The Bread Of Life NIV: Proverb 13:25 The righteous eat to their hearts' content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTS: It is the misery of the wicked, that even their sensual appetites are always craving. The righteous feeds on the word and ordinances, to the satisfying of his soul with the promises of the gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Bread of life.

MY OBSERVATIONS: The Word is Christ: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1). The ordinances of Jesus' are His authoritative decrees and law: My sheep hear My voice and follow Me (Jn. 10:1-16). As we progress on our weight loss journey, spiritually sweeping our "houses" and making our temples clean, we must stand our ground, lest anything worse befall us (weight gain again). We must fill ourselves with Christ Jesus and His words. We must eat to our hearts' content of the Bread of life to be truly whole and satisfied, and then the victory over the natural flesh will allow us to become Christ-centered and to eat to our hearts' content without greed or lust. As we begin to repair our temples, with the Lord's help and guidance, when we have truly turned our eating problems over to Him, and instead look to Him to root out the causes of overeating that placed us here, He delivers us. He desires to give you a way of escape with each temptation that you are faced with. It is all a matter of, can you let Him? Are you convince yet that God is a God of everything that troubles you, and are you willing to feast on the true Bread of Life as He has promised? We need victory over the natural flesh, and there is no victory other than casting your cares upon the Lord Jesus, for He cares for you. Through this study in Proverbs, we learn day by day to fill ourselves with His Word, and by doing so we will attain a victory over the flesh.

Father God, what an awesome promise Your Word holds for us. Help us to apply the Word skillfully to ourselves so that we might be overcomers, in Jesus' name. Amen

NIV: Proverb 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

My Observations: We've pretty much discussed the majority of dieting problems, except for when we hit a plateau. It is generally agreed that this is a phenomenon which occurs, and likely to occur sometime after 20 pounds of weight loss. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick". What do we do to break free from the plateau? First, we must honestly and objectively examine ourselves to determine if this is a genuine plateau, or if we through over confidence at this point have just slacked off on our efforts or not. Plateaus will come, and they can be terribly discouraging, but one must begin to mix up their regimen and trick the body again into continuing the weight loss. We might try adding an additional 5-10 minutes of fat-burning aerobics into our exercise program, or add another day of something different than what we're already doing. We might try to examine closely our calorie count to see if it needs to be altered, or we might get out of the rut of having the same thing daily on our menu. Try lowering the fat content of your meal plan. You may be eating the right amount of calories, but have failed to see if you have the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Don't sit there and feel sorry for yourself. React and you will get through this gray area, and once again have your longing of a leaner body fulfilled. For those of you who are simply not loosing: "Nonlosers" are actually consuming about 600 calories more per day than they think they are. Recent research with a large group of "non-losers" determined that they were significantly under-estimating the number of calories they were consuming on a daily basis. If you're not sure, write down everything you eat for a few weeks.

Almighty God, we thank You that there is an answer to every longing if we seek You through Your Word. Keep us from discouragement, and don't allow us to quit when the going gets rough. Amen

Today's Diet Tip: 13.- Limit your time in the store. The longer you stay, the more impulsive buying you will do.

Today's Positive Thought: If you think that you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.