Tag Archives: CHRIST JESUS

Copy Paste Chew Again

Wandering (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wandering
          If I have seen it before I have forgotten.  So it is new this morning.
Exodus 20:2-4 (NKJV)
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
            3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
          In verse 2 I see the word ‘bondage’. Verse 3 commands us to have no other gods before Him?  I am learning more what that means. For me, one thing it means is when I deny the Truth within me to please someone else, I have bowed in worship to a false god and it is as surely bondage to me as was building bricks in Egypt to Israel. ABBA, came down and delivered Israel from Egypt.  But obviously they were still in bondage, they still had other gods before them – hence 40 years of wandering!
          I’m tired of wandering! I want all my idols gone and all my chains of bondage broken.  And I know Who can do it.  I know Who is doing it – link by link.  All praise and glory to JESUS – the Greatest of ALL Liberators!
          Philippians 3:13-15 (NKJV)
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
Amen and amen – LORD anything to the otherwise, moment by moment reveal it to us and by Your Grace we SHALL turn away from it!  And all IDOKs and Readers said AMEN? Amen.        
            Holy Spirit, I ask You to do Your Thing with this.  It’s a fast written one but I pray it will linger long and will be an instrument of transformation in each of us.   We entrust each name spoken here.  We expect great things in each life and each situation because You only do Great, LORD.  We entrust our IDOK Troops for peace and safe keeping today.  We entrust the Call to Prayer to continue and grow and build strength in Your People.  We entrust the government and the people of America to You.  We entrust the People of Israel to You.  We lay it all before You this morning and we believe You are able.  We not only believe You are able, we believe You are willing – LORD JESUS, You have shown this.  Thank You.  Amen and amen.
Kathie
Copy Paste Chew Again

Rejoicing with the Choir (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Rejoicing With The Choir
          As I was backing out of our drive this morning, I noticed an attractive, modestly dressed, young woman walking toward me, so I stopped, let down the window to hear her invitation and to receive her written inducement.  It was to gather with others and commemorate the anniversary of Jesus’ death.  This commemoration will be held Tuesday, March 30 at 8:15 PM and I am warmly invited.  At this meeting, all will be given Scriptural answers to these questions: How did Jesus, by His death, provide a ransom? Why was this necessary?  For whom did Jesus lay down His life? And what can His death mean for you?
          I received her pamphlet because it would mean she would have one less to give to someone else and because I was on a tight schedule – too tight to engage her in conversation. Perhaps I won’t be so busy next time.  I’ve had some experience with Kingdom Hall Witnesses and have yet to find one that is willing to hear but that does not mean I should not try.  Does it? I’m glad I smiled and waved at the others in her party on my street too. Perhaps next time I will do more.   I think it would be spiritually criminal for any Christian to be unkind to a Kingdom Hall Witness.  But Christians’ conduct toward Kingdom Hall Witnesses is not my major point here.  I read the invitation.  I heard what she said and there was not one word about Jesus’ resurrection.  And I am now about to ‘preach’ to the choir, or maybe we will term it ‘rejoice with the choir’. 
          I submit to you that without Jesus’ resurrection, His death would be meaningless. His death alone will not ransom anyone.  His death alone leaves me in my sins and bound for Satan’s hell. 
          I Corinthians 15 (NKJV)
            12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
15  Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
          I serve a risen Savior, I know that He is living whatever man may say … He lives.  He lives.  Christ Jesus lives today.  He walks with me.  He talks with me along life’s narrow way.  He lives. He lives.
          Do some rejoicing today – Jesus lives in His flesh and bone RESURRECTED body and He will return for everyone who has received Him as Savior and Lord in that SAME BODY in which He ascended.  ALL who do not believe this and rest themselves in this Truth, are of all men the most pitiable!
          If you would like more information as to the doctrine of Kingdom Hall Witnesses relative to Jesus’ Resurrection, please see the web page at this link:
http://www.equip.org/perspectives/the-resurrection-of-jesus-what-do-jehovah-s-witnesses-believe   
            Holy God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank You that I KNOW You and I know You arose, LORD JESUS, as much as I know I am sitting here in this chair and that You will return even as You left.  That You are the ONLY GODMAN and one day Your FACE I will see.  And not me alone but every man, woman, boy and girl that has said yes to Your gift of salvation, having received Your Righteousness in exchange for their sins.   Cause me grow to never being quiet about this gift another day that I have left here.  And I pray for our IDOKs that not one of us will shut up about it.  
I pray now for rest and refreshing of spirit, soul and body for our IDOKs and Readers and every name listed here.   Again I pray for the protection and safety of our IDOK Troops.  You have been so gracious and so kind to us in this and I thank You for such grace.  Thank You, ABBA.  And now as I prepare to send this message, I pray it shall go where You want it to go and do what You want it to do in Your Name Jesus and in Your Name alone.  Thank You LORD.  Thank You.  I love You too.  Amen and amen.
Kathie
Christian Living

Nonetheless

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There comes a time when one verse is enough to chew on for the day. Here. See if you agree.

12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

via Col 3 NASB;CJB – Put On the New Self – Therefore if you – Bible Gateway.

Chosen by God before the foundation of the world.
Got that one.

Holy.
Me, Holy? (tough one to get wrapped around me because of a prideful nature BUT positionally in CHRIST JESUS it is nonetheless true this very day and glory be to YESHUA it will one day be true in practice!). You, too?

Beloved.
Another ??? But nonetheless true. We are beloved! In the LORD JESUS we are loved more than we have the will or the mind to comprehend. Perhaps with practice we will learn to relax and rest in being beloved!

Put On.
Chosen. Holy. Beloved – all gifts. Nothing for us to do but receive. But Put On. That’s different. That’s a verb. Requires our will to do for it to be so. And now to see what to Put On.

A Heart of.
You know the heart is the seat of emotions; that place where the real you and me is, don’t you? Actually in the King James heart is rendered bowels. Not a word that 21st Century folks use much outside the medical realm. But let’s think about it. The bowels per my Greek online Lexicon includes the heart, lungs, liver, etc even. You know those essential things that keep us alive. The heart that pumps blood and nutrients through our veins. The lungs that deliver air so we can actually breath. The liver that filters out toxins in the food, water, substances and air that we take so we don’t die prematurely on this sin-cursed planet. Essential stuff! So in order for us to be healthy Christians we have to spiritually put on a HEART that will pump into our beings the BLOOD of CHRIST to keep us cleansed; lungs that will breathe in the HOLY SPIRIT; a liver that will filter out the garbage of this world so it does not contaminate our being.  You get the picture. Right? So what are these heart filters?

compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

Compassion seems to be pity and mercy set into motion. Whatever warm fuzzy we are feeling when we see the sufferings of another, if it does not move us to extend mercy and pity, it falls short of compassion. In plain terms: If the warm fuzzy feeling inside does not move us to take action to alleviate someone’s suffering we have not yet put on compassion.

Kindness. We know what kindness is don’t we? We know what 21st Century kindness is – it’s tactfulness. It means I never hurt your feelings by what I say or do. Right? BUT Biblical kindness is way different! Biblical kindness is integrity and benignity [source]. It means I am honest, speaking the truth with you in such a way as to cause you no eternal harm. It is kind for the surgeon to cut the cancer out but that does not mean it won’t hurt! Reminds me of the TEXT when YESHUA said we should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves [Matthew 10:16]. Oh, ABBA, help me put on kindness and help my brothers and sisters to put on kindness toward me!

Humility. I read a fine description of that the other day. Humility does not mean I think less of myself; it means I think of myself less. Humility knows in CHRIST JESUS I am a child of the MOST HIGH GOD [that’s the cream of the crop]; but in my flesh without Him, there is ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, NOTHING good about me! (See Romans 7:18)

Gentleness. Guess what I found when I clicked a few references for gentleness?  Gentleness comes from GOD. Click HERE and see what I mean.
Notice 2 Samuel 22:36 says THY gentleness.
Notice Psalm 18:35 says THY gentleness.
Notice 2 Corinthians 10:1 says gentleness of CHRIST.
And Galatians 5:22, you know what you will find there.
Gentleness is not something you and I can come up with naturally on our own. It is a GIFT we can choose to open and put on like a lovely cashmere sweater on a cold day!  :)

One more and we will be done.

Patience.
Oh that was cute!  We will be done. Patience.  Get it? :)

And this one is easy. Not easy to do but easy to explain since we just discussed it yesterday in Sunday School. Patience and long-suffering are pretty much interchangeable. And we learned yesterday that long-suffering is to keep on keeping on delivering the Gospel of CHRIST JESUS even when from all appearances it looks sensible to give up. So I would say patience is when we keep on doing what we know is in accordance with Scripture even when it appears the sensible thing to do is give up.

And there we have one verse to ponder and practice today.

Be Hidden in CHRIST,

 

Thank You, ABBA, for one verse; plenty to guide us this day. Compassion, I need. To be moved to help alleviate suffering. Kindness; integrity that does no eternal harm; I so want to put this on, YESHUA. HOLY SPIRIT, thank You. I trust You to help me be clothed in kindness. Gentleness, patience, humility; all of these YOU are well able to grow and weave into us. So we present ourselves to You today to put on these gifts and bless the world in Your Holy Name LORD JESUS.
We are mindful of many in these moments and we bring them now; all need healing of a kind so we ask You LORD JESUS to heal them of their diseases; cancer, paralysis, and other medical maladies, unbelief, blindness, apathy, un-forgiveness; whatever You find in the hearts of those whose names we bring individually and collectively. Amen and amen.