Devotions for Dieters

2 Corinthians 12:9
And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

There are times when the hunger pangs get to be almost unbearable. A person gets shaky, she feels weak-kneed and light-headed; it almost feels like an illness. Hunger makes us aware of how really weak we are. A person who is hungry is a person who is humble. It is good for us to realize that we need help, that we are not always able to stand on our own two feet. In those times of weakness, we learn to rely on the true strength: the power of Jesus Christ. Christ comes to us in our moments of weakness, to strengthen and support us. Praise God that He never lets us fail for very long.

Today's thought: Hunger makes me weak; losing weight makes me strong!
Copyright © 2008, Crosswalk.com. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fordieters/

Not Good Enough

Isaiah 1-2, Galatians 5
Key Verse: Isaiah 1:15

It seems inconceivable to think that God would not listen to our prayers, yet there are times when that is exactly the case. Our concept of God is that He always hears, always listens, but that is an incomplete concept. It may be the one that we like, but it is not what the Bible teaches.

What makes the difference between God hearing or not hearing our prayers is a matter of our heart. Some think, if I have the right "form," if I pray with the right words, in the right place, at the right time, then it is a done deal. I prayed. God will answer. That is the way it is supposed to be.

That attitude toward prayer is very man-centered, one that views God as the cosmic servant rather than the holy, sovereign Creator. His view differs drastically. Isaiah 1 makes that apparent. God looks at the heart of the one praying. Even His view of the raised hands is penetrating as He sometimes sees the uncleanness of the supplicant's life (1:15). In this chapter Isaiah also condemns strongly the sacrifices and festivals of the people, making the point that it is not a matter of art but of heart that makes what we do acceptable to God.

Flowing out of these rebukes are the gentle words, "'Come now, let us reason together'" (v. 18). Notice, though, that between rebuke and reconciliation is repentance (vv. 16�?7). When there is wrong in our life it must be made right, a process that starts in the heart.

Perhaps you go through all the right motions, but is there wrong in your life? Don't just trust your routines to indicate all is right in your relationship with God. Look at your heart.

Joshua 4:1-3

A Family Memorial

The memory capacity of an ordinary human mind is astonishing. You may not consider yourself particularly good at remembering technical data, but think about how many faces you can recognize or how many names you can recall. Consider also how you are able to remember some past incident or how many words you can spell and define. Someone has estimated that in a lifetime, a brain can store one million billion "bits" of information. Yet how easy it is to forget the marvelous things that God does for us.

For that reason God commanded Joshua to select 12 men, one from each tribe, to pick up a stone from the dry riverbed and carry it to where they would lodge. These 12 stones became a reminder to the people of the miracle that the Lord performed for them. But this memorial was not for them alone. Joshua instructed the people, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'" (4:21-22). These stones became a family memorial.

It's important for every family to have reminders of what the Lord has done for them. Perhaps you could keep a journal of God's blessings in your life. A friend of mine has a photo album that helps her and her family remember the Lord's goodness.

The Cost of Mingling

It has been well said that the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. Anyone who has raised children or is trying to help raise grandchildren knows this. Somehow the new generation doesn't believe that the older generation knows anything.

Psalm 106 certainly bears this out. It is a record of how the people of Israel were blessed and then sinned. God helped them repeatedly, and they repeatedly sinned. We see one cause of their sin in verse 35: "But they mingled with the Gentiles." There's step one--they started mingling and breaking down the walls of separation. God had warned Israel not to mingle among the nations. They were not to get involved with them, but as verse 35 says, they "learned their works." First we mingle with the world, and then we start learning the world's way of doing things. And before long, Israel "served their idols, which became a snare to them" (v. 36). They mingled, they learned, and they served.

The tragedy is that the families suffered the most. "They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons" (v. 37). Thus, they lost the next generation.

Many Christians today have broken down the walls of separation. They are mingling with and serving the world and are figuratively sacrificing their own children to demons. "Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot" (v. 39). Israel was married to Jehovah God, but she was unfaithful to her marriage vows.

Don't be defiled by the world. Keep your walk with the Lord holy.

* * *

Sin contaminates. That's why you need "walls of separation." Don't mingle with the world, for one step of compromise will lead to another. Keep your heart clean of sin and do not entertain temptations. Let nothing come between you and your relationship with God.

You Were Born Wealthy

Ephesians 1:3; Romans 8:35-39

The individual who has received Christ as Saviour has been united to Christ, but he is traveling through a world that has an ungodly, hostile atmosphere. Thus, the believer needs a spiritual atmosphere in which to breathe.

Just as astronauts have to take along their own atmosphere when they go to the moon, the believer needs spiritual atmosphere to sustain his spiritual life while on earth.

The believer needs spiritual food, spiritual companions, spiritual exercise, spiritual strength and spiritual weapons.

God has blessed believers with "all" spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). Many of these are mentioned in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

God has withheld nothing in providing benefits for the believer--all spiritual blessings are available. God has not just given out of His riches, but He has provided for the believer "according to" His riches.

There is not a single benefit that God wants to provide for the believer that He is unable to provide.

Every blessing that is needed for the spirit, soul and body; every blessing that is needed for past, present and future; every blessing that is needed for salvation, sanctification and service; and every blessing that is needed for time and eternity has been provided in Christ for the believer.

As is seen from 2 Corinthians 9:8, God is able to make His grace overflow to the believer so that the believer has everything he needs to meet any spiritual problem.

"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3).

Morning Corruption

I said, Surely thou will fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Zephaniah is a book of contrasts. Perhaps no other prophecy in the Old Testament paints a blacker picture of God's judgment than does Zephaniah. It is a foreboding portrait of the day of Jehovah, the day of the Lord. Still, no prophet paints a brighter picture of Israel's future glory.

Zephaniah was a unique prophet. A contemporary of Jeremiah, more is known about the pedigree of Zephaniah than any other prophet. The first verse of this prophecy shows that his lineage was in the royal line; he was the great-great-grandson of good King Hezekiah. His royal heritage makes Zephaniah's rebuke of the nobles and princes all the more significant. He spoke to Judah and Jerusalem as one of their own, as royalty.

Taking occasion from the threat of invasion by the savage Scythian hordes from the north, Zephaniah preached of the coming of the great day of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. With all the fervor of a revivalist, Zephaniah announced, "The great day of the LORD is near.... That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.... And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; and their blood shall be poured out as dust.... Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath...for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land" (Zephaniah 1:14-18).

In the three chapters of this tiny book nearly every word is laced with a warning about God's wrath. In chapter 1 the utter desolation of Judah is predicted as a judgment for idolatry and neglect of the Lord. In chapter 2 Zephaniah predicts that the house of Judah as well as her enemies, Moab and Ammon, will be threatened with perpetual destruction. In chapter 3 he turns his attention to the city of Jerusalem, calling it "filthy and polluted" and "the oppressing city."

Hurling invectives at Jerusalem's princes, her judges, her prophets, and her priests, Zephaniah warns that "the just LORD is in the midst thereof; He will not do iniquity: every morning doth He bring His judgment to light, He faileth not" (Zephaniah 3:5). Literally, morning by morning God will bring His judgment on the wicked city of Jerusalem. No one who defies the Lord God ever escapes punishment. Still, the princes, prophets, priests, and inhabitants of Jerusalem paid no attention to Zephaniah's warning. Instead, "they rose early and corrupted all their doings" (Zephaniah 3:7).

Although this section of Zephaniah's prophecy ends with the failure of the people to heed his warnings, nonetheless the prophet concludes with a series of promises (Zephaniah 3:8-20). The general tone of this last portion is messianic, speaking of the day when Christ will gather the nations and assemble His kingdoms, the day in which He will be in the midst of Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and the faithful remnant of Israel will rejoice and sing praises unto Him.

Zephaniah's life as a prophet was a miserable one; he was unheeded and mocked. Still, the future fulfillment of all his prophecies will grant him eternal vindication. It would be Zephaniah's prayer that none of us today rise early to corrupt our ways. Let's answer his prayer.

MORNING HYMN
For the Lord our God shall come
And shall take His harvest home:
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away--
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.