Guidelines For Living Devotional

Too Far Away

Cartoonist Bob Thaves pictured a couple sitting in front of their television, cans of beer in their hands, junk food at their elbows.  The caption reads:  "There is no problem with your set. The rubbish you see on the screen is real.  Please adjust your standards downward."

Mary's Choice

It's a very good thing that Jesus Christ was not born in China, or in Japan, or even in the United States, for that matter. Why? Because there is a very high probability that he might not have lived to birth. In the countries I just mentioned, the rate of abortion versus live births would have made his birth problematic.

Should You Say It?

It's an old story but one that still brings a chuckle:  Three preachers were at a conference, and prompted by a message on "besetting sins," late one evening the three began to reveal some of their secret flaws.   One said that his besetting sin was that he enjoyed an occasional drink.  Naturally, he explained, he didn't like folks in his congregation knowing about it so he was quite discreet in his drinking.

Silence: In the Age of Noise

If you should pick up a copy of a newly published book by Erling Kagge, you would find a drab, monochrome cover imprinted with only the title of the book, a subtitle and the author’s name. The title: “Silence!”  The sub-title, “In the age of noise,” and the author, Erling Kagge.  And like myself, you may be asking yourself, “And who is Erling Kagge and why did he write the book?”

Comfort for the Troubled Heart

When the Dutch woman, Corrie ten Boom was a prisoner of the Germans, confined in a concentration camp where most prisoners were executed, there were times when she would say, “Lord Jesus, I know this problem is way too big for you; I’ll have to worry about it myself!” Then she would smile and say, “How foolish!”  The reality is that we are often confronted with issues that are troubling and we struggle with them as though there is no help from heaven and the burden is much too great for God to do anything about.

Napalm Girl: The Untold Story

If you ever saw her picture, you surely would remember it for the rest of your life. It gained notoriety in the 1970s as an antiwar icon when a photographer took her picture as she was running naked from a napalm attack in Vietnam.[1] The 9-year old girl whose picture was so riveting became known as the “Napalm Girl,” and the picture appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. As an adult, writing of the horrible and devastating event, Kim Phuc said, “I had not been targeted. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some 45 years after that dark, hideous day, Kim has recorded the story of her life--the pain, the fear, the hatred, as well as the transformation that eventually purged the anger, bitterness, and resentment toward those who caused her suffering in a recently published book entitled, “Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace,” published by Tyndale.
 
[1] Publishers Weekly.com, Dec. 22, 2017

When No One is Watching

C.S. Lewis, the author of Mere Christianity and a host of other significant books, said, “Integrity means doing the right thing even if no one is watching you!” Before him, by almost 400 years, the English playwright, William Shakespeare, said, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

The Meaning of Integrity

Your reputation is what people think of you; your character is what God knows you to be, the mental and moral qualities that are distinctive to an individual. Someone once said that you can easily judge the character of a person by how he or she treats those who can do nothing in return--how he treats those who are not in a position to retaliate or reciprocate.

Why Your Pastor Needs Prayer

"Pastors need prayer, too," contends Will Bruce in an article by the same title. The following is what he wrote, which I consider so important that, with his permission, I'll share it with you.
            "We expect our pastors to take prayer interest in our problems and needs.  Rightly so.... But who prays for his needs?  He is human too and he needs our prayer.... A delegation of American pastors asked Charles Spurgeon the secret for his success.  In response, Spurgeon led them to the lower level of his meeting house and quietly opened the door.  The visitors saw over 400 people praying for God's blessing and power to rest upon their pastor, who would stand in the pulpit to preach the Word of God that night.  ‘There, gentlemen, is the secret for my success.’

When the Worst Happens

There is a line from a song which goes, “If the Lord be willing, and the creek don’t rise.”  While it was neither an English major nor a theologian who wrote those lines, it does bring a powerful question into focus:  “To what extent does God will that the creek not rise?”  And there’s a second, “Why doesn’t God stop it when the creek turns into a river which turns into a flood?”