DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
Question for the day: Has God ever used someone else to send you a message?
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 9
Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
God Is Calling His People
1-5
At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It's an enormous pain deep within me, and I'm never free of it. I'm not exaggerating—Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses. It's the Israelites...If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I'd do it in a minute. They're my family. I grew up with them. They had everything going for them—family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises, to say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ, who is God over everything, always. Oh, yes!
6-9
Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put: "Your family will be defined by Isaac"? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, "When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son"?
10-13
And that's not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb—incapable of good or bad—she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don't do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. God told Rebecca, "The firstborn of your twins will take second place." Later that was turned into a stark epigram: "I loved Jacob; I hated Esau."
14-18
Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.
19
Are you going to object, "So how can God blame us for anything since he's in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?"
20-33
Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:
I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies;
I'll call the unloved and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!"
they're calling you "God's living children."
Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:
If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered
and the sum labeled "chosen of God,"
They'd be numbers still, not names;
salvation comes by personal selection.
God doesn't count us; he calls us by name.
Arithmetic is not his focus.
Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:
If our powerful God
had not provided us a legacy of living children,
We would have ended up like ghost towns,
like
How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And
Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to
a stone you can't get around.
But the stone is me! If you're looking for me,
you'll find me on the way, not in the way.
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.
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.
UPDATE:
After more testing, the doctors have found that, despite the number of tumors found in and around the bladder, that the cancer has NOT spread to any surrounding muscle tissue or organs. They are looking at completely removing the bladder and replacing it with a piece of intestine. WE PRAISE GOD AND GIVE HIM THE GLORY FOR THIS; WE ALSO PRAY THAT BILLY WILL RECOGNIZE THIS AS GOD WORKING IN HIS LIFE!!!!!!!!!
God Speaks Through a Friend
Dr. Charles Stanley
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (New International Version)
The LORD Calls Samuel
1
The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
2
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.
3
The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple [a]of the LORD, where the ark of God was.
4
Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, "Here I am."
5
And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.
6
Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."
7
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8
The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.
9
So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
When we're not listening for the Lord's voice, He will often send a message through someone else. In 1 Samuel 3:1-10, for example, young Samuel is confused about what is happening. He hears a person speaking but doesn't recognize it as the voice of God. However, his mentor Eli, the priest discerns that the Father was calling, so he tells the boy what to do when the Lord speaks again (v. 9).
In taking his advice, Samuel begins a lifelong career of relaying to others what the voice of God says. This might not have happened, though, if Eli had not given his young helper a word of instruction.
I myself had a similar experience several years ago. A friend called me unexpectedly and said, "While I was praying, God told me to tell you to spend tomorrow in prayer and fasting before you make that decision." This struck me in a mighty way, because I was indeed facing a big decision, but there was no way that my friend could have known about it.
I did what he advised, and through this process, God led me to the answer I needed. In fact, I discovered that I had been moving in the wrong direction and would have made a terrible mistake if my friend hadn't called. However, God stepped in and got my attention in a remarkable way.
When we're going off course, the Lord will sometimes speak through other believers to reach us. Therefore, it is vital to maintain a close network of godly men and women we can trust. Thank the Lord for the Christ-centered people in your life, and pray for wisdom in discerning their counsel.
…and…
Insight for Living
Chuck Swindoll
Cloudy Days . . . Dark Nights -- Part 1
Low tides. We all have them. Occasionally, they linger for an extended period of time, bringing overwhelming feelings of depression. The sun rays of purpose and hope become blocked by the clouds of disillusionment, doubt, and a host of accompanying enemies of faith. So it happened with David. He succumbed to such feelings as darts of fear and pessimism punctured his trust in God. The results? He played into the hands of
Series: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny
VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Insight_for_Living/
GDLC Message: http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx
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