Guidelines For Living Devotional

Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" Some three times, that question is asked in Scripture. But how would you answer it? Today we are faced with a quandary. Either we nod our heads and say, "Yes! God can do anything," unsure of whether we really believe this, or else we are confronted with empty hands and hearts, wondering why God didn't step in and reverse some troublesome situations confronting us.

Has hell lost its sizzle? Or has it? It all depends on whom you listen to, and accordingly, fewer and fewer people believe it really exists. Years ago, the Puritan preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards held a manuscript before his weakened eyes and preached his famous sermon known as "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Many of those who heard him fell to their knees and cried out in anguish and fear, asking God to save them from hell. But hell has lost its dread for many people. Frankly, hell has about entirely lost its sizzle.

Walking away from your nets when Jesus calls you is never easy! Vast numbers of people hear his voice. They know the voice of the Shepherd and would like to be counted among the fortunate who sit at his feet, but their hands seem to be frozen to their nets. Yes, they will gladly follow provided they can bring their nets with them, but to turn loose is more than they can handle.

Jack and his wife Sue should have more than enough to be satisfied!  He's an attorney with an income in six figures and a growing practice. She's an interior decorator. Ten years before, Jack had married his childhood sweetheart.  In the early years of their marriage, they often talked hours at a time, and when words were exhausted, they held hands and their hearts communicated with each other.

A certain woman wanting to join her church group going to Israel wondered if she should spend the money. "God," she prayed, "please give me a sign and show me what I should do." Placing the glossy brochure on her table beside the bed, she drifted off to sleep. Waking the next morning, she noticed the digital clock read 7:47 AM. "Didn't the brochure say we were traveling on a Boeing 747?" she asked herself as she picked up the brochure for another look.

Once you have seen the hand of God that reaches out towards His created subjects, you will never forget it.   I'm thinking of the tremendous work done by Michelangelo in the Sistine chapel. In that simple depiction is the story of the entire Bible--God reaching out to touch us at the point of our needs. All theology only puts meaning to that truth. All history only demonstrates it. Unlike angry deities who must be satisfied with blood sacrifice--sometimes even the life of your firstborn--the God of the Bible is a loving God who reaches out to touch you at the point of your need, where you hurt.

Surrounding almost every major city in the world is a circle or ring of highways that facilitate the flow of traffic. Some are called beltways, others traffic rings, or whatever. They are intersected by roads which go to the very heart of the city and, of course, lead away from it in the opposite direction. They serve a function and purpose, allowing people to move back and forth without having to go through the heart of the city or going very far away from it at the same time.

When Jesus confronted the crowds that came to hear him, they went away saying, "Never did anyone speak as does He!" In the message we call "The Sermon on the Mount," ten times Jesus said, "You have heard it said to the people long ago…" and then challenged that conventional wisdom saying, "But I say unto you!" Talk about someone specializing in unconventional wisdom!

As the pastor led his congregation in the recitation of the Apostles' Creed, that begins with the words, "I believe…" one man quietly said, "I used to believe…" and continued to mumble the words, recited by Christians for centuries.

When fire swept through Laguna Canyon near our office one of the properties destroyed was a botanical garden containing more than two thousand varieties of plants and flowers. Known as the Hortense Miller Garden, the place was a veritable paradise of beautiful flowers and greenery. The fire, of course, blackened the hillside as it left its ugly scars. Disaster? Yes! That is what people called it, and that it was. Yet, just five months later, the hills were alive with the beauty of wild flowers, which had not been seen in the area for thirty to one hundred years.