Guidelines For Living Devotional Guidelines

Anyone who has ever visited ancient Jericho can testify to the reality that in the summer it can be unbearably hot. 

OK, you have decided to take five minutes a day and focus on God.  You've made the decision to try it.  What can you expect?  For one thing, you'll discover that Murphy's law, "Anything that can happen, will happen," has your name on it. 

It's a rather sobering thought to realize that the world judges God by what they see of Him in the lives of His children--in my life.  So we look at our lives, and recognize that instead of mirroring His love, justice, character, and peace, we often project a somewhat distorted picture of God, one fogged over by our human failure.  "Not good enough!" cries our incriminating conscience.  Then in failure we feel like turning away.

Have you ever had one of those times when all of a sudden something that you’ve read a thousand times jumps out at you, and you then see something that has been there all along and it just hadn’t grabbed you before? 

Is it a holiday, an attitude, or the reflection of your heart?

You may have heard of the sad plight of the man who, greatly discouraged, crawled out on the ledge of a very high building and contemplated suicide.