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Willfully Dependent (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2009

Willfully Dependent

I began reading today in Matthew 18.  That is the place in Sacred Word where Jesus said: 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  And I asked how are little children?  And He answered with one word: dependent.  And I am thinking, be they newborn, infant, toddler and even older, children are dependent.  Dependant upon their parents; however strong willed, however determined to touch what will hurt them, they are dependent upon those who gave them life. 

Do you see what I see?  Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.   Unless one becomes WILLFULLY DEPENDENT upon the ONE who gave him/her physical life – God Almighty – for Eternal Life, that One will never see the Kingdom of God, shall by no means enter in.  There is no way to enter Eternal Life without becoming dependent upon God.  That is willfully abandoning any means of our own to enter in and resting and relying only on the One Provision God has given for Eternal Life – Jesus Christ.  Is it any wonder that Jesus came as a Baby – dependent upon Mary and Joseph – to show us the way?  As the Son of Holy God was willfully dependent upon Mary and Joseph for every morsel of food that entered His mouth, so must we be dependent upon Jesus Christ for Life Everlasting and life here and now.  Oh my goodness!  Jesus Christ did come to show us the way to LIFE and it is as a little child – dependent!

I say it again, DADDY GOD, oh my goodness how simple and how sweet and precious is this message to us. May we look afresh and renewed again at every child we see and see the message You have for us – dependent.  Dependent on You for every breath!  Thank You for speaking to us this morning.  Thank You for giving us a Word.  And as I am thinking of beginning a New Year what better way to enter it than DEPENDENT upon You?  This I believe, this I KNOW, the more dependent upon You I know myself to be and practicing that dependence, the more INDEPENDENT of my flesh and the world I will be.  Make it, Lord God, my goal to be dependent upon You in practice; oh to practice dependence – this is good! Thank You, ABBA, and now we turn to pray; You know the many needs here and we are dependent upon You.   And we pray for each Dear Ones names spoken here asking You, Holy Spirit, to help them depend upon You and receive every help and blessing and healing and restoration that You so desire to give them.  We pray too for our IDOK Troops for their safety and well-being in spirit, soul and body; asking all these things because we can in You alone, Christ Jesus. Amen and amen.
Kathie

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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

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Seeing Not, Is Believing! (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010
Seeing Not, Is Believing!
I am thinking as I begin, that I will be brief today.  Hebrews 11:17 . . .for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
As seeing Him who is invisible.  Hmmm  – invisible – even in the Greek Lexicon, invisible means what you expect – you cannot see it.  The one not seeing but enduring here was Moses as described in Hebrews 11.  You will recall Moses was called to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.  And he did so.  And he endured much in that holy undertaking: for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.  For a proper understanding let us go again to the Greek Lexicon and let us see that our English word ‘seeing’ as used here in verse 17 in Greek  is — horao, meaning to know; become acquainted with by experience. So Moses, he who could not see God with his physical eyes saw Him as he became acquainted with God – as he experienced God.  It’s the same for us. Faith when exercised gives way to experience, we can SEE the God we cannot See and when we do we too can endure pursuing enemies, dry and hostile terrain, and even the same old – same old day after day after day. Yep! That’s it. Seeing the God we cannot See makes life worth living. Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Thank You, ABBA, for allowing us to SEE You; thank You for allowing us the privilege of experiencing You.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for taking up residency within.  And I pray we will be more and more yielded to You.    And there are these – many families with various needs; strife and discord that we pray will be forgiven and put aside; sin and rebellious children – rebellious parents too, we pray for repentance and restoration.  And our IDOK Troops, we dare not forget them; praying for their safety and protection and well being in spirit, soul and body.  Thank You so much for the way You have taken care of each one of them and I pray that each one listed here will come home safe and sound at the appointed time.  And I pray for Israel.  You know the love You have given me for Your People and I pray for their peace and safety.  I pray too for America.  Thank You for every Christ Believing American and I pray that we who SEE You will be available to minister so others can SEE You too.  I pray for exposure of corruption and repentance of it in this Nation.  I pray for more and more people to stand against the evil that is being pushed in this Government.  I pray that every elected official from the White House to the tiniest little village in America that does not desire to abide by Your Moral Law will be removed from Office.  I pray You will have mercy on America and that You will raise up an ‘Army’ of Christians that will not be silent, not violent, not cruel, but firm in Your Love and Truth and will be a mighty force to stem the tide of corruption and debauchery that is trying to smother and kill this Nation.  I ask You for mercy and grace and space to repent.   And now before posting this I ask You for rest and peace for our IDOKs and Readers. I pray whatever is troubling each one that she/he will be willing to lay it down and let You be exalted in it.  Thank You for another time to gather together and it is in Your Name LORD Jesus that we pray. Amen and amen.

Kathie

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Bluegills (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010
Bluegills

I have decided I want to be a Bluegill (fish) – figuratively speaking, of course.  Reading Tuesday’s Our Daily Bread devotion is what started me in this direction. Bluegills have been ‘recruited’ to protect certain water systems here in the U.S.  Christopher Lee of the Washington Post penned an article September 18, 2006 that in part said: “The fish are extremely sensitive to minute changes in the source water quality, — end of quote. source: http://limnology.wisc.edu/courses/zoo510/2009/bluegill_on_guard_wash-post_18sept06.html

My understanding is that Bluegill fish are so sensitive to the water in which they are swimming that any minute change in the water causes them concern and they respond to that concern.  Their responses alert their ‘keepers’ to check the water supply for contaminates that would be harmful to consumers and take the necessary actions to protect their consumers. 
How grand would it be if we as individual Christians and Churches were so sensitive to sin that we would respond by sounding alerts — first in prayer and then as the Holy Spirit leads waving red flags and blowing loud whistles?   How different would the U.S. be today if ample alarms had been sounded and adequate responses had been made years ago?  Would abortion be legal? Would prayer be banned in school? Would the Name of JESUS be the only name in ‘religion’ that is censored? Would homosexuality be ‘glamorized’ as an alternative life style to not only be embraced but to be applauded and admired? Would thousands and thousands of children have fallen prey to pornography mongers? Would divorce be 1 out of 2? Would ‘sex’ be the most used advertising tool? Just how different; just how better would this world be if Christians lived holy lives?  Just how different; just how better would this community in which I live be if I were a ‘bluegill’?  How sensitive am I to sin?  How much slips passed me that I don’t even recognize as sin? How often do I betray my ‘Water Source’ by closing my eyes and my mouth to rampant sin filling and destroying families around me?  I can do nothing to change what has been done. Neither can you.  Today abortion is legal. Today the homosexual agenda is steadily advancing.  Today the name of JESUS is the most hated name in the world. Today pornography and sex trafficking is stealing the innocence of children and destroying men, women, even whole families. Today sex is used to sell hamburgers, toothpaste, you name it!  What can we do about?  I’m not smart enough to figure that out as to practical step by step actions to take.  I don’t think the answer is to become obsessed with campaigns and petitions (although those things within reason may have value).  I do think we can and we better start here:
2 Chronicles 7:
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
                I Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
            16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.  17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
You know, ABBA, when we began this devotion I did not anticipate the whole of it; but then I rarely I do, do I?  Point is we cannot change what has been and even what is today much of it cannot be changed in a day, maybe not even in many days; but I don’t want that to stop me from working against evil.  I don’t want the enormity of the war to stop me from being available to You to wage battle.  In this moment I don’t know what I can do as one person to overturn Woe v Wade; or to stop the advancing of the homosexual agenda; or shut down the probably billions of dollar pornography and sex trafficking industry; or the exploiting of women in media advertising; or the corruption of politicians; and so many more evils than these; but I want to be available to You for You to do something through me to storm the gates of hell and rescue people from these heinous strongholds. I’m here, LORD, whatever You can do within me to stand against evil, lets do it! This I do know to ask You and that is for You to raise up people of prayer to not only pray in their homes in their prayer closets but to come together as churches, small groups – men, women, youth, children, come together regularly, consistently, methodically even to pray.  Just prayer, not to socialize, not even for Bible Study but for prayer. Prayer to come before YOU seeking You for repentance and revival.  Holy Spirit, do this. Please do this.    And now in obedience we also pray for one another – for those spoken here.

And something we prayed yesterday in particular I’m not sure but You know, that one wants us to keep on praying it, so I am and I am trusting You to complete that work You have begun in that one.  I am trusting You to complete the work You have begun in all our IDOKs and Readers.  You said You would so I know You will, my prayer, Holy Spirit, is that we will cooperate with You speedily and not wait till You have to spank us to bring about our obedience.  I really am glad You let me do this.  I really am glad You let me be Yours.  Thank You, DADDY, in Jesus’ Priceless and Holy Name. Amen and amen.

Kathie