Monthly Archives: March 2008

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My Back Hurts – But The Question Is How’s My Soul?

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, MARCH, 25 2008


All that I have picked up this morning has directed me to the book of James. First I read: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8) That’s a promise I need this morning. Next I read: So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak; slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20) And oh how I need that this morning. I am having the worst episode with my chronic back since a decade ago, I think, and sitting is the position that causes the most discomfort. SO these passages in James are timely for me. I have a propensity to become angry when this frame of mine limits me – I often foolishly in my anger push it even harder to prove to it that it will not win… That line of action is proper with some things but I know this is not one of those times. And Father is SO RIGHT the wrath of man DOES NOT produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Is soul-ish wrath filthy and an overflow of wickedness? Yeah I’m afraid it is and the ONLY cure is THE WORD and The Word will save our souls not only from soul-ish wrath but all that other stuff that keeps us from drawing near to our God. So the question is how’s my soul this morning? I’ll be pondering that. You too?
Father, thank You that You watch us so carefully; thank You that You have FOOD for us, we only need to lay aside what so easily hinders us and come and dine. Help us do that today. Help me glory in my infirmities today; thank You for that Word, Lord. Thank You. I pray for each of our IDOKs today. I am privy to some of the illnesses, some of the hurts, some of the discouragement-s, some of the trials, some of the questions, some of the needs but You Father are aware of them all. And You know just what is needed and You are good and faithful to provide. And we are grateful. Yet You have told us to come and ask so we are. Father, You know our friend and the hearing loss and I am asking You to increase the hearing today. I am asking You to restore the hearing. And these other listed here, they need Your Help and I am asking You to intervene with each one today. I am asking, we are asking, too that You protect our IDOK Troops today; that You protect their minds, their bodies and their spirits; that no harm be allowed today. We pray for Your Hedge of Protection around them. And we ask You at the appointed time to bring them home. And Father we have been praying and You have been answering with presidential candidates and we thank You and we ask You to continue with this Nation as a whole. Corruption is rampant and we ask You to expose sin for the death it is and we pray for Holy Spirit conviction and for the saving of people. Holy Spirit pour out Your Conviction upon lost souls and move us who Know You to spoon feed if necessary Your Gospel to them. Move in on us Lord; we need You. Maggie and Family. Josh. Donnie S. Smith and family. Renee’. Cathy’s friend and son. Jeremy H. Pastor’s Widow and four children. Martin Family. Odessa H. Margie & Duncan. Kearley Family. Kathy S. Glen Beck. Bev and family. Tonya and family. Rick Burgess and family. Dall T. Dylan. Marsha’s grand-baby. Kathy N. Kyle A. Joseph Toomey and Family. DeLois. Terri. Patsy B. Kim T. Kevin and the children. Lisa’s Mother. Katelyn (B). Janie B. Vickie. Lisa W. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Taylor & family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Cynthia. Martha F and Bob. Allyson and Glen and family. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sharron and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa. Brad, Lindsay, Karah and Haley. 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. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family. Andrew. Cindy, Sharron and Tonya’s houses to sell.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
The Peace of Israel
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops (foreign soil) – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N. Joshua M. Brent. Drew. Justin G.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Albert R III. Bay N.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Tim. Lee. George.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Injured Stateside:
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light. Bradley T.
Military at home adjusting – Mack. The 226. Troy. Brad. Tommy. Desi. Edward J.
Civilian in Country – Lee.
As I post this it is 99°F and smoke haze in Al Taji, IQ & the time there is 3:39 PM AST – on March 25, 2008

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The Saviour Ascended, The King is Coming!

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008

At this writing, Easter 2008 is closing. There have been Sun Rise Services, Mid-Day Services and maybe even a few Evening Services, small family lunches, big family suppers, and an 8 year old grandson offering up the meal time blessing saying thank You Jesus for Your Blood that washes away our sins! Hallelujah! What a Saviour!!
Acts 1:
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Revelation 22:
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
Lord and Father, thank You for this Easter Sunday Day; thank You for the sermons preached and lived out today; thank You for relaxing fellowship with family; thank You for quiet conversations; for little girl giggles, and big boy smiles and rare teenage hugs; thank You for Momma-s who call to say I love you; thank You for daughters who text we love you too. And Lord this does not even begin to name the blessings and added to all this as the best of it all the sweet privilege and blessing of being able at every second, at every moment to dialogue with You. What a Saviour You Are!! Thank You. Thank You for these listed here, for the privilege to again bring them and each of their individual needs to You for Your Best to be given to each of them.
And again to pray for IDOK Troops and their protection today in mind and body and spirit, for their safe returns home; for the Peace of Israel, for the repentance of America; for exposure of sin and wrong not only in presidential candidates but all unrepentant leaders; for the election of Your choice for this Nation; for we Your People to wait before You until we are Filled with You Holy Spirit and empowered by You to testify to the World that Jesus Lives. Amen and amen.

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Windshield Washer Fluid – May 17, 2006

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008

An Old Farmer’s Advice: Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads. Author Unknown
I think Father had another reason for commanding us to forgive than messing with their heads but it is a ‘catchy’ phrase. We won’t forget it, will we? Neither will our enemies when we do it. Hmmm. We have a pretty smart God, don’t we?
Matthew 5 (KJV): 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
I am so glad The Word of God does not run out. Have you ever been driving along and you realized your windshield is spattered with debris (‘love’ bugs and bird droppings) and when you called for the windshield fluid there was only enough left in the container to make streaks? You know, the kind made in rainbow shape, spaced about every 1/8 of an inch right there in front of your face? Yuck! And by nightfall, it gets pretty hard to see the roadway. So when this happened to me last night as I was coming home from a meeting and when I saw the mess I said, “Daddy God I sure am glad Your Word does not run out like this washer fluid”. And then immediately I thought… IDOK! — Without The Word of God in right portion our lives get even messier than my windshield. Without The Word our lives are harder to maneuver than the roadway through a streaked windshield, especially in those dark times (like the night) when we don’t know what is going on. If we did not have Father’s Word and LOTS of it in our hearts ready to be ‘pumped’ out onto our everyday thoughts and actions — who knows what would happen to us? As you can tell I made it home safe last night and this morning I’ll ‘tank’ up on windshield fluid — both kinds! I don’t mean to be irreverent and Father knows I am not so remember The Word of God today. It’s your ‘windshield fluid’ for LIFE and without a GOOD SUPPLY we don’t see well or drive effectively!
Father, You are so Awesome; You are a delight to me! Thank You. You amaze me with the things You give to me. Thank You. And I pray now for all our IDOKs who are driving this morning that Your Favor will rest upon them and they will have safe passage to work and play and not just in their ‘Honda Pilots’ but in hearts and minds – words and deeds. I pray we glorify You this day. We are mindful this morning and all those whom IDOKs love and we thank You for giving Your Best to these today; thank You for the love You will lavish on them this day, the healing and restoration, the discernment, the wisdom and patience, and kindness and favor and in turn we will give these to others because You have been so good to us. Thank You Father for Jesus sake. We remember our IDOK Troops today for Your Protection in mind and body and spirit; we pray for safe returns for each of them. We pray for the successful conclusion of this war; for the Peace of Israel, for the election of Your choice for President; for the repentance of America and for the reviving of Your Church. And for Your Will to be made plain and embraced for each of these. Maggie and Family. Josh. Donnie S. Smith and family. Barber Grandsons. Renee’. Cathy’s friend and son. Jeremy H. Pastor’s Widow and four children. Martin Family. Odessa H. Margie & Duncan. Kearley Family. Kathy S. Glen Beck. Bev and family. Tonya and family. Rick Burgess and family. Dall T. Dylan. Marsha’s grand-baby. Kathy N. Kyle A. Joseph Toomey and Family. DeLois. Terri. Patsy B. Kim T. Kevin and the children. Lisa’s Mother. Katelyn (B). Janie B. Vickie. Lisa W. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Taylor & family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Cynthia. Martha F and Bob. Allyson and Glen and family. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sharron and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa. Brad, Lindsay, Karah and Haley. 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. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family. Andrew. Cindy, Sharron and Tonya’s houses to sell.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
The Peace of Israel
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops (foreign soil) – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N. Joshua M. Brent. Drew. Justin G.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Albert R III. Bay N.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Tim. Lee. George.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Injured Stateside:
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light. Bradley T.
Military at home adjusting – Mack. The 226. Troy. Brad. Tommy. Desi. Edward J.
Civilian in Country – Mike. Lee.
As I post this it is 54°F and mostly cloudy in Al Asad, IQ & the time there is 7:38 AM AST – on March 21, 2008
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Time and Water

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008

I suppose you can tell I am spending a little time outside this week. You may recognize the object in the picture above as a piece of reinforced concrete that is customarily strategically placed on the ground to disburse the rain as it comes gushing off the roof of your house. Generally we think of concrete as some pretty tough stuff. We use in all sorts of construction projects: highways, bridges, foundations for homes, office buildings, etc.etc. Like I said, pretty tough stuff. But our pictured concrete was no match for two something(s) as simple as — you guessed it: time and water. And naturally, or is that super-naturally, when I studied our object today The Holy Spirit, I believe, gave me a spiritual analogy.
It has long been established in our Christian teaching that WATER is often used to symbolize The Word of God;
Ephesians 5:
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
And the heart of un-regenerated man as STONE (or maybe ‘concrete’).
Ezekiel 36:
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
And what I am saying to you today with my picture of broken concrete is that with Time and The WATER, the Holy Spirit of God can wear down the resistance of even the stoney-ist heart. Don’t give up on those for whom you are praying — and that includes you and those stubborn issues you are worried about.
Father, You are so good to us it is indescribable. Thank You; thank You for wearing down our resistance; thank You for replacing our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Thank You Holy Spirit for continuing to convict us until the stone was washed away and we believed. And we pray now for those in our lives who have not yet believed, continue to wear away the stoney heart. And we pray that we will be faithful to be instruments in Your Hands to channel the Water of Your Word in proper directions and proportions. This is a noble and great ministry to which You have called us and we pray we will be faithful — wear down any resistance that we have. Thank You Lord. We continue to pray for friends we love so much, asking for encouragement, strength, peace and healing. We pray for our IDOK Troops as we sit here Stateside and they are there in places we do not see or understand, we pray for Your Manifested Presence with them; love on them and protect them we pray. We ask too that You bring this war to a successful conclusion. We pray for the Peace of Israel; for the repentance of America; for the election of Your Choice for President; for the reviving of Your Church and for each of these to know Your Will and be willing to do it for Jesus sake.
Maggie and Family. Josh. Donnie S. Smith and family. Barber Grandsons. Renee’. Cathy’s friend and son. Jeremy H. Pastor’s Widow and four children. Martin Family. Odessa H. Margie & Duncan. Kearley Family. Kathy S. Glen Beck. Bev and family. Tonya and family. Rick Burgess and family. Dall T. Dylan. Marsha’s grand-baby. Kathy N. Kyle A. Joseph Toomey and Family. DeLois. Terri. Patsy B. Kim T. Kevin and the children. Lisa’s Mother. Katelyn (B). Janie B. Vickie. Lisa W. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Taylor & family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Cynthia. Martha F and Bob. Allyson and Glen and family. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sharron and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa. Brad, Lindsay, Karah and Haley. 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. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family. Andrew. Cindy, Sharron and Tonya’s houses to sell.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
The Peace of Israel
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops (foreign soil) – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N. Joshua M. Brent. Drew. Justin G.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Albert R III. Bay N.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Tim. Lee. George.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Injured Stateside:
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light. Bradley T.
Military at home adjusting – Mack. The 226. Troy. Brad. Tommy. Desi. Edward J.
Civilian in Country – Mike. Lee.
As I post this it is 55°F and partly cloudy in Al Asad, IQ & the time there is 7:26 AM AST – on March 20, 2008
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