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GO ON

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IDOK DEVOTION for Wednesday, July 18, 2007

This was last night’s Bedtime quote by Charles Swindoll:
Grace means that God, in forgiving you, gives you the strength to endure the consequences. Grace frees us so that we can obey our Lord. It does not mean sin’s consequences are automatically removed. If I sin and in the process of sinning break my arm, when I find forgiveness from sin, I still have to deal with a broken bone.
Romans 6:17 NIV — But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

As I read the words: ‘Grace means that God, in forgiving you, gives you the strength to endure the consequences’, I stopped before even going on to the next sentence to read it again just to hear those words again. By the very act of forgiving us Father is telling us to GO ON; to continue on with living a life that honors Him and yes the consequences of the sin may not be easy to deal with BUT God is there giving us the STRENGTH to do it!

This reminds me of a Scriptural Account, the account of the Woman who was snatched out of her house in the very act of adultery, the text says, and brought to Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees. I don’t know if they cared so much about actually stoning the woman. What they really wanted was to ‘test’ Jesus. As it happened they were the ones who were tested – by the way they failed! But back to our point this morning. The penalty due the woman was death (by stoning). The Scribes and Pharisees knew that quite well. So did Jesus. But the stoning she did not get. What she got was forgiveness. She was forgiven of the PENALTY of adultery and in verses 11 and 12 she said and Jesus said:

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

With this link you can read all of John chapter 8. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208%20;&version=50;I see here that Jesus gave her the strength to get up off that ground and GO ON. The PENALTY for her sin was paid but she would still have to face ‘the world’ and I believe she did! I believe she drew upon the STRENGTH of the Lord Jesus Christ and she did GO ON. One of these days when we all get to Heaven, maybe she will tell us about it!

So whatever has gone on in your life this week; if you messed up and you have some consequences, get up off the ground, the PENALTY is paid, receive His Forgiveness AND the strength only He can give you AND GO ON!

Thank You Father Lord that You have paid our penalty and You have given us forgiveness and strength to GO ON. Please help us receive this from You. We don’t know all the needs, and we don’t even know the faces of each but You do and that is enough for us to KNOW that You are working in their lives. We pray Holy Spirit that You will give each of them strength to go on and to receive from You all that You desire to give them in whatever lot and circumstance they are today. We pray Thy Will be done.  We ask You to protect our People in mind and body and spirit and Holy Spirit help them and encourage them to Love even in a world of hate. And we pray for America that You will enable Her to repent and be revived for Jesus’ sake.

As I post this it is 97°F and Sunny in Baghdad, Iraq & the time there is 3:59 PM ADT – on July 18, 2007

HIS MINISTRY TO YOU

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Dennis, Joey and the Umbrella

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IDOK DEVOTION for Monday, July 9, 2007

Friday, Dennis was right on target. Some days there is a lot of wisdom in the “Funny Papers”.
Picture this: Mom is standing at the door; Dennis and Joey are stepping off the stoop into the peppering rain and she hears Dennis say to Joey: “C’mon, Joey, If you wanna see a rainbow, you gotta put up with a little rain.”

How insightful is that?! As we live and breathe here on planet earth unpleasant and downright hard stuff comes our way but we can be sure if we keep looking up the rainbow will appear. However, there is one more thing I need to mention about Dennis and Joey and the rain … Dennis had the umbrella. I think the umbrella gave Dennis a leg up on his upbeat attitude, don’t you?

I think you and I have an umbrella against the enviable rain that falls upon each and every soul … His Name is Jesus. The question is though — do we have Dennis’ attitude about our rainfall?

Matthew 5: (NKJV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

At first, I thought this passage fit perfectly for our illustration, but now I think the ‘fit’ needs some consideration. Obviously, Dennis and Joey’s rain was one of those ‘hard’ things that come to us in life since they were looking for a rainbow. Bad stuff is inevitable upon the JUST (that’s us who are saved) and the UNJUST (that’s those who have not said yes to Jesus for Salvation). Before writing this IDOK devotion, I think I may have overlooked that in this passage it is Father who is doing the SENDING which gives me a whole new light on this. Father only sends GOOD STUFF, so the sun and rain in this passage are good and beneficial and pleasant, not bad; not something that we have to wade through and hope to find the rainbow. But rather the kind of rain that you stand out in with your head back, your mouth open, arms stretched out, twirling around laughing. And on top of all that glorious fun, you see the rainbow! It’s that kind of stuff He sends and we the JUST benefit from it. The UNJUST do too, but just maybe they don’t know from Whom it comes. We do! We need to tell them!
Think about it this way: lost folks benefit from just walking around this planet with us but they still need to come under our UMBRELLA for Eternal Protection and we still need to offer THE UMBRELLA to folks getting rained on — be it pleasant rain or unpleasant rain. I sure hope I get to share my UMBRELLA with someone who doesn’t have ONE today. How about you?

Father, thank you for the weekend; for the sermons heard, for family and friends, for good food, for little boy birthdays, for mercy and grace. Right now we are thinking of Steve and his surgeon and the medical staff and we pray for a rested, alert surgeon and staff and we pray for a textbook perfect procedure and recovery for Steve and for peace and comfort for Janet and all the family. We continue too to pray for Tonya that You will dissolve that tumor and make the surgery unnecessary; continue to minister to Erby’s family as they grieve and not only Erby’s family but others who still miss loved ones who have passed from here to there with You. We pray for strength and practical helps for children taking care of parents and we pray for repentance for wayward children who are diseased and ill because of sin and unholy choices. And we pray for healing of those whose minds are tortured – somehow Lord reach them even as You did the man in the tombs. Again we bring America and pray for her repentance and revival and again we pray for IDOK that we be willing and useful vessels to help this Country return to holiness. As we do daily we remember our IDOK Troops and we pray for their safety in mind and body and spirit. We ask You to bring them home to us safe and sound and more in love with You than when they deployed. Thank You for the UMBRELLA picture and as we see umbrellas and as we use them, help us praise You each time for the protection from hell and sin that You have given us in Christ Jesus and it is in His name we offer this prayer.

As I post this it is 86°F and clear in Balad, Iraq & the time there is 7:15 AM ADT – on July 9, 2007

HIS MINISTRY TO YOU

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Cost Counting

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IDOK DEVOTION for Wednesday, June 20, 2007

One of the books Jerry and I came home with from the SCWC is entitled Faithfully Fit, written by Claire Cloninger and Laura Barr. I am only a few pages into the book but I already know it is not like any other ‘shed those pounds’ books I have thumbed through or partially read. I can see right now that appetite and surrender are both the problem and the solution.

Additionally, I have decided I have been praying the wrong prayers before meals. Certainly, we are grateful for our meals, for the tables upon which they rest, and for the hands that prepare them. And certainly, we would like for the meat and the potatoes and the cheesecake to nourish our ‘temples’, but praying like that thus far has not made me Faithfully Fit. As I said, I have many pages to go to complete this book, but I already see a startling difference in it. It does not say START TODAY. It reminds me of the Lord when He said to count the cost.

Luke 14 (NKJV): 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?   source

Cloninger and Barr suggest their readers take a week to pray and to gather certain materials before setting out on their recommended 40-day journey to becoming Faithfully Fit. I think I just might learn something this time! But back to my mealtime prayer. I think I need to not only think before I eat but think before I pray that mealtime blessing. The prayer I am working on is this: Lord, You know I have a problem with appetite and apparently with ‘surrender’ too. So before I consume this meal, I am asking for the strength to surrender my physical appetite to You. And I am asking that I be willing to allow You to satisfy all my hungers so I will not go looking for this food on my plate to comfort me in ways it is not designed to do.

And that’s as far as I have gotten. How about if we revisit this one day next week? I should have learned some more by then.

In the meantime, maybe a little cost counting in other areas would be a good thing. A little figuring here, a little figuring there, maybe a little time to ‘sleep on it’ (wait 24 hours) would give us time to Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4: 16 NKJV and decide just whose idea is this anyway! Notwithstanding, if you have affirmation and confirmation from Father that He has given you a green light on any project, then go for it – no more waiting! Otherwise, I think we would be wise to Pray and Wait.

Father, we continue to be grateful for the doors of thought and ministry that You are opening to us and we continue to desire to be faithful to You. We ask You to guide us as we approach all projects, thoughts, and ideas that come to our minds daily; help us choose wisely, help us wait according to wisdom, and help us advance according to wisdom – grant to us this wisdom as You describe in James 1. And Father, as we call our prayer requests to You, we commit their needs to You in Jesus’ name.

As I post this it is 84°F and mostly sunny in Baghdad, Iraq & the time there is 8:38 AM ADT- on June 20, 2007

James 1 (KJV): 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

HIS MINISTRY TO YOU

We are glad you are here; stay a while, look around, and be encouraged. We estimate there to be over 3,000 posts here at The White Stone Blog. Please know my hope is ALWAYS to help and NEVER harm. I have voiced many opinions and thoughts here since 2007 and by now I MAY NOT EVEN AGREE with all of them and some of my grammar and punctuation likely needs editing. But this is changeless: JESUS is our ONLY Savior and Hope. Do you KNOW Him?