Guidelines For Living Devotional

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."

"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!

"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.

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.

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."

“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.

"I'm an atheist; I don't need any religion to help me," were the words of a young pilot as he brushed off the chaplain's invitation to attend chapel.  The chaplain, however, held more than a half-dozen degrees including several from Oxford.  Not to be turned aside so easily, J. Edwin Orr asked, "Could I ask you a couple of questions?" Thinking this would be easy, the pilot said, "Sure, go ahead and shoot."

John always reads the obituaries—so he says--and then, not finding his name listed among the deceased, decides he is still alive and well, therefore, has to get up and go to work.   Right!

When the Swiss Air flight went down off the coast of Newfoundland, the black box on the plane indicated that sixteen minutes elapsed from the time the pilot first recognized the plane was in trouble until the fatal crash.   Sixteen minutes—one minute more than a quarter of an hour.  Sixteen minutes to make peace with God.

A certain pastor was spending far too much time with a staff member in his church, and the man was honest enough to admit that he was attracted to her and considering leaving his wife and family for the other woman.  A doctor friend, who was distantly related to the pastor, confronted him over the issue.  "How can you do this?" she challenged, adding, "You know that what you are doing is wrong."