Manna for September 12, 2009

DYSMAS CONDUIT

FREE FOOD

(Isa 55:1)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2009

Question for the day: Can you recall a time in your life when what appeared to be a negative change turned out to be good?

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 2

(The Message)

Listen at

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

God Is Kind, but Not Soft

1-2

Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done.

3-4

You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

5-8

You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it's going to blaze hot and high, God's fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what's coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God's side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!

9-11

If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.

12-13

If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely. Merely hearing God's law is a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.

14-16

When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.

Religion Can't Save You

17-24

If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.

25-29

Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.

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 from Oklahoma to Arkansas.

From Sandy Brommer:

I would like to ask you all to take a few minutes, and agree with me in prayer:

Father God, We ask you to be with this country today, and everyday.
Please continue in helping the people that lost loved ones, just for
our 'wake up call' 8 years ago today.
Please help all those who are here to serve, just as Jesus was: the
military, coast guard, fire, and police, along with those who serve us
humbly every day. We ask you, Lord, to watch over them, keep them
safe, and comfort their loved ones.
Father, I ask you to help me forgive those who were responsible for
this horrible act, even though I don't want to, I know I must find a
way to do this someday.
But in our forgiveness, Lord, we ask you to not let us be complacent
and vulnerable again, remind us that you call us to forgive, but we
cannot forget.
In Jesus Name, and by His Precious Blood,
Amen

Rick and Angie Brown lost an aunt. Please pray for the families during this time of grieving.

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.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

So Yesterday

Priscilla Richardson

"Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven."

Psalm 119:89 (NASB)

Devotion:

We live in a society that prizes change. Whether it's the most recent dictum of haute couture from the world of fashion, or the latest in technical gadgets, we are enamored with the idea that newer and different is better.

Let the word "change" fall from a politician's lips, and his or her future is suddenly golden. Discontented with the ordinariness of our lives, we are often an easy sell. So much so, in fact, that one of the quickest ways to kill an idea or project is to describe it as "so yesterday."

Obviously, some changes are positive and some are negative. But too much change, or change for the wrong reasons, can leave us scrambling for the higher ground of stability. When we are forced by circumstances to ride those roiling seas of change, to what do we cling to maintain our emotional and spiritual equilibrium? In Psalm 61:2, David said, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (NKJV). Isn't that what we all want - a sense of permanence in a world of change and restlessness? Solid ground when we can't touch bottom? Stillness in place of agitation?

God's Word tells us that all these are possible because of one man, and His name is Jesus. "For he himself is our peace," (Ephesians 2:14, NIV), the One who never changes. The "same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8, NIV). The unshakeable foundation beneath our feet when everything in our world totters (Psalm 40:2).

How comforting to know that our lives are encompassed by an eternally present Christ. He is our Alpha and Omega, our Beginning and our End. Who He is and what He says stands…

Uncontradicted.

Unoverturned.

Forever.

Long after you and I are considered history and "so yesterday," Jesus will still be. Describing the uniqueness of our God, Eugene Peterson in The Message asks, "Are we not at bedrock?" (Psalm 18:31).

Indeed.

Dear Lord, as everything around me changes, may I rest my heart on the firm foundation of Your Word, which never goes out of style or needs revision. May I rejoice in its timeless truth and rest in its awesome strength to transform my sometimes erratic life into a place of peace, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Reflections:

Can you recall another time in your life when God worked good for you out of what appeared to be a negative change in your life?

Is it possible to look at an unexpected or negative change in a positive way?

In what way does God's Word provide an anchor for us?

Power Verses:

Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." (NIV)

John 8:58, "‘I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!'" (NIV)

Psalm 27:5, "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." (NIV)

…and…

Back to the Bible

Woodrow Kroll and Tami Weissert

Leah: Living in the Shadow of a Sibling

It's hard to be the ugly duckling,

but Leah teaches us valuable lessons on living by faith and not by comparison.

Join Woodrow Kroll for Back to the Bible...

Series: The Amazing Women of the Bible (Week 1 of 4)

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GDLC Message: http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx

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