Devotions for Dieters

1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Todd wasn't getting anywhere with his diet. It was on and off, at best. He just couldn't stick to it. He'd never been good at discipline and conditioning. How many times had he been kicked off high school teams for not practicing? He just didn't have the killer instinct. He didn't want to win badly enough. We'll have difficulty losing weight if our heart isn't really in it. If we're going to run the race for weight loss, then we need to be serious about winning it. Pray that God will strengthen both your heart and body, so that when the race is finished, you'll receive the prize.

Today's thought: Help me remember that I'm not just running away from fat, but that I'm running toward God's design of who I should be!

When we experience the goodness and the greatness of God, we get all excited--perhaps we even want to express it with music like the composers of these well-known songs.

"Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow"

"O For a Thousand Tongues"

But is there anything about us that excites the Lord?

What Does God Say?

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel !" ( Matthew 8:10, NLT ).

Read Matthew 8:5-10 and answer these questions:

~ What was happening in these verses?

~ What makes the fact that the centurion was a Roman significant?

~ What reason did the soldier give for his faith?

~ What words did Jesus use that showed He was excited?

When our faith is flourishing, the Lord is pleased. And not surprisingly the opposite is true.

"And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 8:26, KJV).

"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30, KJV).

"Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:31, KJV).

~ What phrase does Jesus use again and again in these verses?

~ Why do you think in every scripture listed above Jesus asked a question?

~ From what Jesus says in these verses in Matthew, how do you think He is feeling?

My Thoughts

Read the following verse and answer this question: Why do you think Jesus wants your faith to flourish?

"The Lord answered, 'If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea," and it would obey you!'" (Luke 17:6, NLT).

After reading the questions and verses above, you might be wondering, How can I help my faith grow? Dr. Kroll, Bible Teacher and author provides some help.

"Our faith flourishes when it's placed in the power of God. 'With God [Me],' Jesus says, 'all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26, NKJV). So, if you have faith in the power of God, God will do things that you don't even believe possible in your own life."

The power of God is one of three places to put our faith so that it will flourish and increase. Here are the other two: the Word of God and the promises of God.

My Part

Where do you begin? Paul tells us:

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17, NKJV).

The Word will reveal the promises of God that lay the foundation for your faith. In the Word, you will discover the greatness of God's power and that will strengthen and encourage your faith. Your faith can not only grow, it can flourish when placed in God's Word, God's promises and God's power.

The Sound of Silence

Amos 7-9, Revelation 8
Key Verse: Revelation 8:1

During the premier of Handel-s Messiah, King George II was so moved by the "Hallelujah Chorus" that he spontaneously rose to his feet and stood for the remainder of the performance, his eyes glistening with emotion. The rest of the audience, when they saw the king reverently standing as the music swelled, also stood--a tradition that remains to this day.

Remember that chorus? Wave after wave of hallelujahs sweep over you. And then--the orchestra and the choir suddenly stop! There is silence, a thundering silence, full of awe and intense anticipation. There is a sense of drama, of suspense, of mystery. We know it is not over. The last hallelujah is yet to sound. Suddenly the silence shatters under the triumphant blow of the final majestic, "Hallelujah!"

Handel used a dramatic pause to get the attention of the audience, just like God used a dramatic pause to get our attention in Revelation 8:1. The rapidly moving drama of the seven-seal judgment stops. The breaking of the final seal brings an unexpected result: silence. The captured attention is then drawn to the seven angels who are given seven trumpets--but still no sound. Finally in verse 5 the silence is broken with "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake."

God used silence to catch our attention to show us His judgment. He does not do this for mere dramatic effect but that we might repent. Sadly, the Bible tells us, men will ignore God's acts of judgment and will instead curse Him. When God catches our attention, we better listen!

Do you really listen to what God says to your through His Word? The real evidence is the changes you make in your life. What evidence do you have to show that God has your attention?

1 Kings 9:6-7

"But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples."

A Symbol of Disaster

In his book Present Day Parables, J. Wilbur Chapman, a late 19th-century evangelist, tells of a town where the name of Christ was never mentioned except in profanity. The citizens hung Christ in effigy in the streets. Then the town was destroyed by fire. They tried to rebuild, but an Indian massacre occurred. They tried to build again, and it was partially destroyed by fire. At last, after much bloodshed and multiple disasters, the citizens sent to the American Home Missionary Society and asked, "Can you send us a minister of Jesus Christ?" Only after Christ came to that town did the people have peace and a degree of prosperity.

God warned Solomon the same would happen to his kingdom if he or his descendants should ever turn from following Him. Not only would He remove Israel from the land, but the consequences would be so dramatic that all the nations around her also would be amazed at what happened. The people would become a symbol of disaster to warn others who might be so foolish.

Israel should be a reminder to every Christian of the dire consequences of leaving God out of our lives. As the descendants of Solomon suffered in the ways God warned them, so believers can experience much pain and loss when they live in disregard to His will and His ways.

Don't forget God. Remember to include Him in the daily routine of your life. Don't just take Him with you to church; take Him to the mall, to the classroom, to the health club. Ask for His guidance in every decision you make, big and little, and look for His hand in every turn of life. When He fills your life, it is full indeed.

Our Deliverer

King David was going through another battle. He needed deliverance from an attacking enemy. "Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their hearts; they continually gather together for war. They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; the poison of asps is under their lips. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men" (vv. 1-4). David's enemies had hidden snares to trap him.

What do you do when you face this situation--when evil, violent, lying people are busy setting traps for you? Remember that God hears you. "I said to the Lord: 'You are my God; hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord"' (v. 6). God also strengthens you. "O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle" (v. 7). If you have to do battle against the Enemy today, let God outfit you in the armor you need. Finally, God vindicates you. David prayed that God would vindicate him and that his enemies' own sins would destroy them.

David concluded by giving thanks to the Lord. "I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence" (vv. 12,13). The battle over, he said, "One day I am going to dwell in Your presence, where there will be no more lying, slandering, battling, fighting or sinning." We will enjoy the peace of God forever.

* * *

If you are a believer, God has already delivered you from the penalty of sin. Today He works to deliver you from sin's effects. Perhaps enemies are slandering your reputation. Call upon the Lord for help. He will hear you, strengthen you and vindicate you. Let Him give you the victory today.

Power in Prayer

Romans 8:22-28

Our difficulties in prayer also show up in our lack of power and faith. Of course, if our prayers are selfish, inconsistent and lacking in spiritual understanding, they cannot be powerful. But more than that, they are empty because they are not supported by faith. Without faith we know it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). James told us that the person who prays must "ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:6-8).

Do we have faith to ask God for the big things He wants to give us? Only the Spirit of God can provide us with that faith. We must pray, "Lord, teach us to pray." Our prayers must be in harmony with God's will, and then we can expect things to happen as God wants them to happen. We will see answers and victories.

We often think that if we have a burden to pray about something, God is bound to answer us if we get someone else to pray with us. Such unity in prayer is merely man-made. True unity must come from the Holy Spirit. He must lay the burden on our heart and on the heart of someone else. We may not even know who that other person is, but we can be praying together.

The Lord's Battle

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.

The battle of the forces of good against the forces of evil has raged on for millennia. Ever since Satan's heart was lifted up with pride and he said, "I will be like the most high" (Isaiah 14:13-14), the forces of God have been pitted against Satan and his forces in eternal conflict. This battle continues today. The apostle Paul reminds us that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

One of the greatest difficulties in being a soldier in the army of the Lord is to recognize that we are but soldiers on the field of battle and not generals in the war room. We are called upon to fight Satan and his henchmen. We are engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the forces of immorality, ungodliness and sin. Still, the battle is the Lord's, not ours. Nowhere is this truth more graphically illustrated than in the story of good King Jehoshaphat.

The quarter-century reign of Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, is one of the rare bright spots in Judah's checkered history. He was 35 years old when he ascended to the throne in 872 B.C. and he continued the work of religious reformation and revival begun by his father. But as is usually the case when a man attempts to serve God, the forces of Satan began to disrupt Judah during the days of Jehoshaphat. As 2 Chronicles 20:1 indicates, the peace of Judah was suddenly interrupted by a confederacy of the Moabites and Ammonites east of the Jordan River. The combined forces of this deadly duo were but a manifestation of the armies of Satan during that generation. What would the king of God's people do? Would he fight or would he knuckle under to Satan's stooges? Jehoshaphat did the only thing a godly person can do. He "set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah."

When Jehoshaphat finished his prayer, Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, who was in the line of Levites from Asaph, began to prophesy by the spirit of the Lord. He called to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and gave this message to the king and the people: "Thus saith the LORD unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's."

Reassured by this word from the Lord, the king and people bowed their faces to the ground and worshiped Jehovah the Lord. Then they stood to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice. And, oh yes, they did one other thing: they put feet to their prayers. "And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness at Tekoa and as they went forth Jehoshaphat stood and said, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper" (2 Chronicles 20:20). Having prayed to God and armed with the knowledge that the battle was not theirs but His, the Jews arose early the next morning, eager to be soldiers in God's army. When they arrived at the scene of battle, they found no mighty armies, just dead bodies. Apparently the confused enemy fell on one another. Ammonites killing Moabites and Moabites killing Ammonites. Indeed, the battle was the Lord's.

This is a hard lesson to learn when the battle does not appear to be going God's way. Perhaps that's why so many soldiers today are discouraged and ready to desert the army of the Lord. But you and I must remember that we are taking our place in the Lord's army, just as Jehoshaphat and the Jews took their places so many centuries ago. The battle still rages; the battle is still the Lord's. Let us pray to the Lord God for victory, praise His name for assurance, and then rush off early each morning to do battle with Satan and his armies throughout the day. We have the same confidence as did Jehoshaphat and the Jews, for we have the same God.

MORNING HYMN
Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army,
None can overthrow;
Round His standard ranging,
Vict'ry is secure,
For His truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting,
By Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord's side,
Saviour, we are Thine!