IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

Have you noticed when you finally notice that your shoulders have swallowed up your neck that to relax them down so your neck and your head can come up out of that hole takes real effort to do what is suppose to be a relaxed position?   In fact it is so much effort that the relaxed position seems to become the tense position and the tense position the relaxed position?  Anybody know what I’m talking about?  In the natural and the spiritual realms?  Many of our Nation’s People have long been in this position of calling tense relaxed and relaxed tense  but that’s not my focus today–at least I don’t think it is. See Isaiah 5:20 for the subject Scripture Text.

So how do we adjust that tense position for the relaxed position?

Pick up my head and suck in my gut!

Which in the spirit equals wrong thoughts out – good thoughts in while saying NO to fleshly appetites.  Anybody getting this with me?  It works every time and it is instant! But it takes practice, practice, practice to maintain in both the body and the spirit.   Moreover in my case I often put off this adjustment until I need weight therapy–a dumbbell in each hand, held to shoulder position, stretching out those taut shoulder muscles, physically speaking, you understand?  Spiritually speaking — the Old Testament and the New Testament (this is where the analogy gets cloudy …  by NO  means would I be calling the Old Testament or the New Testament ‘dumbbells’  …. perhaps humans who don’t pick them up,  dummies… moving on —  The Old and New Testaments in balance )  held to heart level until my will surrenders to His Will.  Okay that’s stretching the analogy I know.  Yeah,  that’s the point.  Stretching and balancing our spirit toward God, relaxes that tensed up, stubborn, unyielding flesh of ours.  For some reason this reminds me of what JESUS says in Matthew 11:28-30.   Come to Me.  Take My Yoke for My Burden is light.  This life is not suppose to be so tense and so heavy that  throwing in the towel feels like a good idea — if that’s our position, we have picked up the wrong weights.  Now who’s the dumbbell when we sit around tensed up with our head down letting our ‘gut’ tell us what to do? Been there, done that and now in ‘training’ to maintain NOT doing it.  How about you?

1 Corinthians 9:27 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) ²⁷ Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

That sums it up, wouldn’t you say?

To review the list of names for prayer, please click here.

ABBA, this is another good one, I think.  It speaks to me.  I pray I will not close my ears and stop hearing it by tomorrow or even late tonight.  I pray it will minister to our IDOKs and Readers too… if not what’s the point of it?   I pray Holy Spirit You will use it to encourage and lift up; give some humor and some training to each of us.   And I pray now for Marley, hoping that she is recovering nicely and her parents and grandparents are breathing easy by now.   Having read the names and pictured others before You, thank You for what You are doing on behalf of each one.  And EC comes to mind too.  LORD, we love that baby girl and we want her to heal quickly and to have no more pain than is absolutely necessary to protect her as she heals.   Oh my goodness Thank You, DADDY, that just dawned on me; You allow pain to protect us from greater harm.  You are so good to us.  Thank You, DADDY.  Thank You.

And our IDOK Troops, I am again asking You to protect them and keep them safe from bullets and every other harmful object or human and I know You are.  We are asking and You are hearing and answering.  Thank You.  Again, I say You are so good to us.  Thank You.  And as I rest this before posting I pray right now here in this time that our IDOKs and Readers that will be reading this later, even now that You minister to them, that You draw them to Yourself, speaking courage and strength and wisdom into them.  I pray we will do what Joyce has preached that we will do what is right even when doing it feels wrong.  Thank You for all those sisters and brothers who serve Your Word to us and bless us.  Thank You in JESUS name.  Amen and amen.