Devotions for Dieters

November 18
Luke 18:43
And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

Scott knew his brother Dave couldn't have lost weight on his own. Dave had never been able to say no to food in all his life. When Scott asked Dave who helped him, Dave had just smiled and pointed up into the sky. Scott couldn't believe it. Dave was trying to tell him that God had made the transformation happen? Well, if that was true it would make a believer out of him. Scott had never been much of a Christian before, but if God could do that much for Dave, then He was someone worth believing in. The miracles of God truly are a wonder to behold.

Today's thought: I will glorify God by losing weight for Him and for me!

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Bible Study

The post office in a small town received a letter that was addressed to "Any Sinner." It was undeliverable because every person in the town qualified! The Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It also tells us, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

If you have trusted Christ, you have been saved from your sin by the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross (see 1 John 1:7).

Does that mean, then, that you will never have a problem with sin again in your life? No. Like the bumper sticker says: "Christians are not perfect; just forgiven." Every believer is tempted, and may sin against God. If that happens, we're to confess our sin and receive God's gracious forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9). But there is a difference between committing a sin and continuing to practice sin. Let's see what the Bible has to say about "practicing sin."

What Does God Say?

1 John 3:9-10 (ESV) says "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

What prevents a Christian from making a practice of sin (v.9)?

What two groups of "children" do you see in this passage (v. 10)?

What two characteristics prove that people are "not of God"(v. 10)?

My Thoughts

The word, "abide," is seldom used in ordinary conversation these days, so when you hear it or read it in the Bible, you may wonder about its meaning. The dictionary says that to "abide" means to remain in a place, to continue to be sure or firm, or to dwell.

Jesus talked to his disciples about "abiding" in John15:4 (ESV): " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

1 John 3:6 (ESV) says, "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." Now let's put the dictionary definition into the verse to clarify what "abiding in him" means. It would read like this: "No one who continues to be sure and firm in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him."

How can you be sure and firm in Christ? Read 1 John 3:24 and answer the questions.

Who abides in Christ? (Look at John 15:12 for one of Christ's commandments.)

Who confirms that Christ dwells in the believer?

This verse, joined with 1 John 3:9,tells us that the Holy Spirit plants the seed of God's truth in a believer's heart, so that the transformed believer cannot continue to practice a life of sin, even though he or she can never be totally free from sin in this life.

My Part

Read through the Book of 1 John (it isn't very long) and jot down the reference for each verse where you find a form of the word "abide." Go back over your references and consider how each one affects you.

Memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17. It clarifies what God has done to enable a Christian to abide in Christ and not practice sin.

Bible Study from Back to the Bible Copyright © 1996-2008 The Good News Broadcasting Association, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.bibleminute.org/

Going, Going . . .

Ezekiel 8-10, Hebrews 13
Key Verse: Ezekiel 9:3

I have a collection of mental images filed under the heading of "Used to be churches." There is a certain sadness in my heart when I see restaurants, bookstores and antique and furniture stores that obviously used to be churches. People of God had sacrificially given to build that structure and had gathered there, joined together in ministry. Sometimes a cornerstone remains, inscribed with words such as, "Dedicated to the glory of God."

Reasons for the change vary, for sure. Some churches relocate to new facilities, but sometimes the building is empty because the church no longer exists. The ministry there is over. Among the saddest images in my mind is that of a sign in the front yard of a church. It simply said, "For Sale by Owner." The ministry there was going, going, gone.

Ezekiel describes over a series of three chapters a vision of the glory of God departing from the temple in Jerusalem. The glory moved from above the cherubim (9:3) to the threshold of the temple (10:4), to the east gate (10:19) and finally out of the city (11:23). It was a slow, sad departure of the glory, unseen except by the prophet.

Our heart's desire should be that the Lord's glory remain in our churches! That will take more than just wishing. It requires staying true and faithful to God and to His Word. When we move away from correct interpretation, clear teaching and correct application of His Word, then we move closer to a time in which the glory may leave.

Be people of the Book. Read the Word, learn the Word and live the Word.

"God, help my local church to stay true to Your Word. May Your glory continue to be proclaimed through my church."

2 Samuel 7:12-13

Dealing With Disappointments

Two paraplegics were in the news at about the same time. Kenneth Wright, 24, was a high school football star and later an avid wrestler. A broken neck sustained in a wrestling match in 1979 left him paralyzed from the chest down. The former athlete prevailed upon two friends to take him in his wheelchair to a wooded area where they left him alone with a twelve-gauge shotgun. After they left, he committed suicide.

The second paraplegic was Jim McGowan. At the age of 19, Jim was stabbed and also left paralyzed from his chest down. But he made news when he successfully completed a parachute jump. Jim lives alone, cooks his meals, washes his clothes and cleans his house. He has written three books, and he did the photography for America’s first book on the history of wheelchair sports. Two men with major disappointments: one chose to view life positively, the other didn't.

David also had a major disappointment. He had his heart set on building a house for the Lord. But God said no. David could not, but his son Solomon would. David chose to respond to that disappointment by focusing on the positive. He thanked and praised God for the good things He was going to do in his life and that of his family (2 Sam. 7:18-29).

Disappointments always give us a choice. We can concentrate on what’s wrong, or we can find the silver lining. One way leads to despair, the other to fulfillment.

Are you focusing on the negative? Look instead at the way God is blessing you in spite of that disappointment. See His hand of good in everything that happens to you--even if it's different from what you planned.

Reap in Joy

Did you know that each one of us is a sower? Each of us today is sowing seed that will produce a harvest. Some people are sowing to the flesh. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:8 that those who sow to the flesh will reap corruption. Some are sowing discord among the brethren. Some are sowing lies. Psalm 126 tells us to be careful what and how we sow, because we're the ones who will reap the harvest.

Notice what the psalmist says: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (vv. 5,6). God's people weep as they sow, but they will reap in joy. As a Christian, you are to sow the seed of the Word of God by sowing good deeds, truth and His love. You plant the seed that produces the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Life is often serious and difficult. That may cause us to sow with tears, but we will reap in joy. Non-Christians are not like that. The Devil's crowd goes out and sows with laughter. Oh, they have a good time. But when the harvest comes, they will reap in sorrow.

Each of us has a decision to make: Are we going to get pleasures now or wait until the harvest of the Holy Spirit? "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7). In fact, we will reap more than what we've sown, because seed multiplies.

* * *

If today you are living for the pleasures of sin, the harvest will bring weeping. But if you're living for the will of God, the harvest will bring joy. What kind of harvest will you have? Ask God to help you sow the seeds that will bring His fruit in your life and in the lives of others.

Don't Court the World

James 4:4-7

Consider the accusation of James concerning the illicit love affair with the world as stated in the following paraphrase: "You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God."(James 4:4, Amplified Bible).

Being a friend of the world indicates that the person agrees with the values of the world system. The Old Testament Prophet Amos asked, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3).

The believer who is able to be in agreement with this evil world system is woefully out of fellowship with Almighty God, who saved him from the penalty and power of sin.

If a person has a consistently worldly life-style, it is a clear signal that he has never trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour.

On the other hand, there are believers who are out of fellowship with the Lord and who are worldly for a time. Perhaps this is because many want Christ as Saviour but not as Lord.

They want the assurance and peace of knowing that they are saved from eternal condemnation, but they also want to live to please themselves rather than letting Christ be the Master of their lives.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).

Praising God

And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at even.

King David, who himself had been a fugitive and a wanderer for many years of his life, would have liked nothing better than to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark of the covenant. But because he was a man of war, Jehovah would not permit David to realize this privilege, so David "called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house to the LORD God of Israel" (1 Chronicles 22:6).

The zealous David did all he could to help in the preparations for the building of this temple. He gathered materials, prepared iron for nails and had a crew of masons readied. But an even greater contribution than arranging for the materials may have been David's initiation of the first full choral service. In conjunction with the chief of the Levites, David set apart three families and commissioned them to the service of the temple. These were not just singers, but prophets as well, "to prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals" (1 Chronicles 25:1). Generation after generation their instruction was handed down from father to son, and their art and musical skills were carefully perpetuated.

These families were those of Asaph, the son of Berechiah the Gershonite, the chief singer and also a distinguished seer; of Heman the Kohathite, the grandson of the prophet Samuel and himself "the king's seer in the words of God" (1 Chronicles 25:5); and of Jeduthun (or Ethan), a Merarite, who is also called "the king's seer." Each of the names of these leaders is found in the titles or superscriptions of selected psalms in the Psalter.

From 1 Chronicles 23-25 we learn that the numbers of Levites involved in the service of the temple and tabernacle was enormous. The three families numbered 288 principal singers, divided into 24 courses of 12 each. The total number of Levites engaged in the important task of praising Jehovah with the instruments which David made was 4,000. Six thousand were designated as officers and judges, 4,000 were set apart to be doorkeepers, and the remaining 24,000 Levites were designated to the general "work of the house of Jehovah."

Although to us their work may appear to be mundane, it certainly was not to them. They were to wait on the priests for the service of the house of Jehovah, purifying the holy place and the holy things, preparing the shewbread and the meat offering and assisting in the offering of burnt sacrifices on the sabbaths and on feast days. But perhaps their greatest duty, as well as their greatest delight, was "to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord and likewise at even" (1 Chronicles 23:30).

Rising early in the morning, these Levites would initiate the praise to Jehovah that day. This was not only a responsible position but a very meaningful one as well. Psalm 88, a psalm for the sons of Korah designated as a Maschil of Heman, gives a fine example of what these Levites may have said morning after morning in praising Jehovah. "But unto Thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent [come before] Thee" (Psalm 88:13).

Rising early in the morning to initiate a day filled with praise to God is our privilege as well. May we be as faithful in exercising that privilege as David's choirmasters were. Faithfulness in early praise to God may make the difference between a good day and a bad day.

MORNING HYMN
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!