Devotions for Dieters

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Bud believed his doctor really did have his best interests in mind. Bud wouldn't have dieted if anyone else had told him he should, but his doctor carried a little more weight. Bud kept to the diet because he felt it was the right thing to do. Trust was a big factor in making everything work. Trust is a big factor in anything we try to do. Giants of the Christian faith were able to do such great things because they trusted that the Lord was with them. We, perhaps not giants of the faith, need to rest assured that we can trust God and that He will do everything He can to help us lose weight.

Today's thought: The only thing God will let down is my weight!
Copyright © 2008, Crosswalk.com. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fordieters/

Mr. Wonderful

Isaiah 9�?0, Ephesians 3
Key Verse: Isaiah 9:6

Many people do wonderful things for us. The doctor performs a wonderful operation and removes a cancerous tumor. The newspaper editor runs a wonderful article on our church. The guy at the garage gives us the wonderful advice just to ignore the check engine light on our car. But there is only one person who can be our wonderful Savior. That person is Jesus.

In one of the most thrilling and inclusive prophecies of the Bible, Isaiah predicts some of the qualities we should expect in the Savior. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (9:6).

Jesus Christ is "Mr. Wonderful," in every sense of the word. He has given us a wonderful salvation because of His wonderful sacrifice at Calvary (2 Cor. 5:21). He calls us to a wonderfully abundant life now because of His wonderful resurrection (John 10:10; 14:19). And He is preparing a wonderful home for us in heaven because of His wonderful promise (John 14:1-3).

It is true that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He is the Mighty God. He is the great Counselor. But in this world where the quality of almost everything is suspect, it's good to know we have a wonderful Savior. He is Mr. Wonderful.

"Thank You, Lord, for being a wonderful Savior to me. May I today be a wonderful witness to You."

Joshua 7:3-5

Let the Victor Beware

On November 16, 1776, Fort Washington fell to the advancing British troops and General Washington was forced to retreat. Secure in his victory, General Howe chose not to pursue the Continental army, but ordered his men into winter quarters instead. On Christmas night, Washington ferried a portion of his troops back across the Delaware and mounted a surprise attack. The British were caught off guard and more than a thousand Hessian soldiers were taken prisoner. On the heels of victory, the British experienced a stinging defeat.

Joshua had the same experience. After an overwhelming victory at Jericho, his soldiers were routed by the defenders of a pile of rubble (Ai literally means "ruin"). While the defeat was brought about by sin in the camp (7:10-13), the attitude of those in leadership was one of arrogance and conceit. Their overconfidence set them up for a humiliating defeat.

Someone has said that the most vulnerable moment for a Christian is the moment following a spiritual victory. We are often basking in the glow of our accomplishments. Our guard is down. And Satan knows that this is a prime time to attack.

If you are experiencing a time of spiritual success, give God the glory. At the same time, be on guard. Continue with your spiritual disciplines and maintain an attitude of watchfulness. As the Scriptures warn, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

The Great Physician

Yesterday we learned that the Bible is the only medicine that can cure the disease of sin. Now let's consider the Great Physician, who administers the medicine.

Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repent, and only He can save them. There are false physicians in this world today. What they offer does not solve the problems of the soul. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day were guilty of applying salves when they should have performed surgery (Jer. 8:11,22). How would you like your doctor to lie to you about your health--to gloss over your physical ailments? That's what these "prophets" did to the Israelites regarding their spiritual condition.

Doctors are busy people and often cannot be there right when you need them. But Jesus comes when you call Him. His diagnosis is always accurate. He can cleanse every wound and heal every sickness. He won't force His medicine on you; He waits for you to admit your needs first. And the amazing thing is the He already paid the bill for your care on Calvary's cross.

Lost sinners deserve to die, but "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). If you've never trusted Him for your salvation, do so now.

* * *

The Great Physician administers the medicine of His Word to your ailing soul. He can save the unbeliever, heal a broken heart and restore a fractured relationship. Whatever your need, ask Jesus for His healing touch.

Power for You-Today!

Ephesians 1: 19-23

The Scriptures frequently refer to God's power as it relates to the believer.

Ephesians 6:10 says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."

Philippians 1:6 says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Colossians 1:29 records Paul's testimony: "I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."

God's power is sufficient for our every need. None of us has to live a defeated life. But those who do not make use of God's available power live miserable, defeated lives.

There's more than enough power to break the hold of all sinful habits; more than enough to give deliverance from temptation; more than enough to enable the believer to live above circumstances. Paul said that God's power is "to us-ward who believe" (Eph. 1:19).

God's power is made available to us by His indwelling presence. Paul referred to this when he told the Colossians that God's power "worketh in me mightily" (1:29).

So the dynamo of Christian living is within the believer because God is within the believer. Hebrews 13:21 records the prayer, "Make you perfect [mature] in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight."

The person who has received Christ is a new creation. Referring to himself as a believer, Paul wrote: "I am [have been] crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Eph. 3:20).

Practical Wisdom

"And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear."

"How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver" (Proverbs 16:16). These sentiments of Solomon, regarding the preference for wisdom over wealth, stem from a strange dream that changed his life.

Once Solomon attended a solemn procession to the altar at Gibeon, about five miles from Jerusalem. This is where the ancient Tabernacle yet stood. Here the king celebrated an elaborate, religious festival in which he offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar built by Bezaleel nearly five centuries before. While at Gibeon, Solomon received a dream from the Lord, in which God demanded, "Ask what I shall give thee" (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon barely knew what to request from God. Then he remembered the great task that had been laid before him. He was the king of the chosen nation, a great people that could not be numbered for their multitude. Solomon asked for practical wisdom, the ability to discern between right and wrong and to make immediate judgments that were founded on the truth. He was not asking for spiritual discernment; he wanted to rule the people well. God was pleased with Solomon's concern to be a just ruler and thus granted Solomon's request and added riches, honor, and length of days as well.

An occasion soon arose to test this divine gift of practical wisdom. Two harlots came before the king bearing two children, one dead, one alive. Although their stories were conflicting they did agree both lived in the same house and recently, within days of one another, each gave birth to a child. One woman claimed that the dead child was the result of the other mother's carelessness in accidentally laying on the child during the night and suffocating it. She claimed that the other woman rose at midnight, took her living son from beside her, and placed the dead infant in its stead. When the woman arose in the morning to feed the child, she discovered it was dead (1 Kings 3:21). She also discovered in the morning, at the light of day, that it was not her child lifelessly lying beside her in bed. She claimed that the living child was hers. The other woman disputed the claim saying that the first woman's child had simply died and she was now trying to compensate for her loss by taking the live child to be her own.

The situation appeared hopeless. It was the perfect test for Solomon's practical wisdom. What would he do? The king resolved to appeal to the maternal instinct of the women He called for a sword to "divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other." Immediately the child's mother screamed and requested that the king give her own child to the other woman rather than see him slain. Solomon thus discerned which woman was telling the truth and presented the child to his mother.

The fame of this decision spread throughout all Israel, inspiring fear of the king's justice and a conviction that God had given Solomon exceptional discernment. Israel believed that he would carry out his administrative duties with supreme justice.

Solomon's wisdom, however, appears to have gone beyond mere practical shrewdness in everyday affairs: 1 Kings 4:29-34 indicates Solomon demonstrated significant literary ability in speaking three thousand proverbs and writing more than one thousand psalms. One of those proverbs was, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). On this occasion, a happy mother had just realized the truth of those words.

MORNING HYMN
Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit,
Bathe my trembling heart and brow;
Fill me with thy hallow'd presence,
Come, O come and fill me now.