Guidelines For Living Devotional

Remedy to a Broken Relationship

Conflicts don't destroy relationships.  It's the refusal to resolve a conflict that eventually causes a relationship to become strained, then broken.  Saying with sincerity and feeling, "I'm sorry; forgive me," can turn a conflict into a learning experience and put a bad situation behind you as you find solid footing and move on, but those words are difficult at best and impossible at worst for many people.

Free From the Pull of the Past

Under Roman law a person who had been condemned had no life of his own, no plans for the future, no personal agenda, He was the living dead. It was only a matter of time as life was measured out by the hours until gruel was shoved under the prison door. With that understanding, something the apostle Paul wrote years ago has powerful implications. To the Romans, he penned these words: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  The living dead suddenly become the dead living!   “No condemnation?” cries the prisoner. “Do you mean, ‘I’m free’?”  Can you not imagine the joy as a Roman jailer would respond, “Yes, you’re free to leave”?

Reconciliation With God

Paul Evans tells the story of a farmer who established certain guidelines for his teenage son, one of which was that the boy had to be in at a certain hour.  But the lad had a hard time getting home by the deadline.  Finally the father said, "Son, if you aren't home by 12, I'll lock the door and you can't sleep at home."  Sure enough, on Saturday night the hours began to fly quickly as the boy was having fun with his friends.  At 12 the father arose and looked down the road for his son, and with a sigh, he finally turned the lock on the front door and went to bed.  He was still awake when he heard the son come home and try the door.  The son had never seen it locked before, and rattle it as he might, the door wouldn't open. 

The Resurrection and the Atheist

Dwight David Eisenhower, the General who became an American President once said, “An atheist is a person who goes to a Notre-Dame-Southern Methodist football game and doesn’t care who wins.”

Why the Cross

In 1825 a typhoon came screaming across the South China Sea and literally smashed the city of Macao, where Portuguese settlers had once constructed a cathedral overlooking the harbor.   When the force of the typhoon had subsided, not much was left of the cathedral.  It was all gone save the front wall of the church which was left standing, and the bronze cross affixed to the crest of the facade.  When the English governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Bowring, came to survey the damage, he was visibly impressed that only the cross remained standing. 

Cleansing for All

Shortly before Boris Yeltsin came to the United States to ask for aid, he attended church, something which politicians occasionally do, especially when the press covers it.  But Yeltsin later told the ITAR-Tass news agency, "I came here today to undergo cleansing...."    What struck me about Yeltzin's actions and his comments was the fact that he is an avowed atheist, at least he says that he is.  But deep down in his heart, is he really?  One does not usually talk about chocolate cake unless you believe that there is a cook in the kitchen.  Nor do you talk about God unless you believe He exists.

Religion vs Relationship

She was not a skeptic or an agnostic...neither was she looking for an argument.  The question came from a cultured, refined woman who asked in sincerity, "Dr. Sala, what is a Christian?"  Strangely enough, if you ask the question of twenty different individuals as I have done, you would probably come up with twenty different answers.  Often when someone answers that question, "What is a Christian?" they describe certain activities that are associated with the Christian life.  Here are a few typical examples:

King of an Unshakable Kingdom

There are very few things in the world which can accurately be described as unshakable, or unmovable. Today we can dynamite them, blast them into oblivion, or if they are immaterial, we apply pressure to get something or someone to change. There is no such thing as an immovable object meeting an irresistible force. So when something is described as unshakable or unmovable, you had better pay attention.

Unstoppable Promises

It doesn’t take long for anyone who reads the Bible to learn that God has made special promises to His own, no matter when or where they live.  To Jacob, who was fleeing for his life, having stolen his brother’s inheritance, God said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15).

Where Are You?

Have you noticed that invariably when you connect with someone who answers your call on a cell or mobile phone, you immediately ask, “Where are you?” Whether it is your teenager who is checking in with you, your husband who is on a business trip, or a friend you haven’t heard from for a while, you want to know where the person is, so instinctively you ask, “Where are you?”  Inversely if you get a call that originates from a friend who calls you on a cell phone, you are asked, “Do you know where I am?” Knowing this establishes an identity and a personal connection.