Guidelines For Living Devotional

John Wesley was all of six years old when fire broke out in the frame house where he and his large family lived. It was one of the most vivid memories of his life. John was trapped on the second floor, unable to get out.  He stood there at the window terrified, afraid to jump.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus," wrote a man who had known more than his fair share of difficulties.  His name? We know him as Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ. In one sentence Paul gives us the key to unlocking the door to a relationship of blessedness and gratitude.  He is saying in simple terms that thanksgiving is not a holiday to be celebrated but an attitude of your heart to be daily observed because no matter how difficult the circumstances of your life—whether you are in a hospital bed or enjoying health, wealth, and happiness—God is in control.

Do you ever say, "Thank you, God!" for what could have happened to you but did not?  The human tendency is to say, "Thank you!" for the wonderful things that happen like when you get a raise at work, or when someone gives you a well-deserved compliment, or your child's team wins; but what about giving thanks for what could have happened, but did not?

"In some parts of Mexico," writes James Hewett, "hot springs and cold springs are found side by side—and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry and boil their clothes in the hot springs and then rinse them in the cold ones."  On one occasion a tourist, watching nature's laundromat, commented that "Mother Nature is pretty generous to supply such ample, clean hot and cold water here side by side for their free use."  To his great surprise, however, the friend replied, "No señor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap."[1]

 

[1] James. S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1998), 262.

There are only three things you can do with it: spend it, save it, or give it away. Only three choices. Yet when it comes to the bottom line of disagreements, you'll probably find it, almost every time.  It's money!  No matter how much they have, or how little they have, people don't agree on how it's spent.  Playing a prominent part in at least 85% of all broken homes, the handling of money is one of the most explosive issues that confront people today, especially in times of recession and inflation.

Question:  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the greatest, how tolerant are you? "Tolerant of what?" you might ask, thinking of politics, religion, sports, or intelligence.  Most of us think of ourselves as being quite tolerant, and certainly if we are in the minority, we demand tolerance and respect as a kind of sacred right.

There is something about believing in hell which is repugnant to the modern mind. Heaven? Sure! That's consistent with the picture of a loving God, one who cares far too much about us to turn anyone away from His door. Yes, we can abide the thought that God may punish His errant children as we human parents have to do--at least for a bit; but the idea of fire and brimstone, smoke, and torment reminds us more of the graphic imagery of Dante's The Divine Comedy than of John 3:16.

When Peter came to the end of writing the second book which bears his name, he gave some very practical advice.  He ended by saying, "Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men…" and "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  Notice the two words: guard and grow.  That was the practical advice of a fisherman who knew that he had to defend his fishing grounds, but he couldn't spend all of his time keeping others out of what he felt belonged to him.  He had to fish.  He had to grow.

When Jesus called people, He interrupted their goals, their plans, their life works and their consciences as well.  The more they know Him, the more they came to understand that following Jesus was not a part-time vocation but an absolute, all-encompassing commitment.  And that is why on more than one occasion, some turned away and ceased to follow him.

Probably no other generation in history has been more committed to living for the moment than is our present one; or put in somewhat less refined terms, no generation has been more committed to squeezing every ounce of pleasure and fulfillment out of living than the present one.  Now all of this is not bad, but the constant emphasis on self produces a distorted picture of the individual's true worth. The end result is a selfishness that produces a marked disregard for others, and totally distorts a person's actual importance.  Nothing is much smaller than an individual's world who shuts others from the heart as well as the hand and purse.