Devotions for Dieters

Isaiah 41:13
For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

When Jenny was young, her mother used to hold her hand whenever Jenny was afraid or worried. Just the feel of her mother's hand in hers gave her strength and courage. There were days when Jenny wished her mom was close enough to hold her hands again, but she lived hundreds of miles away. She especially wanted her mother's support now that she was dieting. Whenever things got particularly tough, she would close her eyes to say a short prayer. As she prayed, she imagined her hand in Jesus' hand, and she felt a wonderful peace and comfort. That image gave Jenny all the strength she needed.

Today's thought: I'm never too heavy for God to pick up!

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Habit Trails of the Soul

Isaiah 37-38, Colossians 3
Key Verses: Colossians 3:1-2

Show me three things and I can probably tell what is important to you: your checkbook, your calendar and your home. The first will show me what you do with your money, the things that you value enough to spend your earnings attaining. The second will show me what you do with your time, that in spite of how busy you might be, these are things for which you still find time. The third will show me your interests. Items accumulated or displayed, even the books and magazine on a coffee table, can reveal your interests.

The things that we devote time and money to have captured our minds and our hearts. Thinking about and being involved in those things results in habit trails developing in our souls. We just seem to keep returning to those thoughts, those things.

First and foremost in our habit trails needs to be the things of God, the things of above. Paul tells us to set both our hearts and minds on things above. It is easier, more natural, to think about and love earthly things. After all, we can see them, hold them, collect them--love and think about them. Yet that is exactly what we are to do with the things of God--love and think about them, not totally to the exclusion of other things, but with a priority.

As we discipline our hearts and minds to fall in love with and think about what God teaches us from His Word, this will happen. Consider your habit trails. Are they of things above or below?

A good first step is Bible memory. Memorize Colossians 3:1-2. Then ask God to help you develop heavenly habit trails.

Genesis 14:22-23

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, "I have made Abram rich."

Making It God's Way

People often want to get rich quickly. In 1989 John Bennett established the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy. Under the guise of a non-profit foundation, he offered donors the opportunity to double their money within six to nine months. In 1994 he allowed nonprofit organizations to participate. This too-good-to-be-true offer brought waves of money from various institutions as well as philanthropists to support what turned out to be a pyramid scheme. In September 1997, Bennett was sentenced to prison for defrauding charities and others of $354 million.

Abraham also had the opportunity to gain more wealth quickly. Bera, king of Sodom, offered Abraham all the "loot" of the city in exchange for the people. But Abraham considered the source and declined. The opportunity to become even more wealthy was not worth the price of being indebted to the king of Sodom. His city was so wicked that it would shortly be destroyed by brimstone and fire. Abraham preferred to let God provide for his needs; he didn't need Sodom's money.

The desire to get rich can bring many pains and heartaches. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10). The appetite for more and more can lead you into associations with people who can cause you irreparable spiritual harm.

If you find yourself in any relationship, business or personal, that is damaging your spiritual life, drop it immediately. It may mean taking a financial loss, but when you make your relationship with the Lord your most important priority, He will take care of all your other needs (Matt. 6:33).

God's wealth can't be found in Satan's treasury.

Obstacles on the Journey

Have you ever seen the sea flee? Have you ever seen the mountains skip like rams or the hills run like lambs? That's the vivid description the psalmist gives of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. "The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.... Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters" (vv. 3,4,7,8).

The psalmist mentions the time God opened the Red Sea and the Israelites walked across on dry land. He talks about when the nation entered the Promised Land over the dry bed of the Jordan River. Then he refers to their experience in the wilderness, when they were thirsty and God turned the rock into a pool of water.

What are we to learn from all of these experiences? God helps us in the obstacles of life. When you turn your obstacles over to the Lord, He acts. What will He do? Sometimes He overcomes the obstacles. God is with us in the hopeless places. How hopeless the Israelites were at the Red Sea! The enemy soldiers were behind them; the wilderness was around them; the sea was in front of them. But God opened a way to escape.

Sometimes God removes the obstacles--the "hills" and the "mountains." He just makes them skip and run away like animals.

He also can turn the obstacles into blessings. He "turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters" (v. 8). If God doesn't overcome or remove your obstacle, let Him turn it into a blessing.

* * *

Trust God with your obstacles. He can help you in the hopeless places, the high places and the hard places.

Togetherness

Ephesians 5:25-33

No believer lives a spiritually isolated life. Together, we are members of Christ's Body (Eph. 5:30) and have responsibilities to each other.

Ephesians 4:25 says, "We are members one of another." Therefore, Spirit-filled believers treat fellow Christians as they would treat themselves.

We are not to be domineering, but recognizing that Christ is the Lord of all, we are to have a submissive spirit. As we mutually desire to do the will of God, the Holy Spirit will give us a harmonious relationship with each other.

We are to submit ourselves to others "in the fear of God," which is a reverential fear lest we displease or dishonor God.

Because of all that Christ has done for us, our desire should be to please Him in everything we do. As we submit ourselves to Him and to others, the Devil is given no opportunity in our lives. Ephesians 4:27 tells believers, "Neither give place to the devil."

God gives the grace that is needed to resist the temptation to disrupt the harmony of believers: "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:6,7).

When we maintain this kind of relationship with Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we have the proper basis for the various relationships in life, some of which are mentioned in Ephesians 5.

"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor. 12:27).

Unanswered Prayer

I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face: in their affliction they will seek Me early.

Hosea was a resident of the northern kingdom. Throughout his prophecy it is evident that Hosea had a tender feeling of compassion for the people of his land.

Alternately he warned the people and then pled with them to return to God in repentance. He knew, regardless of how wicked they had been, if they repented of their sins and forsook their wicked ways, God would receive them back in His love.

In Hosea 5:2 the prophet described the Israelites as "the revolters" and himself as "a rebuker." He saw it as his task to point out Israel's sin and call them to repentance. But there was a problem. Of the Jews he said, "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself from them." God does not answer our prayers if we have unconfessed personal sin in our lives. Again and again the Bible affirms this truth (see John 9:31; Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1-2).

We should not assume that God will always hear and answer our prayers. There are many things that can militate against God's answer. The greatest hindrance to answered prayer is personal, unconfessed sin. The Apostle Peter, after listing a variety of attitudes that a righteous person will have, makes this observation: "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:12). Many other things in life block the divine answer to prayer: idolatry (Jeremiah 11:11-14), irreverence for the Bible (Proverbs 28:7-9), family problems (1 Peter 3:1-7), improper motives (James 4:3), prayer without faith (James 1:5-6); but the most certain way to make God unavailable to us when we seek Him is for us to harbor iniquity in our hearts.

If the conditions were met, God would not withdraw Himself from Israel, He would listen to their prayers, and He would answer them. Therefore, Jehovah promised, "I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early" (Hosea 5:15). The absence of God's influence in their lives would be affliction enough for the Israelites. God was about to get their attention and He would do so by means of the calamities which Hosea prophesied. But once He got their attention and their repentance for sin was made, they would again arise early in the morning to seek the face of God.

If God appears to have withdrawn Himself from you, perhaps you ought to ask yourself these questions: "Have I treated God well enough for Him to answer my prayers?" (idolatry); "Have I heeded God's Word well enough for Him to answer my prayers?" (irreverence for the Bible); "Have I treated my family well enough for God to answer my prayers?" (family problems); "Have I examined my motives well enough for God to answer my prayers?" (improper motives); "Have I trusted God well enough for Him to answer my prayers?" (prayer without faith); "Have I confessed personal sin well enough for God to answer my prayers?" (iniquity). When we can answer each of these questions in the affirmative, there is no reason for God to withdraw Himself from us when we seek Him. He has promised always to be near. Having confessed our sin, let us claim that promise today.

MORNING HYMN
Power in prayer, Lord, power in prayer,
Here 'mid earth's sin and sorrow and care;
Men lost and dying, souls in despair,
O give me power, power in prayer!