Guidelines For Living Devotional

The One Reason to Get Up Everyday

He hated being a celebrity, but he was always in the news.  He longed for a simple life yet his was often complex and confusing.  He was a young and inexperienced speaker, yet he spent his life confronting world leaders.  His name:  Jeremiah. If you check that name out in a dictionary, you’ll find a definition, taken from the life of this seventh century prophet, which tells you that a Jeremiah is “one who is pessimistic about the present and foresees a calamitous future.”

How to Take On the Future!

Suppose you had awakened at the stroke of 12:01 a.m. on January 1, and there, standing before you, was an individual in shining clothing which you immediately recognized as an angel, and you then heard these words: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8).  Would you be afraid to tackle the New Year?

The One Thing to Remember About the New Year

Today is the first day of the year, and to be honest with you, it’s almost a bit scary staring another year in the face. Looking behind we think, “What happened to the good intentions and resolutions we made a year ago—ones which we have not only failed in attaining but can’t even remember what they were?”

Will Time Ever End?

It’s an old story but one worth repeating.  A man rushed into the railroad station and breathlessly asked, “When does the 8:01 leave?” “At 8:01,” replied the railroad clerk, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.  “Well,” said the man, “it’s only 7:55 by my watch,” but, somewhat worried, added, “it’s 8:04 by the station clock.  Which one should I go by?”  Sardonically the railroad clerk replied, “You can go by any clock you wish, but you won’t be going on the 8:01 because it has already left.”

Dealing with the After-Christmas Blues

Christmas is over, at least it is for most of you.  However, in some places such as in Russia, Christmas is observed in early January.  But no matter when you celebrate Christmas, there comes a time when it is over; and when it is over, it is over.

What to Do After Christmas is Over

It’s the day after Christmas and all through the house there are piles of junk, cast off toys, and piles of unwanted gifts to be returned as soon as possible.  Perhaps you’re hoping to exchange the flannel shirt Uncle Joe gave you (which you suspect was given to him at the office Christmas party).  The kids have already found that the cardboard boxes their toys came in are more interesting to play with than the items which the boxes originally contained, something that creates a dark cynicism asking, “Is this all the thanks I get for working so hard to buy this stuff?”

What God Did At Christmas

The two were arrested and thrown into prison.  Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. China is a vast country, but what many do not realize is that in the northern part of China it gets very cold as the Siberian winds come whistling from the north.

Why You Can Trust God's Timing

Over the course of my whole life I’ve heard my dad say, "God is seldom early, but He is never late!" I’ve seen this truth over and over. God is precisely on time!  But nothing demonstrates the importance of His perfect timing any more than the birth of Jesus Christ.  Had Christ's coming been either early or later, Old Testament prophecies would not have been accurately fulfilled. 

Why Christmas is for All

If you are a student of the Bible, perhaps some of your hardest going has been getting through the dietary laws of Leviticus or the “so and so begat so and so” of Genesis.  Unless we’ve taken the project on as a hobby, most of us know little about where our family line came from or who our grandparents were much more than a generation or two back.  But people in ancient Israel placed great importance on just who they were and where their families had come from.

What If Jesus Were Born Today?

For a few well‑deserved minutes, sit back and relax, and ponder how different things might have been if Jesus Christ had been born in today’s world instead of the first century Palestine. Naturally, any event today of even minimal importance is a media happening; and who would deny that the best way to get sensational coverage is to claim something is supernatural, out of the ordinary, perhaps even bizarre, and what would be more "news worthy" than the allegation that God has actually become man, to say nothing of the interesting angle that a baby is born without a human father.