DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Question for the day: When was the last time you felt “the burn”?
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 12
Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Place Your Life Before God
1-2
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
3
I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
4-6
In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.
6-8
If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
9-10
Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11-13
Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14-16
Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
17-19
Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
20-21
Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
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 Ambridge, PA to Lansing, MI – AND THEN HOME FOR A BIT! Hooray!
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!!!!!!!!!
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
September 22, 2009
Feel The Burn
Luann Prater
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize."
1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)
Devotion:
Jagged rocks sunk deep into my knee. They left a hole the size of a quarter and deep enough for my mom to wrap her finger in a washcloth and stick it down in it to clean it out! (How is that for way too graphic?) This 3rd grade bicycle accident left an impression, literally!
My knee always gave me trouble after that. Bike riding was still possible because I had the leverage of the other leg. I could walk for miles. But running was a different story. Running a lap in gym class caused my knee to swell the size of a small cantaloupe! If the teacher insisted I keep running, the knee would go limp and I would fall on the track.
The school nurse told my mom to take me to the doctor. He drained it, then wrote a note and handed it to my mom. A prescription? No, a note excusing me from EVER taking another gym class....EVER! Woo Hoo! I felt like I had just been released from exercise-prison!
What that did over time, however, was clip the wings of this butterfly. That note was my "get out of jail free card" and I pulled it out whenever exercise was mentioned. At first I was fearful that my silly weak knee would let me down and embarrass me in front of my friends, so I would just excuse myself from the fun. Then I just gave up all together, thinking I could never do anything physical beyond walking.
A few years ago, my sweet friend Lysa began running every morning. I remember thinking, I wish I could do that. My neighbor also runs every morning and asked if I wanted to join her. "Wish I could," I'd say.
Dealing with congestion in our chests one day, my hubby and I decided to go for a walk. Suddenly I blurted, "Let's run and get active enough to break this stuff up!" He looked to see if I was joking, then saw my serious face. So we ran.
And I liked it! I didn't even consult my knee! We made a second lap and I finally felt it -- the burn.
People talk about feeling the burn but I never really "got it." However, that day the warm sensation in my limp, lazy muscles felt good. Stretching past the norm made me feel alive.
Complacency is never good, not physically or spiritually. Fear of what might happen took the drive out of my physical life. Sometimes fear of what might happen can take the power out of my run with Christ.
Are you pulling out your note of excuses, explaining why being an active Christian just won't work for you? Or are you regularly feeling the burn in your walk with Jesus?
My husband and I are running twice a day now. I feel the burn and I'm LOVIN' IT!
Is God calling you to get off the couch and out in the world to make a difference? If so, get up and go with gusto.
Dear Lord, You never sat lazily on the sidelines and watched life happen while You were here on earth. You were active in the lives of others. Help me Father to love the burn that comes with stretching my faith. Take my hand Lord and teach me to run! in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
Stretch yourself today. What can you do to get off the sidelines of life and get into the race?
Reflections:
What excuses have I made to stay in my comfort zone?
Will I take that first step and decide to run my race with faith?
Who could I share this word of encouragement with to spur them to live an active life with Jesus?
Power Verses:
Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (NIV)
Proverbs 31:17, "She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." (NIV)
…and…
TURNING POINT
Dr. David Jeremiah
Slaying the Giant of Resentment Part 2
Have you ever been upset with someone at work? Perhaps a promotion you had been working for was given to that person, and you know they don't really deserve the reward. Very soon your anger over the situation can turn into resentment that grows and blossoms into something you never imagined - like a weed in your garden that flourishes next to your flowers. How do we as Christians eliminate the resentment that threatens to consume us? In this message, Dr. David Jeremiah outlines strategies for living resentment free.
Series: Slaying the Giants in Your Life
VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/
GDLC Message: http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx
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