DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2009
Question for the day: Ever made the same mistake twice?
What can we pray for YOU about today?
Good morning,
This is just a reminder that every day, while we are studying God’s Word to add to our website, someone from our ministry, Dysmas Conduit, is holding you up before the Lord in prayer. May He greatly bless you today as you pursue His will and He is glorified through you.
God’s blessings, our love,
George & Sidney Granger
Today’s Chapter in God’s Word
Acts 12
(The Message)
Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Peter Under Heavy Guard
1-4
That's when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He murdered James, John's brother. When he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he arrested Peter—all this during Passover Week, mind you—and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.
5
All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.
6
Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!
7-9
Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: "Hurry!" The handcuffs fell off his wrists. The angel said, "Get dressed. Put on your shoes." Peter did it. Then, "Grab your coat and let's get out of here." Peter followed him, but didn't believe it was really an angel—he thought he was dreaming.
10-11
Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. That's when Peter realized it was no dream. "I can't believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to."
12-14
Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary's house, the Mary who was John Mark's mother. The house was packed with praying friends. When he knocked on the door to the courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. But when she recognized his voice—Peter's voice!—she was so excited and eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door and left him standing in the street.
15-16
But they wouldn't believe her, dismissing her, dismissing her report. "You're crazy," they said. She stuck by her story, insisting. They still wouldn't believe her and said, "It must be his angel." All this time poor Peter was standing out in the street, knocking away.
16-17
Finally they opened up and saw him—and went wild! Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James and the brothers what's happened." He left them and went off to another place.
18-19
At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to
The Death of Herod
20-22
But things went from bad to worse for Herod. Now people from
23
That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod's arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.
24
Meanwhile, the ministry of God's Word grew by leaps and bounds.
25
Barnabas and Saul, once they had delivered the relief offering to the church in
CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please pray for Mike and Sandy Brommer as they spread the Lord’s Seed and witness to His glory while on the road today. Please pray also that the Lord will lead him to Kingdom-profitable loads to carry, and that He grants them safe passage today to
THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR PASTOR BOB ALLMANN
Please remain in prayer concerning his continued healing and that he is upheld by the Spirit, becoming physically strong as he returns to serving the Lord… what he loves to do!
Please continue to pray for Billy Hamburg, whose doctors found 5 tumors in his bladder. He had surgery June 29th and the biopsy results showed a cancerous condition. He will be undergoing chemo & radiation treatments and will need the Lord’s Hand to overcome his anxiety as well as the cancer.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
August 26, 2009
Repent, Rescue, Repeat
Wendy Pope
"Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight."
Judges 10:6a (NLT)
Devotion:
When life gets hard, have you noticed how easy it is to sin? I have found during some of the toughest circumstances I face, I am easily lured into sin. The lure seldom comes from new temptations. It usually comes from areas of sin I "thought" I had left behind, repented of and turned away from. Our enemy is cleaver and cunning. He knows our areas of weakness and comes back to those places when we are at our lowest, in hopes to seduce us back into a pattern of sin. It is an age-old ploy. He doesn't stop using the tactic because he continues to have success.
The enemy's success can be proven by looking back at the repeated sin of idolatry and disobedience of God's chosen people, the Israelites. The ebb and flow of the Israelites' sin started soon after their exodus from
As we read through the Old Testament we find the Israelites became more and more blatant about their sin. They no longer tried to hide it. They worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but still held true to their devotion and worship of the pagan gods. Joshua called their sin evil. Evil is an ugly word, which means morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked. God's Word tells us that the Israelites' evil lead to their misery and their misery grieved the Lord (Judges 10:16). Our sin grieves the Lord and causes us misery as well.
Misery comes from the Hebrew word "`amal." It means to toil, trouble, labor, mischief. I found the meaning of toil to be very interesting: hard and continuous work, exhausting labor or effort. Habitual sin, like that of the Israelites' idol worshiping is exhausting to keep up with. It takes continuous effort to stay involved in sin because one sin leads to another that leads to another. It is toilsome and drains the life out of us. The Israelites sinned until they felt helpless and trapped, at the point of exhaustion. Then they would repent of their sin and beg the Lord to forgive them, promising their wholehearted devotion. In His continual grace God forgave them, but they would eventually fall back into their sin cycle.
As I read about the cycle of repent, rescue, repeat among the Israelites I have come to the conclusion that they never truly repented at all. True repentance of sin as repentance means in the Bible is to turn back. Basically, turn 180 degrees and don't look back. This is not what happened with the Israelites. They enjoyed their sin, but when the going got tough they cried out to the Lord. They simply offered the Lord "lip service" because they wanted to be rescued from their tough circumstances. They never depended on God long enough to allow Him to change their hearts.
Are you tired and miserable? God intended our life to be lived to the fullest, where He alone can make our joy complete. The only way to live this life is to put our safety and hope in the Lord by turning our hearts completely toward Him, leaving our sin behind and letting Him turn our hearts from the lure of sin. I want to be a 180 degree "repenter." I don't want to be a rescue-crying sinner who calls on God to bail me out when life is too exhausting and I am completely miserable. I want to escape the cycle of repent, rescue, and repeat. I am going to ask God to help me change my heart in the issues that I struggle with repeatedly. Will you join with me in this prayer?
Dear Lord, I ask You to forgive me when I fall into the cycle of rescue, repent, and repeat. Forgive me for treating Your forgiveness so causally. I give You permission to have Your way with my heart, changing it to be completely restored toward You and no longer falling prey to the lure of habitual sin. My desire is to live in complete obedience to You, the One and Only true God, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
Answer the reflection questions in your prayer journal or on a piece of paper. Confess any sin to the Lord. Pray today's prayer aloud.
Reflections:
Am I in a pattern of habitual sin? If so, what is the pattern?
What is the Lord saying to me about my sin?
Power Verses:
Psalm 32:5, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' - and you forgave the guilt of my sin." (NIV)
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (NIV)
…and…
TURNING POINT
Dr. David Jeremiah
The Perfect Storm - Part 1
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
On May 28th, 2008 an EF 5 tornado tore through the small town of
but He does protect us.
Series: Church in Action 5: The Faithful Prisoner of the Church
VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/
GDLC Message: http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx
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