Devotions for Dieters

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Brenda decided it was time to lose weight, and she did. Peggy struggled a little bit more, but she lost the pounds she wanted to, also. Tracy wondered why everyone else seemed to do so well, while she did so poorly. Maybe something was wrong with her! Maybe she couldn't lose weight. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Often our mind turns out to be our worst enemy when we try to diet. We can alarm ourselves needlessly. Everyone diets differently, and everyone receives different results. There is no place for fear and doubting in dieting. What we need is perseverance and faith that God will help us.

Today's thought: I have a very skinny spirit!
Copyright © 2008, Crosswalk.com. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fordieters/

Proverbs 13-15, 2 Corinthians 5
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:1

It is not unusual to see a canopy tent set up in the cemetery near our house. These are temporary structures, providing some relief from the weather during a graveside service. Soon after the burial, the tent is removed.

I like those tents for two reasons. One is obvious they do keep the sun, snow or rain off of those gathered by the grave. The other is not so obvious, but I would point it out if I were leading the service. At the committal I would reach up and grab hold of the tent. "We don?t live in tents," I would say, "but in houses." Tents are fine for times such as that, but most people would not want to live in one. They would rather have a house. I like the tent because it was a reminder of the truth that we all will one day move out of current residences and into our permanent home in heaven.

Where we live now is one sense a tent. That is what Paul calls our body, which will one day be destroyed. Until then we look forward to the building we have that is from God, "an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (5:1). A tent over a grave is a vivid picture of this truth. It serves as a reminder that we will leave the earthly tent behind for the home we have in heaven.

All that is around us is temporary, even our aches and pains. Rejoice that one day you will move out of the tent and into the house, the one prepared for you by God.

Deceived by the Noise by Dr. Woodrow Kroll

Exodus 32:17-18

Deceived by the Noise

Lost in the jungle, a man sought desperately to find his way to safety. His strength was ebbing fast. Suddenly he heard what he thought was a bell tolling in the distance. Surely civilization must be near by. Valiantly he struggled on, but never seemed to draw closer to the sound. Finally he fell to the ground exhausted, never to rise again. The uncanny call of the South American bellbird, which sounds like a reverberating "toll," had struck again. Instead of offering the weary traveler promised safety, it lured him to his death.

Joshua made a similar mistake. When he heard the sounds of shouting, his military mind immediately assumed he was hearing the sounds of battle. But Moses, experienced in the ways of human nature, realized it was something even more sinister. What Joshua mistook for the sounds of potential physical danger, Moses recognized as the sure sounds of serious moral danger. Instead of war, it was the noise of debauchery and immorality.

Satan is a skilled noisemaker, and he loves to disguise the reality of sin with deceitful noise. He cloaks his wicked ways with words that sound lofty and noble. He hides his lies and deceit beneath raucous laughter, emotional appeals or apparent sincerity. The consequences, however, are spiritual disaster or even death.

Don't be fooled by the noise. Always take what you hear back to the Word of God. If it's not consistent with the Bible, take no heed to it no matter how good it sounds.

Have you thought lately about angels? We usually don't think about them because we don't see or hear them. But God's Word tells us they are His special messengers. "Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire" (v. 4). We have a fire of God at work--His angels, accomplishing His will.

The angels have always served God. They sang at creation. They visited Abraham. They came to Hezekiah when Jerusalem was under attack, and one angel destroyed 185,000 soldiers. They announced the coming of the Messiah. They sang at Jesus' birth. They were with Him in the wilderness when He was tempted. They were with Him when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. And now that Jesus has ascended to heaven, the angels worship and glorify Him there.

Angels also serve us. Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" Angels are God's invisible army, His servants, working for us.

I have a feeling that when we get to heaven we'll find out that there were many times when angels protected us from harm and strengthened us. Let's rejoice today that we are not alone. Greater are those who are with us than those who are against us.

* * *

God sends angels to minister to you. It should encourage you to know that they are working on your behalf. Today, thank Him for His angels and for their ministry.

Genesis 30:25-33

When Laban told Jacob to name his wages, this gave Jacob another opportunity to scheme and gain more blessings by deceit. Although Jacob schemed and plotted, God did not let him out of His sight--and even continued to bless him.

How marvelous was God's patience with His unworthy servant! God must have seen much in Jacob because of all the years He spent in disciplining him, leading him, overruling his mistakes and forgiving his sins.

When God was finally through with Jacob and had forgiven all of his sins, it is said of God, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them" (Num. 23:21).

Consider the grace of God that is revealed in this statement: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob." The verse does not say that Jacob did not sin, but God had forgiven it all and had blotted it from His mind.

What a marvelous God we have! Take time to examine your heart before God and confess any sin that is in your life. God has promised to forgive our sins when we confess them to Him (1 John 1:9).

Clear the record with God so that there is no unconfessed sin in your life. Because Christ shed His blood to pay the penalty for sin, it is possible for God to blot out your sin.

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Prov. 28:13).

Revelation 22:16

Just as Genesis, the first book of the Bible, is a book of beginnings, Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is a book of new beginnings. Before these new beginnings can occur, however, a series of endings must transpire. Thus the book of Revelation represents numerous "finals" in the Word of God.

Genesis 3:9 is God's initial call to man: "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" Revelation 22:17 is God's final call to man: "And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Somewhere between Genesis 3:9 and Revelation 22:17 everyone who would enjoy eternity in heaven with Christ must answer one of God's calls. Perhaps you have answered Jesus' call in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Or maybe it was the call of Christ in John 4:14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." But if you have not responded to the call of Christ, if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you must respond to His call in order to receive eternal life.

Once we have responded positively to the Lord's call to salvation, we have a whole new outlook on the future. Our destiny is brighter. Our lives are sunnier. The birds' songs are sweeter. We look forward to serving Jesus every day and anticipate the day we shall live with Him in glory.

Just before God's final call in Revelation 22:17, Jesus verifies that He is indeed the one to whom we are called in salvation. He says, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16). These titles are applied to Him elsewhere in Scripture (cf. Isaiah 11:1; Numbers 24:17), but nowhere do they take on more meaning than just prior to the final call in the Bible. When we come to God in salvation, we come to the offspring of David. When we leave the darkness of sin, we enter the light of the Bright and Morning Star. It is the shining face of Jesus, the one who died for us, that we will first want to see when we enter the brightness of heaven. After all, being with our Savior is what makes heaven heavenly.

When Fanny Crosby, the hymn writer who wrote more than 8,000 gospel songs even though she was blinded at the age of six weeks, was pitied by a friend because she could not see, Miss Crosby replied, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I would have been born blind?" The friend was puzzled by this answer and asked her for further explanation. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!" We too will want to see our Savior first of all.

There is a story about Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, who once captured a prince and his entire family. When they came before the monarch, Cyrus asked the prisoner, "What will you give me if I release you?" The prince replied, "The half of my wealth." "And if I release your children?" The prince replied, "Everything I possess." Finally Cyrus said, "And what will you give me if I will release your wife?" The prince replied, "Your Majesty, I will give myself." So moved was Cyrus by the devotion of this young prince that he freed him and his entire family. As the prince, his wife and children returned to their home, the prince said to his wife, "Wasn't Cyrus a handsome man!" With a tender look of love in her eyes, the wife said to her husband, "I did not notice. I could only keep my eyes on you the one who was willing to give himself for me."

Morning by morning we arise to give praise to the one who saved us. Day by day we serve the one who saved us. Evening by evening we rejoice in the one who saved us. Let's concentrate today on loving the Lord Jesus and adoring no other face than the one who loved us so much that He died for us (John 3:16).

MORNING HYMN
All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.