Tuesday, December 7, 2010 — IDOK Devotion.  Day 7 of our Countdown to Christmas.  Song 4.  Hallelujah! Light Has Come!

I’ve been shedding a few tears this morning over a missed opportunity.  Right about 5:00 PM on Saturday the big screen flashed “Siestas come to the Sound Booth.”  Siestas is blog-land code because only those who frequent LPM Blog know they are ‘Siestas’.  But TIME  and FEAR won out and I left the arena, and not by way of the sound booth. This morning as is my custom I stopped by LPM and there I read:

“Hey, Darling Things! I have you on my mind because I’ve just seen 80+ of you this weekend backstage at Deeper Still.”

Yes, you read it right! I could have been one of those 80 + to say hello and thank you to Beth but I missed that opportunity thinking about T I M E.

And this morning I have come to this conclusion: I have spent too much time thinking about time! :)  Perhaps I’m not the only one.

But there’s more and it’s worse! It’s F E A R.  I missed that opportunity listening to such trash as this:

What if I am wrong? What if YOU are not really one of those SIESTAS that screen is signaling? Who do you think you are? Just because you read and comment at LPM, does that make you a Siestas to Beth Moore?!

And obviously I answered in the negative.  Am I alone in this? Perhaps not.

So today I am relying again on Romans 8:28.

Romans 8: (New American Standard Bible) ²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Seeing that flash upon the screen was a gift from my ABBA but I let TIME and FEAR keep me from receiving it.  And so from this platform of Romans 8:28 I am encouraging us, you and me,  to STOP IT!  To stop talking ourselves out of opportunities and gifts that our DADDY GOD offers us! To stop missing out because of TIME and FEAR on encounters that very well could advance the Kingdom of our Great God and King and bless some Siestas and Sisters and Brothers in the process!

As Beth said under point 4. ‘Our treasure gets lost in the same trash as our time.’, we need to put some margins in our lives! And by GRACE, my margins are beginning to widen! :)

Yep! The Deeper Still messages were for me and this gift I failed to unwrap at the conference just got re-wrapped and presented to me again in Romans 8:28.  No more tears over what was missed, otherwise I’ll miss more missing this one.  Anybody know what I mean? Widen those margins!!

ABBA, Thank You. You keep teaching and in JESUS Name I’ll keep learning and so will our IDOKs.  Thank You.   Bless You and thank You for our Praying for These and for IDOK Troops – we are entrusting them all to You and praising You for Your goodness and mercy and answers to all their needs.  Amen and amen.

Christmas love and blessings with holy hugs, kt

IDOK Devotion for Monday, December 6, 2010 *** Day 6 of our countdown to Christmas — Song 3 for your Christmas listening pleasure is One King

Deeper Still!  Aptly named! I came home TIRED but grateful!

I looked around the arena at the 14,000 women who had gathered to hear Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore and I said to my Sister seated next to me why, why is America in the mess it is when here in this one place is 14,000 women who by their very presence here are saying they are seeking JESUS? With 12 men JESUS turned the world ‘upside down’ — what could He do with 14,000 women?

And as soon as Kay took the podium she began answering my question of why.  My sister seated next to me did a honest job of telling me why too. She said because we come here to GET, to get a Word from God, to be entertained, to enjoy ourselves and then we go home and do nothing with what we heard.

DADDY GOD helps us! She spoke the truth!

Kay asked us sobering questions. Like. What are you doing with your time, money, life? And just how much stuff do you need?

And she made a statement (I’ll paraphrase, of course) that I won’t soon be forgetting.

JESUS is not ‘seasoning’ for our lives, He is not salt and pepper we sprinkle on our lives  to make them  ‘taste’ better.

HE IS our life!  Or we are just wasting time.

And when Priscilla stood to speak and right out of the gate she said: “Faith without works is useless.”

James 2:1 (The Message)^14-17Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

And then Beth! And with all 6 of her points DADDY GOD let me know He has been hearing my groaning(s), has seen all my struggles and He IS the answer.

1. There are treasures out there for me!

2. But they are not my treasures until they make it past my defenses.

3. Treasures strung together bring healing.

4. Our treasures get lost in the same trash as our time!

5. We’ll miss our most expensive treasure if we  do not look past the hardship and pain.

6. When you feel like you have lost the treasure look for JESUS!

And that only skimmed the brim of His Message! I am a blessed woman!  And so are you! Unless you are a man, that is! :)  And  then you, my dear brother, are blessed as well!

What could the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD do with ONE SOUL, sold out to HIM? And will Satsuma, Alabama find out? Time will tell, won’t it?

LORD and FATHER, I ask You to inspire and draw our IDOKs to Yourself in JESUS Name. I ask that You comfort, protect, correct, heal and awaken us for Your own glory.  I am mindful this morning of our Praying for These, of our IDOK Troops and this Season that is upon us, receive our praise and worship, humble us before You that we may stand before the Lost and proclaim unashamed that JESUS THE CHRIST is the ONLY way of salvation; that Heaven awaits all who are redeemed and hell is aflame for the unrepentant. HOLY SPIRIT set we Your saints aflame with a holy zeal that we may be useful in Your Mission to Rescue the Perishing in JESUS name. amen and amen.

Love and holy hugs, kt