Guidelines For Living

Harold Sala

How To Handle Negative Emotions

June 8, 2020

It is a medical fact:  Either you will learn to control your emotions or else your emotions will control you.  When your emotions are out of control, they will create havoc with your physical body.  David Messenger is a physician who has specialized in structural medicine.  Speaking of the effect of your emotions on your wellbeing, Dr. Messenger says, "Negative emotions are energy‑draining, mind stifling and completely counterproductive.  Allowing oneself to hang onto and revel in the bondage of bitterness, anger, resentment and hatred is a most self‑destructive way of living.  Bitterness, with its subsequent anger, resentment, hatred and then self‑pity, is the emotional disturbance I see most."

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How many friends do you need?  No, we’re not talking about Facebook friends, but the real thing.  Social science researchers quantify friendship types by the levels of relationship depth, starting with acquaintances, casual friends, close friends and then, intimate friends.  Acquaintances are people you make small talk with, maybe at the mailbox or the gym.  You might share an activity with a casual friend but probably wouldn’t see them outside of that activity.  Close friends are who you call when life turns upside down or something amazing happens to you, no matter what time of the day or night it is.  But intimate friends are far and few.  An intimate friend, hopefully would include a mate; this is someone you trust with your deepest secrets and your most vulnerable self, described by an old Arab proverb as, “One to whom we may pour out the contents of our hearts, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away!” 
June 5, 2020
So you think that you could never succumb to moral temptation, do you? Paul didn’t apparently think so or else he wouldn’t have given the advice he did to the effect that we are to guard against temptation by not allowing ourselves to be in a position of being vulnerable. In other words, you prevent the possibility by closing the door ahead of time and pushing the furniture against it, and leaving the lights on.
June 4, 2020
What prompts a person to return something that was stolen years before?  The influential weapon that governs our conduct is called conscience.  On the fifth floor of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington D. C. is a room which contains thousands of letters.  It contains the files of the federal "Conscience Fund."  This strange gift fund dates back to the year 1811 when an anonymous citizen wrote that he was "suffering the most painful pangs of conscience" because he had stolen from or defrauded the U.S. government.  He eased the pain by remitting $6.  In the 175 years that the fund has been in existence, $5.7 million dollars has been contributed.  However, “The sincerity of some donors' repentance can be uncertain, writes Dave Philipps, “as demonstrated by a received letter reading, ‘Dear Internal Revenue Service, I have not been able to sleep at night because I cheated on last year's income tax. Enclosed find a cashier's check for $1,000. If I still can't sleep, I'll send you the balance.’"[1]   [1] Philipps, Dave (April 10, 2005). "Would you tip the IRS?". The Gazette.  
June 3, 2020
Some 40 miles from Rome, strategically located between the Aegean and the Mediterranean, lay the beautiful city of Corinth.  Unlike Athens, where there were family connections and traditions, Corinth was a new city with fast money and loose morals. In Paul’s day to call somebody a Corinthian was desultory or debasing—a pejorative term that made someone fighting mad.
June 2, 2020
Enough.  That’s the elusive measurement so many of us chase after, hour after hour, day in and day out, year after year.  Can you relate to the confession of social activist, Lynne Twist? 
June 1, 2020
Question: Would you hire a contractor to build a house for you who comes up with the cheapest bid, though you have read about his being sued for cheating on materials he has used for others, substituting inferior products for the more expensive ones called for in the specifications?
May 29, 2020
Your greatest enemy, in all probability, is within.  It’s the nagging doubt, the belief that you just don’t have what it takes to live the Christian life.  Most of the time, we can keep the voices quiet but, especially when we are tired or discouraged or afraid, they invade our minds.  Writer and speaker Elisabeth Elliott used to say, “Our enemy delights in disquieting us.  Our Savior, our Helper, delights in quieting us.”  The Bible says that our enemy “...the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  Maybe you don’t have to be convinced that He is the enemy of your soul, yet quite often we don’t fully understand how he often defeats us by influencing our thinking.
May 28, 2020
When the 21-year-old spacecraft, Columbia, disintegrated on its reentry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003, a new pantheon of heroes was born--men and women who knew the risks they were taking yet chose to take that chance.  With that understanding of the dangers involved, each astronaut was asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding his wishes for a memorial service--who should do it, what he or she wanted said, what kind of a memorial he or she would like--should they not come back.
May 27, 2020
What a world!  Surprises!  This year, for a lot of us, surprises were not limited to reading about changing world events.  For some of you, surprises were not always welcomed.  A position opened up in your company, and you expressed an interest in it.  But when your boss interviewed you, he informed you that not only had management decided not to fill that position, but that the company was eliminating your job as well.  Surprise! 
May 26, 2020
It was a shocking story that gripped the nation. In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her bed in the middle of the night in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her family searched for her in vain. Nine months later she was recognized while walking down a street with her abductor. 
May 25, 2020
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Featured Offer

Journey to the Cross
Refocus your busy life leading up to Easter with this study and remind yourself of the importance of what Christ did on the cross for us. Prepare yourself for a journey to the cross.

About Guidelines For Living

Start your day with hope, confidence, and purpose by listening to the Guidelines for Living daily devotional with Harold Sala! This 5-minute program offers insightful teaching from God’s Word and practical application for living out your faith in the day-to-day. Strengthen your relationship with Jesus by adding this short devotional to your daily routine.  Guidelines for Living is the longest running five-minute program in Christian radio!  

About Harold Sala

Speaker, author and Bible teacher, Dr. Harold Sala founded Guidelines in 1963 and pioneered the first 5-minute Christian program on radio.  Dr. Sala holds a Ph.D. in biblical text and has taught at conferences, seminars and churches the world over.  An author of over 60 books published in 19 languages, his most recent release is 40 Unstoppable Women (Rose Publishing).

 

 

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