IDOK Devotion for Friday, April 16, 2010

Praise Reports and Prayer Requests

Updates and Requests:  Melinda’s surgery went well; yesterday (Wednesday) she was even sitting up in a chair.  Our prayers are appreciated.

Nasty Little Words

As if you don’t already know, DADDY GOD is so very smart.  You see I have been reading, trying to stay awake, listening, waiting for over an hour now for a devotion to write for us.  Having waited this long seems to make this pending subject more palatable. Most often I write about that which I have experienced or with which I struggle. Therefore, food and the affect it has on the scale has often been our devotional topic.  And I have been putting off writing about a Word that was lifted off the page for me several days ago.  SO — since I have been given nothing else in this last hour plus, I am inclined now to write about it–greed.  Nasty little word, isn’t it?

The Scripture text I was reading is Luke 12:15 NIV.   Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And this is what I wrote in the margin, ‘eating more and what I don’t need (referring to white sugar and the like, mostly likely) is greed’.  As you can imagine that stung pretty bad – to embrace that I’d have to admit to myself that when I consistently eat more than I need, then I am guilty of the sin of greed.  It’s crossed my mind a time or two since then but I’d just dismiss it and move on.  And tonight here I was just reading along minding my own business and this verse comes up: Colossians 3: 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. And there’s that word again: greed.  Moreover it is followed by another word: idolatry.  And now I have to tell you want came over me. But before I tell you that I have to give you this:  What we are about to write is NOT so you or I can get under a truck load of guilt and self condemnation.  Okay? You hear me?  That is NOT our purpose here.  Our purpose is to put this thing in a perspective that will give us the COURAGE to do the right thing in a wrong world.  Our purpose here is FREEDOM!

So consistently, daily or near daily, eating foods in amounts and selections that are detrimental to health and poundage is ultimately GREED.  We are greedy, period the end.  And if that were not bad enough, along comes tonight’s verse and it said: ‘which amounts to idolatry’.  I can’t get around it; there it is in black and white.  When I refuse to discipline my appetites of whatever origin (immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire or greed) I have placed a little g god on the throne of my being.  That’s what idolatry is and it is at the root of ALL sin – I can decide this for myself, GOD, I don’t need You to tell me what to do.  I don’t like communicating this but it’ll well make the point: when I consistently on a day in and day out basis eat amounts of and selections of what I know is unhealthy for me, it is the same as saying, ‘I am going to eat this as much and as often as I want and what You say about it, GOD, does not matter enough to me to stop me.’  That my friends, is idolatry – be it food greed, immoral greed, money greed … you name it greed. It is what it is.  And now we have a choice, we can lay down under a truck load of guilt that will with time only get heavier as we keep on practicing idolatry OR we can call it what it is and stop practicing it.  Those are our choices.  How many of us do not know that food greed affects our physical frame? How many of us do not now see that food greed, any greed, puts vinegar in our ‘sweet cream’ fellowship with ABBA? Click here if you missed the ‘sweet cream’ devotion.

Galatians 5: 1 (NIV) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

To review the list of names for prayer, please click here. Well, ABBA, it’s written and I see it, all I have to do now is choose to remember it and practice it for Your glory.   By Your Grace I will; not perfectly but consistently.  Thank You.  And I pray for every soul who happens upon this writing that it will give courage to be free to each one of us.

Thank You for Melinda’s coming recovery.  Thank You for all that You have done this day for each of us.  I ask for  rest and peace for each of us tonight as we sleep.  I pray for our IDOK Troops, for them to lay down and rise up in peace and safety.  I pray for each name on our list, for Your Loving and Kind Will to be done in Jesus Name.  Amen and amen.