Guidelines For Living Devotional

The Challenge of the New Year

Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and gathered them around him.  He taught them saying:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are the meek.  Blessed are they that mourn.  Blessed are the merciful.  Blessed are they that thirst for justice.  Blessed are you when you suffer.  Be glad and rejoice for your reward is in heaven.“

How to Live in the Present

“Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there for a year.  We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone,” reads a paraphrase of what James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote in the first century.

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.

The Ten Wonders of Christmas

Over 365 names and inscriptions are found in the Bible referring to Jesus Christ, but none is more lovely than the one found in Isaiah where the prophet said, "His name shall be called WONDERFUL" (Isaiah 9:6, KJV).  As a light that sparkles on a tree, the wonder of Christ can hardly be reduced to a treatment of a few minutes, but in that length of time I can give you the ten wonders of Christmas.

Immanuel

When the Communists took over in China in 1949, two missionaries were left behind--Rudolph Bosshardt and Arnolis Hayman.  The two were arrested and thrown into prison.  Days turned into weeks and weeks into months.  China is a vast country, approximately the same size as the United States (about 4,000 miles from east to west and 2,000 miles from north to south), 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.

Have You Heard the Music

If you haven’t heard the music, it may be because you’re not listening.  What music?  The song first sung over the fields of Bethlehem as angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).  The traditional French carol put it, “Angels we have heard on high/ Sweetly singing o’er the plains:/ And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains./ Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo.” 

What Mary and Joseph Knew

Childbirth is surely one of the most uncomfortable times in any woman’s life.  It’s a time when a husband, at a loss to help with the actual birthing process, would want to provide the most comfortable environment for his laboring wife.  But the Christmas Story, the accounts given us in the four Gospels, indicate that few comforts were Mary and Joseph’s as they stopped in Bethlehem at a very vulnerable and physically uncomfortable time. 

Catch the Christmas Joy

No emotion is more connected to Christmas than joy—the universal language of an overflowing heart.   Notice the gleam in the eyes of children as they open gifts, or stand on their tiptoes to see the display in the store window as they focus on dolls and sleds, on trains and toys.  But it shouldn’t simply be children whose hearts are filled with joy.  To the contrary, joy should be every person’s response to God’s great gift.

If Your Heart Aches This Christmas

If your heart aches, it somehow aches more deeply and more profoundly at Christmastime.  Despite the glow of candles, stars and twinkling lights, these days can be the darkest of the year.  A time when alone becomes lonely, when the reality of life on this earth doesn’t measure up to expectations and the losses of life loom large in the memory.   

Connecting With God

You are not just tissue, bones and organs, but a living being, a person made in God’s image.  Some 50 trillion cells—a unique mixture of body, soul, and spirit—constitute the real you! No one sees what you see or feels what you feel.  The Bible says that you were of such great importance to God that He sent His Son to redeem you, forgive your sins and failures, and to reveal His purpose and will for you.