IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2010

FOR PRAYER AND PRAISE:

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

A new day and a new week – To God be the glory!

My Journey for today is about Intercession.  Before I copy a portion of it here for you, go with me to two types of interceding.

Here in Numbers the people had grievously sinned and Yahweh in His grace and mercy sent ‘judgment’ — fiery serpents and Moses interceded.

Numbers 21: (New American Standard Bible) ⁶The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

⁷So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”

And in I Samuel 25 Abigail also intercedes.

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

²³When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground.

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

³³and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

And in part Journey reads: “When we see situations that violate who God is, He wants us to rise up and take a stand against those things.  HE wants us to ask Him to act.

God has chosen to work through us to accomplish a portion of His will in the world. He wants us to intercede through our actions and through our prayers so that He can work through us.

Throughout His Word God has told us what His ways are and what His heart is like.  So when we see something in the world that doesn’t line up with God or His ways, it’s a divine invitation for us to ask Him to change things. When you see something that you know doesn’t line up with God’s will or His heart, talk to Him about it. Act if necessary, and ask Him to move.

Many of the prayers recorded in the Bible are like strategy sessions with God.  People saw an area of life they knew was operating outside of God’s ways, and they asked Him to change it. What in your life doesn’t look like God’s Kingdom? Invite God to work in that situation.  He might be waiting on your prayers to act.”

Oh, I so like that – Strategy Sessions.  Do we need to have some Strategy Sessions with God?

I want you to be encouraged!  I want you to take heart!  I want you to know our God and ABBA is calling us to prayer and our prayers are NOT in vain.  He is answering even as we pray.

A strategy session.  I pray, ABBA, for many strategy sessions to be held with You today for the people on our Praying For These lists, for our IDOK Troops, for the Church and Her need for revival, for the American People’s need of repentance and salvation; and for families and friends, for situations that are so, so outside Your Will. I am asking You, Holy Spirit, to change hearts and lives.  In JESUS NAME I am asking You to intervene in all this.  I  am asking You to bless us by working through us however You can, ABBA. Amen and amen.

IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010

FOR PRAYER AND PRAISE:

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

I unashamedly tell you that I have been walking around our house lifting and clapping my hands in praise to my God and Father, the LORD JESUS CHRIST! I tell you HE is AWESOME.  He is worthy of ALL our praise and more!

I am blessed by the preaching of His Word coming to me across the air waves and through our television.  What a wonderful tool in the hands of God is television!

(And what a horrid, damnable and addicting one it is when we give our eyes to watch what God has not ordained.  But that’s not my focus today.  Praise to our God is!)

I heard the preacher (Joseph Prince) speaking of a morning after JESUS’ resurrection prior to His Ascension when He was standing on the shore preparing breakfast for His disciples. They had been out toiling all night for fish and had come up with NONE.  And JESUS calls out to them (KT paraphrase, you know.), ‘Hey, Boys, ya’ll got any fish?’ And they reply, ‘No’.  And so JESUS tells them to cast out the nets again and in obedience accompanied with doubt, they do as He said.  And the load of fish was just about more than they could haul in.

So as the Guys gathered on shore, they saw that JESUS had started breakfast for them.  You do know JESUS knows how to cook, don’t you?  I can tell you from personal experience He is a GREAT cook.  I have asked His counsel many times with cooking and HE is the BEST at it! (Focus here, Kathie, focus.)  So they came on shore and He told them to bring some of the fish they had caught.  They had caught! Oh, I love it! And when the Preacher began with that I began to clap.  For he pointed out to me that any fish we catch, it is JESUS who actually caught it; for HE directs the fish into our nets, He gives us the strength, the ability, the opportunity, the direction, the wisdom, everything we need to do the fishing and then; THEN,  He gives US the ‘credit’ for catching the fish!  Do you see it? Do you see the tenderness, the absolute wonderfulness of JESUS in this?   Oh, I hope so. And I hope you also see that this is not just about catching fish; but it is about EVERY holy thought  we have and every holy deed we do. Even our very faith in Him and His Word is His doing and yet we get to enjoy it as our own!! Do I hear clapping out there?!

John 21 (NASB)

⁵So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”  ⁶And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

⁹So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.  ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”

And then the Preacher went on to explain a portion of Scripture that had given him a problem. Isaiah 53 teaches us that JESUS is the Arm of the LORD.  And we read in verse 10 that ABBA was PLEASED ¹⁰But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief;  . . . , pleased to crush Him.  ABBA was PLEASED for JESUS to be crush, bruised, beaten, even murdered.  And the Preacher prayed and said, ‘Father, I don’t understand this.  How can this be?’  And some days later ABBA answered.

Remember JESUS is the ARM of the LORD.  One day the Preacher, his wife and their 3 year old went shopping at a busy,busy mall and they had to park a long, long way from the mall.  Walking in was okay — good exercise, you know.  However, with hours and many bags it was time to make that long, long trek back to the car and Baby Girl was sleepy, oh so sleepy.  So Daddy picked her up, placed her on  his arm and in seconds she was peacefully asleep.  So peacefully asleep.  And the car?  Well, the car was a long, long, long way away.

You know what happened, don’t you?  The weight of his Baby Girl, his peacefully sleeping Baby Girl that he loved more than life itself, was causing crushing, excruciating , needles and pin pain to his arm; but, he was pleased to endure that pain in order for his Baby Girl to continue to peacefully sleep.  Do you see it?!  Do you see  the analogy of the LOVE God has for us?  Is it so precious to you to cause you to raise your hands and clap them in praise to Him?  Oh, I hope so.  For HE is worthy!!  So Worthy! So Awesome. So wonderful to us!!

DADDY GOD, I am coming to prayer again in the Name of JESUS.  I am here because of what You have done to bring me here.  LORD JESUS, thank You for allowing me the privilege of worshiping You.  Thank You. Thank You.  And I pray that every soul who reads this devotion will rejoice in it and that they too will worship You.  Will clap their hands in praise.  That our lives will be acts of worship.  That we will just be head over heals in love with You, knowing that You are perfectly in love with us forever and ever.  I pray these facts will transform us into lights reflecting Your LIGHT  in this dark world.  I pray we will be instruments of grace and mercy to all peoples.

Thank You for the Troops that continue to come home.  Thank You for the safety and protection You have given our IDOK Troops and we pray for every one that remains on tour that You will continue to protect them.  Continue to tend them and call them to full and complete surrender to Your will for their lives.

And we pray for Bridgette and her family; they have so many needs, LORD, with treatments and trying to keep life at some kind of normalcy for the children and school and just daily life mechanics.  I know You are doing marvelous and wonderful, loving things in the middle of this horrendous trial; thank You for the gift of praise in this.  Thank You for the healing and mercy You are working into this.    And we pray for others listed on our Praying for These lists.  There is so much there. Unspokens, and children and grandchildren and lost loved ones, and illness and disease and spiritual poverty and material needs and even more that we are not even privy to.  ABBA, help and heal.  Show up in the midst of all this need and hurt and want and be exalted.  We just want healing and help for every one of them and we pray they will receive it.

And we pray for Israel; we dare not forget to pray for these precious people, praying for peace and protection.  And we pray again today for revival; that You will turn us Your children from our sins and heal this land of America.  And I pray for the political scene in America that You will awaken us to ways and means  within Your Will that we can act within to see to it that the Constitution which You gave us will again be honored.   And above all this, I pray that each of us will put on the Full Armor You have for us and stand against and defeat the powers of iniquity.  Amen and amen.

In an effort to speak my mind to as many folks as I can, I am posting a link HERE for you to my post at KAT’s Meows.

I am not advocating or promoting FEAR just a call to you to learn on your knees what GOD would have you do on your feet and with your hands  in these crucial days in the life of America.

Thank you for your investment of time with this.

With love and holy hugs,

Kat. . .

IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010

The Right hand of fellowship.  What is it? And is it more than just shaking hands with folks around you in the pew when the Pastor says to say hello to 11 people you haven’t spoken to yet this morning?

A question was asked of me today via Beth Moore in her book, John 90 Days With The Beloved Disciple.
How well is the right hand of fellowship being extended in your church, especially with people of different viewpoints?

Good question, wouldn’t you say? And how would you answer it?  Perhaps like me, you would need a bit more information before you could answer that.

Since it’s not the meet and greets we do on Sunday morning during worship service, what is it?  Beth (Moore) enlightened me today and hopefully, I can adequately pass it along to you.

Let’s begin in Galatians 1 at verse 15.  It’s Paul recounting his saving encounter with JESUS.

Galatians 1: NIV¹⁵But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. source 

You may recall the account in Acts 9 when Saul (Paul) is saved Ananias is not thrilled about paying a visit to Saul, but in obedience he does.  And some days following Paul went to Arabia for about 3 years and then he returned to Damascus and then went on to Jerusalem.

¹⁸Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.   source

AND THEN.  Galatians 2:   ¹Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.  source

Fourteen years.  Fourteen years later, he returns to Jerusalem.

⁹James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.  source

And there it is.  THIS time, this time he is given the right hand of fellowship.  Seventeen years after his saving encounter with JESUS, he is accepted by the Church Leaders.  Seventeen years after salvation the Church Leaders recognized the GRACE OF GOD that had been given to Paul, that he was indeed the real deal and at that time they acknowledged his ministry, granting to him as it were, God’s Speed to go and minister.

So what is the Right Hand of Fellowship?  It is recognizing the GRACE OF GOD in a person, seeing that God has anointed him or her to minister in His Name and doing all you can, all you are led by the Holy Spirit to do, to send that one on their way with love, prayers, and resources to minister the GRACE of GOD within them.

Wow! Talk about waiting for a promotion! Talk about waiting for your ministry to be recognized and supported!

Let me close with a quote from Beth’s book:

. . . Paul, a former religious madman who approved the murder of Stephen and helped fuel a persecution that resulted in James’ death; Barnabas, the son of encouragement, who risked getting hammered by the early church by building a bridge between unlikely brothers.

That’s just it.  We’re all unlikely brothers. In Christ’s church, the pillars were never designed to match. Each one is distinct. What need would cookie-cutter disciples meet? None of us were meant to match. We were meant to fit together. Two identical puzzle pieces don’t “fit”.  Oh, that we would celebrate that difference.

Fourteen years lapsed between the time Paul first tried to fit in with the apostles and when he finally received the right hand of fellowship.  I’d like to suggest the hand didn’t come a moment behind schedule. What use would God have had for Paul if he simply turned out to be another James? Another Peter? Another John? His mission was distinct. And so, Beloved, is yours.  God knows what He’s doing! Trust Him. God is busy making you someone no one else has ever been.

And all that being said, if you remember anything about this lesson, remember this: GOD IS BUSY MAKING YOU SOMEONE NO ONE ELSE HAS EVER BEEN.  STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST! CELEBRATE WHO YOU ARE IN HIM, NOW TODAY, AND KEEP ON CELEBRATING DAY AFTER DAY UNTIL YOU MAKE IT HOME.

ABBA,  I am here in the Name of Your Holy and Righteous Son, JESUS.  Only in His Name and His Righteousness do I come to pray. Only in His Name do we your IDOKs come to pray for each other, asking that the GRACE You have given us be evident, recognizable in us.  I pray that You will take this lesson and apply it individually to the hearts and minds of Your people and that all that You desire will be accomplished in us.

We pray for our IDOK Troops, asking that You protect and keep from harm each one of them. We pray for courage and peace for them.  We pray they will be quick to rely on You and to seek You with all their hearts.  We pray they will be honorable in their conduct neither shaming Your Name or this Country.  And we pray for those who are waiting here at home for them to return, that they too will seek to live honorably and will find You faithful to them in all ways.

And we pray for each one on our lists, wanting only Your best for each one and asking that it be so.  And now I pray for rest and peace for us all.  Amen and amen.