Guidelines For Living Devotional

Theology is the study of God, but in the street use of the word, your theology is what you believe about God.  Historically, the Church has based its theology upon the written Word of God, the Bible, with tradition affirming the position which godly men and women have held down through the centuries.

Many of us today prefer not to get involved.  "Let government meet this need," we say, or we think, "I'm not qualified to handle this."  We quickly excuse ourselves from even attempting to reach out to someone who is in pain.  There are professionals to handle things like that and hurting people make us uncomfortable.

Love is all you need, sang the British rock band, the Beatles, in 1967, during what was called the “Summer of Love.”   And whether or not the kind of love the Beatles were singing of is really what the world needed, it is true that our world would be a drab and desolate place apart from the greenery of love. Jesus Christ talked a lot about love.  In fact, the subject of love was so important to Him that he talked with his followers about love in His last meal with them on earth.

Roses are perhaps the world’s favorite flower.  However, there is a facet of growing roses that we don’t focus on—fertilizing. Yet, fertilizer is a very necessary part of growing beautiful blooms. Unfortunately, the best fertilizer to produce lovely roses is the natural type that smells very badly. No one likes the odor, but everyone likes the results. This fertilizer, however, can be compared to the painful experiences of life, especially those that come through the difficult people we all encounter.

What do you do to change when dishonesty has become a way of life, when it is just as easy for you to look someone in the eye and lie as it is to breathe and sleep?  To the Corinthians, who knew something firsthand about dishonesty and deceit, Paul wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).  In God's sight, conversion makes you a new person; yet the fact remains that the ongoing change in your life, the result of God's Holy Spirit working within, takes time.  Conversion isn't an instant transformation from dishonesty to moral perfection.

Here is something amazing about God:  He is for us, not against us!  So often, especially if we have grown up in a home with a very religious tradition, it is very easy to focus on wanting to please—first our parents, then teachers, employers and yes, God. Faith can become only a checklist of things to do and not do, instead of a real relationship with someone who says that He loves us so much that He would sacrifice for us.

God works in and through the difficulties and problems that confront you in ways that you seldom see except in retrospect.  That's when you look back and say, "Ah, now I can see the hand of God leading, guiding, and protecting me; but I certainly didn't see it at the time."  Right! That's why your hindsight is so much better than your foresight.  Looking back you have 20/20 vision, but staring trouble and difficulty in the face, you are completely blind.

The Washington Post uses the word "compassion" as a synonym for governmental spending to help the needy and homeless.  And while no rational person would argue against the involvement of government in helping the homeless and the poor, the idea of compassion as being a government program is a far cry from the biblical concept of the word.  The term "compassion," found some 41 times in 39 verses, always included personal involvement.

"You don't get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate!" business writers claim, stressing that when it comes to your job review, you’d better be ready to prove your point with your boss.  The fact is, however, that statement is pretty true.  What you deserve and what you get may be totally different.

If a caterpillar can crawl up a tree and weave a cocoon around himself and emerge as a beautiful butterfly, why do we think it strange that God can change a human heart and erase the hatred and bitterness of sin, replacing it with love and joy?  This remarkable change, of course, is not psychological; it is supernatural, and the supernatural involves God.