Guidelines For Living Devotional

Strongholds and fortresses are as old as history itself. They are a reflection of man's desire to be secure from his enemies. Most often they were constructed as military defenses—to keep enemies on the outside and families safe within. They were often built with massive walls of stone, defended with canons and armament.  In the 5th century B.C., the Chinese built the 4,000 mile long Great Wall to keep out invaders. But eventually it was breached. Ancient Smyrna constructed what many thought was an impregnable wall. It wasn't. Eventually it was compromised.

Among the British, Yorkshiremen are known to be tough.  They are a "no-nonsense" breed of individuals known for common sense, thrift, and hard work. Understanding J. Hudson Taylor's background may explain why this man quietly impacted China as no other foreigner has ever done.  Yet of all the men whose lives have impressed me—spiritual mentors who have been benchmarks for my personal growth and goals—none is any harder to figure out than Hudson Taylor—which may be precisely why he is so important.

He left his heart in Africa, but his body is interred with the great in Westminster Abbey in London.  At his death, natives gently removed his heart and buried it in the Africa he so loved.  Then his body was carried to the coast where it was shipped back to England for burial. His name: David Livingstone, born in Blantyre, a mill town in Scotland where he grew up.

A thousand men proposed to her.  She had offers from millionaires, farmers, businessmen, fishermen and vagrants.  Even after her 70th birthday, proposals came in such quantities that her secretary did not bother to show her the letters.  She was not an actress or a movie star, but she had a tremendous following of thirty‑eight thousand men and women, who became ambassadors of goodwill in 86 countries.  Her name was Evangeline Booth and she headed the Salvation Army.  After retirement, she swam and did fancy diving as though she were still eighteen.  She was a tremendous woman‑‑administrator, musician, and friend to thousands.  When she was interviewed by a reporter, she said that her secret was this: "I live for others.  My deepest desire is to make every person I meet a little better because I have passed this way."

When electrical engineers, Luigi and Claudia, found that they were going to be parents, they began thinking about the prospective grandparents they did not have, since all four of their natural parents were no longer living.  If you don't have children and want one, you adopt one, right?  "Well," they thought, "why not adopt grandparents?"  But Luigi and Claudia, who chose not to disclose their family

The key to real love is accepting another person "as is" without trying to remake that person into the image of your dream; however, the key to staying in love is learning to live with some of the irreconcilable differences which just won't go away.  Like what?  Well, why don't you answer that question?

Centuries before Christ, a Greek philosopher named Thales said, "The most universal thing is hope, for hope stays with those who have nothing else."  In a period of time when everything was changing, in a period of tremendous personal loss, the Apostle Paul penned the inspiring words, "And now these things remain:  faith, hope and love..." (1 Corinthians 13:13).  The second of these qualities, hope, is to life what oxygen is to breathing.  Where there is hope, there is life.  And when hope dies, life itself begins to ebb away.

Question:  Is there anything which can be described as an absolutely hopeless situation as long as God is alive?  This, of course, means that you take His existence by faith, something that is not too difficult for most people.  Hebrews 11:6 in the New Testament says that "anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

When a submarine sank several years ago off Provincetown, divers descended to see if there were any signs of life.  Looking at a situation which seemed hopeless, a diver heard a tapping sound.  Yes, it was something coming from within the hull of the disabled vessel.  The diver listened carefully.  There was a rhythm to it, and then, drawing from what he had learned many years before, he recognized the pattern.  Over and over, the person inside was tapping out the message in Morse Code, "Is there hope?"

Have you ever heard it said that three moves are as good as a fire?  What that means is that every time you move, you throw out things, good things too, which you would like to keep but there is no room to keep them.  Why didn't you toss it out a long time ago?  You kept it because you were sure it was too good to throw away, so you put it in the closet or stored it in your garage.  Eventually, you have to reckon with it.  If you want to label the disorder, call it, "CLUTTER!"  It isn't only our closets which eventually suffer from clutter.  Clutter is a disease of the brain, even of the heart, as well as the closet.