IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2007
Good Thursday morning. Had the Myers young folks here again last night for supper and a movie — they are so GREAT!
On a sad and yet an occasion to celebrate by faith, a beloved member of Myers physically died yesterday – Marie Nash. We loved her – one of my favorite images of her that I am holding dear is Vacation Bible School and the way she manned the kitchen and refreshment time. I am so grateful to have known her these two plus years. Her sweet, mischievous smile will be greatly missed by Jerry and me.
In the early hours of waking up time I began to think about ‘fear’; something we do from time to time. And fear usually seizes us after we have entertained in the solitude of our minds some ‘what ifs’. So when I came to the computer I keyed in the words fear not at Biblegateway.com and this verse seems to be highlighted today. Exodus 20: 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
I am reading this over and over so it will sink in. The first admonition in the verse is DO NOT BE AFRAID. That’s hard sometimes. The second phrase of notice to me is the fear of God will be with you. To the natural eye that is a glaring contradiction, isn’t it? First we are told Do Not Be Afraid and then the fear of God will be with you. At this time, Moses had been given the Ten Commandments and God the Father had come ‘close’ to the camp:
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
We have some wrong fear going on here, don’t we? Not that I blame them because in my natural flesh I can guarantee you I’d be doing the same. On the screen of our minds, we can just see them as they see the thunder, lightening and smoke and as they hear the trumpet. The Scripture says they were trembling with fear. (Isn’t it GREAT how honest God is? He tells it like it is. HE is not afraid to tell us that His Children were afraid of Him — but that’s for another time maybe.)
You know what I think is the problem here? THEY STAYED AT A DISTANCE. Could it be that in the solitude of their minds they had been doing some ‘what ifs’ and some other things and these ‘what ifs’ and the like had generated a lack of Reverential Fear or TRUST in Father God so they stayed at a distance? Could the sins of the past and ‘what ifs’ of the day have beeen hindering them from exercising the Right Kind of Fear? Could that happen to us today, too? What else do we see in verse 20? “The fear of God will be with you to KEEP YOU FROM SINNING”. Is that great or what?! If we exercise the Right Kind of Fear, we will be kept from sinning! This is what I see here: a soul hears and sees The Holy Spirit of God (thunder, lightening, smoke and trumpet) expose within them certain sin and rather than admit this sin to Him, they choose to STAND AT A DISTANCE. Is it any wonder that people are afraid? And the more we stand at a distance the more we sin. Yes, the Right Kind of Fear will cause us to run to Him and the closer we stay to Him the less sinning we do. I want some more of this Right Kind of Fear. You, too?
One more thing in verse 20 quickly — I am already way late getting this too you – God has come to test you. How natural it is for us to FEAR when He tests us – and for us to STAND AT A DISTANCE. Don’t! When that TEST is upon you – RUN TO HIM in Reverential Fear; it will keep you from sinning (and failing the test). Prayers for Danny worked – He is feeling much better and is back at light duty.
Father, the hour is so late this morning with the Emailing. Thank You for this message; it bears much pondering; help me do this pondering and all our IDOKs according to the need. Comfort Mr. Nash and the family; help us be a comfort to him. Bless all these here in just the way You desire Father for Jesus sake and the growth and testing and helping and blessing of each of us. Keep our IDOK Troops safe in mind and body and spirit again today. Continue bringing Israel to Peace and America to repentance in the Mighty Name of Jesus.
The Peace of Israel Leah O. Patsy B. Kim T. Krystee. Rachel B. Kevin and the children. Lisa’ s Mother. Janie B. W.C. & Family . Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Taylor & family. Anita. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten 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. Chuck. Jessie L. 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. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family.
On a sad and yet an occasion to celebrate by faith, a beloved member of Myers physically died yesterday – Marie Nash. We loved her – one of my favorite images of her that I am holding dear is Vacation Bible School and the way she manned the kitchen and refreshment time. I am so grateful to have known her these two plus years. Her sweet, mischievous smile will be greatly missed by Jerry and me.
In the early hours of waking up time I began to think about ‘fear’; something we do from time to time. And fear usually seizes us after we have entertained in the solitude of our minds some ‘what ifs’. So when I came to the computer I keyed in the words fear not at Biblegateway.com and this verse seems to be highlighted today. Exodus 20: 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
I am reading this over and over so it will sink in. The first admonition in the verse is DO NOT BE AFRAID. That’s hard sometimes. The second phrase of notice to me is the fear of God will be with you. To the natural eye that is a glaring contradiction, isn’t it? First we are told Do Not Be Afraid and then the fear of God will be with you. At this time, Moses had been given the Ten Commandments and God the Father had come ‘close’ to the camp:
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
We have some wrong fear going on here, don’t we? Not that I blame them because in my natural flesh I can guarantee you I’d be doing the same. On the screen of our minds, we can just see them as they see the thunder, lightening and smoke and as they hear the trumpet. The Scripture says they were trembling with fear. (Isn’t it GREAT how honest God is? He tells it like it is. HE is not afraid to tell us that His Children were afraid of Him — but that’s for another time maybe.)
You know what I think is the problem here? THEY STAYED AT A DISTANCE. Could it be that in the solitude of their minds they had been doing some ‘what ifs’ and some other things and these ‘what ifs’ and the like had generated a lack of Reverential Fear or TRUST in Father God so they stayed at a distance? Could the sins of the past and ‘what ifs’ of the day have beeen hindering them from exercising the Right Kind of Fear? Could that happen to us today, too? What else do we see in verse 20? “The fear of God will be with you to KEEP YOU FROM SINNING”. Is that great or what?! If we exercise the Right Kind of Fear, we will be kept from sinning! This is what I see here: a soul hears and sees The Holy Spirit of God (thunder, lightening, smoke and trumpet) expose within them certain sin and rather than admit this sin to Him, they choose to STAND AT A DISTANCE. Is it any wonder that people are afraid? And the more we stand at a distance the more we sin. Yes, the Right Kind of Fear will cause us to run to Him and the closer we stay to Him the less sinning we do. I want some more of this Right Kind of Fear. You, too?
One more thing in verse 20 quickly — I am already way late getting this too you – God has come to test you. How natural it is for us to FEAR when He tests us – and for us to STAND AT A DISTANCE. Don’t! When that TEST is upon you – RUN TO HIM in Reverential Fear; it will keep you from sinning (and failing the test). Prayers for Danny worked – He is feeling much better and is back at light duty.
Father, the hour is so late this morning with the Emailing. Thank You for this message; it bears much pondering; help me do this pondering and all our IDOKs according to the need. Comfort Mr. Nash and the family; help us be a comfort to him. Bless all these here in just the way You desire Father for Jesus sake and the growth and testing and helping and blessing of each of us. Keep our IDOK Troops safe in mind and body and spirit again today. Continue bringing Israel to Peace and America to repentance in the Mighty Name of Jesus.
The Peace of Israel Leah O. Patsy B. Kim T. Krystee. Rachel B. Kevin and the children. Lisa’ s Mother. Janie B. W.C. & Family . Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Taylor & family. Anita. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten 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. Chuck. Jessie L. 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. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & 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 – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Justin G. Albert R III. Joshua M.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny.Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light
Military at home adjusting – Tim. Lee. Mack. The 226. Troy. Drew. Brad. Tommy. Desi.
Civilian in Country – Mike. Lee.
As I post this it is 84°F and sunny in Baghdad, Iraq & the time there is 5:06 PM AST – on November 8, 2007
HIS MINISTRY TO YOU
Discover more from The White Stone Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
