DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009
Question for the day: Have you ever been hungry… REALLY hungry?
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
Ephesians 6
Listen at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please pray for Mike Brommer as he spreads the Lord’s Seed and witnesses 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 Mike safe passage today to
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
November 6, 2009
Serving Rolls and Switching Roles
Karen Ehman
"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,'
but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"
James 2:15-16 (NIV)
Devotion:
"Mommy….look at her eat that turkey and mashed potatoes! She must be sooooo hungry!" my then four-year-old daughter Mackenzie whispered in my ear. Her eyes were riveted on a beautiful, chubby-fingered toddler. The child's coiled chestnut hair nearly cascaded into her plate as she leaned forward and eagerly consumed her holiday meal, complete with all the trimmings.
On Thanksgiving Day that year, my husband and I opted to skip the normal extended-family holiday feast and instead signed up to serve at a soup kitchen in the heart of the inner city. We took our preschool daughter along. Since then, all three of our children have had several opportunities to don an apron and serve mothers and fathers; children and grandparents; precious people who normally don't enjoy a well-rounded, home-cooked and piping-hot meal.
We often choose to serve a noontime meal at the soup kitchen while we skip breakfast ourselves that morning. As a result, our stomachs growl and our mouths water as we pass out the relishes, serve the rolls, or scoop the sweet potato casserole. After serving we discuss how, in a very small sense, we are switching places with the people we are ministering to that day. We get a tiny glimpse of their hungry plight.
Many of them live at poverty level. Some are homeless. For them, the noontime meal at the soup kitchen is the only hot nourishment they receive each day. They are accustomed to going hungry while watching well-fed others around them.
Our family has experienced financial struggle, to a much lesser degree, over the past year. My husband was laid off last Christmas Eve and spent over 9 months waiting to get called back to work. During this budget-tightening time, our children learned to go without; to see others acquire what we could not afford. To make ends meet, we ate more simply at home, and cut out restaurant trips. We bought only the clothing necessities on sale at deep discounts or at a resale shop. We learned what it was like to live at an economic level that was less than what we were used to.
And God was faithful. Many dear friends helped to lighten our load by giving us food, gift cards, and gas vouchers. They helped to smooth the rough bumps in our financial load.
So often, as in today's key verse, it is easy to talk the talk, yet utterly fail to walk the walk. What good is it to say, "I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but do nothing about another's physical needs? What is the point of declaring, "God bless so-and-so" in our prayers, yet never lifting a finger to bless "so-and-so" ourselves?
Let's vow together to put feet to our prayers; to love on people in tangible ways. Let's commit to step out of our comfort zones and help others enjoy the necessities and pleasures we often take for granted. Even during our own financially difficulties, we can volunteer our time or offer someone a needed hug.
This holiday season, let's try switching roles and serving rolls. I'm convinced if we do, we'll experience the immense privilege of being Jesus to a hurting soul.
Dear Lord, help me to not just say I care about others. Give me an opportunity to physically love and serve them, giving credit only to You. It is an honor to be Your hands and feet. I am ready. I am willing. I want to love and serve like You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Application Steps:
Put your creative cap on and do a little brainstorming. What are some tangible ways you and your family could reach out to those affected by our current sluggish economy during the upcoming holiday season? List three or four ideas and purpose to enact one.
Who are some friends you could include in such a "blessing adventure?" Think of others you could invite to serve those struggling financially at this time of year. Make a few phone calls or meet for coffee to plan your strategy.
Reflections:
How might you introduce others to Jesus as you serve at this time of year?
Power Verses:
James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV)
Matthew 25:43-45, "'I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'" (NIV)
…and…
TURNING POINT
Dr. David Jeremiah
How Can I Be Happy? - Part 2
VIEW OR LISTEN AT
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/
GDLC Message: http://www.gdlc.org/worship/sermons.aspx
Please send your prayer requests to
No comments:
Post a Comment