DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010
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 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 from
.
O’keefe Family – Grandma O’keefe’s continued healing after her heart attack, for our borthers and sisters who don’t know you yet
Nancy Vance – strength for her daughter, Beth Harrison, to undergo the chemo treatments needed
Fort Family – employment for Stephen and Kate
Breedlove Family – The women’s event on Saturday, that every lady attending will be blessed
Booth Family – Betty Wilson will continue to get her strength back
Sirrine Family – my grandpa Kelley
Bornheimer Family – healing for Gina, Brittney and the rest of us
Carol Greyerbiehl – for our troops that are deployed and my son Kyle. For my daughter Amanda and her husband, their child is due on 4/16
Ben Wright – safe travel for my children, keep my job, my writing
Coppens Family – Duane Durfee and Tom Gilstad, both hospitalized
Granger Family – safe travels for Mike and Sandy Brommer
Kall Family – families of the miners that were killed in the mining accident in WV
Trombley Family – strength, healing, faith and love; bless Christopher through chemo, help take away cancer cells
Cyndle – my mother who has seizures and father with his alcoholism; Jesus to lead me down the right path
Please keep Jessica in your prayers as she is 8 months pregnant with her second child and her and her little two year old found a 5-year-old little boy dead this past weekend. Heavenly Father, please wrap your arms around Jessica and her family as well as comfort the family of the deceased 5-year-old little boy. --Ranee Tessin
Mike Brommer is asking for the Lord’s guidance regarding their finances.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
April 13, 2010
Discipline My Body
Marybeth Whalen
"I discipline my body like an athlete,
training it to do what it should.
Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others
I myself might be disqualified."
I Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)
Devotion:
As I shared with a woman I met about our family's journey out of $95,000 worth of debt, she posed a question that stumped me. "That's great that you guys did that," she said. "But do you really think that people out there are willing to do the hard work it will take to get out of debt?"
I confessed to her that I couldn't answer for other people. I could only share what we had experienced—what we knew worked. She responded that she thought people were looking for simpler, easier solutions than the arduous four-and-a-half year process we went through. I knew she was probably right.
Days later as I was struggling through the first mile of my run, I thought about her question and compared it to my lack of motivation to lace up my running shoes that day. I didn't feel like running. I didn't want to stop what I was doing at home and take time to go running. I didn't want to do the hard work. The phrase "I discipline my body" went through my mind. As my legs pumped and my muscles strained and my heart cried out for relief, I certainly understood what Paul meant when he wrote that verse.
As I ran, my mind cycled through the many other things in life that are worth doing, yet require us to "discipline our bodies" into submission to accomplish them. In some instances we must physically discipline our bodies. Taking care of ourselves, exercising, and making healthy eating choices requires resolve, sacrifice, and some hard work.
In other instances we must emotionally discipline our bodies. Choosing to honor our husbands, or our parents, with our words and attitudes requires a continual humbling process that our flesh rails against.
Still other times we must spiritually discipline our bodies. I am learning it's not enough just to say I want a close relationship with God. I have to "discipline my body" to pursue Him. This includes getting up early when my body wants to sleep longer so I can start my day by having a quiet time. And I can't say I want to live by His Word if I am not willing to spend time studying it, disciplining my body by foregoing my desire to veg out in front of the TV in favor of reading the Bible.
I am learning that most things in life that are worth doing aren't going to be easy. Yet my flesh—my lazy, insolent, ugly flesh—continually hangs onto the thought that it should be easy. Sometimes my flesh wins out, I won't lie. But for the most part I am learning that when I make the effort to "discipline my body" I am always glad later that I did.
Maybe there's something that God is urging you to do that's going to require disciplining your body. Maybe you have resisted it because you don't want to go through that. From someone who understands that battle, might I urge you to take the time, and submit your body, heart and mind to the process? On the other side of your effort is a transformed life waiting to happen.
Dear Lord, I know that doing the right thing is not usually the easy thing. Help me to follow Your ways and not my own. Help me to commit to the changes I know I need to make in my life. And let me feel You guiding and encouraging me every step of the way, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Application Steps:
Write down in your journal one thing that you feel God has laid on your heart that will require "disciplining your body" to make it happen. Maybe it's taking better care of yourself or losing weight. Maybe it's doing the hard work and submitting yourself to the process of becoming debt free. Maybe it's recommitting to spending daily time with God—foregoing some sleep to make that happen. Whatever it is, pray about it and consider asking a friend to hold you accountable.
Reflections:
What does your flesh want? Is it the best thing for you?
How will discipline change your circumstances in the long run?
Power Verses:
Romans 8:13, "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." (NIV)
Galatians 6:8, "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (NIV)
YOU TUBE SONG FOR TODAY
I Am Crucified with Christ
Philips, Craig and Dean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmB0u5BQ8BM
…and…
Back to the Bible
Woodrow Kroll and Tami Weissert
The Source of Wisdom from God
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
You can find advice everywhere you turn,
but it's not always good or wise.
There's only one source for true wisdom,
as today's Back to the Bible shows you...
Series: Getting Guidance from God's Word
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Back_to_the_Bible/
Please send your prayer requests to
No comments:
Post a Comment