Tag Archives: Gospel of Matthew

Colors (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2009
Colors

I’ve been thinking about something on and off since last Wednesday:  DADDY GOD loves color and variety.  Wednesday I was privileged to attend the Christmas Sing-A-long at Daphne Elementary School and as I sat and watched all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders file in and take their places on the shiny hardwood floor I had this beautiful, sweet, pleasant, loving sense of Jesus loving the children.  Can you tell it moved me?  There they sat with various textures and colors of hair and skin tones.  They were beautiful! Every single one of them and Jesus loves every single one of them!  The quiet ones, the mischievous ones, all of them – Jesus loves them and He came so they could live!  There was a sadness there for me though.  No teacher or speaker said Christmas is about Jesus. No songs were sung to ring out His Name. I did rejoice though each time I heard Merry Christmas sang or spoken rather than Happy Holidays; I’ll take my blessings however they come!   And yet this I know even though He was not exalted by name, He was there!  And He overwhelmed me with His love for color and variety in the little frames and faces of those precious little people.  Oh may it be that many saints will be raised up and empowered to demonstrate to children that Jesus loves them!

And then on Friday I attended First Baptist of North Mobile’s Christian School Christmas Pageant.  Now that was a Christmas Celebration!  I worshipped and cried and laughed and loved every minute of it!!  And again I was overwhelmed with that sense that ABBA loves color and variety.  Again there were beautiful children with various textures and colors of hair and skin tones.  Moreover, there was a song wherein the children came up the isles of the sanctuary dressed in costumes representing the country for the flag they were holding.  I loved it!  I am convinced when our God looks at the faces of humankind, He sees beauty in the differences.  He loves the shades and colors of our faces.  He did it on purpose!  

The following comes from this website:

http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Jesus_Loves_the_Little_Children/

  1. Jesus calls the children dear,
    “Come to Me and never fear,
    For I love the little children of the world;
    I will take you by the hand,
    Lead you to the better land,
    For I love the little children of the world.”

    • Refrain:
      *Jesus loves the little children,
      [*Jesus died for all the children,]
      All the children of the world;
      Red and yellow, black and white,
      All are precious in His sight,
      *Jesus loves the little children of the world.
      [*Jesus died for all the children of the world.]
  2. Jesus is the Shepherd true,
    And He’ll always stand by you,
    For He loves the little children of the world;
    He’s a Savior great and strong,
    And He’ll shield you from the wrong,
    For He loves the little children of the world.
  3. I am coming, Lord, to Thee,
    And Your soldier I will be,
    For You love the little children of the world;
    And Your cross I’ll always bear,
    And for You I’ll do and dare,
    For You love the little children of the world.

Of all that we can do is there anything of more value than demonstrating to the children that Jesus loves them? Matthew 19:13-15 (New King James Version)

13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

DADDY GOD, I am late again this morning at many things on my list. Thank You for the impressions You gave me with colors and variety; please, Holy Spirit, don’t let me forget it for as long as I breathe here on this planet.  I pray that You will take this today and do Your Will with it. I pray for all of us this day that we will demonstrate to the children in our lives that You LIVE and You LOVE them; not just children but the big people in our lives too. And we pray too for all these whose names will be spoken, bless and comfort and heal as they need to glorify Your Name to the world.  Comfort and protect our IDOK Troops we pray and bring them home safe and sound at the appointed time.  I pray Your Sweet Presence to be felt and experienced by our IDOKs and our Readers today; keep us safe and holy in walk in this world for Jesus sake. Save America and give Israel Peace, I pray.  Amen and amen.  

Kathie

The Difference (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Friday, March 5, 2010
The Difference
            I’ve attended two funerals this week – same place, different days.  At one I worshiped, at the other I sat heavy in my seat.  One was young, the other older. One loved gospel music, the other didn’t. One was a giver, the other a taker.  At one there were loud wails, the other quiet tears in confidence.  What made the difference?  At one Jesus was welcomed.  At one He was exalted.  And HE made all the difference.  He always makes all the difference. He is the difference. 
            I’ve decided if I must go by way of the under-taker rather than the Up-taker, I want a really good funeral.  I want Jesus to be front and center.  I want praise and worship.  I want clapping of hands, even raising them, please. I want the ‘mourners’ to leave there talking about Jesus instead of me.  
            My ‘Little Girl’ and I were talking recently about ‘old’ people and how sometimes they are just really cantankerous, just down right unpleasant to be around; and I said to be a sweet old person, you have to start practicing now while you are young (younger).  To have a really good funeral, we have to start practicing now too – dying to ourselves and living to Christ.  That will ensure us a really good funeral and it’ll keep us sweet when we are ‘old’ too.
Matthew 16:(New King James Version)
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
I Corinthians 15: (NKJV)
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:  “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?   O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

            AMEN and AMEN even so come LORD JESUS and until You do grow us into men and women who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work You have called us to do for we know, LORD, any labor done for You will not be in vain.   No prayer prayed in Your Name will be in vain.  No deed done for Your glory will be forgotten by You or go unrewarded.  No life lived for You will be wasted.  ABBA, comfort the grieving I pray.  And inspire us to die to ourselves so we can really live.  Remembering all whose names will be spoken here; we don’t want to leave out even one; that all of them would know You touch.   You know our hearts, You know all the stuff represented here and in it all we just want You glorified.  I love you LORD.  Thank You for making it so. Amen and Amen.

Kathie

I Think (again)

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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

 

Snakes and Birds

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This was written April 7, 2010 and to my searching I have not repeated it with you, so I shall today.

IDOK Devotion for Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Snakes and Birds

I am posting a response I received on Monday from a Sister IDOK.  I think you will find it encouraging.   I am meditating on your questions from this morning. I want to encourage you not to give up, or get discouraged, but to press on in prayer and in person. We cannot choose eternal destiny for others, we can only present the Good News and offer the gift of Salvation. The response is up to each person. But we can continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will hover over all of the lost and the Jesus rejecters, revealing the truth to them all!
Jeremiah 32:26-28 (NIV) 26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
I’ve also read the 3rd chapter of Micah in a few translations and I’ve decided we need an army of Micah(s) in America.
(The Message Bible) 8But me—I’m filled with God’s power, filled with God’s Spirit of justice and strength, Ready to confront Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin.
See what I mean? Whose names would you fill in for Jacob and Israel? And how ready are we to confront?  How politically correct are we trying to be?  And why? Would you agree there’s a fine line to walk?  This Scripture has come to mind this week – do you think it fits?
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
A little google-ing rendered this: serpents are prudent and discreet, cautious and avoid danger if at all possible. (http://bible.cc/matthew/10-16.htm )
            Now, harmless as doves: To be harmless is to lack the capacity to injure or to be free from inflicting physical or mental damage. Other translations use “innocent” or “inoffensive” instead of “harmless” for this verse.  Innocent means to be harmless in effect or intention. Inoffensive means to be giving no provocation.  Doves aren’t referred to as the birds of peace for nothing. Their temperament is calm and their disposition is sweet. Doves do not bite. At most they might slap you with a wing if they are guarding the nest or do not want to be picked up. Doves really are harmless.
 http://www.vcmagazine.org/article.aspx?volume=10&issue=9&article=harmless
          This is what I think — it is not too hard for God to enable us by His Spirit and His Might to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves and when we are we can do some good in this world!  We can even affect Washington.  Do you believe this?

 This is encouraging, ABBA, to be wise as serpents.  You know I’m not crazy about snakes but I do respect them and I agree they are cautious and they don’t go looking for trouble.  And doves, I can see that about them, calm and a sweet disposition.  Oh, my goodness, DADDY, what that would do for us – to be calm and have a sweet disposition.  How wonderful that would be if the Body of Christ was full of calm, sweet tempered, cautious, not looking for trouble but willing to stand and defend when Your Word is violated, people.  That is good.  This needs to be so in us.  And Your Word has already told us You can do it in us and through us.  Forgive us for being so distracted that we have not submitted to You for this transformation. I am presenting myself again for You to do this in me.  To empty me of me and fill me with You and I am praying for a bunch of IDOKs and Readers to do the same.   You are so good to us.  So good to never give up on us, and, ABBA, there’s a young man on my mind, he has done some really stupid, stupid, stupid things and now he is trapped, held captive and You are the ONLY ONE who can free him and at this point to my knowledge he is not going to cooperate with You.  But You said nothing is too hard for You, so I am asking You to get him to the place of cooperating with You.  He has a family that loves him; I don’t want to see him self destruct and I pray he will not.   And there are many, many other requests and You know better than I what they are and what is needed.  So we are trusting You to do what is best for all listed here.   I’m still concerned about American politics, America’s rampant sin practices, including greed and insatiable desires for power – the corruption is so bad that without Your help this Nation will be destroyed.  Please have mercy. Please raise up an army of ‘Micahs’.  I get so frustrated, so often – help me stop doing that and trust You and just simply wait upon You and watch You work in me and in my sisters and brothers.  I’m still asking You to raise up people to pray  churches into Houses of Prayer.  And I want in on it.  You know I could go on talking to You until I fall asleep but for this post let me close and ask You to give our IDOKs, visions, personal visions for each of them as to what You want them to do in regards to churches being Houses of Prayer and us being wise as serpents and harmless as doves in this corrupt land and I am asking because I am confident that this is what Jesus is praying for us too. Amen and amen.

Kathie

 

Not So

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Without radio or TV playing, one in the kitchen can hear the voices of GRANDS in their respective bedrooms. And as Josh called out to Isabel to ‘come here’, a sweet thought came to me that perhaps will give you a moment of kind reflection or some encouragement.

When JESUS calls to us ‘come to Me’, it’s only a step for us because He has already come to where we are.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest.

via Matthew 11:27-29 KJV;CJB – All things are delivered unto me of my – Bible Gateway.

Not always but sometimes we call out for someone to come to us because we are comfortable where we are and we don’t want to make the effort to go to them even though we have a message for them.

NOT SO with JESUS. He had/has a message for us but He does not call us to come a long distance to receive it – only a step – for He has already traveled the distance to meet us. HOW AWESOME is HE?! And how blessed a truth is this for us?

Blessings Dear Friends!

Be Hidden in CHRIST,

Thank You, ABBA, Thank You LORD YESHUA for coming the distance for us and thank You HOLY SPIRIT that You keep doing it for us. And I know You are doing so for GRACE in this moment. As I think about her agony as she grieves the death of her son, I know only You can get her though this season and so I pray; pray for her to just be in You and I pray for family and friends to come alongside and bless her with love and arms to lean on. And, ABBA, there may be others today with similar depths of grief, I pray for them too to take that step to Your comfort. For all the hurting who come to this page or for those who come bringing someone else in their heart, I pray for all of us to take that step and receive Your comfort. Thank You, LORD JESUS. amen and amen.

Its’ really quiet in the house . . . wonder if I should check on that? 🙂