Just Us: 11/24 Manna

DYSMAS CONDUIT

FREE FOOD

(Isa 55:1)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009

Fill in: “I’m too _____.”

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

1 Timothy 2

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. He had surgery Nov 19^th and 2 more tumors were found, He is in a lot of pain. Please pray for the Lord’s Hand to help him overcome his anxiety as well as the cancer.

Christie Mann: Evan Mann to find a church family at college.

Karen Lovelace: Carol Rose and her family, her daughter is going through surgery and treatment for lung cancer.

CONFIDENTIAL: friend having some health issues and having many tests.

Christine Derusha: job/finances

Melissa Converse: recent unknown medical concerns

Luci Phillips: happy birthday, Paul Phillips.

Tina Sokolowski: a loved one in prison. My mom and dad’s health.

Jill Breedlove: It is so good to be feeling well enough to be back in worship! Continue to pray for all who have this horrid “bug”.

Dean/Mary Brewster: for Jim Sebring as he lost his wife last week in car accident and for mom as she has leukemia.

CONFIDENTIAL: teen temptation, lying and deception, health & healing.

Neal/Heather Gorney: our healing during the rebuilding of our marriage to look for God and where he leads us.

CONFIDENTIAL: a family that needs God’s touch & guidance

Josh Burkhard: Michelle as she is to be scheduled for hernia surgery and is dealing with very painful cystic ovaries.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

November 24, 2009

Body Image

T. Suzanne Eller

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now."

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)

Devotion:

I walked by the mirror in the department store. I stopped, backed up, and took a second look. Was that really me? I was nearly nine months pregnant with twins and looked like Mrs. Potato Head. My arms and legs stuck out of a huge protruding stomach. My belly button looked like a cork ready to pop!

A few days later Ryan and Melissa arrived. I loved my babies! But as the months passed, I didn't love my body with all its stretch marks and a baby bump that remained no matter how hard I tried to get rid of them.

Flash forward twenty-five years. Melissa loves to serve as Mom's fashionista, and tries to keep me up with the times. One day she and I were shopping for a pair of jeans and she'd picked out a couple of things she wanted me to try on. She knocked on the door of the dressing room. "Let me in, Mom."

I cracked open the door. "I'll be out in a minute, hon."

She frowned. Later she confronted me. "Mom, you were hiding your stomach, weren't you? I don't get it. You just need to get over it."

How many times have I met a truly beautiful woman and complemented her, only to hear her say, "Well, thank you, but I need to lose five pounds," or "I'm having a crazy hair day," or "Did you see that woman over there, now she's beautiful." What I saw was a smile that was warm and welcoming, or beautiful hazel eyes that were filled with compassion, or a woman who was frugal and fabulous. My complements were sincere, but fell flat as she focused on her flaws instead.

My conversation with Melissa that day reminded me that I was doing the same thing. Worse, I was modeling this behavior in front of my daughter.

The truth is that I'm healthy. I have given birth to three beautiful children. And more importantly, I'm God's girl. I'm beautifully made in His image. That's a fact etched on my heart and my mind.

Now if only someone would remind my mouth.

In Bible times ancient mirrors were polished metal, easily tarnished, and the reflection was hard to see. If a woman had a flaw, she had to rely on her friends or sisters to give her a head's up.

But today we can scope out our features in detail with three-way mirrors or a 5x-, 10x-, or even 15x magnified mirror where every pore and every flaw is magnified! Too often, those mirrors are reminders of the cultural message of what beauty is - or is not.

But what would happen if we focused on the mirror Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13:12 instead? The more we get to know God, the clearer things become. We stop checking out our own image and discover more about Him. That helps us see the bigger picture—5X-, 10X-, and maybe even 15X magnified!

And there's a bonus. The more we get to know Him, the more others see us through His reflection.

Now, that's real beauty.

Dear God, I am made in Your image. I matter to You. Make me wise. Let me be grateful for physical healthy. Will You join me as I pursue joy, wisdom, peace, and selflessness? I want to look like You, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Application Steps:

Name things that you believe will be important to you 10 years from now; 20 years from now.

Name one inner quality you'd like to nurture to help you work toward those goals.

What is one step you can take to begin that process?

Reflections:

"Scientists have concluded that there must be something more to us than our brains and our bodies. The Bible makes the same point: Whether it describes you with the words "soul", "spirit", or "heart," the meaning is the same - the real you, the deepest truest you is not your body. You are a living soul." Lael Arrington, author of The Things That Matter Most.

Power Verses:

Proverbs 31:30,"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised." (NLT)

Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (NIV)

…and…

TURNING POINT

Dr. David Jeremiah

What Can I Do When Trouble Overwhelms Me?

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Rebellious children. Aging parents. Job insecurities.

Unstable finances. Failing health.

Many of us are struggling in some area of our lives and we're overwhelmed.

At times even our attempts to fix the problem seems futile.

Why is it so hard? Isn't life as a Christian supposed to be easy?

In the conclusion of his series God, I Need Some Answers,

Dr. Jeremiah reminds us that God never promised us a trouble-free life –