DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
Question for the day: Is there something in your past keeping you from living the life that God intended?
What can we pray with 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
2 THESSALONIANS 3
Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
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 them to Kingdom-profitable loads to carry, and that He grants them safe passage today.
Please continue to pray for three-week-old David Pearson. He is fighting for his life in a German hospital, having already endured his third blood transfusion. So many complications in such a brief life! Please pray also for his parents, John and Annetta – as well as grand-parents and personal good friends, Dan and Sondra Pearson, as they stand vigil for baby David.
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
Stained and Ruined
Melissa Taylor
"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed."
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
Devotion:
Looking back, it seems like I'm viewing the story of another person. I hardly recognize the little girl I became in that dark moment.
I was walking home from the bus stop. The walk took about ten minutes unless I stopped to talk to a friend or neighbor, which I usually did. Mr. Parks, a retired man, was sitting in his driveway waving to all the kids walking by. He was so friendly. On this particular day, he invited me into his garage. He said he had some candy to give me. I walked in that garage an innocent trusting little girl. I walked out scarred for life.
Mr. Parks sexually violated me. I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't know what to do. He became someone else; I didn't recognize the man he changed into once that garage door was closed. He did things to me and made me do things to him that I never imagined existed. I was absolutely terrified. When he was done, he said, "Come back tomorrow." And I did.
The experience of being sexually abused left me devastated, feeling stained and ruined. In my mind, what I had done was so bad, I couldn't tell anyone. And because it happened more than once, I felt like it really was my choice; my fault. That's what he told me. I felt dirty and I was filled with shame. Shame is a joy stealer and my joy was gone.
Over the years I perfected the art of wearing masks. On the outside, I looked great. However, on the inside I felt completely unworthy of any good thing. When I experienced success, I would usually sabotage myself or quit. I apologized for being good at something and downplayed my God-given strengths.
It must break God's heart when we allow shame to steal our sense of worth. Jesus gave His life to prove how valuable we are. We were created to walk in God's confidence, not our own.
Our key verse tells us "By his wounds, we are healed." Jesus became stained and ruined on our behalf. We don't have to live in fear or condemnation over anything that has taken place in our lives, whether it was our fault or not.
When I accepted Christ as my Savior, I also accepted freedom from my past hauntings. Still, I have to remind myself of this every day. My thoughts must center on Jesus or they can easily slip back to the darkness of that garage. Yes, even 35 years later, I still have flashbacks of what happened to me. That's when I look up to heaven and say, "By Your wounds I am healed. Thank You, Jesus. I am not stained and ruined. I am clean, pure, and precious. Mr. Parks has no hold on me anymore."
My final triumph in this horrific ordeal was the most difficult: forgiveness. I claim forgiveness for my sins everyday through Jesus. In doing that, I am faced with the fact that I'm called to forgive. "Mr. Parks, I forgive you. I know you must have been very sick and your heart was stained with sin. I hope and pray you accepted Jesus before you died. What you did to me was the worst thing anyone could do to a little girl. I want to hate you. Instead, I choose to hate what you did, but forgive you." I can only do this with Jesus at my side. I'm not capable any other way.
No longer do I believe I am stained and ruined. I am clean. I am worthy. Jesus has set me free. "By his wounds, we are healed." I believe that. I hope you do too!
Dear Lord, I need You every day of my life. Please remind me that I am worthy and delete the lies that haunt me. Help me live to the fullest for You, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
If you are suffering due to your past, seek Christian counseling in your area.
Read your Bible everyday. Begin each day by saying, "Lord, because of you I am healed and valuable."
Reflections:
Is there something in your past keeping you from living the life God intended?
Do you believe Jesus has washed you clean?
Have you shared what Christ has done for you with anyone lately?
Power Verses:
Deuteronomy 14:2, "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession." (NIV)
Isaiah 43:18-19, "Forget what happened long ago! Don't think about the past. I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands." (CEV)
Isaiah 45:3, "I will give you treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." (NIV)
…and…
Back to the Bible
Woodrow Kroll and Tami Weissert
The Road to Emmaus
From, November 20, 2009
Despair and hopelessness changed to joy and hope.
And it only took a conversation with the resurrected Jesus.
Woodrow Kroll concludes his series on Luke today...
Series: Luke: Following the World Changer (Week 3 of 3)
VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Back_to_the_Bible/
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