Devotions for Dieters

Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

Every few weeks or so, Ellen would go off by herself to her grandmother's farm for a day alone. She would fast for the entire day, and each time hunger would overtake her, she would pause to pray to God. She thanked Him for providing her with food and sustenance through the week. She thanked Him for her life in a country where she was free to do what she wanted to. She thanked Him that she didn't have to struggle day to day for survival. The times on the farm meant so much to her. Ellen found great strength in those times when hunger made her feel so weak. It was good to take time to be thankful.

Today's thought: I'll try not to think of what I don't have, but what I do have!

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Worship in Judgment

Isaiah 23-25, Philippians 1
Key Verse: Isaiah 24:14

A typical view of worship is much more narrow than what is found in the Bible. It may be that you conceive of worship as a Sunday morning service, something to attend once a week at most. Perhaps your view is a bit wider, recognizing not only corporate but also personal times of worship, such as daily devotions. Some people consider worship as being a response to something good: God does something good so we praise Him.

When we look for worship in the Bible, our understanding is stretched. In chapter 24, Isaiah records a worship scene far different from the one in chapter 6. Now the prompting to worship is not a vision of God in heaven but the carrying out of His wrath on earth. We typically do not think of God's judgment as a call to praise, but it is.

In His judgment, God declares His majesty and righteousness. He is the rightful Ruler of all creation. One day He will declare His majesty, putting down all rebellion, displacing all rulers. Also, the wickedness of the world will be brought to an end as God establishes His reign of righteousness.

Can God's judgment prompt you to worship? It should. But it won't unless you see this world as God sees it, a place of sin deserving His judgment. It will when you see judgment as God setting all things right, demonstrating Himself to be the Sovereign of the universe.

"God, help me worship You in Your majesty and righteousness. May I truly see You as the King who rules in holiness and praise You for the day in which You will establish Your righteous reign on this earth."

Careful Cultivating

What we love determines how we live. What delights us also directs us. David wrote about his enemies, "As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him."

What do you love? What do you delight in? You reap exactly what you sow. David's enemies were sowing curses, and he knew they were going to reap a harvest of misery. They were running away from the blessing of God, and David knew that in missing the blessing of God, they were going to miss the joys and purposes of life.

Let's be careful how we cultivate the appetites of our inner person. What we love we may get, and after we get it we may regret it. There may be some fun in sowing sin, but there's no joy in the reaping. Christians' tears and toil are in the sowing; our joy is in the reaping. But for those who live for the flesh and for the world, the joy is in the sowing, and the trial and the tears are in the reaping. If you take what you want from life, you pay for it.

How important it is to cultivate spiritual appetites--to have an appetite for the Word of God, for prayer, to be with His people and to delight in the worship and service of God!

* * *

Cultivate those appetites of your inner person that lead to spiritual growth. Keep them in check by feeding on God's Word and by walking with the Lord. He will use your appetites to bring blessing to your life and others.

Christ our Anchor

And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood.

After the death of Solomon the empire of Israel was sharply divided. The ten tribes to the north comprised the northern kingdom; the two tribes to the south formed the southern kingdom. For the most part, the kings of the south were a mixture of good and bad. Without exception, the Jewish kings of Israel, the ten tribes to the north, were all bad. In 2 Kings 3 is the story of a northern Jewish king who failed to call on God and a southern Jewish king who remembered to call on God.

The defeat of Ahab at Ramoth, and the subsequent dominion of the Assyrians over the territory east of the Jordan, encouraged the king of Moab to revolt against Israel. Mesha refused to pay his annual tribute of one hundred lambs and one hundred thousand rams. The scriptural account of this revolt receives absolute confirmation from the Moabite Stone, discovered in 1868 and now reconstructed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Jehoram, the king of Israel, sought help from Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to march against Mesha of Moab in retaliation for his rebellion. Jehoshaphat agreed. They planned to enter Moab by way of the wilderness of Edom. The king of Edom, a vassal of Judah, joined the expedition.

After a seven-day march through the desert, the armies of the Jews and Edomites were without water. They would soon die if something was not done. Jehoshaphat, who wished to consult a prophet of Jehovah, soon learned that Elisha was in the camp of Israel. Elisha told them to dig trenches over the plains and promised that God would both fill them with water and give a complete victory over Moab. This they did throughout the night in order to prepare for God's divine provision of water in the morning.

When the enemy armies of the Moabites rose up early in the morning, the red rays of the rising sun reflected from the waters that God had miraculously sent to fill the Jewish trenches (2 Kings 3:22). The Moabites misinterpreted the red hue of the water to be a lake of blood. They assumed that the allied armies had turned on each other and destroyed themselves. Thus the Moabite armies charged out of their camp to help themselves to the supposed spoils of war.

Rushing in disorder upon the Israelite camp, they were met by the whole army of the Jews and pushed back into their own country. The cities of Moab were razed, stones were thrown into the fields, wells were filled, and fruit trees were cut down. A great deliverance was given to Israel and to Judah because one king, Jehoshaphat, had not failed to seek help from Jehovah. In the midst of a disastrous situation he remembered the words of his forefather David, "In Thee, O LORD, do I put my trust" (Psalm 71:1).

"Can you imagine the captain of a ship, driven about by rough winds and desiring to drop anchor, trying to find a suitable place on board his own vessel? Such a thing seems ridiculous. He hangs the anchor at the prow, but still the boat drives before the wind; he casts it upon the deck but this too fails to hold it steady; at last he puts it down into the hold but has no better success. You see, an anchor resting on the storm-driven craft itself will never do the job. Only as it is thrown into the deep can it be effective against wind and tide. In the very same way, that person whose confidence is in himself will never experience true peace and safety. His actions are as futile as one who seeks to keep the anchor aboard his own ship. So cast your faith into the great depths of God's eternal love and power" (author unknown).

Although Jehoram would have been content to go into battle alone, Jehoshaphat would find contentment only in dropping his anchor in the love and wisdom of Jehovah. Let's not settle for less today.

MORNING HYMN
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift or firm remain?

Genesis 12:12-13

"Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."

The Wrong Kind of Help

A little boy asked his mother, "What is a lie?" "A lie," she replied, "is an abomination to the Lord--but a very present help in time of trouble."

Abraham apparently agreed. Faced with a famine in the land of Canaan, he moved his household down to Egypt. Out of fear for his life, he told the Egyptians that Sarah was his sister and persuaded her to go along with his lie. When Pharaoh heard of her beauty, and thinking her unmarried, he took her into his harem. Abraham was on the brink of saving his life but losing his wife. Fortunately God intervened and Pharaoh learned the truth in time. Abraham, however, was rebuked and forced to leave the land. In the end, his lie earned him nothing but contempt and disgrace.

Often we are tempted to lie our way out of a tight spot. Perhaps at work a "small lie" will help us avoid admitting we made a mistake. Or at home "bending the truth" may seemingly help us avoid a scene. But resorting to subterfuge always ends up causing us more heartache than help.

When tempted to lie, remember that what seems like a "very present help" will ultimately be "an abomination to the Lord." Lies always result in more hurt and hassle in the long run. That kind of help you can do without. Instead, tell the truth and trust God. He'll take care of you.

A lie appears to offer help, but in reality only delivers harm.

Whose Prisoner Are You?

Ephesians 4:1,2; Acts 16:25-31

It is interesting to note the difference between the ways Paul referred to himself in the first half of Ephesians and the last half.

In beginning the first half, or doctrinal portion, Paul referred to himself as "an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:1).

Paul emphasized his apostleship because he had a special message to give believers, and that message was given in the first three chapters.

In the last half of Ephesians, which emphasizes the practice of Christians, Paul referred to himself as "the prisoner of the Lord" (4:1).

This last section of Ephesians is an intense appeal by Paul for believers to walk worthy of their calling, and Paul underscored his appeal by calling himself a prisoner of the Lord.

How interesting that Paul should have this viewpoint. He was a prisoner of Rome and was in a damp dungeon because of preaching the Gospel, but he really considered himself to be a prisoner of the Lord.

Paul recognized that the Lord could use him where he was, and this is precisely what the Lord did. During this imprisonment, Paul wrote letters to Philemon, the Colossians, the Ephesians and the Philippians.

These letters are now contained in the Scriptures and have had great impact on the world down through the ages.

It is good to ask ourselves, Whose prisoner am I? Do I consider myself a prisoner of circumstances or of the Lord Jesus Christ?

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16).