Devotions for Dieters

Acts 2:21
'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Barbara was so thankful. She had come so far, but lately the stress had been overwhelming. When she was under stress, she liked to eat. She was so afraid of blowing her diet that it just added to the stress. She was nervous and on edge all the time. One evening, while she had some time alone, she settled down to read her Bible and pray. It was one of the most peaceful experiences she had had in weeks. She felt renewed and strengthened by the experience; so much so that she made it a nightly routine. It got her through the stress, and it kept her on her diet. By God's graces he triumphed.

Today's thought: I admit I need help, but it's good to know that God offers all the help I can handle!

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There's a phrase that gets used a lot this time of year, "Keep the 'Christ' in Christmas." It's a call to remember what the Christmas season is all about--the birth of Christ, our Savior.

Here's another phrase that's just as important: "Keep the 'Christ' in Christian."

What Does God Say?

On the final night before His Crucifixion, Jesus shared with His disciples many things. Among them is this memorable verse: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.'

"Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father'" (John 14:6-9, ESV).

Jesus is essential for our salvation. Who He is and what He has done for us provide the pathway to a relationship with God. He is the reason we are called Christians--followers of Christ.

There are people today who say, like Philip, "Show us God, and that's enough." But if we don't appreciate Jesus' person, and we don't appreciate Jesus' words and we don't appreciate the works of God done through Jesus, we can say we're Christians, but are we?

Let's keep the Christ in Christian. Let's not be content with having obtained salvation; let's live like Jesus lived. Let's take that message of love and forgiveness to a world that needs to hear it. And let's model those principles in our own lives. Let's be "Christ"ians.

My Thoughts

Read John 1:1-14 and think about the following questions:

1. How might Jesus respond to someone who says he can know God apart from Christ?

2. How has Jesus promised to help those who follow His example?

3. How do you keep the "Christ" in Christian? How do you take the message of love and forgiveness to those around you?

My Part

What does it mean to you to be a Christian? Is it just another label or does it define your life? Spend some time today and write out a "mission statement." What do you want your life to be about as a Christian? What are your goals as a Christian? Keep your statement in your Bible or somewhere you'll see it often.

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

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

Under Construction

Daniel 11-12, Jude
Key Verse: Jude 20

What is the biggest room in your house? The room for improvement, of course! There is always room for improvement in our lives. No matter how much we may think that we have arrived, there are still rough edges and missing pieces that need work. The typical homeowner knows that there is always something that needs to be fixed, replaced, removed or added. That means he has two choices-either get to work on those things or forget about them. Obviously, the former is preferred over the latter.

The same is true with our spiritual lives. There is always room for improvement, and we can either work on it or forget about it. God's will is that we "build [ourselves] up in [our] most holy faith" (v. 20).

You started out your Christian life as a baby believer, one needing to be fed the milk of the Word. As you grew and developed, you moved from milk to meat. The parallels between physical growth and spiritual growth make it easy for us to understand. As the child is fed, he grows and develops. As the believer is fed the Word, he also grows and develops.

Sometimes, though, a Christian may be content to stay a child in the faith. That is not the same as childlike faith. Also, there is no excuse for stunted spiritual growth. God wants, expects and commands us to mature. It is a building process that should occur in the life of every believer.

Are you growing in your faith, or are you stagnant? Reading the Bible is part of the growth process, as is praying, which is also mentioned in this key verse today. Be sure to do both every day.

1 Kings 3:23�?5

Know-how Plus

How many times have you come across a new invention and thought, I could have invented that! Recently I walked though an area at work where employees at Back to the Bible are allowed to display items for sale. Someone had come up with a nifty wooden rack for displaying Beanie Babies. Anyone could have invented it, yet it took someone who not only thought of the idea but actually made the product to reap the benefits. Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and then doing it at the right time.

Solomon demonstrated that kind of practical wisdom. Faced with the need to determine the true mother of a newborn, he resorted to what he knew about motherhood. He applied that knowledge by suggesting the child be cut in two, with half given to each woman who claimed to be the child's mother. As expected, the real mother refused while the false claimant was willing to go along with the suggestion. The writer of 1 Kings says the people heard of this judgment and "feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice" (3:28).

Knowledge is important in a Christian's life (2 Pet. 1:5), but we also need the wisdom to apply it. It's not sufficient to have the know-how--we have to do something with that know-how. Only as God shows us how to apply what we know can we lay claim to the gift of wisdom.

Are you lacking in wisdom? James says, "Ask of God" (James 1:5). Ask God to give you not only knowledge but also the practical wisdom of knowing how to apply it.

Wonderfully Made

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (v. 14). The psalmist is talking about the miracle of conception and birth. It's an amazing story. "For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb.... Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well" (vv. 13,14).

Someone defined a baby as something that gets you up at night and gets you down during the day. That may be true, but so are the words of poet Carl Sandburg: "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." When we contemplate human birth, our first response ought to be reverence. The God of the galaxies is the God who is concerned about the color of a baby's hair and the genetic structure of a yet unborn child. We ought to bow in reverence before God and worship Him, because each individual child is a part of His handiwork. We don't understand why some children are born handicapped or exceptional in some areas. But God knows.

Our next response should be confidence. We can trust God because He made us as we are. Instead of complaining about what we're not, we can gratefully accept from God what we are. He knew all about each of us before we were born.

Finally, we should respond with obedience. We can take what God has given us and use it for His glory. Instead of searching for something you can't have, invest what you do have to serve Him.

* * *

When you contemplate the miracle of birth, praise God. As you respond in reverence, confidence and obedience, determine to be a good steward with the personal resources and talents He gave you. Good stewardship honors God.

The Word Cleanses Your Walk

John 17:13-19

The Bible speaks of our being sanctified by the Word of God as well as by the blood of Christ and by the Holy Spirit.

Just as Christ is not of the world, so the believer is not of the world. God uses His Word, under the power and work of the Holy Spirit, to bring about the changes He wants in our conduct.

Concerning this our Saviour prayed in John 17:16-19, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

This sanctification by the Word of God is a continuous process; it goes on from day to day. Obviously, in order to be set apart by the Word of God, we must learn to know the Word of God.

Some people are not separated from the old life of sin as they should be, even though they have made a profession of faith in Christ. The reason is not necessarily that they are not born again but that the Word of God does not have the place in their lives it should.

The Holy Spirit indwells them, but because they have not studied the Word of God and allowed the Spirit to apply it to their lives, they have not experienced the purification and cleansing that follows.

"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3).

Relying on God

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep.

The theme of this delightful little psalm is the folly of human effort apart from God. Anything we attempt in life is doomed to failure unless we rely on the power of God. The psalmist shows us this is true in four aspects of human life: social (verse la); civic (verse 1b); business (verse 2); and domestic (verses 3-5). In each of these there is an unmistakable emphasis on the necessity for reliance on God.

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it." Regardless if it is a private dwelling or the house of God, it is useless to undertake building unless we seek the prosperity of God. The psalmist does not say that unless the Lord consents that the house should be built, he says unless the Lord builds the house. We supply the materials; He does the work in our social lives.

"Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Turning from social to civic life, the psalmist knows the unseen watchman of every city is Jehovah Himself. The constant vigilance of a sentinel is without reward if he watches alone. It does little good for us to stand watch unless the Lord stands with us. Not to set a watch when the enemy is at hand is foolish, but to set a watch in our own strength is just as foolish.

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows." Here the psalmist does not counsel us against rising early. His intent is to show us that nothing is accomplished by rising early or staying up late if all we do is fret about our problems. Here too we must have absolute dependence upon God.

Finally, the psalmist turns his attention to reliance on God in domestic matters. He begins with a statement about children that is diametrically opposed to the philosophy of the world today. In a day in which children are frequently viewed as a bother, an infringement on personal freedom, and are therefore aborted before they are born, the psalmist counters, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD." Children come to us from God and are another means of building a house. In fact, in the Hebrew, the word for son (ben) and daughter (bath) both come from the same root word for house (beth). Although building a house is akin to building sons and daughters, building sons and daughters is more important than building a house around them.

A preacher once was entertained by a couple who had two teenage boys. When he entered the house, he noticed immediately a sense of warmth. He also noticed that the living room carpet was very tattered. Before he left, the mother related that one day several boys from the neighborhood were having a good time in her living room. Perhaps they were being a little too rough, and she asked them to play elsewhere. They responded, "But where will we go?" Nodding to one of them she asked, "How about your place?" "Not a chance," replied the boy. "We're not allowed to invite kids into our house." Others questioned gave similar replies. The mother soon sensed that her home was the only one where the boys felt free to come and have fun. From then on they were always welcome.

While the mother did not allow the children to be disrespectful to her property, she nonetheless recognized that the rug was only property, but that children were an heritage from the Lord. She knew if she were to raise a family she would have to show a lot of love and rely on the Lord.

To whatever endeavor God calls you today, whether it be social, civic, business, or domestic, reliance on Him is a prerequisite to success. You cannot build a house fruitfully without the labor of God. You cannot watch a city successfully without the protection of God. You cannot engage in business tirelessly without the strength of God. You cannot raise children lovingly without the wisdom of God. All human activity is but folly unless you rely upon God for success. Ask Him to make you successful today.

MORNING HYMN
If God build not the house, and lay
The groundwork sure whoever build,
It cannot stand one stormy day.
If God be not the city's shield,
If He be not their bars and wall,
In vain is watchtower; men, and all.