Devotions for Dieters

Job 11:15
For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear.

What a marvelous feeling, being able to stand up in front of the diet group and tell them she had lost forty-four pounds! Marcie never thought she'd see the day. She remembered all the times when, with great embarrassment, she had to confess that she was not even close to her goal. Those days were behind her. All the doubts and guilt were over. The groups had been a great help, too, as God had been. Her faith was a large reason that she was able to stay with it as well as she did. Praise God, everything worked out. She held her head high and shared her great news with the group that had helped her so much.

Today's thought: Doubting never helps get things done!
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Sweet Words

Song of Solomon 4-5, Galatians 3
Key Verse: Song of Solomon 4:11

Try to go a day without any sugar. That might be close to impossible! There is sugar or a sweetener of some form in many of the things we eat. Read the labels and you may be amazed. Since that first suggestion is probably impossible, spend one day noticing the sweets you eat. Perhaps at some point in the day you'll get one of those "cravings," maybe even while just reading about sweets.

Let's face it-we enjoy the sweet treats, pieces of chocolate, mints, candies, as well as the spoonfuls of sugar we ladle into coffee or tea. Sweet is nice.

With that in mind read again these words: "Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue" (4:11). Here the "Lover" of Song of Solomon compares the words of his bride with the sweetness of the honeycomb. She must have been an expert at sweet talk!

Too often we are better at sounding sour than sweet. Sour words come more naturally. Yet we all like to hear the sweet words, the words that encourage, build up, motivate, calm and lift up our souls. Like the taste of a special piece of candy, the words of others can be sweetness to our hearts.

Now, knowing how much you appreciate the kind words of others, consider your own words. Are they sweet or sour?

Joshua 3:7

Exalted by God

How quickly man-made greatness fades! Before he attacked Russia, Napoleon Bonaparte seemed to have the world at his feet. But the Russian invasion turned into a disaster and Napoleon, fearing his position at home was in danger, left the French army and hurried back to France almost unaccompanied. Arriving at a river crossing, Napoleon inquired of the ferryman whether many deserters had come that way. Not recognizing the famous leader, the man responded, "No, you are the first."

God does not deal in such fleeting fame. What He offered to Joshua was something far better than anything man could give. As Joshua responded in obedience to God's Word, the Lord assured him that He would exalt him. Just as God had brought honor to Moses, so would He bring honor and respect to Joshua. This would not be a human grab for glory, but a gracious gift from God.

God offers the same to every Christian. As we make Christ the center of our lives and His Word the focal point of all that we say or do, the Lord will bring to us a glory that will outlast any honor that man could bestow. While we may not always be recognized by the movers and shakers of this world, the Scriptures assure us that we will be revealed in all our glory when Christ returns (1 Pet.1:7).

Don't worry if those around you fail to praise you. Seek instead for the honor that comes from the Lord. That glory will last forever.

Stand in the Gap

We often think of Moses as a great leader and a great legislator, and indeed he was one of the greatest. But have you ever thought of Moses as a great intercessor, a man of prayer? I was amazed to discover how many instances of prayer are recorded in the life of Moses. For instance, when the Israelites turned against God, made a golden calf and began to worship like the heathen, God was prepared to judge them. But Moses went up on the mountain and interceded, or "stood in the gap." "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them" (v. 23).

The people of Israel had been delivered from Egypt and were standing at Mount Sinai, where God was giving Moses the Law. But they built an idol. How soon we forget what God has done for us; how soon we forget what He has said to us. We turn away and start living on substitutes.

Moses could have profited personally from their sin. God said, "Moses, I'll start with you and make a whole new nation, and no longer will the Jewish nation be the people of Abraham. It will be the people of Moses." But Moses replied, "No, Lord, you love these people. They are your people. Don't judge them." God did judge their sin, but He did not destroy the nation. Of course, the people did not appreciate what Moses had done for them, and they began to criticize him as well.

I thank God that today in heaven we have an Intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for us at the Father's throne (Heb. 7:25). He and the Father love us and together are guiding and building our lives.

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Intercession is one of the believer's most important ministries. Are you an intercessor? Others need your prayer support. Follow the example of Moses and stand in the gap.

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference: Genesis 35:4-12

Bethel at Last!

God protected Jacob, and he arrived safely at his destination. Bethel at last!

The princeliness of Jacob was restored. God called him Israel instead of Jacob. Ten years earlier God had changed Jacob's name to Israel, but Jacob had not appropriated his position.

From this time forward Jacob did not backslide to his old life of scheming and deception. He applied faith and appropriated the provisions of God. As a result, in Hebrews 11 his name is mentioned in the gallery of people of faith, along with Abraham and Isaac (vv. 17-21).

When Jacob returned to Bethel, his communion and prayer life were reestablished. Genesis 35:13 says, "And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him."

After Jacob had made things right in his life, he was able to commune freely with God.

Have you also experienced the spiritual dryness that comes from a lack of communion with God? Are there things in your life that need to be confessed to God?

If so, apply 1 John 1:9, and as you appropriate His forgiveness and cleansing, you will again know the sweetness and blessing that comes from talking and communing with God. How wonderful it is to be on good speaking terms with our God!

"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God" (1 Chron. 22:19).

God's

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

As they had miraculously left the land of Egypt, Israel had now entered the land of Canaan by a similar miracle. All the people were safely across the swift waters of the Jordan. The army of Israel encamped at Gilgal. Having settled in the land, Joshua and the people were now ready for their first great test—the capture of the outpost of Jericho.

Since Jericho was the most secure stronghold in a string of fortifications defending the eastern front of Canaan, there were many anxious Israelite hearts the night before the conquest began. Joshua himself was pacing the ground at the edge of the Israeli encampment. While meditating on how to attack Jericho, a man appeared to Joshua with a sword drawn in his hand. Intrepidly Joshua asked, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" (Joshua 5:13) The powerful figure identified himself as the Captain of the host of the Lord. This title, so often afterward applied to the Son of God, revealed to Joshua that this was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Joshua must have known immediately the identity of this warrior for he fell on his face to the earth and worshiped Him.

Joshua 6:2 records, "And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor." Although it was the night before the once-a-day treks around the city of Jericho, the Lord's promise to Joshua was, "I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof." Their lines of battle had not yet been drawn. The fighting had not yet begun. Yet the victory was certain. Even before the event occurred, God said "I have done it."

How can this be? How can God say the battle is won before it is begun? The answer is that God is above time. He has no futures nor pasts, only an eternal present. He always deals in what is for Him the "now." Frequently God uses the words "I will" and "I have" interchangeably.

Consider the similar experience of Abraham, recorded in Genesis 17. Abram was ninety-nine years old when the Lord God appeared to him and, as Joshua did, he fell on his face before the Lord. The Almighty God was about to make a covenant with Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. To Abraham God said, "Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee" (Genesis 17:5). To a childless ninety-nine-year-old man, whose wife was nearly that age, God said, "A father of many nations have I made thee."

In quoting that promise in Romans 4:17, the Apostle Paul notes, "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb" (Romans 4:19). It did not matter that Sarah was well beyond the age of childbearing. God said He had made Abraham the father of many nations and we can count God's "wills" as God's "haves."

As twentieth century believers, the promises of God to us which have yet to be fulfilled are in the eternality of God already fulfilled. Thus the Lord Jesus promised, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again" (John 14:2-3). Although this is an event in history future, nevertheless, it is a promise as certain as if it had already been fulfilled. God calls things that are not yet as if they already are.

Hence, even though the battle plan was strange to Joshua, the defeat of the enemy was sure. Trusting the God of completed promises, "Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD" (Joshua 6:12) and the children of Israel proceeded to the conquest of Jericho. Another great victory was won for the Lord God whose "haves" and "wills" are interchangeable.

MORNING HYMN
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.