The Lord my God is amazing.
I remember when I was in grade school we studied earth science. It was fascinating because this planet we live on is an incredibly complex system. One of the things that always caught my attention was what is called the hydrologic cycle, also referred to as the water cycle. Since this is a cycle, we don't observe a beginning or an end to it. Here are some of the processes involved:
Evaporation- Because of solar energy, water is transformed from its liquid phase to gas (water vapor). Herein it moves from the ground and bodies of water to the atmosphere.
Condensation- The transformation of water vapor in the atmosphere into water droplets(condensed water vapor) forming clouds or fog.
Precipitation- Condensed water vapor falls to the earth; we generally refer to precipitation as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Have you ever wondered why clouds form? Have you ever wondered why if you leave a glass of water out long enough, the water disappears? Have you ever wondered why you can go to Big Bear lake and see lines on the rocks where the water used to be? I mean, did the fish drink it? Have you ever wondered why rain comes down from the sky? I mean scientifically I understand a little how these things occur, but why? Wonder no more of these things, just wonder at God.
Psalm 147:7-8
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
Job 28:26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Ecclesiastes 1:7
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
Call it what you will...the water cycle...the hydrologic cycle...I call it a miraculous work of God.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Job Diet
Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
The Job diet is simple. This is it; God’s words are more important than the daily food that your body needs. The diet is not based solely upon this single verse in the Bible. I believe that if a Christian applies the principles of the Job diet to their life, then they will consequently lose that extra weight they've accumulated. You might not even need to lose weight, but you still need the Job diet. Food plays such an important role in our practical lives. We plan meetings around food, we plan dates around food, we plan family get-togethers around food, we plan church fellowship around food, and we schedule our daily lives around food. Many, including myself, often wonder when their next meal will be. The morning does not start with a Psalm, it starts with coffee and breakfast. Instead of meditating on their morning devotion, they’re focused on a good snack or a fatty breakfast food. Break time between classes isn’t a time to discuss the things of God, but I time to run to the snack bar. Free time isn’t a space in your day to fill with Bible study, but a time to snack on chips. Lunchtime isn’t a time that we pull our Bibles out at school or work, but a time that we pull our lunch pails out. Men don’t take their wives to preaching meetings to hear the words of God preached on but they take their wives to restaurants. Men don’t buy their wives cards with Scripture, but they buy them chocolates. Women don’t ask to go to revival meetings, they ask for a night out at a fancy restaurant. Something is wrong here.
I’m not proposing that we stop eating and just read our Bibles (though sometimes a special case may call for prayer and fasting), no, we just need to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. The first thought in the morning must be, “I have to get some of God’s words, or I’ll never be sustained!” And after a sweet time of fellowship with the Owner of all things, you’ll probably remember that you need to grab some breakfast before you head off to start your day. While on the high clouds of meditating on the precious words of God, food will seem insignificant in comparison. Plan Bible studies instead of dinner dates. Before you have lunch, read a Proverb or two. While your spouse gets a snack out, tell him or her of a verse that stuck out to you in your morning devotions. When you wake up for that midnight snack, why don’t you open up to a Gospel and read of one of Jesus’ miracles?
Do not neglect your body's need for the nourishment of food, but do not allow that to be more important to your spiritual health. Peter writes,
1 Peter 2:2-3
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
In practice, many babies nurse anywhere from 4 times a day to 15 times a day. One medical source recommends that a newborn baby nurse every 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. That calculation comes out to 9-16 times a day. The point isn't the exact amount of times a baby nurses a day, but I want you to take note of what Peter writes, “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” The fact of the matter is that Christians do not receive the nourishment from the words of God that they should. The problem lies not within the words of God, but within the Christian who neglects them. Most Christians eat at least three times a day, and most snack in between those meals. So, on any given day I’d say that we consume food 6-10 times, but at least 3 full course meals. So, what is the Job diet? Have three hardy meals of Bible every day, esteem those meals more than your breakfast/lunch/dinner meals, and replace your snack times with meditation upon the words of God.
Satan knows full well of man’s temptation of food. That is why the tempter came to the Son of God during His miraculous fast and tempted Him with food. Jesus gave the perfect response,
Matthew 4:3-4 (Deuteronomy 8:3, Luke 4:4)
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
This passage not only teaches that we must esteem the words of God more than our necessary food, but it also affirms the Bible doctrine of preservation. Not only did God inspire the words of Scripture, but He promised to preserve them. If God hadn’t preserved the words of Scripture (not just the ideas or concepts, but His words), it would not be possible that man should live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We have the very words of God accurately set forth in the English language. God inspired the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic words of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21), and He promised that He would preserve those words (Psalm 12:6-7, Psalm 119:89, Matthew 24:35). Find yourself an accurate translation of the preserved words of God (I recommend the King James Bible), and you will have God's words in English. We must respond by holding His precious words in higher estimation than our necessary food.
Does that sweet tooth often get to you? Instead of a chocolate fix, why not dive into the sweet honey of God’s words;
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
The Job diet is simple. This is it; God’s words are more important than the daily food that your body needs. The diet is not based solely upon this single verse in the Bible. I believe that if a Christian applies the principles of the Job diet to their life, then they will consequently lose that extra weight they've accumulated. You might not even need to lose weight, but you still need the Job diet. Food plays such an important role in our practical lives. We plan meetings around food, we plan dates around food, we plan family get-togethers around food, we plan church fellowship around food, and we schedule our daily lives around food. Many, including myself, often wonder when their next meal will be. The morning does not start with a Psalm, it starts with coffee and breakfast. Instead of meditating on their morning devotion, they’re focused on a good snack or a fatty breakfast food. Break time between classes isn’t a time to discuss the things of God, but I time to run to the snack bar. Free time isn’t a space in your day to fill with Bible study, but a time to snack on chips. Lunchtime isn’t a time that we pull our Bibles out at school or work, but a time that we pull our lunch pails out. Men don’t take their wives to preaching meetings to hear the words of God preached on but they take their wives to restaurants. Men don’t buy their wives cards with Scripture, but they buy them chocolates. Women don’t ask to go to revival meetings, they ask for a night out at a fancy restaurant. Something is wrong here.
I’m not proposing that we stop eating and just read our Bibles (though sometimes a special case may call for prayer and fasting), no, we just need to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. The first thought in the morning must be, “I have to get some of God’s words, or I’ll never be sustained!” And after a sweet time of fellowship with the Owner of all things, you’ll probably remember that you need to grab some breakfast before you head off to start your day. While on the high clouds of meditating on the precious words of God, food will seem insignificant in comparison. Plan Bible studies instead of dinner dates. Before you have lunch, read a Proverb or two. While your spouse gets a snack out, tell him or her of a verse that stuck out to you in your morning devotions. When you wake up for that midnight snack, why don’t you open up to a Gospel and read of one of Jesus’ miracles?
Do not neglect your body's need for the nourishment of food, but do not allow that to be more important to your spiritual health. Peter writes,
1 Peter 2:2-3
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
In practice, many babies nurse anywhere from 4 times a day to 15 times a day. One medical source recommends that a newborn baby nurse every 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. That calculation comes out to 9-16 times a day. The point isn't the exact amount of times a baby nurses a day, but I want you to take note of what Peter writes, “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” The fact of the matter is that Christians do not receive the nourishment from the words of God that they should. The problem lies not within the words of God, but within the Christian who neglects them. Most Christians eat at least three times a day, and most snack in between those meals. So, on any given day I’d say that we consume food 6-10 times, but at least 3 full course meals. So, what is the Job diet? Have three hardy meals of Bible every day, esteem those meals more than your breakfast/lunch/dinner meals, and replace your snack times with meditation upon the words of God.
Satan knows full well of man’s temptation of food. That is why the tempter came to the Son of God during His miraculous fast and tempted Him with food. Jesus gave the perfect response,
Matthew 4:3-4 (Deuteronomy 8:3, Luke 4:4)
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
This passage not only teaches that we must esteem the words of God more than our necessary food, but it also affirms the Bible doctrine of preservation. Not only did God inspire the words of Scripture, but He promised to preserve them. If God hadn’t preserved the words of Scripture (not just the ideas or concepts, but His words), it would not be possible that man should live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We have the very words of God accurately set forth in the English language. God inspired the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic words of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21), and He promised that He would preserve those words (Psalm 12:6-7, Psalm 119:89, Matthew 24:35). Find yourself an accurate translation of the preserved words of God (I recommend the King James Bible), and you will have God's words in English. We must respond by holding His precious words in higher estimation than our necessary food.
Does that sweet tooth often get to you? Instead of a chocolate fix, why not dive into the sweet honey of God’s words;
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is
sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Do not allow food to consume your time. Don’t meditate on your last or your next meal, but meditate on the words of Almighty God. Your mouth must pant for God’s words and your nights and days must be consumed by them. When you wake up at two in the morning don’t be comforted by a warm glass of milk, but fulfill the Scriptures by meditating on God’s words.
Psalm 119:131
I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Do not allow food to consume your time. Don’t meditate on your last or your next meal, but meditate on the words of Almighty God. Your mouth must pant for God’s words and your nights and days must be consumed by them. When you wake up at two in the morning don’t be comforted by a warm glass of milk, but fulfill the Scriptures by meditating on God’s words.
Psalm 119:131
I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:
for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
This is not a foreign concept, the Bible is frequently referred to with the picture of physical nourishment like milk and meat. See these references,
Hebrews 5:12-13
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskillfull in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as
This is not a foreign concept, the Bible is frequently referred to with the picture of physical nourishment like milk and meat. See these references,
Hebrews 5:12-13
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskillfull in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as
unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
What is our responsibility? We are responsible to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. Will you commit to the Job diet? Don’t do it to lose weight, but do it “that ye may grow thereby.” I pray that you will be able to join with Job and say, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
What is our responsibility? We are responsible to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. Will you commit to the Job diet? Don’t do it to lose weight, but do it “that ye may grow thereby.” I pray that you will be able to join with Job and say, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”