Guidelines For Living Devotional

What Your Biggest Problems Show You About Yourself

When you are only five feet three, and someone who is six feet five towers over you, you quickly learn what intimidation is, especially when the giant leans over you and threatens you.  We’d much prefer enemies about our size giving us an equal chance; but, of course, life isn’t always fair.

How To Find God’s Purpose In Your Life

The Bible is an amazing book.  Of course, it’s amazing because it’s God inspired and living but it’s also very honest.  In the Bible, you find stories of men and women living at different times who were used by God in powerful ways.  People who loved God… and failed miserably.  Full of faith and full of flaws—stories like that of a man called David show us that Christianity speaks to human beings as they are.  We are made in the image of God, with eternity inside us but living in the here and now with natures that sin.  And sin regularly.

Discover The Cure For Cynicism

How a person responds to calamity or disaster tells an awful lot about what's inside!  When things are not going well, there is a tendency for the old to become cynical and critical, and castigate those who are younger. You know the mentality--"The older I am, the better I was!"  Having had years of experience, it is very easy for them to see immediately what's wrong with the world, especially people in the world, and be very clear in letting folks know that things aren't like they used to be, and that if they were still in control, it wouldn't be that way.

Why Should You Care About Saving The Earth?

Oil spills which destroy the environment, pelicans and albatrosses who eat plastic, chemical waste which kills fish and marine life and destroys natural resources, and rusted beer cans which litter the landscape--how much of this is of concern to you? Or should it be at all?

Is There A Difference Between Worry And Concern?

You wake up in the night thinking about a situation which really distresses you. You silently pray, "God, please do something about this," yet sleep doesn't come. You toss and turn, asking, "What should I do?" At the same time, you know that worrying doesn't change anything and that you shouldn't worry.

4 Signs You Are A Disciple Of Jesus

He stood apart from the crowd, yet he wasn't aloof.  He was warm, compelling, and controversial.  His eyes could flash fire, yet they mellowed with affection.  Children loved Him, yet others felt that His gaze went directly into their souls.  His name was Jesus, and the way He approached things was so different from the way we build organizations today.  Christ taught that a small group who were really dedicated to His cause could accomplish far more than could a vast army religious workers who were committed only to their own little kingdoms, their own egos.

What Does It Mean To Be A Disciple?

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  Who was this one to make such a bold statement?  He's identified in history as Jesus of Nazareth, but Nazareth was merely the place where He grew up. One day, Jesus put the question to His disciples, saying, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13).  Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).

What God Says To You When You’re Feeling Inferior

Few ideas in the scientific realm have ever been introduced without ridicule and unbelief.  When men first suggested that the world was not flat and man could not sail off the end of the world, they were laughed to scorn.  When Nicolaus Copernicus first suggested his theory of a sun-centered universe, he was so persecuted that he was forced to withdraw his hypothesis.  When Henry Ford put his first automobile on the road, he was thought of as a fool who wasted his time on foolish inventions.

When It’s Time To Rest!

Have you ever had the experience of having to drive a considerable distance to an appointment; but, the vehicle that you are driving shows that the gas gauge is closer to empty than you would like?  You are in a hurry—late for your meeting—so you decide to see if you can make it.  The red warning light comes on.  Then the fuel gauge starts to rest solidly on the empty mark, and your stomach grows tighter mile by mile.  Perhaps you make it—and perhaps you don’t.  And as the light stays on and the indicator sits on empty, you become more tense.  When do you refuel?

What It Means To Have A Savior

Karl Crowe tells the story: A missionary Bible translator was working on a language that had not been reduced to writing when she came across a portion of Scripture which had already been translated into the language she was working on. She noticed that the word idinide had been used for the English word Savior. The word literally means "picker upper" or "one who picks up something."  She thought, "This is definitely not the right word!"