Guidelines For Living Devotional

How Overconfidence Can Hurt You

Overconfidence can be your most deadly enemy!  So learned a young man who once stood guard on the walls of ancient Pergamos when an enemy force laid siege to the city.  What you don't know is that the wall of the ancient city was almost impregnable.  I use the word almost because nothing is absolutely impenetrable.

God Is As Close As Your Need

Anyone who has ever looked at the stars on a dark night has, at times, been awe-struck by their vastness and the greatness of space, yet only twelve men in history have been privileged to stand on the moon and look back towards the blue planet, as Earth has been described.  Standing on the surface of the moon, the Earth is some 229,000 plus miles away, and, according to Jim Irwin, one of those 12 who saw it from that perspective, the Earth appears to be the size of a walnut.

Why Should I Observe The Sabbath?

Are you constantly busy? Did you know that God mandates rest for his people? It is a matter of physical, mental, and spiritual health.

3 Steps To Finding A New Direction

Jeremiah the prophet was a man who needs to be rediscovered today.  The circumstances surrounding his life and world have so many parallels to life today.  And how so?  Well, for one thing, instability had gripped the world.  Jeremiah's beloved nation was about to be chewed up by the powerful tiger of Babylon.  Social structures were failing.  Families were being torn apart, and truth and morality had been sacrificed in the process.  The priesthood had become politicized and suffered a bad case of moral laryngitis.  No wonder Jeremiah seemed out of sync with his day, an old prophet who castigated the moral and spiritual decline.  No wonder he was publicly scorned and privately castigated.

A Father's Presence Is Powerful

"Where is Zebedee?" asked George Stormont in Pointers.  He continued, "I've been looking for him for nearly fifty years.  The New Testament is haunted by his name.  You read of his sons, his wife, his hired servants, his fishing; but you never meet him."

Will You Choose A Simpler Life?

How much do you really need?  If everything you own was suddenly wiped out by a fire or a devastating storm, would you thank God that your life was spared, or curse because of the loss?

Here Is The Secret To Spiritual Renewal

Evident in almost every facet of life is a fundamental problem: We have not learned the secret of renewal, and pollution is the inevitable result, morally, spiritually, and physically.   A leading scientist said that almost everything the human hand touches becomes polluted.  The Sea of Galilee in Israel is a typical example.  Marine life in Galilee, the largest body of fresh water in Israel, is in danger of serious harm, even possible extinction, so some believe.

Where Is God In Times Of Trouble?

When I was in Jerusalem years ago, our Jewish guide began to tell about his birth in Germany and the persecution that followed in the early days of World War 2.  With growing emotional intensity, he told how his father was seized by the Gestapo and never heard from again.  The family escaped to another country in Europe.  With growing anger, the tempo of his conversation increased, and then almost as though he was venting some of his wrath, he said, "Where was God when the 6 million Jews were cremated?"  It was an old question.  Where is God in times of disaster?  Where was God when 4 million Cambodians were slaughtered in 1975 and 1976?  Where was God when men and women were slaughtered in the other conflicts?

How Big Is God?

How big is God?  That's a pretty tough question, right?  Ask ten people, and you will get ten different answers.  Ask a South American deep in the jungles of Colombia and he may lead you to a primitive hut.  From a narrow shelf just under a hand‑thatched roof, he may take down a beautifully polished statue and hold it out saying, "God is this big...."  As you observe the artifact he holds in his hand, you notice that it bears a striking resemblance to the man who holds it.

Can You Learn From The Failure Of Others?

If ever a man went from hero to zero, it was Michael Parker.  His exotic cars, and yachts, and expensive club memberships, and connections to the high and mighty are all gone.  His expensive suits were traded for prison garb.