IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

It appears to me the first question asked in Scripture was posed by Satan. Genesis 3:¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Our dear sister Eve did not ask any questions, neither did Adam.  The next question was God’s question.  ⁹Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Not because He did not know but obviously Adam did not know and he needed to know.  And the next question is the point I am hoping to make.

¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? . . .  .

The question ABBA asked Adam is a question asked of me today via the writing of Jennifer Beckham in her book Get Over Yourself. It is a question we would do well to answer regarding every negative thing we have believed about ourselves.  Specifically on page 47 she posed to me: “Who told you that you were not wonderfully amazing?”   It’s a mind changing, even life changing question – depending on how we answer it.

Psalm 139: (GOD’S WORD Translation)¹⁴I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.

Jennifer further penned: “It certainly wasn’t God.  So whoever it was, they were lying, speaking against God’s Truth.”

ABBA, forgive us for listening and believing them rather than You.  Can all my IDOKs and Readers say amen?!

Who told you that you were __________?   You fill in the negative and refuse to believe it again in JESUS Name for HIS sake.

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

Thank You, ABBA, for Jennifer.  Thank You for the gifts You have given her to share with us.  Thank You for opening eyes and hearts to Your Truth.  I pray Your Truth will become OUR Truth.

I pray You will keep our IDOK Troops safe from all harm; I pray they will seek after You with all their hearts and I pray they will all come home safe and sound.

I pray for Israel.  You know the oppositions they face as a Nation.  You know how to deliver them and I pray for their delivery to soon be complete.  I pray for the many on our list and ask that each receive the help, comfort, guidance, healing, jobs, debt retirement, encouragement, revelation, remedies, whatever it is I pray  they shall receive it in Your Name, LORD JESUS. Amen and amen.

IDOK DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

I’m offering you the words of Beth Moore today found in her book Breaking Free Day by Day from page 162 for June 3:

Who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:16

We possess the mind of Christ, but we still have the full capacity to think with the mind of the flesh.  We  are mentally bilingual, you might say.  But in order to experience liberation in Him, we must let His language become our native tongue.

Look at it this way: my older daughter is almost fluent in Spanish, but she still thinks mostly in English.  Why? Because she practices it more.  Her thoughts follow the language she uses most often.

The same concept is true of you and me.  We will think with the mental language we practice most: ours or Christ’s.

I’m not doing so good in this lately — prayers appreciated.

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

Thank You, ABBA, for Beth and the ministry You have given her.  I pray for strength, protection and a constant growth for her. I pray this for our IDOKs and Readers as well.

This oil spill thing is troubling; the waste of a resource that we often import from hostile lands – it seems sinister to me that it has not been sealed; it seems sinister to me that a clean up procedure was not immediately begun and by now be well in hand.  ABBA, forgive me and correct and enlighten me in my areas of ignorance; yet, I say I am so leery of people of ‘power’ in corporations and especially politicians.  I find it difficult to have any confidence in any of them to do what is right.  This is not good; not good for me and not good for this world.  Please help.  I pray for encouragement.  I pray for wills and skills to invoke and promote our capacity to think like You about these things, about all things both the troubling and the delighting.  I pray for our IDOK Troops, asking that You protect them and keep them safe in every place they are right now.  I pray for their families and loved ones to be strong and courageous.  We’ve read the names on our list, some requests we have specifically remembered, some not; some faces we know, some not.  Thank You for this ministry.  Thank You for allowing us to pray for these dear people and their many needs; oh the things they encounter daily, only You can empower and enable them and that is what we are asking You to do for them, in them and through them.  I am continuing to pray for Israel, especially in these times and  I have heard good reports coming from the Middle East that the Gospel is being told and received.  That blesses me so.  Thank You.  I pray for eyes to see what You would have me see and I pray for the people of Israel to see and I pray they will stand strong and refuse to give up anything more You have given them.  I pray for Churches to be Houses of Prayer and I pray, Holy Spirit, You will send Fresh Wind and Fresh Fire upon us for JESUS Sake and in His Name.  Amen and amen.

IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

We have returned Ed Givhan to our prayer list along with his wife Joann.  Ed is continuing to battle cancer and doctors have confirmed that Joann now has stage 3 cancer.  These are dear people and much loved by friends; prayers so needed. Judy is home from the hospital with many hurtles to meet and cross over.

I am sitting to write today much later than I like but be that as it may, some good household privileges have gone on today.  And since supper time prep is fast approaching this may be brief.  Like ya’ll believe that, huh?

My Scripture reading has been limited today, just what I did first thing this morning.  So I am hoping to draw upon that for our IDOK devotion.  Read with me now a verse or two from Ephesians 5.  

Verse 17: So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

How plain is that?  It is foolish for us to not know the will of God.  Would you agree that is what it says?  And do you know the LORD well enough to know that He would not give us such a charge without instructions as to how to perform it?  In verse 14 we are commanded to come out of our sleep, arise from the dead and when we do JESUS will shine on us.  I see two messages here.  One, to the lost to wake up and smell the coffee, throw off death and receive the gift of Eternal Life and JESUS will shine on you.  Message two, to the saved: wake up and smell the coffee, throw off those dead works and let JESUS shine on you, through you.

Verse 15 Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,

So if we want JESUS to shine in us we will be taking some care here how we live our day-to-day, wouldn’t you say?  And how do we do that?

Verse 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

And why?  Why not spend our hours and days any way we choose?  Because our choices without the Holy Spirit will surely be unwise and moreover these days in which we are living are EVIL.   We see it written here in our Text and across every Media Source we tune into, don’t we? You and I need to be wise in our choices of  how we spend our time.

Now we have arrived at our lead in verse. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. is preceded by an admonishment from the Lord to be careful how we spend our time. Do you think how we spend our time has any direct bearing on whether or not we know the will of God for our lives?  I am staking the integrity of the Word of my ABBA on it that it does.

Verse 18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

There we have it!  What happens when a soul drinks intoxicating beverages?  That’s right he/she gets drunk.  And in that drunken state,  who’s in control of the Drinker’s five senses?  Speech, vision, hearing, smell and taste, as well as motor skills? Certainly not the Drinker, but rather the drink.   In like manner for us to be wise; for us to know the Will of God; for us to redeem the time, we must DRINK IN THE WORD OF GOD and give over the control of our five senses, motor skills, checkbook, clothes closet, pantry, etc. etc. to the HOLY SPIRIT.  And to the degree that we do this is the degree we know the Will of God for us AND to that degree JESUS shines in us.

That’s it.  That’s what Ephesians 5:14-18 says to me.   And you?

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

ABBA, I pray I have handled Your Word accurately and that You, Holy Spirit, will be able to minister it to our IDOKs and Readers.  I pray You will minster it to me, especially when I get into the thick of my day-to-day and become a hearer of Your Word and not a doer.  LORD, hearts are heavy with this news about Joann; this news brings many changes for she and Ed and their children; more than I have the right to write about and right now I don’t even know what to pray. Certainly she and Ed both want to be healed and we think that would be altogether wonderful and we know the day will come when it shall be so yet experience tells us many hardships may come before that day and if that is the way of it, we pray for You to be glorified in every moment of it and for peace and joy unexplainable to be within Ed and Joann.  And the word I have concerning Judy is not much different than for Joann, many hurtles and so I pray for You to hold her and comfort her and work out the practical matters and give Judy rest and peace and her family too.  And we pray for all the others on our list as well.  So much hard stuff; thank You for being with us; thank You that You do make all the hard stuff worth it.

I pray now in these moments for each IDOK and each Reader, for peace, for wisdom, for Your very Presence to be near and dear and precious.  I pray You, O, LORD, will be more precious to each of us than anything or any other.  I pray for Israel, for peace and safety.  I thank You for the ‘retiring’ of a certain White House reporter and I pray that more and more unrepentant leaders will be removed from places of power and influence as You see fit.  ABBA, I am so sorry for the sins of the people of America and I ask You to have mercy.  I ask You to grant grace and space and I ask You, Holy Spirit, to be merciful and open the windows of Heaven and rain down conviction like we’ve never experienced.  I pray for the people of America to repent and I pray for the Your Church to repent of our complacency; LORD, send fresh wind and fresh fire upon Your Church and help us IDOKs to stand firm until You do it in each of us for JESUS SAKE.  Amen and amen.