Just Us: 1/14 Manna

DYSMAS CONDUIT

FREE FOOD

(Isa 55:1)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010

Question for the day:

Ever said, "It’s okay, I'll do better tomorrow?"

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 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.

Carol Taylor - Please pray for our dear friend Keith, he and his wife do missionary work in Haiti and have heard a friend is missing and others are very shaken which is understandable. Pray that many will be found okay and peace for Keith and Kim they have many friends there. Keith got back from Haiti the day before the earthquake.

Hello Prayer Warriors!!

We have been praying for Gail Shorkey and God is blessing her with some improvements! Thank you, Father!

Please continue to lift this dear woman up in prayer and that her health will continue to improve and her body freed from this cancer. Pray also that Gail and her family will continue to feel encouragement through this process. Blessing to you all --Lauri

Hey Everyone!!!
I just got off the phone with Lynn Boone! She had an appointment with her orthopedic surgeon yesterday to hear whether or not she would have to have surgery on her broken elbow. We have been praying that God would heal her and she would not need this surgery as it may limit her mobility and would most likely cause arthritis to form after the elbow heals.
God is so amazing! When Lynn took her arm out of the sling yesterday and the doctor examined it, Lynn's mobility was so great that the doctor said he isn't going to touch it! No surgery!! Praise the Lord!! Thanks be to God!!

Lynn will be returning to the doctor in three weeks (that means three more weeks with the sling). Please join me in praying that in this next three weeks God heals up that elbow and Lynn will be free to move her arm and begin to strengthen those muscles! Blessing and peace to you all! --Lauri Potter

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

January 14, 2010

I'll Start Again on Monday

Lysa TerKeurst

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

through him who loved us."

Romans 8:37 (NIV)

Devotion:

New Year's Resolutions… some of us like them. Most of us loathe them. But the reality is, a lot of us make them.

And usually right up at the top of most resolutions lists is some version of the promise we'll eat better and exercise more. There is a honeymoon phase the first couple of days of starting a new healthy eating plan. But then you're invited to a party. Your friends are quick to say, "Oh come on, just one won't hurt. This is a special day."

That cheesecake does look good. The Mexican chips and dip are irresistible. It is a special night. I can start again on Monday.

It is so tempting to give in. Set things in reverse. Pretend it won't matter. But it does matter and not just for the physical or mental set back. It's the denial of a fundamental spiritual truth that will make our healthy eating plan fall apart time and time again. What is this truth? We were made for more than this. More than this failure, more than this cycle, more than being ruled by taste buds - we were made for victory. Sometimes we just have to find our way to that truth.

When I was a senior in high school I was invited to a college party. I had a friend who'd graduated the year before me and became my favorite person in the world the day she invited me to her sorority party. By the end of the night we were giggling over the attention given to us by two good looking college boys. As the party died down, they invited us over to their place.

Part of me was so flattered, I wanted to go. A much bigger part of me didn't. But plans got made and before I knew it we were getting into their car and driving away. I was not a strong Christian at this point in my life. Not even close. And I certainly can't say I'd ever heard God speak to me, but in the midst of this situation, I did.

"This isn't you, Lysa. You were made for more than this."

Truth -- a gift of truth -- planted deep within me when God personally knit me together - untied and presented at just the right time.

I wound up making an excuse for a quick exit and walking back to my car alone that night. I mentally beat myself up for acting like a young, immature high schooler who couldn't handle being a college party girl. But looking back, I want to stand up on a chair and clap, clap, clap for my little high schooler self!

There were other seasons of my growing up years where I heard this truth loud and clear repeated within the confines of my soul but, sadly, I refused to listen. These were the darkest years of my life. I wasn't made to live a life that dishonors the Lord.

None of us are.

"You were made for more Lysa - you were made for more." I remembered it especially in those early weeks of my new healthy eating adventure when I was tempted by one million assaults on my sugar-deprived taste buds. I just kept mentally repeating ... made for more. Made for more!

And though my healthy eating quest pales in comparison to the importance of a high schooler trying to keep her purity - hunger is hunger. Temptation is temptation. Desire is desire. So, maybe they aren't so different after all.

We were made for more.

What a great truth to use while rewriting the "go to" script that plays in our head every time we're tempted. Rewriting the go-to scripts is one of the most crucial steps toward permanent progress. Remember the script that I mentioned earlier in this article? The excuses? The rationalizations? The "I'll do better on Monday" escape clauses?

We have to rewrite those by getting into the habit of saying other things. And the first of these is, "I was made for more."

Listen to these words from Proverbs 3:5-8, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."

Trust in the Lord-you were made for more. In all your ways acknowledge Him, knowing that you were made for more. Don't try to be wise and try to keep a resolution do in your own strength. Hold tight to the Lord and flee from temptations – remembering that you were made for more. This will bring health and nourishment to your soul and help you find victory in this struggle-you were made for more!

Father, I was made for more than getting stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat. I trust You and want to acknowledge You in ALL my ways. Help me to remember I was made for more with each choice I make, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Application Steps:

If food is not an issue for you, how does today's devotion apply to your area of struggle?

Reflections:

Who are some friends that can walk through this journey of learning to make healthier choices with me?

Is pursuing healthier eating a vain pursuit or could it have deep spiritual applications in my life as well?

Power Verses:

Psalm 78:18, "They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved." (NIV)

Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him…" (NIV)

…and…

Taking a trip on the Bible Bus

Hebrews 12:15-24

[15] See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. [16] See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. [17] Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

[18] You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; [19] to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, [20] because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." [21] The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."

[22] But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, [23] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.