DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010
Question for the day:
Who wrote:
“When you ask, you do not receive,
because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
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 lift up Tom Getgood in your prayers as he recovers from some complications to his gall bladder surgery on Tuesday.
Father, reassure him and his wife, Judy, that Jesus is there with them and that God healing hand is upon him. --Pastor John
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
February 26, 2010
Faithfulness and a Coffee Table
Lynn Cowell
"In that room were a gold incense altar
and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant,
which was covered with gold on all sides.
Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna,
Aaron's staff that sprouted leaves,
and the stone tablets of the covenant."
Hebrews 9:4 (NLT)
Devotion:
To most, it is just a coffee table. A table that has seen better days, and is maybe slightly out of fashion. But to her it is an altar of sorts. The coffee table is the place where she found Him; the day she received a new life in Jesus.
My mom has looked for new tables. Ones that match her decor. Ones that turn into spiffy serving tables. Ones with glass for displaying things of beauty. But still the old table remains.
The table serves as a reminder. A reminder of the things that God has done. A reminder of His faithfulness. A reminder of what He can do and lives that He can change.
The Israelites had reminders too. Hebrews 9:4 tells us that in the temple, in the Most Holy Place there was a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant. Inside this ark was a gold jar containing manna, Aaron's staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. All reminders. Reminders of things that God had done. Reminders of His faithfulness. Reminders of what He can do.
I am a person of change. I love new things. My husband and I were recently strolling the aisles of Home Depot and as we passed my favorite counter I announced, "I love paint." "You love paint?" he repeated. "Yes! I love the change that comes with new paint; new color." I don't care to buy expensive things like designer purses or diamond jewelry; things I feel I have to keep. Things I feel I have to use. I like things that I can change.
But this verse reminds me of the importance of "old things." The importance of the things in our past that remind us of God's faithfulness. My things: The dishes that remind me of my grandparent's marriage - one that was full of true unconditional love that lasted a life time. The marred chairs around my table that were for our "new" home when my now eighteen year-old son was crawling. The quilt in my bedroom, handmade to keep my mother warm in the wagon on those below freezing Minnesota mornings as a child. Piles of scrapbooks that document the life that Greg and I have built with our children. All of these testify that though life is hard, God is good.
I haven't told her yet, but I hope that one day Mom's coffee table will be a reminder in my home. You see, it is by that coffee table that I knelt with my mama as a young girl and began my new life with Jesus. Nothing on this earth would bring me joy more than to one day kneel by that table with another young girl and continue with the memories it holds
Father, I need to be reminded daily of Your faithfulness. Reminders such as these give me hope; hope that as You have been for all time, You will be faithful again today and tomorrow, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
What in your surroundings remind you of God's goodness and faithfulness in your life?
What change can you bring to your environment that would invoke positive thoughts about God? Are there things in your home that you need to give a more prominent place? Are there things in your home that you need to remove because they cause you to have negative thoughts?
Take some time to attach positive stories to the things in your home with your children. The stories are in your mind, but our children need to hear them so that they too can build a history with God.
Reflections:
What are some specific times in your life when you saw God's faithfulness first hand?
Are you a "new" thing girl or "old"? Do you make a habit of reminding yourself of His goodness?
Power Verses:
Joshua 4:7 "Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."" (NIV)
Exodus 34:6, "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness," (NIV)
Psalm 36:5, "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." (NIV)
YOU TUBE SONG FOR TODAY
Don’t Blink
Kenny Cheney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f0p5KqdU9U
…and…
Taking a trip on the Bible Bus
James 3:14 - 4:4
James 3:14-18 (NIV)
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. [15] Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. [16] For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
[17] But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. [18] Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
James 4:1-4 (NIV)
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? [2] You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. [3] When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
[4] You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Listen to Scripture at
http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Listen to Thru the Bible
Dr. J. Vernon McGee
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Thru_the_Bible_with_JVernon_McGee/
Please send your prayer requests to
dysmasconduit.@gmail.com
