Discover How To Transform Your Life In God
December 15, 2021
The battle for your body takes place in your mind. Everything that defiles the human body--whether it comes through drugs, food in excess, or sexual license-- first originates as a thought. When Paul wrote to the Romans who were struggling to determine what God expected of them, he urged them to "stop being conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds"—a negative followed by a positive.
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In this booklet, you will find devotional readings from each of Guidelines' daily and weekly devotionals: Reset with Bonnie Sala, Guidelines for Living with Harold Sala, and Encouraging Words with Darlene Sala. Let God's Word shine in your life every day!
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When Paul wrote his classic letter to the Romans, he spoke of sacrifices—something that both Jews and Gentiles understood clearly. Wherever anthropologists have unearthed the remains of a temple, they have found sacrifices of one kind or another. Temples and sacrifices went together as part and parcel of the same experience: this god, no matter how the deity was defined, had to be worshiped; and because of our shortcomings, of necessity, sacrifices should be offered as an acknowledgment of human frailty.
December 14, 2021
Anthropologists will tell you that in almost every known culture and civilization there is an unspoken understanding that comes with a gift–a reciprocity that, in effect, says this: Because I have done this for you, you have an obligation to return the favor by doing something for me. In some cultures, there are very clear expectations that need to be followed. I remember, years ago, being invited to a child's first birthday celebration in Korea. It was not a balloons and birthday cake sort of thing for the one-year-old, but a very formal gathering of family and friends. Many were dressed in ceremonial attire and there was a veritable feast of wonderful food. But what I most remember is that everyone who attended brought quite expensive gifts or sums of money for the birthday child, and all the gifts were duly noted by the family of the birthday child in a book. With each gift there was an obligation, over a period of years, to return the same value to the donor.
December 13, 2021
You prayed that your husband would get the position, and after the third interview, it seems that he's got it wrapped up. Then at the last minute, a local man shows up, one who can be hired for considerably less money. He gets the job. Your husband gets a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" phone call.
December 10, 2021
An old fortress some 20 miles southwest of the Dead Sea in Israel today has been called "one of the most spectacular finds of recent decades in all Israel." Archaeologists have unearthed the walls of a massive Iron Age fortress, built about 800 B.C., which are some 300 feet on each side and had massive towers on each corner. "OK," you may be thinking, "Why get excited over a pile of very old rocks in a desert?" Good question. And the answer goes deeper than archaeology. It embraces the historical trustworthiness of the Bible at the same time.
December 9, 2021
A college professor under whom I once studied spoke of a theologian with whom he disagreed, saying, "It isn't that he isn't a brilliant man‑‑it's just that he knows so many things that aren't true." If truth is subjective, if it is only a matter of personal opinion, then good men can disagree and both be right. But if historical data is supported by corroborating evidence, and if the character of the men who wrote it is supportive, then ultimately, we have to come face to face with facts. That is the situation when it comes to accepting or rejecting the credibility of the Bible.
December 8, 2021
What is truth? This question was once asked of Jesus Christ by a man named Pontius Pilate. The scene was a Roman courtroom. Christ was being tried on charges of sedition, of trying to overthrow the Roman government. It was a strained situation that prompted the question about truth. Pontius Pilate was a governor in the land of Israel. His office was political and had been purchased by power maneuvers. During his reign, truth had been irrelevant in his political conquest. Bribery, graft and corruption, linked with murder and violence, had been tools of Pontius Pilate in maintaining Roman supremacy. Now Pilate raises the philosophical question, "What is truth?"
December 7, 2021
Josh McDowell, a one-time agnostic turned apologist, has asked over 1400 young people whether or not they believe the Bible, and when they respond that they do, he asks, "Why?" While Josh says there are more than 50 legitimate answers to that question, only one person has ever given him an adequate answer.
December 6, 2021
When I was a young pastor, I encountered suicide for the first time. A local mortuary called and asked if someone could conduct a memorial service. It was a large church I was involved in, and the family really wanted a kind of generic--not very specific--kind of funeral, something which I did not know when I first got the call.
December 3, 2021
Looking back, his mother said that the problems started with her 19-year-old son when he was turned down at the school he wanted to attend. Trade school was their recommendation. About then he started drinking pretty heavily and started smoking pot. "Makes me feel better," he said. His appearance took a hit too. Whereas he had been pretty well groomed, he stopped bathing regularly and seemed to be withdrawn and sullen. He often shut himself in his room and listened to music or slept the day away. "I wish I was dead," he told a friend.
December 2, 2021
Children lie for the same reasons that adult lie: to avoid punishment, to win respect or to appear better than they are, because they don't trust someone with the truth, or because they feel threatened with power. Without realizing it, many parents teach their children to lie and actually encourage them in the practice at the very time they dislike what they see and punish their child because of it.
December 1, 2021
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In this booklet, you will find devotional readings from each of Guidelines' daily and weekly devotionals: Reset with Bonnie Sala, Guidelines for Living with Harold Sala, and Encouraging Words with Darlene Sala. Let God's Word shine in your life every day!