Guidelines For Living Devotional

Give God The Right Place

Look up the word sovereign and you are apt to find a definition such as this: “Sovereign:  A British coin. See Pound Sterling.”  The definition continues, “The name sovereign was first applied to kings.  Everyone in a kingdom was a subject of the king.  The king himself was usually sovereign, which means subject to no one.”

Surviving Doubt And Darkness

Dark nights of the soul, when you question what you believe to be true, are nothing new to those who walk the pilgrim pathway; however, sometimes when those whom we put on pedestals or look up to acknowledge their doubts and fears, we are shocked, criticize them or rationalize the depths of their anguish.

3 Things To Do When Your Mate Needs To Change

“I love you, you’re perfect, now change” is the name of a humorous play which is a kind of parody on how we often fall madly in love with someone, think the person is just wonderful, and then strive to remake him or her.   Sometimes we nag.  Sometimes we cajole, sometimes we manipulate, sometimes we threaten. But it just doesn’t work.  It’s a lot like teaching a pig to sing: it annoys the pig and it wastes your time, yet from the days of Adam and Eve to the present we strive to redo the person to whom we are married.

You Need A Day Off!

“Every person needs to take one day away,” wrote poet, Maya Angelou.  “A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future.  Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us… Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”[1] 
 
[1] Angelou, Maya. “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now.” Goodreads. Goodreads. Accessed May 27, 2020. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/rest.
 

What Drives Your Life?

 When a TV crew interviewed people on the streets, they asked, “What is your purpose in life?”  Not expecting the question, some scratched their heads and said, “I’m not sure.”  One man said, “I don’t think I could answer that question until I’m dead,” which would be something like not knowing that you were supposed to put the ball through the hoop at the end of the court until after the basketball game was over.  Some spoke of their family’s figuring large in the purpose of their lives.

Three Things to Ask Yourself Before You Pray

Does prayer work? Well, isn’t there a Bible verse that says something like that?” you may think, in response to this question.  After all, didn’t Jesus say, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it?” (John 14:14)

The One Thing That’s Proven To Make Your Marriage A Success

If you knew that there was a 5-minute habit that has been shown to boost the chance of your marriage succeeding to 99%, would you try it?  The secret has been around for some time now but has remained largely undiscovered.  A 1997 Gallup Poll done by the National Association of Marriage Enhancement (nameonline.net) showed the divorce rate among couples who pray together regularly is 1 out of 1,152. That's far less then 1%.

How A Crime Victim Forgave His Tormentor

When 10-year-old Chris Carrier stepped off a school bus on a December morning in 1974, little did he know how his life was about to change.  Six days later, Chris was found some 75 miles from his home.  He had been burned with cigarettes, stabbed with an ice pick, and then shot in the head.  When his kidnapper and molester walked away from the little boy’s body, he thought he was dead.

How To Lower Your Temperature

It’s the one thing you never want to see light up on the dashboard of your car as you’re driving down the road:  the CHECK ENGINE light!  Glowing red, it’s the sign that something has gone terribly wrong with your car or is about to.  If you want your car to live to see another road trip, you know you need to pull over as soon as possible and check things out.

Don’t Live A Meaningless Life!

In the year 332 B.C. Alexander the Great was catapulted into a position of leadership by the death of his father, Philip of Macedonia.  Alexander was 20 years old, barely out of his teens, but in little more than a decade, this young man had taken Greek civilization to the known world and had seen the great armies of the world fall under his sword.  During this time the people who were conquered tried to preserve their culture and identity; so in time, legends depicting their heroic heroism sprang up.  Such a legend was the story of Ahikar‑‑a Jewish hero who, according to the ancient story, was the governor of Israel.