Guidelines For Living Devotional

Do You Have A Plan For Your Life?

Years ago, an immigrant succeeded the hard way.  He worked long hours, made the customer feel important, and was sensitive to the needs of those who came to his shop.  All of his hard labor paid off, and determining to give his son more than he had, he saved and sent the youth off to college.

Why Is God Not Answering Me?

 Amy Carmichael called it the "age-long minute," the period of time between when you pray, asking God to undertake, and the moment when His strong arm moves on your behalf.  The "age-long minute!"

3 Simple Tips For Working Through Grief

 "Ever since our mother died, my sister won't talk about it.  It seems that she wants to just seal that part of her life off and pretend it didn't happen," confided a friend, wondering what he could do to help his sister.

5 Steps To Create Attainable Goals

Frustration is no stranger to the child of God.  Believers live in a world of broken pieces, and buses that are late, and budgets which will not balance, just the same as the man who is an atheist.  Let's go back to the source of much of our frustration--goals that are not reached, accomplishments that are not realized, and expectations that are not met.  The result: frustration. 

What To Do In Times Of Trouble

Andrew Murray had a philosophy of life which enabled him to go through periods of difficulty.  In the flyleaf of an old Bible of mine is a clipping quoting Murray, who wrote, "In times of trouble, God's trusting child may say, FIRST:  He brought me here; it is by His will I am in this strait [difficult] place: in that will I rest.  NEXT:  He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.  THEN: He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.  LAST:  In His good time He can bring me out again--how and when, He knows.  SAY:  I am here-- (1) By God's appointment, (2) In His keeping, (3) Under His training, (4) For His time."

Moving Beyond Life’s Frustrations

     "Dear Mr. Sala, I need help!  I am 34 years old, and I have not accomplished or feel that I am accomplishing any of my goals.  I attend college in the evenings.  I have done very well in bringing up my grade standards, but I seem to come in contact with situations that I cannot control or have the faith to overcome.  That is why I am writing.  I am faithless.  I thought I really believed in God, but I do not.  I don't even believe in myself.  I have listened to your Guidelines.  Can you please send me help or suggest help that is real?"  Signed, "With great frustration…"  Can you relate to that letter?  You bet you can!

Understand The True Depth of Love

"I can't love people in slices," says King Arthur in Camelot, "I take the good with the bad."  Maybe that's why King Arthur presided successfully over a vast array of knights and we seem to preside over the dissolution of relationships gone bad.  Can we love people in slices, choosing what we like, rejecting what we dislike?  There's a problem with that philosophy—nobody, myself included, is completely lovable.  In every person there is a diversity of attitudes, habits, and mannerisms—some of which are wonderful, and some of which must surely be annoying to the most holy saints.

Start Trusting God With Your Pain

When British rock star Liam Gallagher's father took a hammer and struck his mother, he blamed God.  "I stopped believing in God because of what happened to me," he said, explaining that he and his mother and two brothers were forced to move into an apartment and start another life.

What Does Your Lifestyle Say About You?

Peter Sedore got a hole-in-one at the Panorama Village Golf Course where he often played.  It wasn't his first, either.  Actually, it was his eighteenth career hole-in-one, something which golfers recognize isn't an everyday occurrence by a long shot.  Neither did Peter, age 83, realize it would be his last hole-in-one, either.  One hole later, he collapsed from an aneurysm in his brain, and was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.  "There was no other way he would have wanted it," said Sedore's son, Dennis, adding, "Maybe God wanted him to do it one more time before taking him."

Learn Why The Bible Is True

“Are the Bible’s Stories True?” asks a Time article.  “Was Abraham a myth?  Did the Exodus happen?  Did Joshua conquer the city of Jericho?  Was there a Moses?” ask segments of the article.  Typical of so many secular articles focusing on archaeology and biblical history, the author cites recent archaeological finds but leaves the reader with the impression that until science documents events in the Old Testament, this book had better be left in the category of religious myth.  Statements such as “There is no direct evidence, other than the Bible, to suggest that Abraham’s exploits… ever happened.”  And Abraham is not the only person whose historicity is questioned.  Unless there is undeniable confirming evidence from archaeology, some theologians and scientists refuse to accept any part of the Bible as history.