Tag Archives: ABBA

I’m Just Saying (again)

IDOK Devotion for Wednesday, March 3, 2010
I’m Just Saying  
            I am really into making Scripture personal.  I am into praying God’s Word back to Him because He will surely answer.  I encourage you to sit with your Bible and pen and paper in hand to write out personalized portions of God’s Word.  This one has been mine to pray and meditate on today.
            Deuteronomy 30: (New King James Version) 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
            Kathie Whitestone Thompson personalized would be like so:  ABBA, I am so encouraged and so grateful that You have made this promise to me in Your Word. You The LORD my God will (not maybe but will) circumcise my heart (Thank You, ABBA, thank You so much for cutting away all this stuff that does not glorify You, all this stuff that makes You unrecognizable in me.  I am so relieved that I can count on You to do this) and (not just for and in me but) the heart(s) of my children and grandchildren (too), (so that I will) love You with all my heart and with all my soul, that I may live. And not just me but them too, that they will love You with all their hearts and all their souls, so they too will live, really live, not just now but forever with You.  Thank You, ABBA, for strengthening me with Your Word.  I am resting on it and I am so glad.
            Sometime today give it a shot.  Pick out a verse and personalize it.
            Let me give you one more.  Isaiah 43:10 (New King James Version)
10 “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD,
      “And My servant whom I have chosen,
      That you may know and believe Me,
      And understand that I am He.
      Before Me there was no God formed,
      Nor shall there be after Me.
            I am Your witness, LORD, You have said so (Oh LORD, thank You); I am Your servant because You have chosen me, You have chosen me so that I may know You, really know You, and believe You.  You have chosen me to understand that You are God, that there was no god before You and there will be no god after You. 
            As you get into this personalizing, I pray you will experience peace beyond your understanding, and that your spirit will oh so feel it and your face surely show it.  Hey, even your feet may find you doing a happy dance (a holy one, of course) as this truth gets down inside of you.  Wouldn’t that be grand?  I’m just saying…

            Taking Your Word personally is doing a work in me.  I am so grateful.  Thank you, ABBA, thank You.  I want us to keep going with this, on and on.  And I pray this for our IDOKs and Readers too.  You working in us is so good.  So good walking this life with You, Jesus.  So good.  Many things in this life are hard for us but You know that, we just need to talk to You about it.  And each of us praying in our respective places have things on our minds, children and grandchildren with struggles and threats of lack in various venues, we are calling upon You for intervention and asking You to make a way where we see no way.  Forgive us our doubts and help our unbelief so we may know You better and give You glory.   Minister peace and safety to all our IDOK Troops I pray today.  We love You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are our God, Three in One and we are Yours and You are ours.  Amen and amen.

Kathie

 

Lift a Finger Week (again)

IDOK Devotion for Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Lift A Finger Week.
         Psalm 63:2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
            And on the heels of reading that came this:  What does it profit us to lift our hands in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, and go home and fail to lift a finger to help anyone the rest of the week? 
            And Luke 5:  5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
            But because you say so – I love that!  I love that Peter even though he didn’t see the point in it and didn’t expect the results that Jesus knew would come from Peter’s obedience, he let down the nets. 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
            What if after we leave the sanctuary, even if we don’t see the point, even if our expectations are way lower than what Jesus knows will be, what if we lifted a finger anyway?   Don’t know how to lift a finger?  Oh, I bet we do.  I bet there are some fingers that have been pointing at us for months now — to do this for someone — to do that for someone.  Well, now’s the time. This is Lift a Finger week for IDOKs.  This week is the week for us to go about doing good and here’s our example.
            Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good . . . for God was with Him.   
            When I sat to write, ABBA, I did not expect this one, not at all; but I pray You will use it and that we will ‘lift a finger’ this week to help as many people as You give us.  Thank You for this ministry; thank You for allowing me to continue in it. And for each name spoken here we want them to experience peace and deliverance and healing.  We want their lives to be changed and made full of Your joy and peace.  We pray when portions of answers depend on them and their will that they will, will to do Your Will.  And when what they need is just You and Your timing, we trust You, LORD, to bring it to be.  All this we ask in the Matchless Name of Jesus. Amen and Amen.
Kathie

GOD Waits Too (again)

IDOK Devotion for Monday, March 8, 2010
God Waits Too
            Good Morning, Dear Friends who keep me accountable; meeting with you daily at this screen is a privilege I do not take lightly as without you ABBA only knows where I’d be.  As my beloved says from time to time, “thanks for putting up with me.”
            We’ve had a busy weekend around here, starting on Friday and so on Friday I didn’t sit to write, nor Saturday nor Sunday.  And this morning 45 minutes have already slipped by and this page is still nearly blank. 
            I often, perhaps you too, think of myself as waiting on God.  This morning Psalm 65 has reminded me that God waits too.   And He’s been waiting longer than you or I ever have or ever shall wait on Him. 
Psalm 65:1 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
         And to You the vow shall be performed.
            My Bible study notes tell me this verse describes a time to come for which God has been waiting since the fall of man, when Eve took a bite into sin and mankind and all creation fell beneath the curse.  This event is also described in Romans 8:(NKJV) 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
            Allow yourself as best you can to imagine how long ABBA has been waiting to see His creation restored to what He made and what He intended it to be before we messed it up.  Are you in AWE of His patience? I don’t know how the Holy Spirit might individually apply this to each of us today, but I am trusting He will.
            Let me give you a little more of Psalm 65 – I urge you to go on-line or pick up your own treasured copy of ABBA’s Word to you and read the whole Psalm but until then here’s a few more verses to whet your appetite.
2 O You who hear prayer,
         To You all flesh will come.
 3 Iniquities prevail against me;
         As for our transgressions,
         You will provide atonement for them.        
 4 Blessed is the man You choose,
         And cause to approach You,
         That he may dwell in Your courts.
         We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
         Of Your holy temple.
                Ain’t that the truth!
            Holy Spirit, I ask You to apply this Word to us individually as you will.  You certainly know about waiting and surely You will empower us to wait.  You never ask of us anything that You have not already done.  You really are AWESOME. 
            As we begin this new week, help us begin well and finish well.  I’m starting off with my ‘scheduling’ off, redeem it I pray.  And for anything that is ‘off’ for any of us this morning, I ask You to redeem it.  For Moms whose morning may start off rushed and chaotic I ask You to redeem it.  Somehow sing us a song or recite a portion of Your Word, something that will enable us to step back from jumping into a flesh fit with both feet and instead hold onto Your Peace and refuse to let it go.  
            And now we pray for all  our IDOK and Reader families; as I pray for my own, ABBA, that hedge of protection around my daughters and my sons and my grandchildren, that hedge to keep out anything that would eternally harm them, and those prickly thorns on the inside that is just enough to remind them to back away from sin, that is just enough to remind them to do the right thing today for Your Sake, Jesus.
            We also pray now for each one spoknen here; You know the cry of their hearts and we ask You to be merciful.  We ask You to comfort them; sit and speak peace to them – pour out Your Grace and Sweet Presence to them.  And we don’t want to leave out anyone here.  We pray for strength and help and healing for each one just the way You want to do it, ABBA.  I pray for the peace of Israel and for the redemption of Your Creation just as You have been waiting all this time.  And, thank You, Jesus, for saving us.  Thank You for being the Atonement we had to have to enable us to love You and call You, ABBA. Amen and Amen
Kathie

 

I Think (again)

IDOK Devotion for Thursday, March 11, 2010
I Think
I am admitting to you that I am a poor speller.  Often words that I should know escape me.  Today was one of those days and sovereign was the word.  It won’t escape me any more though.  As I keyed into my browser window the beginning of the word, it gave me choices and reign was cast in bold type and a light bulb came on!  Sove reign.  Bear with me now.  I’ll admit my mental computing is often a stretch, and I am strangely wired, but it works for me – and quite honestly, I like it.  SO!  Sove for some reason reminded me of the word ‘solve’ and I said: ‘uh hu if I allow the Holy Spirit of God to REIGN in me, all my issues, problems, conflicts, all the bits I am dealing with will be SOLVED’.  And might I add, spelling the word sovereign is solved too!   Just a little trivia.  I’ll get back to my study now.  Catch ya’ll later.
Matthew 14has been a portion of my reading today. Please share it with me.
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
I am assuming Jesus sent the multitude away before dusk so they could make their way home and then He went to pray and His disciples as He instructed them got in a boat to make their way across the Sea of Galilee.  (Their next appointment with the people was in the Land of Gennesaret.  Here’s a link to a map if you liked to visualize this better. http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/lake-gennesaret.html )
If I understand this correctly, the ‘Boys’ had made it to the middle of the Sea by evening and they were getting tossed around pretty good by a severe storm and about 4 AM, I believe, Jesus decided to take a walk.  (He and ABBA must have been having a really good time there on the mountain since dusk.)
Let me tell you something else I really like about this Text. Jesus walked to them, not around the sea but across it and don’t forget – it was not a calm sea.  As the God-Man don’t you think He could have just popped in on them rather than walking?  But He didn’t.   But He did start walking toward them in plenty of time to reach them at just the right time.  I think He still does that.  I think He still takes the shortest distance to us (not going around the storm but through it).  I think He does not cause us to wait in our storms any longer than is absolutely necessary for us to KNOW Him best.  And I think that storm scared the daylights out of those Guys on that boat, but I think they would not have missed the Presence of Jesus in the storm for anything in the world.  I think Jesus wants us to love Him so much that His Manifested Presence with us in the storm makes the storm worth it to us.   What do you think?
 

           Holy Spirit, thank You that more and more You are making Your Word alive to us.   I am loving it!  And I pray our IDOKs and Readers are too.  I pray meeting You on the pages of Scripture will be so special to us that going a day without reading Your Word will be unthinkable and unbearable to us.  And for all names spoken here, we pray for Your will to be done for each of them.  We pray each one will sense You coming to them; we pray their faith will not fail.  We pray they will count their storms worth it just to see You present with them.  Please continue to protect our IDOK Troops, watch over them and keep them from harm spiritually, physically and emotionally.  Help their families be strong and trust You.  And we are still mindful of the political climate and still rejoicing that people are waking up and I ask that our awareness of what is right and wrong will continue to grow and that we will be determined to do what is right regardless who says its wrong or politically incorrect.   Please keep on raising up prayer warriors and evangelists until every one hears and has the opportunity to exchange their sins for Your righteousness, Jesus.  Amen and amen.

Kathie