Just Us: Manna for September 11, 2009

DYSMAS CONDUIT

FREE FOOD

(Isa 55:1)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Question for the day:

Have you ever said something that you wished you could take back?

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

Romans 1

(The Message)

Listen at

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

I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God's words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God's friends.

2-7

The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the Messiah.

8-12

I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That's first. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son—the Message!—knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you. The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God's gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! But don't think I'm not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you.

13-15

Please don't misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I've made plans for Rome. I've been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God's work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. But something has always come up and prevented it. Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they're mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that's why I can't wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.

16-17

It's news I'm most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God's way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: "The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives."

Ignoring God Leads to a Downward Spiral

18-23

But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

24-25

So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

26-27

Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either—women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

28-32

Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

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 Aardmore, OK, the Little Rock, AR and Jacksonville, AR.

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 29^th 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.

To all the faithful, Please pray for Keegan Toner who will be having heart surgery Friday September 18th, 2009. He is the little one we have been holding up in prayer they have moved the surgery up. Please pray for the physicians to do their best and peace and freedom from worry for the family realizing that Keegan is in our Savior's loving hands. Blessings to all of you as you stand in the gap. Carol Taylor for Lela Toner

Prayer partners, I received this email from a friend of mine, please join me and add Kathy and her family to your prayers. We found out last week that my mother in law, Kathy, has cancer. This was very sudden and took us all by surprise. She had a very fast growing tumor attached to her spleen. She underwent surgery last Wednesday to remove the spleen, the tumor, part of the stomach, part of the pancreas, and they also found it on her diaphragm. She is recovering from surgery and we are waiting for the pathology report to tell us what kind of cancer she has and what the long term prognosis and treatment will be. Thank you for praying with me. Carolyn J Young

I am requesting prayer for the widow, Noreen Holst, family, and friends of Richard Holst, a very dear friend for a number of years who died yesterday morning while responding to a fire in Huntington Station, New York. Richard was a firefighter, fire police, and Chaplain for his department. He had also been the New York State Fire Chaplains' Association president. I had the honor and privilege to serve with him following 9/11. May the Lord grant all who knew him, the peace of God's grace as Rich will be truly missed as a fellow servant of the Lord.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

September 11, 2009

Shelter from the Storms

Melanie Chitwood

"Trust in Him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us."

Psalm 62:8 (NAS)

Devotion:

The thunder and lightning of a powerful storm rattled our house last night. As rain slashed against the windows and lightning lit up the dark sky, I woke up just long enough to make room for my youngest son and yellow lab to join me and my husband in bed. I remember thinking with surprise that I didn't even know it was going to storm.

What a picture of my life lately. It's been a year of unexpected rain. Some just drizzles, but others, like the storm hitting me most recently, have rattled windows with wave after wave of thunder and bursts of lightning.

What about you? Is there stormy weather in your life right now? Where are you finding shelter from the storms?

My friends and family have been a shelter for me this year, just like my family was last night as we all huddled together in bed. They've encouraged and supported me. And most importantly, they've pointed me to the strongest shelter from the storms, my Heavenly Father.

As I've turned to Scripture this week, I'm amazed at the number of times it reminds us God is our shelter. God knows that we will encounter hard times and His Word reminds us that the strongest and safest shelter is God Himself.

As always we have a choice: get drenched in the rain or seek shelter. You see, the storms of life can cause us to run toward God, but just as easily they can cause us to turn away. A whole range of emotions can leave us standing in the rain to get drenched: bitterness, anger, confusion, helplessness, or hopelessness. If you can relate to these emotions, you might feel badly for having these emotions, but don't let these feelings keep you from God.

Read the Psalms and you'll see that God can handle every emotion. Negative emotions are not a reason to turn away from God. They're the very reason to turn to Him, desperately wanting the kind of faith and strength only God can provide.

Keep turning to God, continue to tell Him in prayer how you feel, and leave your emotions with Him. As you do, you'll start to feel His nearness, His hope, His promise, and His comfort. If you find yourself returning to feelings of fear or hopelessness, just go back to God. Be honest in your prayers. Acknowledge that you're having a hard time, but that you want to trust Him in your circumstances. Know that He loves you and will consistently and constantly be your shelter from the storms.

Dear Lord, "Hear my cry, O God; give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings" (Psalm 61:1-4, NAS). In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Application Steps:

Find comfort as you read Psalm 61, 62 and 91 today. Write out and display in a prominent place in your house a particular verse that helps you keep your eyes on God.

Reflections:

Have you been turning away from God? Can you turn back to Him today? He is waiting for you with open arms and a loving heart. He loves you and wants to be your strength and comfort in the storm you're facing.

Power Verses:

2 Chronicles 20:12, "… For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You." (NAS)

Psalm 91:1-2, "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him." (NLT)

…and…

TURNING POINT

Dr. David Jeremiah

Slaying the Giant of Guilt Part 1

Friday, September 11, 2009

Have you ever said something that you wished you could take back?

We all have. And quite honestly, we'd like to forget it.

So, we place the conversation somewhere in the back of our mind until it begins to resurface - only this time it's attached to guilt.

How do we get rid of the tormenting memory that consumes our thoughts?

In this message, we'll discover that God has given us directives

on how we can free our lives of guilt.

Series: Slaying the Giants in Your Life