Manna for 9/5/2009

DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009


Question for the day:
What do you do about a past you can’t change, and can’t forget?


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 23
(The Message)

Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm


Before the High Council
1-3
Paul surveyed the members of the council with a steady gaze, and then said his piece: "Friends, I've lived with a clear conscience before God all my life, up to this very moment." That set the Chief Priest Ananias off. He ordered his aides to slap Paul in the face. Paul shot back, "God will slap you down! What a fake you are! You sit there and judge me by the Law and then break the Law by ordering me slapped around!"

4
The aides were scandalized: "How dare you talk to God's Chief Priest like that!"

5
Paul acted surprised. "How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn't act like a Chief Priest. You're right, the Scripture does say, 'Don't speak abusively to a ruler of the people.' Sorry."

6
Paul, knowing some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: "Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It's because of my Pharisee convictions—the hope and resurrection of the dead—that I've been hauled into this court."

7-9
The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can't see it, they don't believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: "We don't find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him? Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we're fighting against God?"

10
That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and escort him back to the safety of the barracks.

A Plot Against Paul
11
That night the Master appeared to Paul: "It's going to be all right. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You've been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you're going to be my witness in Rome!"

12-15
Next day the Jews worked up a plot against Paul. They took a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Over forty of them ritually bound themselves to this murder pact and presented themselves to the high priests and religious leaders. "We've bound ourselves by a solemn oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. But we need your help. Send a request from the council to the captain to bring Paul back so that you can investigate the charges in more detail. We'll do the rest. Before he gets anywhere near you, we'll have killed him. You won't be involved."

16-17
Paul's nephew, his sister's son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him."

18
The centurion brought him to the captain and said, "The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you."

19
The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. "What is it? What do you have to tell me?"

20-21
Paul's nephew said, "The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They're going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it's a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They've all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they've killed him. The ambush is set—all they're waiting for is for you to send him over."

22
The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: "Don't breathe a word of this to a soul."

23-24
The captain called up two centurions. "Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o'clock tonight. And you'll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We're going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix."

25-30
Then he wrote this letter:
From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:
Greetings! I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal. The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I'd better get him out of here in a hurry. So I'm sending him to you. I'm informing his accusers that he's now under your jurisdiction. 31-33The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.

34-35
After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told "Cilicia." Then he said, "I'll take up your case when your accusers show up." He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod's official quarters.




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 Goshen NY.


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!
Wendi Trionfi Clark
Update on Pastor Bob: The surgeon just called him an hour or so ago and said he will do the surgery Tuesday. The MRI showed a 3cm x 8cm cyst on his knee, that is what is more than likely leaking down his leg. Doc is concerned about the skin on the... knee, may have to do skin graphs. I have not seen it, but Pop said it is pretty nasty. If he endures more pain/swelling b4 Tues, he needs surgery asap! Pray, please!

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

Birds in My Mustard Tree
Susanne Scheppmann


"He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.'" Matthew 17:20 (AMP)


Devotion:
What are birds in a mustard tree? Let me see if I can explain.

My pomegranate bush resembles a Christmas tree decorated by the hand of God. Its branches hang heavy with crimson bulbs of fruit. It sways in the wind and I catch a whiff of the overripe fruit. Various sparrows and robins sit on the branches like "twelve partridges in a pear tree." I hear the high-pitched music of finches and hummingbirds beyond the lush fruit, deep within the branches. The birds on the outer limbs dance while the hidden birds sing a bird medley.

To me this pomegranate bush reflects in the physical world what happens in the spiritual world of faith. Our faith may be small and sometimes hidden, but it can make our souls sing. We find Jesus speaking about faith in our key verse, "He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you'" Matthew 17:20 (AMP). He taught that even small faith could move a mountain.

But what are birds in a mustard tree? It's my phrase for recognizing God's response to my smallest faith and most doubt-filled prayers. The birds in my mustard tree are proof to me that God works as long as I have the tiniest bit of faith in His almighty power.

Author David Jeremiah wrote in My Heart's Desire:

"You may sometimes feel awkward and uncomfortable, and find yourself saying, 'Is this really true? I don't see anything in it. I don't hear God's voice. I don't feel His presence.' There are days like that for all of us. The pursuit of God has no shortcuts. You simply must keep walking, keep seeking, and keep yearning. Keep at it, and you won't be disappointed."

One example of mustard seed faith comes to mind as I think back to when my two sons were little boys. I began to pray for their future wives. So, I made a "shopping list" of prayers for daughters-in-law. My list included: godly, kind, sense of humor, good cooks, and fun families. Those prayers have been answered completely. I consider my "daughters-in-love" to be two of the most evident birds to result from my faith.

What would you list as evidences of your faith?

If we combined our lists, we would be amazed at the variety of "birds" we would see. In the days and years ahead, we will see many more birds come to roost in our mustard trees of faith.

Even if my faith is as tiny as a mustard seed, God can bring about miraculous results. He can grow my faith so large that it can host a multitude of His wonderful deeds. I call these the "birds in my mustard tree."

Dear Lord, show me the variety of truths about faith. I ask today for You to reveal to me the unseen aspects of my faith. Grant me the knowledge, wisdom, and revelation to perceive the birds that rest in my mustard tree of faith, in Jesus' Name, amen.


Application Steps:
What actions can I take in response to this message?


Reflections:
Do I consider my faith to be weak or strong or somewhere in between?

What would I declare as the fruit of my faith—the birds in my mustard tree?


Power Verses:
Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (NIV)

Romans 10:17, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (NIV)

Acts 3:16, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see." (NIV)



…and…



GLDC
Pastor Greg Finke

The Art of Forgiving
8/30/2009
ForgivenessNot just a word. An action. Discover how important it is to forgive.

VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx



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