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Endings and Beginnings (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010
Endings and Beginnings
            Because I am starting this at 1:25 on Wednesday afternoon and because I still have to make a visit to UPS for copying and to the store for elastic, I am hoping to be brief.  It’s not that I have not been studying today.  To the contrary, I think I have put in much more than I have digested.  But let me give you two points, I think, and then it’s out the door for me. 
            I finished my JESUS, 90 Days with the One and Only journal today.  I started it on April 6, 2009 and wrote my last entry a little earlier today.  I was happy and sad to reach the last page and I’ve already picked my next 90 day journal – who knows how long it will take.  It’s entitled, JOHN, 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple.  And following that will be 90 Days with David. So looks like Beth (Moore) may have about 2 years to get another one together as I’d like to have a least 4 of them done before I’m too old to do them.  But I’m off track here.  
            So here’s a paragraph that gave me some sweet emotions and I thought you might like to share them with me.
            “Thirty-three years earlier, the feet of God toddled their first visible prints on earth, a young mother’s footprints chasing close behind.  The walk grew rough, the path strewn with stones and thorns.  Now God incarnate stepped off this planet with feet scarred and bruised.  As God predicted at the fall, the ancient serpent struck Christ’s heel, but on the day He ascended, all things were under Christ’s feet.  Jesus Christ walked the way of humanity so that humanity could walk the way of God. How beautiful the feet that brought good news.”
            Amen and amen! How awesome is that on the screen of our minds?!
            Romans 10: (NKJV)15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “ How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
            Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
            Luke 24: 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
            I said two but I think I’ll save the other one because this one is just too good to move on from – we need to linger over it for at least a day!  Sweet blessings to you my sisters and brothers in the name of our Holy Jesus!
            (Just as a side note – my Baby Girl’s name came from this passage.  I named her Bethany to always remind me and hopefully her that He left from a place called Bethany and He would return to a place called Bethany and for her – Bethany.  I am without words to say how grateful this Momma is that my Bethany is looking to ‘Bethany’ for His return… so’s her Momma.)
ABBA, You know even better than I how grateful I am that You have given my sister Beth such words to give me these pictures of You.  This is so good!  These 2000 plus years since Your nailed scarred feet were lifted off this planet that You chose to come to for us – it’s more than I can take it but I am so grateful for what I have been able thus far to comprehend.  My request to You is to comprehend more and more of You, to fully give You all my heart, soul and body, to be utterly head over heels, fully gone, ‘crazy’ in love with You and occupying myself with Your Business while I keep a watchful eye longing for You to come again.  And, Holy Spirit, I pray that too for our IDOKs and Readers.  Thank You that You are forever watching over us and that nothing touches us that You have not already made provisions to cover.  Thank You that no illness or disease or hurt or pain or wayward child, or bondage, or grief, or IDOK Troop, or family, or crisis in Washington or anywhere else or anything else we could name is beyond You – You have it all covered and redeemed for us if only we will believe.  And praise You, praise You we are learning to believe.  Thank You, DADDY.  Thank You in Jesus Name. Amen and amen.
Kathie
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One of Two (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
One of Two
Lets see here, it is nearly 2:00 PM on a Son Kissed Wednesday, how shall I begin Thursday’s IDOK?  I have a load of laundry going, the house is quiet, not only the house but it’s tranquil outside too; I’ve been home from Mobile less than an hour – that wasn’t on my list of to do today, but I made room for it and I am glad I did.  I will briefly tell you about it and hopefully a devotional thought will come.  My red-haired first born called this morning about 9:00 to say she was scheduled to visit a client in Mobile this morning and she thought she could be at a certain eatery on Dauphin Street by 11:15 and could I join her.  Since this is such a rare opportunity for her and me these days, I said yes. So I finished day 4 of the Patriarchs, did some personal grooming and made it there by 11:10 (She had already arrived and had our order at our table).  I still had Day 5 to do before the video session, so I took my Bible and workbook with me, just in case.  The soup was good and the fellowship was superb, and then all too soon, it was time for her to scurry back across the Bay.  I walked her to her vehicle, kissed her ‘see you later’ and with her encouragement retrieved my Bible and work book from the truck, went back inside, purchased a cup of coffee and a muffin top, found a secluded corner and began to ‘feast’, and the muffin wasn’t bad either.  As I studied, I made some extra notes on Day 5 that I think I shall share with you. 
At this juncture in the study we are at Genesis 27 – Jacob and Esau – the stealing of the Birth Order Blessing.  Beth says this chapter is filled with more drama than a soap opera and she’s right. The chapter contains Jacob and his mother scheming, plotting and conniving; Isaac being tired, blind and deceived and Esau being cheated, enraged and murderous (and this is a ‘Christian’ family!).  As I worked through the lesson and in the final paragraph read these words: “They are humans whose hearts resemble the heart of their spiritual father, Satan”; I came to this reckoning: (not a new one, just reiterated, for us to ponder deeper) it really is black and white here, one of two.  All peoples, every soul who breathes, is either a child of God by re-birth or still a child of Satan by natural birth.  (Praise God, babies and young ones are safe and protected until that age of jeopardy is reached.)  So, every living breathing walking around person above the age of accountability that you and I will see today is at that very moment either a child of God or a child of Satan. There is no grey here.  ALL are one or the other.  How unpopular is that to teach? How uncomfortable is that ponder?  So, should we ponder it?  Would it make a difference if we pondered it and prayed over it?  You know these are rhetorical questions, don’t you?  Yet, I hope we will not allow our flesh, the world and Satan to keep us from answering them within our own hearts.  May it be that we will not only be conscience of it but moved with compassion about it; and be ready and willing when our eyes meet theirs to be available to the Holy Spirit to plant a seed in any ‘heart garden’ that He tells us He has plowed and made ready for planting.
John 8:37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with[l] your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

ABBA,  I am thankful for this day; for every person and good thing that has greeted me; I am thankful for Your encouragement to me, for Your Word and for the Plans You have for this ministry, for every IDOK, and for me as Your servant.  You know my desires and I pray more and more that Your desires will be my desires.  I think maybe our IDOKs might be praying that too.   Please again comfort and protect our IDOK Troops, I pray they will be particularly mindful of You when they are confronted with evil and that they will be reminded by You, Holy Spirit, to draw upon Your Strength and Wisdom.  I pray that each of them will come home safe and sound at the appointed time.  Again, I pray for Israel to be at peace in the land that You have given them. I pray for the descendants of Ishmael to surrender their hatred and be healed.  I pray for America that the voices of those who have a moral sense of right and wrong based upon Your Word will become stronger and stronger and will negate and silence the voices of those in Washington and other places who are evil and bent on doing the work of their father. I pray for holy boldness, LORD.  It’s easy to be bold sitting here at this screen that obscures all the faces out there that oppose You.  If You will, I pray to be even more effective here at this screen and out there, face to face, with those whose ‘heart gardens’ You have plowed and made ready for seed.  I do not wish to be offensive, nor argumentative, nor to debate for the sake of debating; rather I pray that I will be discerning and only ‘retreat’ when silence or diplomacy paves the way to try again; and this I ask in Jesus’ Name as I think that is what You did, LORD, as You minister as the God-Man.   Amen and amen. 

Kathie

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The Pruning (again but different)

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IDOK Devotion for Monday, March 1, 2010
The Pruning
            I have a plant.  It’s a succulent, I think.  And when it blooms, delicate, tiny bursts of yellow color delight me.  But alas with time she didn’t look so good – yellowing leaves here and there, dried up stems, no tiny bursts of yellow anywhere – not pretty! And I thought, she needs pruning, but if I cut off all the dead and sickly stuff there won’t be anything left.  She’ll be bare and look even more awful.  And then.   You know don’t you? Scripture came to mind. I AM is the vine and we are the branches and who ABBA loves He prunes.  And when He starts cutting, we think we shall have nothing left.  And we think we are going to be bare and ugly when He gets done.  Not so with my little succulent.  True she has been ‘cut down’ to size but what remains is healthy and green and beautiful and now she has ample strength to produce yellow bursts again.  And in time she will.   When ABBA comes with the pruning scalpel, let us trust Him.  He’s only taking off the sickly and dead stuff and true we may feel and even look a little or a lot bare but what He sees is absolute beauty as He rejoices over us.  Below is a link to a picture of my succulent – bare as she is; isn’t she lovely?  And so are we. When we have been pruned even before the new fruit shows, we are lovely!  And this we must know, the starker our pruning the more plenteous will be our fruit – let us rejoice even when it hurts and wait with patience for our harvest.
(Amplified Bible) John 15:  2Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.
  8When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
    9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].
pruning

            ABBA,  I hardly know where to begin to pray, so many needs, many really ill and without Your intervening, not long for this world it seems and a family grieving because one has left this world, and some rejoicing because a loved one is better and some grateful for limited improvement and wanting to see so much more improvement.  You know the hearts of each, You know the condition of every one spoken here; You know the condition of our specific unspokens and even our unspecified unspokens.  You know it all and You really care about it all.  You really do and You want to enter into this with us.  You want to comfort and help and heal and we ask You now to do that.   We ask in Jesus Name as it is only Your Name LORD that has power to  heal and save us.   Thank You for saving us, thank You for pruning us.  And I pray You will tend us in this devotion and make us fruitful for Jesus’ Name sake.  We pray for our IDOK Troops for their safety and protection in hostile lands and for their safe and sound returns home.  And for their families we pray peace and comfort and provisions of kind needed.  Thank You for what You are doing among us and I pray again that every Christian Assembly will become a House of Prayer.   Thank You for this ministry and I pray we will not fail in our faithfulness.  Please give rest and growth to us in Jesus Name. Amen and amen.

Kathie

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I’m Just Saying (again)

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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