Monthly Archives: September 2007

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Corner of Choice – Cloud of Witnesses

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IDOK DEVOTION for Monday, September 10, 2007

Pray for the Peace of Israel

Hebrews 12: 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Cloud of Witnesses. I thought of this verse as I was reading a novel on Friday. I have not read a book just for the pleasure of reading in many years. Everything I have read for a long time now has been as you might expect Scripture, devotional books and Bible study work books. But I sat down with a novel on Friday morning and watched the screen of my mind as this love story played – Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. If you want to take a trip without leaving home, a Christian Novel is a great way to do that. Anyway, back to Friday morning. As I was watching Michael interact with Angel, not the name given her by her mother but one that she would eventually grow into, sitting on the edge of my seat I found myself ‘praying’ he would do the right thing. I wanted so much for him to continue manifesting the godly traits I had seen in him since our introduction. And there he was standing at the Corner of Choice, exasperated, frustrated, fired-up, and let-down, wondering what am I doing here and what am I going to do now? As he stood outside the Palace contemplating for the first time in his life to get rip-roaring drunk, I pleaded for him to resist. And when he walked on by, I let out a sigh of relief! And at that moment, I believe, the Holy Spirit reminded me of ‘Cloud of Witnesses’. I was Michael’s witness; his victory was important to me. I wanted him to be victorious; seeing him fail would have grieved me.

You and I have witnesses that sit on the edge of their seats daily watching us at the Corner of Choice; which way will we turn – left or right? I believe these witnesses can be identified as the Angelic host (both holy and unholy) and two groups of people – our brothers and sisters in Christ and the unsaved of the world. Michael is only a character in a book and yet I wanted him to win. I wanted him to remain faithful to God. Can you imagine how much the Angels of God want us to win? Can you envision how they must stand ‘breathless’ at times hoping with all that is within them that we make the right choice? Can you envision how the unholy ones must ‘celebrate’ when we come to the Corner of Choice and turn LEFT instead of RIGHT? Can I envision how it grieves you or discourages you or troubles you when I approach the Corner of Choice and turn LEFT? Can you envision how it grieves me when you approach that Corner and turn LEFT? But in all this Cloud of Witnesses there is ONE more that we must considered – Our Triune God? What does He experience when we turn LEFT? What does HE experience when we turn RIGHT? Please ponder this and in your pondering, pray. Pray for a Revelation from Him that will encourage you daily to turn Right at every Corner.
Michael was only a character in a book but he has been a great reminder to me that I am ‘Character’ in Father’s Eternal Book and I have a Cloud of Witnesses watching, daily; so do you.

Father, it’s been a good weekend and I thank You. Thank You for Francine Rivers and this experience that You have given me in the words of her book. I pray for our IDOKs that we will take to heart this Cloud of Witnesses and this command from You to lay aside, to turn away from these sins that cripple us, wound us and grieve You. Holy Spirit cause us to ponder this not for a ‘guilt trip’ but for encouragement and strength to make right choices and daily grow stronger and stronger in faith, stronger and deeper in love with You. Thank You for Zela’s report that her grandfather is better and has returned home and now we pray for Zela that this illness that has come upon her will soon be gone. And we continue to pray that Becky and Bill and all the family will be comforted as they grieve; may their grieving be holy and may their assurances of seeing Jody again be firm. Send along side people to help them in practical ways especially this first year. All of us reading these words and praying alongside have more on our minds than space to write and even though it is not all spelled out here, You know and You care; of that we are confident and in that confidence we come with these Janie B. W.C. The Ellis Family. Bev. Ed Litton and family. People of Peru. Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Melannie and family. Taylor & family. Anita. Kathy. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Jennifer and Kevin. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jennifer L and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Randy and Vivian and Chase. Chris. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten and family. Marcia and Larry and family. Sharron and girls. Frankie and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa and Brad and family. Cindy K and family. Cindy L and family. Chuck. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Chad and Brittany and family. Mollie and family. Jenny. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Christian. Cecil. Laura and family. Mary. Doris. Chassidy. Lisa M and Family. John and Sandy

Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops -Shaun. Ethan. Tommy. Christopher. Raul. Desi. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Jonathan. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Tommy T. Brant W.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Military at home adjusting – Tim. Lee. Mack. The 226. Troy. Danny. Drew. Brad.
Civilian in Country – Mike.
Thank You for answering on behalf of each of these, especially our IDOK Troops; keep them safe and bring this war to a successful conclusion we pray and bring each of them home to us safe and sound and more in love with You than when they deployed. And Holy Spirit since You have reminded me I believe, we pray for any of them who have not yet exchanged their sins for Your Righteousness – please help them do that soon and it is in Jesus name we pray. Amen and Amen.
As I post this it is 79°F and sunny expected to get much hotter as the day goes along in Baghdad, Iraq
& the time there is 7:51 AM ADT – on September 10, 2007


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HELP

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IDOK DEVOTION for Friday, September 7, 2007

Pray for the Peace of Israel

Psalm 121
A Song of Ascents.
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

Something imperative in verse one – I will. Today I will choose to look UP. Today I WILL choose to know my help comes from the LORD. The LORD Who made the Heaven AND the earth – surely NO situation is too large, too hard, or too small that HE will not HELP me with it.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
And as I rest in this choice, He WILL NOT allow me to be moved to any place of harm. As long as I rest in this choice I will be safe. I can REST because He does NOT slumber – He never slips, He never loses attention, He never drops off to sleep; He never leaves us without HELP.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
Yes, HE is our Watchman – to keep, to preserve, to guard – all this and more He is to you today! He is your COVERING over your right hand – He has got your back and all sides today – you can CHOOSE to do right today. Not even the power of the sun or the moon with all it’s gravitational pull can MOVE you today, if you choose to REST in YOUR WATCHMAN.
7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Yes, He is here to HELP, to preserve us, guard us, keep us, cover us, all the HELP we need wherever we go on this planet today and from this time forth — forevermore!
Father, as we begin this morning we first think of Becky and Bill and all the family as they grieve their temporary loss of Jody. We do not understand the sufferings in this present world but we KNOW YOU are our HELP. You are our Watchman and You are the ONE WHO cares for us above all others and so we pray for this family today for peace and comfort as only You can give them.
We thank You for the good report from Zela, that her grandfather has gone home from the hospital. We continue to pray for Janie and Jennifer and Toy as they endure the suffering of disease – we know You are their HELP and we are grateful for WHO YOU ARE to them, especially in this season. And we pray for these others too and we know You are equally their HELP in all situations. For our IDOK Troops You are their HELP and we are grateful and we entrust them to You today for safety and health and for their safe and sound return to us at the appointed time. Again we pray for revival in America and we pray for this Nation as we begin to seek and to vote into the Oval Office a new President in just over a year – Lord, we ask You to bring to the forefront, Your Choice and we pray that every Christian will take Your Choice to heart and to the voting booth. Lord, we need Your Choice for President, don’t let us miss him. And Father I pray for each and every IDOK today that today we will rest in the fact that You are our HELP and that not one of us will fail to choose You and Your HELP for us today and this we ask for Jesus sake. And Bev, she’s on my mind, thank You that she is always on Yours too and You are taking care of her. Thank You Father.
Zela and her Grandfather. Janie B. W.C. The Ellis Family. Bev. Ed Litton and family. People of Peru. Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Melannie and family. Taylor & family. Anita. Kathy. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Jennifer and Kevin. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jennifer L and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Randy and Vivian and Chase. Chris. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten and family. Marcia and Larry and family. Sharron and girls. Frankie and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa and Brad and family. Cindy K and family. Cindy L and family. Chuck. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Chad and Brittany and family. Mollie and family. Jenny. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Christian. Cecil. Laura and family. Mary. Doris. Chassidy. Lisa M and Family. John and Sandy Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild. Every IDOK Pastor and Family. Every IDOK church. Revival in America. IDOKs Military Families. IDOKs Troops -Shaun. Ethan. Tommy. Christopher. Raul. Desi. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Jonathan. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Tommy T. Brant W. Injured and brought State side: Anthony. HectorMilitary at home adjusting – Tim. Lee. Mack. The 226. Troy. Danny. Drew. Brad. Civilian in Country – Mike.
As I post this it is 108°F and clear in Balad, Iraq & the time there is 3:06 PM ADT – on September 7, 2007


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Is That What You Are Going To Wear?

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IDOK DEVOTION for Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Pray for the Peace of Israel

I don’t know the young man’s name but his teaching of Ephesians 6:10 -18 was OUTSTANDING. He gave an illustration of a Dad getting ready to go out to dinner with his family; everyone is dressed in appropriate attire for the festive evening and Dad comes out in a red plaid shirt that should have been washed 3 days ago, blue ragged shorts, black socks pulled up just below the knees of his very white legs and sandals. Mom says, ‘Is that what you are going to wear’? We all know the answer to that one.

Each day we get up we go to our closet and we choose something to put on and then we go to the mirror and if we don’t like what we see we go back to the closet and we choose something else to wear.

And then the Young Man gave another example: Someone has wronged you AGAIN! And you decide this time, I am not going to take this anymore; and so you begin to formulate in your mind just what you are going to say. And when you know just how you are going to ‘chew’ them out; and you are just about to open your mouth and let it fly, The Holy Spirit of God says to you: ‘Is that what you are going to wear?’

What we do in the physical directly affects the Spiritual.
When we look into our ‘spiritual mirror’ and we don’t like what we see – what do we do?
Do we say, “oh, well. That’s just the way I am, nothing I can do about it.”
Or, do we say, “well I’m not going anywhere special today, this will be okay for today.”
Or, do we say, “I’m too tired; this is too hard.”
Or, do we say, “I deserve to wear what I want; I earned this.”

See what I mean? In the physical – we would change those unbecoming, non-flattering clothes. Will we change our Spiritual Clothes? Basically, we have two sets of spiritual clothes: one, our filthy rags with which we were born and, two, The Spotless Robe of Righteousness given to us at our Re-Birth (Salvation).
Isaiah 61: 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 64: 6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
And you understand this righteousnesses in this verse is the best, the most noble, the most gracious act we can perform in our own natural ability and strength is still a filthy rag compared to the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

And so when we look in the ‘mirror’ and we don’t like what we see, what are we wearing? That’s right; those old filthy rags. As a Child of God we can NEVER really be satisfied wearing those old filthy rags of the flesh. SO! GO CHANGE!
It is as simple as going to the closet and choosing another garment. Choose to wear The Robe of Righteousness that you were given at Salvation. Choose to put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD and with His Armor, you (and I) will be able to withstand the fiery darts and the trials and the temptations of the Evil One and our own flesh. You (and I) are going to make that decision today! Which is it going to be — Rags or Riches? And by the way, putting it off for another day to decide for the Riches is the same as a blatant choice for the Rags!

Father, thank You; it has been a beautiful 3 day weekend. You have been with us; You have lavished us with Your Presence and with abundant blessings and we are grateful. And we thank You for the Robe of Righteousness with which You have clothed each of us who have received Your Blood Sacrifice as our very own. And now we pray for wills to put off the rags of our flesh and to live and abide in the Righteousness of Jesus. Thank You for the latest good report concerning Jennifer and the report from Bev – the IV is out and she continues to improve – thank you Father. And we pray again for WC that You will get him through this season of annual difficulties with a marked improvement over last year’s season. And as we look over this list with various situations, some life threatening, some not, but all of them real and all of them important to those making the request and for many we know not what to pray, we know what we think would be good but Lord we confess Your Glory is what is ultimately important and so it is for that we ask. Thank You for lighter consequences for Chuck than could have been and now as he prepares to spend those years of incarceration, we pray he will fully surrender himself to You and we ask You to protect him from eternal harm. Thank You for our IDOK Troops for the safety and protection You have given each of them and we pray for this protection to continue until each and every one of them are safely home. And we again pray specifically for any IDOK Soldier who has not received Your Gift of Salvation, Holy Spirit convict and convince that one or ones that hell is real and You have provided the way of escape for them – help them accept You as Savior and Lord. And we are grateful to come again on behalf of this Nation and ask for revival; for Your Spirit of Conviction and Repentance to fall heavy and if You can use IDOK we would be so grateful in Jesus Name and for His Sake we pray. Amen and Amen.
Zela and her Grandfather. W.C. The Ellis Family. Bev. Ed Litton and family. People of Peru. Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Melannie and family. Taylor & family. Anita. Kathy. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Jennifer and Kevin. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jennifer L and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Randy and Vivian and Chase. Chris. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten and family. Marcia and Larry and family. Sharron and girls. Frankie and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa and Brad and family. Cindy K and family. Cindy L and family. Chuck. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Chad and Brittany and family. Mollie and family. Jenny. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Laura and family.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild. Every IDOK Pastor and Family. Every IDOK church. Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops -Shaun. Ethan. Tommy. Christopher. Raul. Desi. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Jonathan. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Tommy T. Brant W.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Military at home adjusting – Tim. Lee. Mack. The 226. Troy. Danny. Drew. Brad.
Civilian in Country – Mike.

As I post this it is 86°F and haze in Balad, Iraq & the time there is 7:23AM ADT – on September 4 , 2007

HIS MINISTRY TO YOU