Guidelines For Living Devotional

It's a fact:  There is little agreement among people, scholars, or religious groups as to what hell is like. Some think of it as literal place of torment. Others conceive it in terms of unpleasantness in the present.  Still others think of it as simply ceasing to exist, separated from goodness and certainly God.

When he was asked his thoughts on death, comedian Woody Allen said, "I am not afraid of dying--I just don't want to be there when it happens."  Allen isn't alone.  A century before him, Mark Twain is reported to have said that he wished he knew where he was going to die because he would never go near the place.

I was invited to speak at a school in Russia in a place where I’d never been before and I was immediately confronted with two questions:  Where is this place?  And how do I get there?

American poet Edgar Albert Guest wrote, "It takes a heap of livin' to make a house a home."  That's another way of saying there is a tremendous difference between a house and a home.  You may have visited some of the mansions of the great such as Buckingham Palace in London, or Holyrood House in Edinburgh, or Hearst Castle in Northern California.  They are interesting to look at, and we are fascinated by those who live in them, but the average person would say, "No thanks! I'd prefer where I live right now."  Why?  Most mansions and castles are not very user-friendly.

If you were to describe the most beautiful place in the world, what would you select?  The Dolomites in Italy or the Swiss Alps?  Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, a garden of incredible beauty?  Perhaps you would describe a beach in the Philippines, or the peak of a sunset over rolling fields of grain.  James Michener described the South Sea island of Bora Bora as the most beautiful place in the world.  To single out the most beautiful place in the world would be tough, right?

When I travel overseas, going to a place I've never visited, I'm always curious.  I want to know what it's like, what people wear there, what we are going to do when we get there, what's the weather like, what are the customs and what are people like who live there.  There are only two ways to find out: read the travel books, look it up online, or talk to someone who has been there.

"Let not your heart be troubled," said Jesus in the Upper Room at the Feast of the Passover, "ye believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:6, KJV).  When Jesus spoke those words, there were plenty of reasons for His followers to be worried and troubled.  He had just taken a basin and washed the feet of the disciples, telling them that there was a traitor in their midst who would betray Him.  As He took the cup to share the Passover meal, Satan entered into the heart of Judas, who would sell Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

The woman died all alone at the age of 71. Because she had not seen a physician recently, the coroner was called to determine the cause of her death. “Malnutrition,” was the verdict. The little lady’s weight was only 50 pounds. Neighbors said that she had begged food from them, sometimes going door to door. The local outlet of the Salvation Army knew her. That’s where she had bought her clothes—all second-hand, of course.

"Why should we be concerned about poverty in Africa or the plight of the homeless?  We didn't cause the problems that confront people there, so why should we give?" challenged one person who seemed to feel that what happens somewhere else in the world should be left to someone else to solve.

Have you ever had the experience of feeling that you are the "odd person out?"  You have to attend a professional meeting or something you feel you should attend but would prefer to skip it. But you can't. You have to attend. Others stand around talking, laughing, and conversing, but you stand in the back of the room alone and intimidated, looking for the exit, thinking only about getting out. What you really want to do is escape, and as fast as possible.