3/5 Manna

DYSMAS CONDUIT
FREE FOOD
(Isa 55:1)

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010


Question for the day:
Have you ever acted undignified at an inappropriate time?




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:

My girlfriend, Cheri, was admitted into the observation unit today for chest pain. Please pray that the doctors are able to determine what is causing the pain and pray that they can fix it! Thank you. -- Denise O'Keefe


Please hold up before the Lord a dear friend, Ann Long, who is to undergo cancer surgery on March 29. Also please ask for strength for her family, especially her husband, Dennis.





ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY
March 5, 2010

Becoming a Woman of Dignity
Glynnis Whitwer

"She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come."
Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)



Devotion:
How could I have done it? How could I have gotten into an argument with my pre-teen daughter that reduced me to the level of: "Did not!" "Did too!" It was that bad.

I walked away knowing I needed a time out. Wasn't I supposed to be the grown up? Wasn't I supposed to be the mature, godly, Proverbs 31 woman? At that moment, I was anything but.

Frustration at the interaction with my daughter rushed through my veins like adrenalin after a near accident. I tried shaking it off, but the emotions stuck with me.

As I replayed the conversation in my mind, I thought of all the mature things I should have done and said. I saw myself as I wished I'd been - calm, gentle and dignified. And I wondered how I had drifted so far from the woman I wanted to be.

Dignified. The very word speaks to something in my spirit. I imagine a self-controlled woman making deliberate choices about what she says and does based on her priorities. I imagine a woman whose personality is not changed by circumstances, but exhibits grace under all kinds of challenges.

What is dignity anyway? We find it mentioned in Proverbs 31:25 as something to be desired, "She is clothed with strength and dignity." My dictionary defines it as "the quality or state of being worthy, honored or esteemed." Based on that definition and the entire chapter of Proverbs 31, I believe a woman clothed in dignity is one who knows who she is in Christ, and chooses to act in ways consistent with her high calling as a child of God.

Sadly, I have at times allowed the actions and words of another to impact my choice to maintain my dignity. In moments of frustration, I have set aside that dignity and allowed emotions to rule.

In the frustration of having a schoolyard argument with my daughter, I forgot I was a woman chosen by God and given the strength to deal with daily challenges. God invited me to clothe myself in His power, and I had rejected His offer of help.

I had a lot of apologizing to do: first to my daughter, then to God. I'm thankful both forgave me, and offered me an opportunity to try again to model dignity. It made a difference. The next time I felt emotions threaten to overtake me, I took a deep breath and thought, "I am a woman of dignity." Then I prayed for God to step in and clothe me with His power to be that woman.

Dear Lord, thank You for choosing me to be a woman of dignity. I know You see my potential, but the truth is I struggle daily to be that woman. Please help me to sacrifice my selfish nature and replace it with Your gracious spirit. I know I need Your help, in Jesus' Name, amen.




Application Steps:
List two or three behaviors that define a woman of dignity. Commit to depend on God's grace to practice those behaviors in the coming week.


Reflections:
It's easy to blame others for our lack of dignity. How does blaming others hinder our personal growth?

What are some things you can do to prepare yourself to act with dignity in the face of a challenge?


Power Verses:
Titus 2:11-12, "God's saving grace has appeared to all people. It teaches us to say no to godless ways and sinful longings. We must control ourselves. We must do what is right. We must lead godly lives in today's world." (NIRV)

Colossians 3:12, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." (NIV)





YOU TUBE SONG FOR TODAY
Open the Eyes of My Heart
Michael W. Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ3tn2nJrDo





…and…




Taking a trip on the Bible Bus

Joel 1:4 -13

4 What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten. 5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine, for it has been taken from your mouth. 6 For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness. 7 It has devastated My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away; its branches have turned white. 8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, [mourning] for the husband of her youth. 9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn. 10 The fields are destroyed; the land grieves; indeed, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the olive oil fails. 11 Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the date palm, and the apple- all the trees of the orchard-have withered. Indeed, human joy has dried up. 13 Dress [in sackcloth] and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, because grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your 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