IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

Adding Marley for surgery on Thursday – tubes – Mom and MeMe are concerned as Moms and Grandmas are when our ‘Babies’ of any age are put to sleep for a procedure.  Also adding and remembering Caroline M for a tender matter she is working with.

I am way off today about half out of steam; but I don’t want to leave ya’ll wondering and just not show up here at the screen.  No fever just a sinus attack is my diagnosis.  My beloved says I need to take something for the symptoms to alleviate the discomforts. But do I?  Of course not. I’m expecting this to run its course and one day soon I’ll be energized again. Until then. . .

In John 21 JESUS said to Peter in three verses: tend my lambs, shepherd my sheep, and feed my sheep.  Do you see three ministries there?  For some reason I do today.

I. Tend my lambs – look at the following definition and apply it to  the little ones in our lives.  Little ones in the faith – young ones just birthed into the Kingdom of God AND Little Ones who cannot care for themselves – pre-born babies, infants, toddlers all the way to those in grown up frames yet minds and emotions still oh so young.

to attend as a servant
2 a : to apply oneself to the care of : watch over

b : to have or take charge of as a caretaker or overseer

c : cultivate, foster

d : to manage the operations of

3 : to stand by in readiness to prevent mischance (as fouling)

I believe JESUS  has said to us who love Him — TEND them.

II. Shepherd my Sheep — Could He be saying look after my mature sheep?  You don’t have to hover over them but you do have to watch out for them; they are prone to parasites and the like; warn them about going off into doctrine I have not taught you.    Does not this say however mature we think we are we need our sisters and brothers to watch out for us and love us enough to tell us when we are wandering into bad pastures?

III Feed my Sheep —  Could this be a ministry to wounded sheep?  Not lambs, not immature sheep but sheep who have known the LORD a while but somehow have been wounded, hurt so badly they are not ‘feeding’ properly anymore — go after them.  Love Him  and love them enough to get in their business and bring them to the ‘Table’ again.

Wouldn’t you say there are seasons in our journey that we have taken up one or all these ministries to perform them?  And wouldn’t you say there have been seasons and could be again that we have or will  NEED to be the recipient of at least one of these ministries?   I want to be able to minister in any of these ministries when I am needed and when I need to receive one of these ministries, I am counting on you out there to perform them.  Okay?  Okay.

Holy hugs, ya’ll!

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

LORD, You know I love You — enough to perform all these ministries?  I don’t know about that.  But I know I want to.  So I ask You to tend me so I can tend others.  And I am asking You to tend Marley and Amber and Linda and Danny especially on Thursday but from now through Thursday too;  You know what they need and I pray they will receive this ministry from You.  And I pray Marley’s procedure will be text book perfect and she will be up and playing quicker than expected.  I pray too for Caroline, even though we don’t know all the ends and outs of her tender request, we pray for Your tender mercies to be all over her and those she is ministering to and shall minister to in this next little while.  We continue to pray for Judy and her family for recovery and blessings.  And we pray for every other name on our list.  And our IDOK Troops for their safety and protection.  And, ABBA, I even pray for me.  I’d like to be energized and feel bubbly and ready to minister well soon.  Thank You for all our IDOKs and Readers.  I ask You to tend them in Jesus Name. Amen and amen.  And, DADDY, one more thing.  You know just as I finished this a request came to pray for Melinda and all that surrounds that – her fall and her daughter and Mabel and her visit there.  These are precious people to me, two I have not even met and I am asking You to tend to them, to minister grace and mercy and healing and everything and more than they can think or ask in JESUS name again and again.

IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, MAY 17, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

We added Ray Sanford to our list this weekend.  A simple ankle injury has turned much serious with lots of pain and more surgery.  He needs our prayers.

Truthfully, it’s Friday morning, the sun is shining, my beloved’s shirts need ironing, the carpet needs vacuuming, and the store is beckoning me to gather needed supplies for visits from grand-babies; but I’m here — ya’ll do feel special, don’t you? If I knew how to fit a big smile graphic in right here I would!!

Looking for inspiration just now I picked up a study book written by Mary Ann Froehlich, titled Living with Thorns.   On page 16, Ms. Froehlich included a quote from Margaret Clarkson and it reads: “The thorns that seem to hem us in are in reality placed there to close us in to God Himself, to protect us from evil, to provide us with sanctuary in the midst of a troubled world.”

Would not that revolutionize our ‘feelings’ if we thought that way about unpleasant, ‘want it changed right now’ circumstances in our lives?

Looking for that familiar address in Scripture wherein Paul discusses his thorn in the flesh, I found others.  But first here’s the passage in 2 Corinthians 12: ⁷ Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me–to keep me from exalting myself!    And when you read on you know that Paul asked the LORD three times to remove the thorn and JESUS said in verse 8: . . . “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness “

If you would like to visit some Scripture addresses and read more about thorns, click here.   I found the passage at Numbers 33:54-56 of interest.  Some thorns are of our own doing.

Samuel Johnson, also included on page 16 of Ms. Froehlich’s book, said this: “Adversity is the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free from admirers then.”

I’m not making light of this important concept but there are times we might say… I don’t want to know myself this well!

And one more also contained on the page by Helen Keller: “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. ”

Some of us should be ‘real characters’ by now, huh?

Who likes ‘thorns’?  Who wakes up saying, ‘oh I can’t wait to get to the office and be verbally abused by my cranky ole office partner?’  Or who says,  ‘I am so looking forward to all the interruptions that may come my way today to keep me from getting this project finished on time?’   And yet such thorns come our way, often!

So what are we going to do about it?  Chuck Swindoll says this: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

And what better attitude adjustment can we have than believing  thorns are gifts from God to shape us into the image of Christ and our attitude about each of them will determine how much like Him we look today?

So what’s my attitude about that?  Feel free to ask yourself that question too.

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

Well, ABBA, You did it again!  What would I do without this IDOK ministry??  Thank You so much for allowing me this privilege and responsibility.  Holy Spirit, help me to not take it lightly; to embrace it not only as a word for others but first for me and help me walk them out I pray.

Thank You for loving us enough to wear the thorns and for loving us enough to apply thorns now where we need them.   Guide us, manuever us through this weekend, position us to worship You and serve You with joy and gladness.  Keep our IDOKs and Readers safe as well as our IDOK Troops and families.  Hover over and blow fresh wind and fire on Your Churches, three in particular I pray.   Please tend to our list of names, granting thorns and blessings as You see fit in JESUS name.

And as we gather at this screen on Monday morning or at whatever time and day it is opened to be read, I ask You to make the message here fresh and new and I pray , Holy Spirit,  that You will anoint it and the Reader will be encouraged and will step a little closer to You for JESUS sake. Amen and amen.

IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Updates:

Can you believe it?  It’s Friday again already — well, it will be when this is posted!

I read Proverbs 2 early this morning.  It’s a chapter informing us we are wise when we seek wisdom.  Verses 1 through 4 are IF verses  and verse 5 is a THEN verse.  If we do verses 1 through 4, then we will receive what ABBA promised.  The chapter is full of good stuff! Like these verses 11 Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things; Ain’t that the truth!  Exercising God-given discretion will keep us out of all kinds of trouble.

But the verse I want to settle on for this writing is verse 21 For the upright will live in the land and the blameless will remain in it;

This land of wisdom, discretion, understanding, protection and safety is the place to be, wouldn’t you say?  And verse 21 says the upright will come to live there, yet it is the blameless that remain there.   Why is that?  This is the picture that came to me as I pondered this verse:  A beautiful clearing.  The grass is green and lush, dotted with splendid multiple colors and pleasant blending fragrances,  bordered and punctuated with ancient oaks and willows, all cuddled by a gentle, soothing breeze; and a swing beckons me from the branch of a massive oak and a table invites me set beneath the boughs with fine lace and linen coverings heavy laden with crystal gold-rimmed goblets brimming with iced tea and fresh mint alongside silver serving trays loaded with cheeses, breads, fruits, candies,  pastries, every thing to appease and gratify every taste bud in my salivating mouth.  And if this  were not enough there on a nearby hill is a house, but not just any house; it’s my house! And the mortgage is fully paid and every detail of the house delights me — I wouldn’t change a thing!    Would I stay in such a place?  Heavens yes!!! Would the place remain beautiful and splendid?  Only if I tended it!

All the wisdom, revelations, discernment, knowledge ABBA gives us is ours to keep IF we tend it.  We arrive at a place of learning, a place of wisdom and discretion, understanding and yes protection and safety as we humble ourselves and take on His Uprightness.  So why not tend this gift of His Uprightness and seek to be blameless in thought and conduct so we can REMAIN in that place of ever increasing beauty and splendor?  Beats me!  Just lazy I guess.

¹ My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
² Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
³ For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
⁴ If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
⁵ Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.

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

ABBA, I don’t know that I have done this justice but I pray You will take up my lack and abundantly supply to the hearts of our IDOKs and Readers what You mean in this portion of Scripture.  I pray for a salivating heart for You and Your Word  for myself and all our IDOKs and Readers.  I pray that we will overcome any laziness and preoccupation with the urgent and necessary things and become enthralled with You the Imperative.  I pray You will day by day impress upon me, in me and through and through that this frame of mine houses Your Spirit.  I am thinking about that fact these recent days and I think it should move me more than it has.  I pray it yet will.

I am so pleased and grateful to hear the good reports regarding Jason and Mike and Alice, the stepson and Baby Ryder.  Thank You.  And I pray for Alice as she undergoes the cataract surgery that it will be textbook perfect and her vision will improve, even be reversed to a  much better time.  And we pray now for the remaining names on our list for coming good reports from all of them too. And for safety and protection for our IDOK Troops. For their families to be provided for and may they all conduct themselves in a worthy manner.

Again we pray for Christian Churches that they be Houses of Prayer and particularly three congregations that they be praying as never before and each see You manifest Yourself lifting up JESUS to all who are watching.  And, ABBA, I pray for the D’Angelo Family that they will be  open and receptive to what You want to do for them and in them.    Thank You for hearing our prayers and giving to us better than we ask.  Amen and amen in JESUS Mighty and Holy Name.