Guidelines For Living Devotional

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.

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." 

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.

"Dear Dr. Sala," writes a friend, "I'm in my early 20's and find it very difficult to meet other people.  I'm so lonely.  What can I do?"  Scores of people can identify with the feeling--parties, people, laughter, entertainment and perhaps even good food, yet you feel so inadequate that you ask yourself, "What am I doing here?  I just don't fit."

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.

One of the most powerful cases for the authority of Christianity, is the way it transforms the lives of people into something better, something different, something more Christ-like than the individual was before an encounter with Jesus Christ. "Well," you may be saying, "look: Christianity isn't the only belief system that transforms lives," as you quickly add, "Let me tell you about…"   Yes, I concede the point, but the question is, "Does transformation produce hatred, anger, strife, and murder or does it result in compassion, in generosity, in kindness and love?"

The battle for your body takes place in your mind.  Everything that defiles the human body--whether it comes through drugs, food in excess, or sexual license-- first originates as a thought. When Paul wrote to the Romans who were struggling to determine what God expected of them, he urged them to "stop being conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds"—a negative followed by a positive.

When Paul wrote his classic letter to the Romans, he spoke of sacrifices—something that both Jews and Gentiles understood clearly.  Wherever anthropologists have unearthed the remains of a temple, they have found sacrifices of one kind or another.  Temples and sacrifices went together as part and parcel of the same experience: this god, no matter how the deity was defined, had to be worshiped; and because of our shortcomings, of necessity, sacrifices should be offered as an acknowledgment of human frailty.

Anthropologists will tell you that in almost every known culture and civilization there is an unspoken understanding that comes with a gift–a reciprocity that, in effect, says this: Because I have done this for you, you have an obligation to return the favor by doing something for me.  In some cultures, there are very clear expectations that need to be followed. I remember, years ago, being invited to a child's first birthday celebration in Korea. It was not a balloons and birthday cake sort of thing for the one-year-old, but a very formal gathering of family and friends. Many were dressed in ceremonial attire and there was a veritable feast of wonderful food. But what I most remember is that everyone who attended brought quite expensive gifts or sums of money for the birthday child, and all the gifts were duly noted by the family of the birthday child in a book. With each gift there was an obligation, over a period of years, to return the same value to the donor.

You prayed that your husband would get the position, and after the third interview, it seems that he's got it wrapped up.  Then at the last minute, a local man shows up, one who can be hired for considerably less money.  He gets the job.  Your husband gets a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" phone call.