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The Pruning (again but different)

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IDOK Devotion for Monday, March 1, 2010
The Pruning
            I have a plant.  It’s a succulent, I think.  And when it blooms, delicate, tiny bursts of yellow color delight me.  But alas with time she didn’t look so good – yellowing leaves here and there, dried up stems, no tiny bursts of yellow anywhere – not pretty! And I thought, she needs pruning, but if I cut off all the dead and sickly stuff there won’t be anything left.  She’ll be bare and look even more awful.  And then.   You know don’t you? Scripture came to mind. I AM is the vine and we are the branches and who ABBA loves He prunes.  And when He starts cutting, we think we shall have nothing left.  And we think we are going to be bare and ugly when He gets done.  Not so with my little succulent.  True she has been ‘cut down’ to size but what remains is healthy and green and beautiful and now she has ample strength to produce yellow bursts again.  And in time she will.   When ABBA comes with the pruning scalpel, let us trust Him.  He’s only taking off the sickly and dead stuff and true we may feel and even look a little or a lot bare but what He sees is absolute beauty as He rejoices over us.  Below is a link to a picture of my succulent – bare as she is; isn’t she lovely?  And so are we. When we have been pruned even before the new fruit shows, we are lovely!  And this we must know, the starker our pruning the more plenteous will be our fruit – let us rejoice even when it hurts and wait with patience for our harvest.
(Amplified Bible) John 15:  2Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.
  8When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
    9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].
pruning

            ABBA,  I hardly know where to begin to pray, so many needs, many really ill and without Your intervening, not long for this world it seems and a family grieving because one has left this world, and some rejoicing because a loved one is better and some grateful for limited improvement and wanting to see so much more improvement.  You know the hearts of each, You know the condition of every one spoken here; You know the condition of our specific unspokens and even our unspecified unspokens.  You know it all and You really care about it all.  You really do and You want to enter into this with us.  You want to comfort and help and heal and we ask You now to do that.   We ask in Jesus Name as it is only Your Name LORD that has power to  heal and save us.   Thank You for saving us, thank You for pruning us.  And I pray You will tend us in this devotion and make us fruitful for Jesus’ Name sake.  We pray for our IDOK Troops for their safety and protection in hostile lands and for their safe and sound returns home.  And for their families we pray peace and comfort and provisions of kind needed.  Thank You for what You are doing among us and I pray again that every Christian Assembly will become a House of Prayer.   Thank You for this ministry and I pray we will not fail in our faithfulness.  Please give rest and growth to us in Jesus Name. Amen and amen.

Kathie

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I’m Just Saying (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Wednesday, March 3, 2010
I’m Just Saying  
            I am really into making Scripture personal.  I am into praying God’s Word back to Him because He will surely answer.  I encourage you to sit with your Bible and pen and paper in hand to write out personalized portions of God’s Word.  This one has been mine to pray and meditate on today.
            Deuteronomy 30: (New King James Version) 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
            Kathie Whitestone Thompson personalized would be like so:  ABBA, I am so encouraged and so grateful that You have made this promise to me in Your Word. You The LORD my God will (not maybe but will) circumcise my heart (Thank You, ABBA, thank You so much for cutting away all this stuff that does not glorify You, all this stuff that makes You unrecognizable in me.  I am so relieved that I can count on You to do this) and (not just for and in me but) the heart(s) of my children and grandchildren (too), (so that I will) love You with all my heart and with all my soul, that I may live. And not just me but them too, that they will love You with all their hearts and all their souls, so they too will live, really live, not just now but forever with You.  Thank You, ABBA, for strengthening me with Your Word.  I am resting on it and I am so glad.
            Sometime today give it a shot.  Pick out a verse and personalize it.
            Let me give you one more.  Isaiah 43:10 (New King James Version)
10 “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD,
      “And My servant whom I have chosen,
      That you may know and believe Me,
      And understand that I am He.
      Before Me there was no God formed,
      Nor shall there be after Me.
            I am Your witness, LORD, You have said so (Oh LORD, thank You); I am Your servant because You have chosen me, You have chosen me so that I may know You, really know You, and believe You.  You have chosen me to understand that You are God, that there was no god before You and there will be no god after You. 
            As you get into this personalizing, I pray you will experience peace beyond your understanding, and that your spirit will oh so feel it and your face surely show it.  Hey, even your feet may find you doing a happy dance (a holy one, of course) as this truth gets down inside of you.  Wouldn’t that be grand?  I’m just saying…

            Taking Your Word personally is doing a work in me.  I am so grateful.  Thank you, ABBA, thank You.  I want us to keep going with this, on and on.  And I pray this for our IDOKs and Readers too.  You working in us is so good.  So good walking this life with You, Jesus.  So good.  Many things in this life are hard for us but You know that, we just need to talk to You about it.  And each of us praying in our respective places have things on our minds, children and grandchildren with struggles and threats of lack in various venues, we are calling upon You for intervention and asking You to make a way where we see no way.  Forgive us our doubts and help our unbelief so we may know You better and give You glory.   Minister peace and safety to all our IDOK Troops I pray today.  We love You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are our God, Three in One and we are Yours and You are ours.  Amen and amen.

Kathie

 

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T and I (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Thursday, March 4, 2010
T and I
            What do you mean when you tell someone that you are thinking of them?  Do you say that to someone you don’t like? Do you say it to one that you do not wish well for?   Psalm 40:17 says (in part) . . . Yet the LORD thinks upon me.
My point?  When we express to someone that we are thinking of them, is it not to someone we love or at least care about?  Is it not to someone that we want good things for?  And if we are capable of such feelings, how much more our God? Why do we find it hard to believe that God likes us?  And I am using the word LIKE because who of us in the Christian Faith would not say Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.  Yet how often do our insecurities cause us to act out behavior and carry on thought processes that say loud and clear that we think He does not like us very much?  Yet here it says He thinks upon us.  I am suggesting to us that He thinks upon us because He LIKES us.  And not just when we have been good little girls and boys, but always.  If you are like me you have a tendency to think God likes you better when you have dotted your i(s) and crossed your t(s) just right and if you don’t, well He likes you a bit less.  Not so!  Lets look at the text again.  But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me.  What makes you and me poor and needy? SIN – not crossing our t(s) and not dotting our i(s).  But here it is.  Right here in our Bibles He says He knows you (and, me) are poor and needy, He knows you (and, me) have sinned and yet He thinks upon you (and, me too).  We might as well face it!  He’s ‘crazy’ about us! The concept will take some practice for us to consistently believe it; but don’t you think we can do it?  Philippians 4:(Holman Christian Standard Bible)13 I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.

            I suppose it could seem that I am being flippant here but You know I am not.  You know my heart and You know I want to know Your heart.  And I am thinking others do too.  We want to know Your heart for us, Your feelings and emotions for us and yet when I say that I am reminded of the cross.  How could I let my insecurities cause me to doubt that You are not only in love me, You like me; You enjoy my company; You delight in me? And not just me but every one that has said yes to You in salvation.   I’m sorry I say one thing and act another at times.  And thank You so much for teaching and training me to forsake those insecurities and believe the Truth.  Thank You for every progress we are making; we know it’s You in us – You in us is our hope of glory.   And now we are compelled, happily so, to bring our prayer charges to You; people we have accepted the call and responsibility to pray for.  Thank You for every one of them; thank You for the privilege of co-laboring with You for their good, for their needs to be met; for them to be healed; for their insecurities, strongholds and just plain old bad habits to be repented of and forsaken; for the Body of Christ to be free, free to love, trust and labor with You for the good of each other and this world in which we live.  I was thinking today that the political machine is throttled to strip us of the freedoms You birthed this Country to display, and to bind us with financial hardship.  And yet I know it is not Your will for us to be gloomy but wise; wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  I can see it would be wise of us to become as independent of this world’s system as reasonably possible while we become more and more dependent upon You.  Working for causes is a good thing, isn’t it? But working for a cause is not as effect as the conversion of sinners, is it?  Isn’t it true that every soul who repents and believes Your Gospel makes this world a better place?  Shouldn’t that be priority with us, being available and open to You to share Your Gospel with lost people?  Make it so in us, LORD, make it so. And before we close this, we pray for our IDOK Troops; for their safety, full protection – spirit, soul and body and please bring each one listed here home safe and sound at the appointed time. I pray for peace and rest for our IDOKs and Readers. Amen and Amen.

Kathie

 

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The Difference (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Friday, March 5, 2010
The Difference
            I’ve attended two funerals this week – same place, different days.  At one I worshiped, at the other I sat heavy in my seat.  One was young, the other older. One loved gospel music, the other didn’t. One was a giver, the other a taker.  At one there were loud wails, the other quiet tears in confidence.  What made the difference?  At one Jesus was welcomed.  At one He was exalted.  And HE made all the difference.  He always makes all the difference. He is the difference. 
            I’ve decided if I must go by way of the under-taker rather than the Up-taker, I want a really good funeral.  I want Jesus to be front and center.  I want praise and worship.  I want clapping of hands, even raising them, please. I want the ‘mourners’ to leave there talking about Jesus instead of me.  
            My ‘Little Girl’ and I were talking recently about ‘old’ people and how sometimes they are just really cantankerous, just down right unpleasant to be around; and I said to be a sweet old person, you have to start practicing now while you are young (younger).  To have a really good funeral, we have to start practicing now too – dying to ourselves and living to Christ.  That will ensure us a really good funeral and it’ll keep us sweet when we are ‘old’ too.
Matthew 16:(New King James Version)
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
I Corinthians 15: (NKJV)
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:  “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?   O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

            AMEN and AMEN even so come LORD JESUS and until You do grow us into men and women who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work You have called us to do for we know, LORD, any labor done for You will not be in vain.   No prayer prayed in Your Name will be in vain.  No deed done for Your glory will be forgotten by You or go unrewarded.  No life lived for You will be wasted.  ABBA, comfort the grieving I pray.  And inspire us to die to ourselves so we can really live.  Remembering all whose names will be spoken here; we don’t want to leave out even one; that all of them would know You touch.   You know our hearts, You know all the stuff represented here and in it all we just want You glorified.  I love you LORD.  Thank You for making it so. Amen and Amen.

Kathie