New Diet Discovery! Guaranteed to Change You Forever!

Americans spend around $40 billion a year on books, products, and programs designed to do just one thing: help us lose weight. And why do we do this? Because somebody somewhere decided that there's a certain "perfect" body shape for men and women, and then proceeded to shove it in our faces day in and day out through TV, film and print media.

Of course, there are legitimate health reasons why some people need to shed their excess poundage, but by and large most of us do it because we have this mental image burned into our brain of what we're "supposed" to look like. And that image is exceedingly powerful...enough to convince us to willingly fork over 40 billion of our hard-earned cash every year in order to attempt morphing into our unique version of that image.

Yep, the advertisers and that whole media crowd have really learned how to motivate people to do what they want, which in this case is spend more money. But you know where they learned that trick? From God, that's who!

See, He made us to be a visual people...what we see can affect us greatly. It doesn't matter if it's a mental image or an actual one. That's why the Lord frequently uses images to communicate His truth to us. He knows that once a particular vision or picture grabs hold of you in your thoughts and imagination, it will move you and motivate you toward His goal for your life.

Remember, we've been talking about what it means to be a "Changeling" ...someone who welcomes and embraces the changes God wants to make in us. So here's the next characteristic Jesus mentions:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matt. 5:6

Now there's a different kind of diet! It's an "all you can eat" buffet...but with just one item on the menu: Righteousness.

So just what is "righteousness?" To be righteous means that you are a person "who is as he ought to be." Did you get that? A person who is as he or she ought to be. In other words, someone who exhibits right actions, attitudes, thoughts, speech, etc.

The only human who was ever completely righteous, of course, was Jesus. So we can accurately say that to be righteous means to be like Jesus.

I don't know about you, but to be like Jesus is an amazing thought, and an even more amazing goal. Is it even possible? Well, God seems to think so. Romans 8:29 says, "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters."

That's His goal for every one of us, His children...to be changed till we're like Jesus!

Can you picture yourself having the same right actions, attitudes, thoughts, and speech Jesus did? If not, ask the Lord to paint that picture for you and to keep it fresh in your mind and heart. Whenever you read about Jesus in the Gospels, don't just think of Him saying and doing those things...see yourself saying and doing them! Jesus tells us, "The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father." (John 14:12)

Jesus healed and set people free...even raised some of them from the dead! And He wants us to do the same. Now, if God says this is what He wants for us, who are we to disagree?

So the real the question here is, How badly do you want this for yourself? Do you crave that kind of change, like a starving person craves food? Are you desperate for that level of transformation, like someone who hasn't had a drop to drink for days?

Jesus promises you and I that if we truly desire to become like Him, "we shall be satisfied." In other words, it will happen...we will become like that image of Jesus we keep seeing in our hearts and minds, because He promises to make it so.

One thing's for sure, this is one diet I know I'm gonna stick with for a long, long time!