IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2007

The 14th chapter of Hosea! What a chapter!!!

No doubt I will be unable to do it justice in today’s IDOK but I am trusting I will be able to at least put something on the screen that will encourage you today.
Hosea 14
1 O Israel, return to the LORD your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
Who of us has not stumbled and who of us stumbles for any reason other than iniquity (sin)?
But the GREAT NEWS is we can return; we can recover from any stumble, fumble or down right flat on our face!
2 Take words with you,
Take the Word of our God with us in our minds (our soul, our very being) in every place we go – that is the way we ‘return’ to our Lord.
And return to the LORD.
Say to Him,
“ Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously,
For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.
Oh yes! Receive us graciously. He does when we offer the proper sacrifice with our lips – when we humble ourselves and say I WAS WRONG, YOU ARE RIGHT!
3 Assyria shall not save us,
How true! No ONE but God alone can save us
We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
And we shall choose THIS DAY to place no faith in ourselves or our works but trust HIM Alone! And when we do He Will do this. Just listen to what He says in verse 4.
4 “ I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
Look at that! Our backsliding is HEALED!! Do you know that we can be HEALED of backsliding and never have a relapse? No I am not talking about being sinless in our day to day but I am speaking of those stumbles that result in mass destruction – we can be set free of those and never relapse into that again IF we REMEMBER He loves us and if we OBEY His Word every place we go.
And look at this. He will be like DEW and we shall grow like the LILY.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily,
And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
What does the dew do? It gives moisture where there is dryness; it gives freshness where there is staleness, it’s pure; it’s renewing. Isn’t that what He does within us?
And grow like a LILY? How beautiful is that? You all know I have a thing for Lilies. They are BEAUTIFUL – white, delicate with simple elegance and the fragrance can hardly be described. And we can be as a LILY to Father. OH I WANT THAT!!
And this is getting long for one day. Lets come back to it tomorrow, Lord Willing.
Father, this is beautiful chapter and we are grateful to read it; we are grateful Holy Spirit that You are teaching it to us; that You are making it alive in us; thank You. And as our IDOKs read I pray they will be encouraged and will be brought to deeper levels of peace about who You are to them and who they are to You – and me too Father. We continue to pray for Israel and for Peace for them and for Repentance in America and for the Presidency of the United States that we as Your people will stand up and be counted on the side of the ONE You have chosen for this Nation and again Lord we pray for a ‘David’ and not a ‘Saul’. And again we pray for our IDOK Troops that You will protect them in mind and body and spirit and that they all will come home safe and sound and this war will come to a successful conclusion. We come with these and we pray Thy Will be Done Lord for Jesus sake.
The Peace of Israel Jason, Vicki, Sharron and other family members. Joseph Toomey and Family. Wheeler Family. Mary Ann. Mr. Nash. DeLois. Terri. Leah O. Patsy B. Kim T. Krystee. Rachel B. Kevin and the children. Lisa’s Mother. Janie B. W.C. & Family . Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Taylor & family. Anita. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sharron and girls. Frankie and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa and Brad and family. Cindy K and family. Chuck. Jessie L. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Chad and Brittany and family. Mollie and family. Jenny. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N. Joshua M.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Justin G. Albert R III.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Tim. Lee.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Injured Stateside: Edward J.
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light
Military at home adjusting – Mack. The 226. Troy. Drew. Brad. Tommy. Desi.
Civilian in Country – Mike. Lee.
As I post this it is 48°F and cloudy in Baghdad, Iraq & the time there is 7:47 AM AST – on December 4, 2007
HIS MINISTRY TO YOU

That was a fast weekend! And a full one too.
A good time on Friday night with sweet friends, a memorial service on Saturday morning, a Christmas tree, new knitting needles and a visit with family and on Sunday, Sunday School and Freedom Salute at the Armory for the 226! And now it’s Monday again! And this morning I am later getting started here with today’s IDOK.
Confession time. Often here lately I have not written our IDOKs during the day hours for sending to you in the morning or late p.m. Hours and I have been sitting here at the computer as Jerry was getting ready for work (including breakfast by himself). But this morning I said No, not gonna do that. And so we began this morning with a duet of ‘This is the Day’ (no, I’m not kidding – not a concert for the ears of anyone else but we loved it) and devotional time with our breakfast.

W.C.Dobbs, Sr.’s memorial service was – I am paused here looking for words to describe it – wonderful, a pleasure, a blessing – not words we normally associate with a memorial service but it was. I never met Dr. Dobbs but after Saturday I feel like I know him and I am helped by him. I am encouraged by him and this morning I am still thinking of ways I can practice some of the things he practiced. Like more prayer, much more prayer – he and the Dobbs family take this matter of prayer seriously. And not just prayer but Bible study and other reading material and current events and on and on. And this morning’s decision to let IDOK wait a little bit and have breakfast with Jerry? That was a decision coming from Saturday’s memorial service too. Dr. Dobbs has given me a lot to mediate upon. And to our God and Savior be the Glory!!

A quote from my calendar:
“To act lovingly is to begin to feel loving, and certainly to act joyfully brings joy to others,
Which in turn makes one feel joyful. I believe we are called to the duty of delight.” Dorothy Day.

Okay. I think we have a message here this morning and none of it has been planned by me!
This is the Day the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.
Dr. Dobbs prayer and singing and reading and rejoicing and setting priorities.
And now TODAY’s calendar reading.
Yes, I think the calendar is right we have a DUTY to Delight – To delight ourselves in our God and Father and those in our homes, across our computer screens and outside our doors. And you know what? I have been doing a poor job of this lately!! But this morning is a new day!

Deuteronomy 16:10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.

11 You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.
12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

In EVERY situation in whatever place we are today, we are ALL called to rejoice in our God and Savior because each of us however hard or soft our place today, we who have been saved have been delivered from Egypt. And Father’s Word to me today is ‘Little Girl, you have a Duty to ME to Delight yourself in ME and rejoice!’ And all I can say to that is ‘Thank You Daddy and Yes, Sir!!’

Thank You Father. You are AWESOME and so good to me, to all of us. Thank You. Thank You for corrections and admonitions straight from Your Throne to me. Thank You and Holy Spirit by Your Grace it will be done today!
And Father, we have some people we want to talk with You about today. First, Jason. Thank You that he is improving and we pray continued improvement and not just improvement but complete restoration, restoration so great that he and Vicki stand in awe of You and bow in praise and surrender to You anew and afresh, greater and better than ever before. Give Sharron and Vicki strength today to work. And we think of the Toomey Family and Wheeler Family and these too with so many needs but this we know YOU are Able Father and You are willing to supply. Thank You. And so we commend this to You for this day. And this day we pray for our IDOK Troops and we ask You to protect them in mind and body and spirit and to bring this war to a successful conclusion and bring each of our IDOK Troops home safe and sound and more in love with You than when they deployed. And we pray for the Peace of Israel and thank You for our kinship with them and we pray for the Repentance of America and we pray that You will move on the behalf of the Man You have chosen for the Presidency of America and that each and every person who has You Holy Spirit dwelling within will listen to YOU and vote according to Your Instructions and all this we ask in Your Name Lord Jesus. Thank You. Thank You for this day. Amen and Amen.
The Peace of Israel Joseph Toomey and Family. Wheeler Family. Mary Ann. Mr. Nash. DeLois. Terri. Leah O. Patsy B. Kim T. Krystee. Rachel B. Kevin and the children. Lisa’s Mother. Janie B. W.C. & Family . Vickie. Lisa W. John Thomas. Cole. Taylor & family. Anita. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Toy and family. Katelyn. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn. Larry and Claudia and family. Jeanette and Earl and family. Libby and family. Callie. Madie. Ruth. Martha F and Bob. Rev and Mrs. Carpenter. Allyson and Glen and family and Kaitlyn. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sharron and girls. Frankie and girls. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa and Brad and family. Cindy K and family. Chuck. Jessie L. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Chad and Brittany and family. Mollie and family. Jenny. Julia. Bobbie. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Kayla. Trey. Jacob. Ashely. Lance. Candance. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Adam & Family.
Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.
Every IDOK Pastor and Family.
Every IDOK church.
Revival in America.
IDOKs Military Families.
IDOKs Troops – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Josh. George. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Hawk. Brant W. Lyndon A. Christopher R. Travis N. Joshua M.
IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Justin G. Albert R III.
Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Tommy T. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Tim. Lee.
Injured and brought State side: Anthony. Hector
Injured Stateside: Edward J.
Hospitalized outside USA: Corpl. Light
Military at home adjusting – Mack. The 226. Troy. Drew. Brad. Tommy. Desi.
Civilian in Country – Mike. Lee.

Psalm 37: 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

As I post this it is 63°F and sunny in Baghdad, Iraq & the time there is 5:o1 PM AST – on December 3, 2007