Devotions for Dieters

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Lois woke up from the strangest dream. She had died and gone to heaven, but when she got there, she couldn't get in. There was an extremely narrow hallway that everyone had to pass through before they could enter heaven. Try as she might, Lois couldn't get through the passageway because she was so large. Before, she had doubted that she could lose weight. Now, she found a new motivation. She believed God had broken through her excuses to tell her how important it was for her to lose. Never once did she believe that God would keep her out of heaven because of her weight, but she realized that her weight already kept her from enjoying life the way God intended it to be.

Today's thought: Life is great when you carry less weight!
Copyright © 2008, Crosswalk.com. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fordieters/

Coached to the End

Proverbs 27-29, 2 Corinthians 10
Key Verse: Proverbs 27:6

The next time you meet a retired Major League Baseball player, ask him, "At what point in your career did you no longer have a coach?" "I always had a coach," he will answer. Even the perennial all star, certain Hall of Famer, needs a coach.

Some coaches are great motivators, encouraging with positive statements to help the athlete maximize his potential. But all coaches are critics. They have an ability to see what is wrong, point it out and correct it. The player who wants to improve his game needs a good coach and a willingness to listen. He may prefer having his ego stroked, but knows that he needs the blows the coach can dish out.

We all need coaches who will tell us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear. We need to be coachable, people who will listen and learn from what Solomon calls the "wounds from a friend" (27:6). The words of a friend may hurt for a while, but ultimately they will help if we will listen. The person who says what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear is more like an enemy who kisses up to us.

Later in this chapter Solomon says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (v. 17). To sharpen involves removing some from the edge being sharpened. In a sense it, too, is a wounding, but for the good.

So which do you want ego strokes or wounds?

Has someone tried to help you but you rejected him because his words hurt? Go back to that friend and ask for his help. You can trust the wounds of a friend.

Author: Woodrow Kroll
Source: Lessons on Living
Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 1:37-38

The Value of Encouragement

Deuteronomy 1:37-38

The Value of Encouragement

Francois Arago, a 19th-century French astronomer, attributed his success to words he found written on the paper cover of his book at a time when he was greatly discouraged. These words, written by French mathematician and philosopher Jean d'Alembert, were, "Go on, sir; go on! The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn and shine with increased clearness on your path." Following these simple words made Arago the first astronomical mathematician of his age.

God knew that Joshua would need encouraging words as well. Moses had become so discouraged with the grumbling people that he himself sinned against the Lord and lost his opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:8-20). Therefore, God instructed Moses to challenge all the people to encourage his young understudy. If Joshua were to fulfill his mission, the monumental task of leading Israel into the land of Canaan, the people needed to support him with their encouragement.

You and I are much the same. We need encouragement, too, whether we're a leader or a follower. George M. Adams observed that "encouragement is oxygen to the soul." If we plan to go on living, we need oxygen; if we plan to go on serving the Lord, we need encouragement.

Do you have the gift of encouragement? Whom can you comfort today? What simple word can you say that will go a long way in motivating your friends or family? Make it your ministry to lift the spirits of those around you so that they can serve the Lord more effectively.

A New World

When Jesus Christ is your Savior and God is your Father, when the Holy Spirit is within you and the Word of God is teaching you, all of creation takes on new beauty and new blessing. The sky is a deeper blue, and the earth is a richer green. You don't see just creation; you see the Creator. And you don't simply see a Creator; you see the Heavenly Father, who cares for you.

"I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord" (vv. 33,34). The psalmist wrote these words after considering all of God's creation. He looked at the waters, the mountains springs and the rushing rivers. He heard the birds singing in the branches. He saw the cattle eating grass. He saw man baking bread and making oil. He watched the sun rise and set. "See all this?" he said. "I'm going to rejoice in this Creator, who is my God."

Let's rejoice in His works also. And let's rejoice that God is glorified as we obey Him today.

* * *

Dying to Live

Galatians 2:11-21

The new life is life "in Christ." The word "in" does not in this connection speak of location, such as "in an automobile," but carries the idea of union.

We are in union with Christ. Through Him we are dead to the Law, having been identified with Him in His death and resurrection.

On the resurrection side of this experience we have His life. He has come to live in us. It is this that marks the real difference between the old life prior to our salvation and the new life now that we are saved.

It is necessary before the believer can enjoy victory in Christ for the power of the old life to be broken. This is accomplished through union with Christ in His crucifixion. This is not an experience that we must struggle to enter into now. It was accomplished for us in the past.

The King James Version is not clear on this point. The American Standard Version of 1901 will help us here. The expression "I am crucified with Christ" is translated in the ASV: "I have been crucified with Christ."

God got rid of the old self-life by crucifying it. We were separated from the old self-life when we died with Christ.

That this is a past transaction is clearly demonstrated from Romans 6. In verse 2 Paul says, "We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?" (ASV).

In the third verse the apostle says, "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"(KJV) Here the verbs are clearly in the past tense and describe the finished transaction.

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24).

The Hidden Hammer

And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

The bottom had fallen out of Job's life. All his possessions had been destroyed. His family had been slaughtered, and any hope for a posterity was gone. God had delivered Job into Satan's hand. Those associated with Job could not understand why this had happened. Even his wife counseled him to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9). But Job was fully convinced that if God had permitted this evil to come to him, the evil would ultimately turn to good.

Job's friend Eliphaz expressed surprise that Job, who in the past comforted others, was now giving way to sorrow. His friend wrongly judged that if Job had nothing to be ashamed of, he had no reason to be sorrowful. Theologically he understood misfortune always to be the result of sin. Therefore there was no other explanation than that Job had sinned and the route of escape was not a bitter complaint but a bold confession of sin to receive the fruit of blessing. Understandably Job was offended at the speech of his friend. Eliphaz had magnified Job's complaint and minimized his condition. Just think of it. Life had collapsed around him and Job could think of no specific cause for that. He knew Eliphaz was wrong in his assessment of the situation.

In chapter 7 Job is philosophical about the brevity of life. He knows that the days of man upon the earth are numbered. He likens them to the cloud that is consumed and vanishes away. Since life is so brief and his life is now so filled with anguish, why does Jehovah even bother with Job? Why does He reveal Himself to Job every morning and try him every moment (Job 7:18)? He thought that in his condition, life is worth less than death, and Job desires that "thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be" (Job 7:21). The blows that God permitted Satan to land on Job appear to have been merciless. His life had been upright and just. How could God allow this to happen?

Samuel Chadwick relates that when he was a boy, he often went to the local blacksmith shop to watch the smithy work. He remembers how the smith would take a large piece of iron and place it in the fire with tongs and then work the bellows to make it white-hot. Then after removing the piece of iron from the fire and laying it upon the anvil, he would take a small hammer and begin to tap on the iron. No sooner would the smith tap the iron with the small hammer than a big man on the other side of the anvil would come crashing down hard with a large sledge hammer, hitting the iron on the exact same spot that the blacksmith had just tapped. Inquisitively, Chadwick once commented to the blacksmith, "You don't do much good with that little hammer, do you?" The gentle blacksmith laughed and replied, "No, my boy, but I show that big fellow where to place the blow."

When the bottom fell out of Job's life and his friends came to comfort him, none of them was aware of all that had transpired in heaven before these calamities began. None of them knew that God had given Satan permission to afflict Job. They were totally unaware that while Satan was pounding away at Job with his unholy sledge hammer, each blow was being carefully guided by a loving Heavenly Father. God would show Satan where he could deliver his blows on Job, just as the blacksmith defined for his large friend where he could hit the iron with his sledge hammer.

If you are today experiencing unjust criticism, undue persecution, or sorrow because love is not returned, please remember that as a child of God you can never be afflicted beyond what God, your loving Heavenly Father, gives him permission to do. God is still in control; and though friends may unrighteously condemn us, as long as we live a life clean before Him, we need not be concerned about what Satan can do to us.

MORNING HYMN
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear,
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.