Devotions for Dieters

Psalm 91:3
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Bert woke up in a cold sweat. He had dreamed that he was lying on a beach, when suddenly the sand began to shift, and he felt himself being sucked downward. Try as he might, he couldn't twist or turn out of the trap. Every way he moved, the sand gave way. He realized that the only reason he was sinking was due to his weight. The more he fought, the deeper he sank. As the sand closed in over his head, he woke up. Quietly, he prayed that the Lord might rescue him from his prison of flesh. Immediately, he was filled with a spirit of sacrifice and commitment equal to the diet that lay before him.

Today's thought: Without a doubt, I'll win this bout
Copyright © 2008, Crosswalk.com. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fordieters/

The KISS of Life

Ecclesiastes 10-12, Galatians 1
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 12:13

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the importance of KISS. That word can be an acronym reminding us to "Keep It Short" or "Keep It Simple." I know that is only "KIS," but I prefer to leave off the last "S" because typically that stands for "Stupid." Why call someone a name when you can get across the point without demeaning him!

There is another version of KISS. It is "Keep It Strictly Scriptural." A great admonition, especially for those of us who teach the Word, but it's not just for teachers. All of us should want to live a strictly scriptural life, doing and saying and thinking only what is strictly based on God's Word.

Maybe Solomon heard of KISS when he summarized all of what is important in just six words. He wrote, "Fear God and keep his commandments" (12:13). It is the "KISS of Life," short, simple and strictly scriptural. In those six words are contained the foundation for our life-loving reverence of God. The content is there as well-keep His commandments. There is a completeness in this command, as Solomon notes that it is the "whole duty of man." Far from the meaninglessness of things pointed out in Ecclesiastes is the fulfillment of life found in these words.

This, then, is how we are to live, in the fear of God, keeping His commandments. Remember this "KISS."

Put this verse into your memory, say it daily and live it always. It is the KISS of Life.

Joshua 1:12-14

Promise Keepers

In his book Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington described meeting an ex-slave from Virginia: "The man had made a contract with his master, two or three years previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, that permitted him to buy his freedom. While he was paying for himself, his master released him to labor where and for whom he pleased. Finding he could receive better wages in Ohio, he journeyed there. When Abraham Lincoln declared all slaves to be free, however, the man was still in debt to his master three hundred dollars. Even though technically he was freed from any obligation, he still walked back to where his old master lived in Virginia and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his hands. The man concluded, 'I could not enjoy my freedom until I had fulfilled my promise.'"

Joshua, too, reminded the Reubenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh that they had made a promise during the days of Moses. In return for being allowed to settle in the peaceful land east of the Jordan, they agreed to join their kinsmen in conquering the land west of the river. It was now time to fulfill that promise.

God expects all of us to keep our promises. In fact, the psalmist said that the person who walks with integrity "swears to his own hurt, and does not change" (Ps. 15:4).

Is there a promise that you need to fulfill? Have you made a commitment and not seen it to the end? Now is the time to take your obligation seriously and make good on your promises. Even if technically you're off the hook, people of integrity always do what they promise.

Who Can Praise The Lord?

"Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Or can declare all His praise?" (v. 2).

Who can truly praise the Lord? Those who know God through faith in Jesus Christ. "His mercy endures forever" (v. 1). Only when we've experienced the mercy and the grace of God can we utter His mighty acts. We've been saved by His grace. This was God's greatest act--greater than bringing Israel out of Egypt and even greater than the creation of the universe.

Who else can praise the Lord? Those who obey Him. "Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times!" (v. 3). If we are walking with the Lord and obeying Him, then we can praise Him and speak of His wondrous acts.

Also, those who call upon the Lord can praise Him. "Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation" (v. 4). People who pray are people who praise. People who pray for God's will in their lives are those who rejoice in His work.

Finally, those who trust His promises can praise the Lord. "That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance" (v. 5). God promised His people an inheritance in Canaan, and He gave it to them. We now have our inheritance in Jesus Christ. We are rich! We are richer than kings, and we can draw upon that inheritance. We are sharing in His goodness and His gladness, and one day we will share in His glory. Let's praise Him today.

* * *

Those who obey, trust and call upon the Lord know of the acts of God. They have claimed their inheritance in Jesus Christ. Are you among those who can praise the Lord? Have you claimed your inheritance?

Two Burdens

Galatians 6:1-10

To speak of bearing one another's burdens and then to say that every man shall bear his own burden appears on the surface to be a contradiction.

This really is not the case. Two different words are used in the original language that are translated "burden" in Galatians 6:1-10.

The burden spoken of in verse 2 is a burden caused by circumstances. The first verse in this chapter admonishes the spiritual person to restore a brother caught in a fault.

Instead of discouraging the guilty and burdened brother, the Christian counselor is to help sustain his spiritual life. We are to help bear the burdens of such a person. We are to put ourselves in his place and make his burdens part of our burden.

The burden in verse 5 deals with our responsibilities as Christians. The subject of personal work is raised here and is part of our task as members of the Body of Christ.

In such passages as 1 Corinthians 12:18 and Romans 12:38, we are told we are members of the Body of Christ, and the function of members in a body is to work.

The life of the Body is His life. So each one of us who is a member of the Body of Christ has a responsibility and must bear it, thus proving his own work.

To the sinner the Lord Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). But to us he says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.... For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (vv. 29,30).

He wants us to bear our burden of responsibility to God and man.

"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Rom. 15:1).

Practical Religion

And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

Faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour transforms us from a shallow meaningless person into one filled with the Spirit of God. If we are born again and the Spirit resides within us, our religion ought to be as full of meaning as our lives are full of the Spirit. How terrible to see many religions in which there is absolute meaninglessness because of spiritual ritualism. Jesus encountered this very same thing in His day as well.

The Pharisees were always guilty of practicing an empty religion. This is why John the Baptist called them a "generation of vipers" (Matthew 3:7). The Pharisees were constantly interested in keeping the ceremonial law, but they had the wrong heart attitude toward God. When Jesus called Matthew to discipleship, the Pharisees were right there to question the Lord's disciples, "Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" (Matthew 9:11). When He cast a demon out of a man who was dumb, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out devils through the power of the prince of the devils (Matthew 9:34).

Always the Pharisees were seeking a sign from Jesus that He was the Messiah. Time and again He refused to give them such a sign saying that the sign of Jonah was all they would need. His resurrection after a death of three days would be the great sign to them that He was indeed the Messiah. If they would not believe that sign, neither would they believe any other.

At Magdala Jesus again encountered the Pharisees, this time in league with the Sadducees and Herodians, who again asked Him for a sign. As before, Jesus refused to give them such a sign but at the same time He taught them something about the emptiness and blindness of their spiritual ritualism. Jesus noted that the Pharisees and Sadducees could read the weather signs in the heavens. He said, "When it is evening you say, it will be fair weather for the sky is red." This is comparable to our axiom, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight." But Jesus continued, "And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring" (Matthew 16:3). Or, as we would say, "Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."

Jesus then concluded with the assessment, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" These religious leaders could read the skies with the best astronomers and mariners, but could not recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. This was where their expertise should have been, but because they had been involved so long with empty formalism instead of meaningful activity in carrying God's love to the world, they did not have the eyes of faith with which to see Jesus as their Saviour.

An item from a church bulletin clearly points out the inconsistency of pious religion which does not follow through in meeting the needs of people. It is a satirical rephrasing of Matthew 25: "I was famished and you formed a humanitarian club to discuss my hunger...I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your church to pray for my release. I was naked and you debated the morality of my unseemly appearance. I was sick and you knew it, yet did nothing but thank God for your own health. I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely and you left me by myself while you went and prayed for me. You seemed so holy, so close to God; but I am still very hungry, desolate, and cold!"

While the Pharisees had all the trappings of religion, all the robes, all the religious paraphernalia, they had none of the heart, none of what true religion is all about. Yet today as well there are many churches and denominations that have all the trap-pings of religion but none of the heart of the Lord Jesus. It is up to each of us to make sure that we attend faithfully those churches which show the heart of the Lord Jesus and not the heart of the Pharisee. Is your church following Jesus or following the Pharisees? Is your religion practical? Make it a point to pray for your church today.

MORNING HYMN
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and Heav'n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.