, or maybe it’s a life and death issue, but many times our problems seem overwhelming and never ending. And in such moments, we can find ourselves wondering if there’s any help for us, any solution at all.

Sarah felt that way in Genesis 18:1-15 when the angels informed Abraham that she would have a child in her old age. Sarah overheard that and laughed at the absurdity of such a thought. But God replied in verse 14, “Is anything impossible for the Lord?” (She had her baby).

The nation of Israel felt that way when they were wandering in the wilderness, eating nothing but manna day after day, meal after meal, for months and years on end. They doubted that God would or even could provide them with anything else to eat. But in Numbers 11:23 we read Moses asking them, “Is the arm of the Lord weak? Now you will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.” (God gave them a rainstorm of quail dropping out of the sky).

Even when it seems as if there’s no solution, it’s still true that nothing is too hard for God. Isaiah declared this truth to the Jews when they were facing what seemed to be an impending calamity, “Indeed, the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear.” Isaiah 59:1

We know these things to be true of God. We know He is sovereign, and supreme, and all-mighty, and there is nothing He cannot do. And we know He has a pretty good track record too – historically across the ages as well as in our own lives.

But still, we have doubts and fears about our own current situations. Hannah Whitehall Smith once asked her readers, “You have no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?” Good point. That’s pretty much what Jesus was saying in Matthew 19:26. Nothing is too hard for God. Not even your current situation.

And the answer to our opening question, “Is the arm of the Lord too short?” Well, no. No it is not.

God bless,

Pastor Jim

You need a good dose of the Holy Spirit

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “You need a good dose of the Holy Spirit”

The other day I came across a statement someone wrote about a special encounter they had with God. In relating the exact moment of the encounter, the person said, “Now I feel God.” His statement caused me to think about the special moments I’ve had when I too have felt God’s presence. Is it possible to actually, physically, tangibly, “feel” God’s presence? Yes. Yes, it is.

I’ve told the story before of a time I was alone on a personal retreat at the Forest Home Christian Camp in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. There’s a little chapel deep in the woods that marks the exact spot where a young Billy Graham, wrestling with anxiety and despair, had a personal encounter with God that helped him resolve some key issues in his faith, and which then led to the success of his evangelistic ministry. I got to sit alone in that chapel, in the quiet in the woods, and I too resolved a few things, and I too had an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and peace with me. That encounter is still vivid in my memory almost thirty years later.

I’m an introvert by nature and although I like people and enjoy being with them, I also love to be alone, because that’s when I encounter God most and best. My best times with God come in places like the Forest Home encounter, or when I’m walking alone on a deserted beach, or hiking by myself in the mountains, or sitting in front of the fireplace reading a good Christian book. For me, Psalm 46:10 is one of the most inviting passages in Scripture. I’m eager to be alone, to be still, and to just know that He is God. That’s when I “feel” God.

How about you? Do you have those special times when you’re most likely to feel God’s presence. Perhaps your encounters occur most often in a dynamic worship service, or during acts of ministry to hurting and needy people, or maybe while taking communion.

Whatever your best situations are for encountering God, I encourage you to maximize them. You need this – especially when life is closing in and you’re struggling with issues. You need those special encounters with God as His Holy Spirit engulfs you in an overwhelming awareness of His presence. So, go to those places, do those things, create those circumstances, and do it as often as you can.

When it comes to dealing with anxiety and despair, there’s no better antidote than a good dose of the Holy Spirit.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Live with wonder and awe

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.” Psalm 19:1-2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live with wonder and awe”

So much about the quality of our lives depends on attitude and perspective. We’ve been over this. We’ve thought about optimism verses pessimism, the glass half-full or half-empty. We’ve considered the importance of shifting our focus from ourselves to God and to others. And we’ve talked about living life large by opening your heart and letting the world in. So much about the quality of our lives depends on the way we choose to see the world around us and the attitude we choose to have about it.

That includes living with wonder and awe. I’m talking about intentionally and habitually seeing, embracing, enjoying, and celebrating the wonders and joys of this amazing world God has created. That’s what the Psalmist was referring to in Psalm 19:1-2 (above). The heavens themselves declare the glory of God. It’s all around us.

Brennan Manning tells the deathbed story of the famous Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. As he was dying, some of his final words were to his friend Sam who was standing at his bedside. “Sam, I feel only gratitude for my life, for every moment I have lived. I am ready to go. I have seen so many miracles during my lifetime … Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame, I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.”

Rabbi Heschel chose to see the goodness, the wonder, and the joy all around him, and he centered his life around that perspective. Manning followed that story with this statement, “A Philistine (a crude person) will stand before a Claude Monet painting and pick his nose; a person filled with wonder will stand there fighting back the tears.” The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote something similar when she observed, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

I encourage you to live with wonder and awe. The glory and majesty of God is all around you, but you must choose to see it. You’re not likely to experience anxiety and despair while you’re appreciating and enjoying the wonder, majesty, and awesome glory of God.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Live life large

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.” Psalm 16:11 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live life large”

Do you live life large? By that I don’t mean are you a celebrity, or do you own lots of things, or travel to exotic places, or skydive and climb mountains. I mean do you have a large heart that is wide open to the world around you? Do you marvel at creation, enjoy the sunrise, and find joy in each day? Do you welcome encounters with people, have genuine interest in them and their lives, and invite them into your own life? Do you laugh and joke, play with puppies, eat ice cream, make fun of yourself, and make silly noises to giggling babies?

Do you live a large life or a small life? Is the world invited in or is it shut out?

As we learned yesterday, in Matthew 6:33 Jesus urged us to a life that seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Taken in context with the overriding lessons and themes of the rest of the New Testament, what He’s calling us to do is to live life large. We are not to be small and self-absorbed. We are to be wide open to the world we live in, to the people we encounter, and to the activity of God all around us. We are to be on-mission with Jesus, out in the world, all the days of our lives, embracing life, encountering others, blessing them in the name of Jesus, and being about our Father’s business in this world.

Some people shut themselves out from the world and from others. Others just shuffle through their days not doing anything particularly meaningful or helpful. Still others are just sitting around waiting to die. That is a small life and it’s the exact opposite of what God wants for us.

If you refer back to yesterday’s devotional you will see my comment regarding the discovery psychologists and counselors have made throughout the history of working with depressed and unhappy people. The most unhappy and least well-adjusted people are those who live a self-absorbed life. They are compulsively focused on their own perceived problems and concerns. The happiest and most well-adjusted people are those who focus mostly on God and on others, and who don’t take themselves or life too seriously.

This is the difference between living large or living small. How big is your heart? How open is it to the people and the world around you? I urge you, don’t be small. Live life large. You’ll be a lot happier if you do.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

God has your back

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God has your back”

Are you familiar with what we call “The do not worry” passage in the New Testament? It appears twice, in slightly different formats, once in Matthew 6:25-34 and again in Luke 12:22-34. It’s a parable told by Jesus to illustrate the sovereignty of God, as well as His watch-care over us and His provision for us. In the story Jesus explains that God is aware of everything, and He is in control of everything. In the whole universe. Everything. Everywhere. And He cares about it all. Including all the little details.

Jesus tells of God’s attention to detail regarding things like lilies in the fields and food for the birds. He reminds us that there also isn’t a single need we have, or challenge we face, or concern we have to deal with, that God isn’t aware of and capable of dealing with for us. And, our issues are much more important to him than the colors of flowers or worms for the birds. But since He does in fact attend to such minor and unimportant details regarding flowers and birds, then you can be assured He will attend to the details of your life too because (as Jesus says), you are much more important to Him than flowers or birds or anything else.

The key, according to Jesus, is found in Matthew 6:33 and again in Luke 12:31 – seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and leave the rest to Him. That doesn’t mean that you have no responsibility for your own well-being, for a job and security and financial accountability, etc. But it does mean that if your most important concern is to honor God with your life and to serve others in His name, then God has your back. You take care of His business and He will look after yours.

Even psychologists and professional counselors will tell you that the most unhappy and least well-adjusted people are those who are self-absorbed and compulsively fixated on themselves and on all their own perceived problems and concerns. The happiest and most well-adjusted people tend to be those who keep the focus on God and on others. These people do what Jesus called for in those verses, they give most of their attention, emotional energy, and efforts to serving God and others, and they trust God for the rest of life. They still do their part to take care of and provide for themselves, but they don’t obsess about it. They don’t have to. They know that God has their back.

Do you? Do you go through life with the calm assurance that your Heavenly Father loves you, is watching over you, and is taking care of you? He is. And embracing that truth is key to putting an end to a life characterized by anxiety, fear, and despair. I encourage you to become more God-focused and more others-focused, and a little less you-focused. Matthew 6:33 promises that if you take care of God’s business, He will take care of yours. He will have your back.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Don’t fear life

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear …” 1 John 4:18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t fear life”

I’ve mentioned in another devotional in this series that I’m currently rereading Brennan Manning’s classic book on the Christian life called “The Ragamuffin Gospel”. The other night I came across a statement from Brennan that’s just too good to pass up. I have to write about it. It’s about how it is that many of us live in fear – with doubts, anxiety, and in despair:

“Christians ought to be celebrating constantly. We ought to be preoccupied with parties, banquets, feasts, and merriment. We ought to give ourselves over to veritable orgies of joy because we have been liberated from the fear of life and the fear of death. We ought to attract people to the church quite literally by the fun there is in being a Christian. Unfortunately, we sometimes become somber, serious, and pompous. We fly in the face of freedom and grimly dig deeper into the trenches (of life).”

Wow. We should be preoccupied with parties, banquets, feasts, merriment, and veritable orgies of joy? Well, that sounds like fun! Sign me up! But wait. Back up. There’s a sentence in the middle of all that which we need to notice and deal with. According to Manning the reason we should approach life this way is because “we have been liberated from the fear of life and the fear of death.”

For the strong Christian who truly does believe in the reality of heaven it’s not a big stretch to have been liberated from an overriding fear of death. But freedom from the fear of life? Whoa. Full stop. I think we have some work to do here. Life is the very thing we do fear. We fear sickness, and economic hardship, and lost jobs, and the opinions of others, and for the safety of our children, and for the outcome of elections, and a thousand other things.

If we let it, life can become oppressive – and some people do wear it like a heavy old coat. We fear not only the problems and trials, but also the sheer drudgery of another day. And as a result, we allow anxiety and fear to grip us.

But the Apostle John tells us in 1 John 4:18 that fear should not be a driving and determining factor in our lives. He says that perfect love (the love of Christ) drives out fear. And if fear has been driven out (both the fear of death and the fear of life), then we’re in a much better position to live the life Brennan Manning was describing.

Sound good to you? Me too. Let’s think about this some more tomorrow. Let’s not go through life fearing life.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

I need you, you need me, we all need each other

Good morning everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “I need you, you need me, we all need each other”

I was a teenager and young adult towards the end of the hippie-era in the mid-late 60s and early 70s. It was the “Peace and Love” generation and we sure did love songs about peace, love, unity, and the brotherhood of man. One of the most popular ballads to come out of that era was a song with the title, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”, which was a big hit for the rock group the Hollies. The first verse and chorus goes:

The road is long, with many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where, who knows where
But I’m strong, strong enough to carry him
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
So on we go
His welfare is my concern
No burden is he to bear
We’ll get there

The phrase, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” actually came from Father Edward Flanagan, a Catholic priest and the founder of Boy’s Town in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a place where troubled or homeless boys could come for help. In 1943, Father Flanagan saw an older brother carrying his younger brother on his back. The phrase “he ain’t heavy he’s my brother” came to him in that moment and he wrote about it in a magazine article. Eventually it became the theme for a much-loved and very inspirational song.

Yesterday I said that those of us who know and love someone who is currently struggling with anxiety and despair can help them by simply letting them know we care and that we will help if we can. I think that mindset needs to also apply to Christian life in general, and to church life in particular.

The road through life is long, and it is often troubled and challenging. At times we all struggle with anxiety, doubts, and despair. That’s when we need each other most. The truth is that sometimes I need you, and sometimes you need me, and always we all need each other. Will you carry an extra burden for someone today? How about tomorrow when you gather with your church family? Someone could probably use your help right now.

By the way, if you Google that song you will find a YouTube video to play it for you. That would be a nice way to end this devotional time and to begin the weekend.

God bless,
Pastor Jim