Guidelines For Living Devotional

Why Gratitude In All Changes You Today

Author Ann Voskamp’s book. One Thousand Gifts, has had a huge impact on many lives. After reading the book, women (and I suppose some men) went out and bought notebooks. They bought notebooks in which to daily record all the “gifts” in their lives that they could give thanks for, whether large or small. It’s a great exercise, especially if you keep at it until you’ve actually listed a thousand things, because it has a huge effect on your eyesight—the eyesight of the soul, that is.

6 Steps To Coming Back From Infidelity

Finding your way back after an adulterous relationship is difficult, but it can be done. There's a roadmap which guides you when you recognize what a dreadful thing has happened and you sincerely want forgiveness, healing, and--yes! --restoration with your husband or wife.  The roadmap is found in Psalm 51, and David, the author, simply describes the components of restoration which he went through.

How To Find Healing After Sexual Sin

Grace is getting what you don't deserve; justice is getting exactly what you deserve, and mercy is not getting what you really deserve.  David knew that, and that's why, following his affair with Bathsheba, he pled for God's mercy.  "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions."

Why We Need Empathy

Along with many other dictionaries, The Oxford English Dictionary takes more space to define the word touch than any other word.  Its vast gamut of meanings can hardly be compressed into a single dictionary definition.  Without touch you lose one of the most important of all the five senses. 

How To Find Hope When Times Are Tough And Money Is Tight

When times are tough and money is tight, disagreements often erupt.  And when discussions take place, almost always we are quick to inform the other person that the mess belongs on the other side of the disagreement.  A word that prominently figures is the personal pronoun you, as in "YOU are responsible for this mess," or "If YOU hadn't spent so much on that stupid car we wouldn't be in trouble."  Another variation is "YOU charged too much on our credit cards."

The Secret To Having Enough

Probably no other generation in history has been more committed to living for the moment than is our present one, or put in somewhat less refined terms, no generation has been more committed to squeezing every ounce of pleasure and fulfillment out of living than the present one.  Now all of this is not bad, but the constant emphasis on self produces a distorted picture of the individual's true worth. The end result is a selfishness that produces a marked disregard for others, and totally distorts a person's actual importance.  Nothing is much smaller than an individual's world who shuts others from the heart as well as the hand and purse.

4 Ways To Solve Disagreements About Money!

There are only three things you can do with it: spend it, save it, or give it away. Only three choices. Yet when it comes to the bottom line of disagreements, you'll probably find it, almost every time.  It's money!  No matter how much they have, or how little they have, people don't agree on how it's spent.  Playing a prominent part in at least 85% of all broken homes, the handling of money is one of the most explosive issues that confront people today, especially in times of recession and inflation.

How To Heal The Body, Emotions And Spirit

When the level begins to sink in the honeycomb of life, it does not merely affect one aspect of your life‑‑say the physical or the emotional. It affects everything‑‑your body, your emotions, and your spiritual nature all at once. There has been a blind spot in our thinking that compartmentalizes life. You have aches or pains. "That is physical!" you think. You are sure that aspirin or an antibiotic will be enough to cure it, but it does not work that way. The physical may merely be the cause of tension, and aspirin or antibiotics would merely be treating the symptom‑‑not the cause.

When You Just Can’t Quit

Have you ever had the experience of having to drive a considerable distance with an empty gas tank? You knew that you were running low on fuel, but you were late for an appointment, in a hurry to get somewhere, and you kept thinking, "Yeah, I've got enough to get there," but you were unconvinced. You kept glancing at the fuel gauge, then your watch. The fuel gauge was slightly above empty, then the red warning light came on, then your fuel gauge rested solidly on the empty mark.  Your stomach grew tighter and tighter.

What Is The Call Of God?

“He received the call to the ministry at age 16.” “She was called to work with disabled children in Africa.” For most of us, the Call of God is associated with ministers and missionaries. Not the sort of thing that touches the life of the “ordinary” Christian.