Daily Devotion

Philippians 3:8
. . .I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

A young man dreamed that he was standing before a table spread with a wide array of tantalizing foods. Beyond the table stood Jesus. The young man began eating the food, and he became com-pletely engrossed in his consumption. When he finished, Jesus was gone, and he didn't know where to look to find Him. Whenever we engage in gluttony of any kind, our attention is turned from Christ to our own selfish wants. There should be nothing more important in our lives than doing what is pleasing to God. He wants us to be the best we can possibly be. Food, and our love of food, should always take a second place to our love of the Lord.

Today's thought: Eating pleases me; dieting pleases God!

Healthy Snack Attacks!

Is midday or late-night munching sabotaging your Eat Right! plan? Snacking itself isn't bad — people often comment that I'm constantly nibbling! It's all about smart snacking choices. See how these common snacks stack up to their healthier alternatives:

• Instead of one scoop of ice cream, have 15 frozen grapes or one small frozen banana. You'll save 150 calories and 11 grams of fat while satisfying your craving for something sweet!
• Instead of a handful of potato chips, reach for one cup of peeled baby carrots or celery sticks. You'll satisfy your urge to crunch and save 125 calories and 19 fat grams!
• Instead of butter-lovers' microwave popcorn, have 3.5 cups of air-popped popcorn. You'll save 125 calories and 14 grams of fat!
• Instead of a candy bar, have a chocolate frozen yogurt bar. You'll save 150 calories and 11 grams of fat!

Today's Inspiration

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight. – Helen Keller

Teenage Hero of Dhaka's Slums

When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul. -- Rachel Naomi Remen

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Inspiration of the Day:
Eighteen-year-old Doly Akter's work in the slum to help improve health and education has been widely praised, even earning her the chance to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.Although born in an area with real problems in terms of access to health and education, Doly's mother saved hard and sent her daughter to school.In turn, Doly decided to use the benefits of that education to help the neighbourhood. Two years ago, she and a group of women started a project to try to improve living conditions. They began house-to-house visits of the 2,000 families in the slum, checking up on the health and hygiene, and offering basic advise - such as how to prevent diarrhoea. As she sets off for university, Doly is convinced that the momentum of their work will continue, the group is planning to tackle the dowry issue next.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6222974.stm

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Be The Change:
This passage by Rachel Remen explores the profound differences between helping, fixing and serving.
http://tow.charityfocus.org/index.php?tid=127

**Share A Reflection**
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Soak Away the Stress

A warm bath can be a great way to destress. Keep your bathroom stocked with items for a peaceful bath — essential oils and herbs for aromatherapy, bath salts, or books and magazines.

Strategies for Stress Relief

How do you destress? Do you write in a journal, do some gentle relaxation exercises, or read a good book? Develop a list of strategies you use to keep yourself anxiety-free. You can even include things you'd like to try in the future, and things that you don't do often — like getting a massage or taking a vacation.

Update this list as your needs and tastes change, and cross off strategies when they stop working for you. Keep this list where you can find it easily. Carry it in your purse or briefcase, or stick it on your refrigerator. When you feel anxious, sad, or worried, go down the items on this list one at a time until you find one that makes you feel better.

Classic Quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says "I was beaten," he does not say "My men were beaten".

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A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowledge slowly accumulated in the course of centuries, elements difficult at times to justify by logic, but justifying themselves as paths when they lead somewhere, since they open up for man his inner distance.

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A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.

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A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

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A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.

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A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

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And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.

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Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made.

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Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded.

Med 6/24-30 Use the narrow gate Lk 13:24-30 NLT

Enter by the narrow gate

"Work hard to enter the narrow door to God's Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' And he will reply, 'I tell you, I don't know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.'

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. And people will come from all over the worldfrom east and west, north and southto take their places in the Kingdom of God. And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.[a]

Luke 13:24-30 NLT

Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness

Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Whoever of you loves life and
desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

Psalm 34:10-13 NIV

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A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD:
but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

A man shall not be established by wickedness:
but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

Proverbs 12:2,3 KJV

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Do not worry then, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear for clothing?'

"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:31-34 NASB

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Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

Love

"There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."1

Many years ago, when I was a youth, I read the following poem that I have never forgotten. It was written by John Oxenham:

    Love ever gives, forgives outlives,
    And ever stands with open hands,
    And while it lives, it gives.
    For this is love's prerogative–
    to give, and give, and give.

As the Apostle Paul wrote in perhaps the greatest literary masterpiece on love ever written: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."2

Love is much more than sentiment and even a feeling. It's a commitment of one imperfect person to another. It's a choice. It's a byproduct of growth and maturity. It is a gift from God. It also needs to be learned. We learn it from loving people who know us totally—warts and all—and still love us. And we learn it from others who model it, the supreme example being the Lord Jesus.

And remember, we always need to do the loving thing—even when we don't feel loving.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, in the words of John Powell, 'Please don't let me die without having fully lived and fully loved.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Paul the Apostle (1 Corinthians 13:13, TLB).
2. 1 Corinthians13:1-3 (NIV).