Woodshed

Posted on 12 Dec 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

I have a question for us.
Are we afraid because we think we don’t matter?
Questioning our value to GOD?

Why the question?

Luke 12

Specifically verses 4-7.

Here I’ll paste them to the page for you.

⁴“My friends, I tell you: don’t fear those who kill the body but then have nothing more they can do. ⁵I will show you whom to fear: fear him who after killing you has authority to throw you into Gei-Hinnom! Yes, I tell you, this is the one to fear! ⁶Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, five for two assarions? And not one of them has been forgotten by God. ⁷Why, every hair on your head has been counted! Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. source

Do you see? Verse 7. Read it till you believe it.

And while we are on the subject, let’s look at who we should and should not be afraid.

I mean for real, who are we afraid of?
(Forgive me just had to leave that preposition at the end.)

I mean when we are threatened by someone, wouldn’t it be the BEST! to be so secure in JESUS that we with firm authority say,
“What’s the worse thing you can do to me?
Kill me?
Then I am with JESUS! Give it your best shot!”

What did JESUS say in this passage?
For Real Christians what is the worse thing another human person can do to us?
Be the vehicle of exit from this cruel, hostile world?

(Albeit, even I can admit that beatings, tortures, etc. are not what I want but I understand from the testimonies of Saints that JESUS gives unspeakable help and comfort during such sufferings.)

So who do people need to be afraid of?
This is not spoken on the street or preached in the pulpit, but I am saying it.

Any person who has not repented, believed and received in exchange for their sins the RIGHTEOUSNESS of JESUS — oh they need to be afraid.
Very afraid of none other than GOD, HIMSELF.

We are taught in this culture that GOD is all love and there is no reason to be afraid of Him.

Rubbish from hell!

Read it again.

⁵I will show you whom to fear: fear him who after killing you has authority to throw you into Gei-Hinnom! Yes, I tell you, this is the one to fear!

And please please do not miss that word AUTHORITY. And please do not miss there is only ONE to fear.
HE has the authority, and the right, it is JUST for Him to cast every unbeliever into the hell they have chosen.

This is Who we should be afraid of!
And even as His children, bought and cleansed by The BLOOD of His Only Begotten Son, we better still be afraid of disobeying Him!
He chastens those He loves when they disobey — by the way, so does any godly daddy.

So, we really need to work at staying out of the woodshed.
Not just because it hurts but because HE IS WORTHY of our obedience and love.

He chastens those that are His. Hebrews 12:6-11

That’s it for now. pioneer-woodshed-sheri-mcleroy

Love, Kathie

The Inside Matters

Posted on 6 Dec 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

Luke 6

49 verses.

One of the first things I noticed in this chapter was the “church” leaders and their hatred for YESHUA.

⁷The Torah-teachers and P’rushim watched Yeshua carefully to see if he would heal on Shabbat, so that they could accuse him of something. source

They watched Him carefully, not to learn from Him, not to worship and obey Him; no, they watched Him carefully so they could accuse Him.
They watched Him carefully so they could accuse Him.

Let you and I never be the ones who watch to find a reason to accuse Him.

When we watch and see things coming to pass that we do not understand, things we do like, things we did not ask to come to be — let us NOT find reasons to accuse Him. Rather let us pray to remember that He is always good and we are always loved.

Did you know the night before YESHUA was to name His Twelve, He spent the whole night in prayer?
I imagine He talked to The Father about each and every one of them, calling them by name and discussing their weaknesses and their strengths.
He knew what He was getting when He called them.

He knew what He was getting when He called you and me too.

Would you like to know how The Father expects us to respond to persecution?
Verses 22 and 23 will tell you.
I added a note in the margin of my Bible: a proper response to persecution.

And in closing, there is another question: ⁴⁶“Why do you call me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ but not do what I say? source

Some in our world would answer that “well, I’m just a sinner, He understands I can’t help it.”

No. He means what He says — call me, LORD? Then obey me.
Are we not told that at our re-birth, we received Holy Spirit? Acts 2:38 Repent And Be Baptised (silver)
He came to reside in us.
He is the Gift Who enables.
He is the One Who raised JESUS from the dead — and we dare say Holy Spirit is powerless to enable us to lay down that sin that so easily besets us? See Hebrews 12:1.

And with that, I conclude for the evening.

Love, Kathie

Also known as Brittle Star

Posted on 7 Nov 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

As I said in an earlier post I’ve been editing here at The White Stone today. I did not mean to edit this long.

Well, sometimes edits do not go as one intended. One should not convert a published post to a draft — that necessitates a re-publish. So here we are. (For the third time )

Brittle Star (again) Sometime in 2013 I think

IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Brittle Star

Our Guide at the Sea, Sand, and Stars, situated in Orange Beach, Alabama acquainted us with many creatures, including a Brittle Star. To certain second graders, it looked like a small octopus.

Truth be told, only one thing about my field trip with Issy made me sad – really, really sad. Hearing about fins and tails and shapes of sea creatures and how each one works so perfectly in harmony to enable them to swim, find food, and escape predators just did me good – I loved it! And I suspect you are not surprised that as I listened I thought of The Father. I thought about how smart He is. I thought how AWESOME He is. I thought how ingenious He is. I thought how fun He is! And then I grieved that those precious children with minds like sponges soaking up all that important information about fish and seahorses and Brittle Stars and planets with their precision orbits, with the earth’s axis titled just right – all of it, and not once were they told all this came to be because God made it! Not once were they inspired to see how Awesome He is, how smart He is, and how fun He is! It still makes me sad!

But back to the Brittle Star. When our Guide told us that the Brittle Star will break its own leg off and leave it behind (it can grow another one) in order to escape a predator, a spiritual application began to form on the screen of my mind. Wouldn’t it be great if we were as ‘smart’ as the Brittle Star? Wouldn’t it be smart of us to be willing to voluntarily cut off those ‘appendages’ that make us prey for the Evil One? This Scripture came to mind and even though it is primarily speaking to an unsaved soul, you will probably see why it came to mind.

Matthew 18:⁸ “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. source

And since I sat to write, this one came to mind too: Hebrews 12: ¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, source

I’ll not probe with you the laying aside of every weight or the sin which so easily ensnares, but I will trust Holy Spirit to do His job in each of us to shed His Light on those ‘appendages’ that make us prey. I will encourage us to pick up a few books to read; books on Astronomy, mammals, reptiles, fish and other sea creatures, and botany – there are so many! And when we have read and marveled and communed with Father about how AWESOME He is, gather our children, and our grandchildren and use those books and information to allow Holy Spirit to WOW them and open their hearts to soak up the Truth their schools are not telling them!

It’s been a ‘fishy’ week, hasn’t it? Bluegill and now Brittle Star. Have some holy fun this weekend! We love you with holy hugs!

Father, Thank You. I so enjoyed the wealth of information we were given about Your Creatures. I so enjoyed seeing Your Handiwork up close and personal. No ONE, nothing compares to You. You truly are AWESOME. You are so huge I cannot get my mind around You but what I do comprehend thrills and delights me. I love You, Father. I am so glad You are You. Now, help us teach our young about You even more faithfully. Help us not be shy about learning ‘science’ because in true Science You are there in the very heart of it! LORD, train us, like You did Daniel, help us excel in matters of Science and Astronomy – all that stuff that shows us You are the Creator. Put some excitement in us that will inspire our children and our grandchildren; to wake them up to the fact that YOU ARE THE COOLEST! That No One is more cool, more hip … whatever words they use these days for people they admire. I want my grand-babies to ADMIRE You. To admire You above everyone and everything. Hey, I want that for me too. So help me show myself faithful to that desire and cut off those appendages that make me devil prey.

We’ve had some prayer request activity today and You have heard our prayers, we renew them now, knowing You have not forgotten and neither will You, and more than not forgetting You will do according to Your will for wayward souls we want to come home; for strife and un-forgiveness, for physical bodies that hurt, for eyes that don’t see, for ears that do not hear, for babies to grow up healthy and strong, for Mommas to rest and grandmothers to be okay; all this and more we bring to You and thank You so much that we can. And thank You so much that You hear and answer. We pray for all our IDOK Troops, for their peace and safety. We pray for Israel’s peace and safety. We pray for America’s repentance. We pray for political offices occupied by immoral folks to be vacated and filled with people of character and righteous principles. We pray for revival in America. And we pray for an army of prayer warriors to come together and pray until we see You pour out Your Spirit on Your Sons and Your Daughters. LORD, I am excited to see what You are going to do with this IDOK ministry and other ministries all across this land. LORD JESUS I just want You to be lifted up, exalted, loved, and praised because You are worthy. Thank You for loving us and for enabling us to love You back. Amen and amen.

Love, Kathie

Trusting GOD

Posted on 1 Nov 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

Even when it doesn’t look like we should.
That is what

Hebrews 11

is about. Let’s look at a few verses.

Verse 9
Abraham lived as a temporary resident.
Do I? Do I live here as a temporary resident?
How tied to this world am I? How tied are you?
I’ve heard some people have dual citizenship. (see Philippians 3:20-21)
Which citizenship do I give the more allegiance to?
How about you? Which citizenship has your allegiance?

Verse 11
Abraham regarded GOD and the promises GOD made to him.
How many of God’s promises to me, am I so regarding — counting as sure?
How many promises can I actually name that He has given me?

Verse 13
All these people kept on trusting, until they died.
(And some promises they did not receive before their deaths)
Do we believe there are promises we will receive even after death?
They did.

On and on the chapter goes, speaking of Moses’ parents, Moses himself and Rahab, and others.
They all trusted GOD when circumstances looked like He was not coming through for them.

In verses 32-38 certain people are described this way: The world was not worthy of them!
I hope you will read about them. trusta 2