December 14, 2007
The Water Only Diet
I hope you are enjoying the Girlfriends in God daily devotions. We (Mary, Sharon, and Gwen) would like to introduce you to some of our special friends. From time-to-time, the Friday devotions will be written by one of our friends in ministry. We call them our "Friday Friends." So grab your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and drink in the words from our "Friday Friend",
Anglea Craig.
Today’s Truth
John 4:10 (NIV Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
Friend to Friend
It is official! Store fronts are decorated with Santa and Snowmen, the eggnog lattes are steaming at Starbucks, and somewhere, there is someone’s Aunt Mabel making pounds of fudge and fruit cake just for you!
If you are anything like me, all these seasonal delights may evoke a slight panic that you are going to gain about 100 pounds from eating all the goodies that come your way. (Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating on the 100 pounds.) I have labeled these internal conversations “Holiday Food Negotiation” or HFN for short. For me, an HFN internal conversation goes something like this: “If I skip breakfast, I can have an eggnog latte.” or “If I work out an extra hour today, I can eat dessert at the company party tomorrow.” or “Forget the diet and exercise in November and December and eat fudge until I’m sick!” Sound familiar? Well you are not alone!
Unfortunately, body image is something that haunts all women, no matter what shape or size. In a poll of 5,000 women, the United Kingdom magazine Grazia found that 100% of women were unhappy with at least one part of their bodies if not more. The “good news” (as the magazine put it) was that 54% of women were happy with their…ankles! I thought to myself, “You’re kidding me, right?? Happy with their ankles? Who looks at their ankles?” Sadly, the world we live in has given us a warped view of who we think we ought to look like.
So ladies, what are we going to do about this problem? I believe I have the solution; it is called the “Water Only Diet.” You thing I’m kidding, but I’m not. Jeremiah 2:13 calls God “the fountain of the living water.” Jeremiah uses this phrase as a metaphor to describe God as our source of life. You see, God wants to be our replenisher, our restorer, our joy, and our provider this holiday season. He wants us to remember in Whose image we were made, and that is not the image on the cover of a magazine, my friend.
Let’s make a pact. For this holiday season, let us agree to throw away the scales, stop worrying about the perfect Christmas dress, and how much we will eat at the buffet. Let us be women on a “Water Only Diet” that spend this holiday season captivated by the gift of Jesus Christ and all that God wants to do in our life as our living water!
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray Lord that my focus this holiday season will be on the gift of Jesus. I accept your love and thank you for your replenishing living water during this busy season. Thank you, Lord for telling me that I am your masterpiece and for loving every part of me In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now it is Your Turn
Verses to meditate on during this holiday season:
(Print these out and tape them to your bathroom mirror, car dashboard, or small child.J)
John
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
John 4:13-14 (Amplified)
Jesus answered her, “All who drink of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.”
Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
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