Growing in Grace

January 29, 2019 How to Free Yourself from Bitterness But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  Matthew 6:15 When Terry Anderson was taken captive by a guerilla group, little did he realize that he would be enduring what no one should ever be subjected to. Anderson, age 40 at the time, had been the chief Middle-East correspondent for the Associated Press. Soon after he was taken captive, he was given a Bible by his Shiite Muslim captors, and for the duration of his four-and-a-half-years of captivity, he drew strength and hope from the pages of this grand old book. At the most difficult times, he said, "My faith kept me from giving in to despair."  It was also that relation with God that enabled him to forgive the very individuals who had deprived him of his freedom for more than six years. "They did great wrong to me and my family," he said, but instead of hating them, he explained, "I don't hate anybod...

God uses problems to help you sense your weakness and His strength and to bring discipline into your life. How you react to problems and difficulties shows clearly the kind of stuff that's within you.  -Dr. Harold J. Sala

Guidelines for Living Devotional January 19, 2018 Overcoming Jealousy Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans  12:15 Rejoicing in another’s good fortune never comes easy!  When your best friend marries the girl you dated, it’s hard to get excited.  When the employee whom  you  hired gets promoted, leap-frogging over you, you may wish him luck and be polite, but inwardly you’d probably like to put a dagger in his back.  Your neighbor wins the lottery—not you.  How do you handle other people’s good fortune?  Are you glad for them, or do you detest their good fortune, wishing it had happened to you?  There’s a part of human nature which remains the same, year after year, generation after generation. It’s the problem which confronted a young man years ago when his brother took his half of the inheritance and headed for the big city. He squandered it. The entire bag of gold was spent on wine, women, and song....