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(Isa 55:1)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009

Question for the day: What does hope look like?

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 Peter 1

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 Billy Hamburg. He had another surgery and two more tumors were discovered. Discussion is forthcoming concerning bladder removal. Please pray for the Lord’s Hand to help him overcome his anxiety as well as the cancer.

This is an update and another prayer request for my brother, Dave. He is back in the hospital with a rash all over his body and they do not know where it is coming from. He is very weak and is really struggling. He is usually a go, go kind of guy and normally would be over doing in his rush to get better. That is not happening this time. He is also still very concerned that he will never be able to eat normally again.

Please continue to pray for him -- for healing, for physical and spiritual strength and for peace of heart & mind. Pray also for his wife and the rest of our family.

Thanks and God Bless,

Barb DeWald

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

What Hope Looks Like

T. Suzanne Eller

"Then he took the children in his arms

and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them."

Mark 10:16 (NLT)

Devotion:

I love visiting other countries to serve in missions work. But there are many times I've left a beautiful country overwhelmed by the needs of its people. People standing in line for medical care. Or children on a street corner selling candy, or worse - their bodies --so they could eat a meal. I've wept on the plane home, hiding my tears from other passengers behind the thin airline blanket.

Recently, however, I returned from a missions trip to Ecuador with Compassion International. Our travels to this country left me filled with hope! There are 52,000 children that are ministered to in 200 Compassion International projects across Ecuador.

I met Eric, a little guy who is 13, but looks seven. He was born with a syndrome that affects his motor skills, as well as his ability to communicate. Eric wasn't given a lot of hope. His mother has two other little guys, ten and six. Their home is nestled in a concrete cave honed out of rock and cinder block. I had to bend to enter the dark two-room habitat. Along one wall there is a small refrigerator, rusted by the years. A couple of cook pots sit by an open fireplace darkened by soot. Eric proudly showed me how he washes his clothes, beating his red shirt with a brush and suds.

Little Eric has had surgeries that allow him to run in his own makeshift fashion. His inability to communicate with words would lead you to believe he's not educated, but he is very intelligent. He and his brothers eat nutritious meals and receive schooling. And it's all because of Compassion International.

Later I met Jonathon, who became a Compassion International child at the age of five. He remembers proudly showing his first letter from his sponsor to his classroom. He held it high for the other children to see. "Jesus sent me someone who loves me," he said.

Next July, Jonathon will graduate from a university with a degree in physics. He wept as he tried to explain what Compassion International, and his sponsor, have done for him. A person he has never met gave him health, hope, and the opportunity to change the lives of many children. He plans to go back to his former project area as a teacher.

I often pray and ask Jesus how to spend my time, my finances, and my talents. But the funny thing is, I don't pray over the everyday expenditures that have very little lasting impact. I weigh them. I think about them. But pray about it? I don't. I believe I will start praying about my everyday expenditures, and asking God to reveal to me opportunities to invest in the things that really matter.

As I boarded the plane for home, I declined the offered blanket. I didn't need to hide my tears - not this time. Instead I praised God for a renewed vision of hope: a child who wasn't supposed to live who can now run and read; a little girl waving her hand in the air to be called upon in class to quote a scripture; a young man wiping away tears as he expressed his desire to educate little ones facing the odds he once faced and overcame. I settled back in my seat and smiled, reveling in the beautiful pictures of God's hope in action.

Dear God, You love the hungry, the poor, the hurting. Thank You for the opportunity to be Your hands and feet, whether in my own community, or around the world. I pray that I will invest my heart and life in those things that burn on Your heart, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Application Steps:

Pray: Ask God to reveal a need.

Prepare: How can you respond with one tangible action, small or large? Is it your time? Your talents? Your finances?

Proceed: Take action today!

Reflections:

Childhood—we get only one pass at it, and yet it dictates the quality of the rest of our lives. Dr. Wess Stafford, President of Compassion International

Power Verses:

Deuteronomy 15:10, "Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do." (NLT)

Matthew 25:37b-40, "'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" (ESV)

…and…

The Bible Study Hour

Dr. James Boice

Three Miracles of Christmas

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Christmas is a time when we think about the miraculous.

God himself became man. A virgin gave birth.

But even more miraculous than either of these

is that Mary had the faith that she would give birth to Jesus.

This miracle of belief is one that God needs work in each of our hearts.

Series: Christmas

Luke 1:26-38