DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2009
Question for the day: What can we pray with YOU about today?
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
CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
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.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
December 30, 2009
Return to Me
Marybeth Whalen
"Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘
Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty,
‘and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty."
Zechariah 1:3 (NIV)
Devotion:
At first glance, this verse might seem like God is stand-offish and distant. Why do we have to make the first move? But actually, this verse depicts His great love for us. Like the prodigal's father, He waits patiently for our return. He doesn't find us, shake us and demand us to account for our whereabouts. Instead He scans the horizon for our return.
Hoping, but not forcing. Waiting, but not pressuring. Ultimately He gives us free will. We choose when and if we return. And when we do, He promises to return to us. He is a gentleman who doesn't force Himself upon us. God has to see us move of our own free will. That element of choice is intrinsic in His relationship to us.
Returning to God is a practice we will have to engage in over and over in life. The point is not how many times we return to Him, but that we make the effort to do so each time it is necessary. Perhaps you need to return to Him physically—recommitting to meeting with Him in church on a weekly basis. Perhaps you need to return to Him emotionally—determining to trust Him in a difficult time. Perhaps you need to return to Him spiritually—committing to regular prayer and time spent in His Word.
Whatever your return looks like, don't put it off any longer. And don't doubt that He will return to you. Don't believe lies that you are the exception or that you are asking too much of Him. His Word tells us differently. Hebrews 7:19 says, "…a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God" (NIV). God made the ultimate way for us to return—through His Son, whose death on the cross allowed us to approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). By Him we draw near to God. Not because we are worthy, but because He is.
God wants us to return to Him. He stands waiting with open arms, at the ready to return to us. When He sees us coming, He runs to meet us. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20b, NIV).
Are you ready to make that first move today?
Dear Lord, I need to return to You. Thank You for making it my choice because You love me and want to be in a real relationship with me. I thank You for waiting for me with open arms. Today I am choosing to fall into those open arms again. Thank You that You gave Your Son so that I can always return to You without shame, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
Using your Bible concordance, look up the word "return." Spend time today reading what God has to say about returning to Him. Write down some of your favorite verses in a journal.
Reflections:
Do you need to return to Him? How will that look for you? What is holding you back?
Power Verses:
James 4:8a, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." (NIV)
Joel 2:12-13, "'Even now', declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.'" (NIV)
…and…
Taking a trip on the Bible Bus
Hebrews 10:26—39
[26] If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, [27] but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. [28] Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. [29] How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." [31] It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
[32] Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. [33] Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. [34] You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
[35] So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. [36] You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. [37] For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
[38] But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."
[39] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Listen to Scripture at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Listen to Thru the Bible
Dr. J.
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Thru_the_Bible_with_JVernon_McGee/
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