Remembering

We are remembering Veterans today; as well we should.
Many lives have been given; much blood has been spilled and, we are deeply saddened.

And while we look to mortal men and women who have given blood for temporary freedom, let us look to the ONE who gave His Blood that we may have Eternal Freedom.

And YESHUA said:

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me — 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father — and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. 

17 “This is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life — in order to take it up again! 18 No one takes it away from me; on the contrary, I lay it down of my own free will. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This is what my Father commanded me to do.”  John 10 [source]

Luke 4:17-19

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
[source]


Thank You, ADONAI YESHUA, for eternal freedom, for eternal liberty; ONLY You could set us the captives eternally free and You did. Just words are not enough to say thank You. And thank You for men and women who loved freedom so much that they would lay aside their own lives. Help us celebrate today with gratitude, peace, praise, honor, and dignity for them and most highly for You, LORD JESUS.

Kathie

Count On IT!

These words are hanging with me this morning:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

This comes from I Peter chapter 1 and they were first written to Believers dispersed from their homeland to far away places and this Word of encouragement reached them:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

What was life like for them far from home? Can you imagine?

What is your life like? Perhaps you are not far from home, but home is far from you? 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. Hold firmly today to the WORDs the LORD has already spoken to you.

What has He spoken to you? Has He said You are His and He is Yours? Has He said He will never leave You nor forsake You? Has He said He has plans for good for You?

Another verse came to mind so I looked for it. The one that says His Arm is not shortened that He cannot save.  It is found in Isaiah 59, verse 1. And verse 1 we so love!

Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

And it is true and we are grateful that it is true. But what about verse 2 and following? We don’t want to read those.

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

My point? I have good news and bad news!

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

What matters is which side of that WORD are we on?

Have our sins separated us or are we confident He will never leave us or forsake us?

His WORD is true and endures forever. His Word NEVER, NEVER, NEVER fails!

Count on it!

ABBA, I am grateful Your Word never fails, I am grateful Your Arm is not shortened and You are able to save; I am grateful that You saved the likes of me; I am grateful that You never leave me nor forsake me; I am grateful that my sins have been taken away by You LORD YESHUA and I am no longer separated from You; I am grateful that I have trusted You; thank You for giving me the gift of faith; I pray that anyone coming here who has not received Your gift of faith to them will receive that gift and use that gift to believe and receive Your gift of Salvation and Eternal Life found ONLY in Your One and Only Son JESUS the Christ, the Messiah and Savior of people. Thank You that Your Word endures forever; You are forever faithful to Your Word in grace and justice. Thank You. And, ABBA, I come this morning with others: Jamie, Pam, Carolyn, Terri, Kerri, and Others and I pray for strength for them; for healing and pain relief; for a blessed birthday celebration; for successful textbook, perfect surgery and recovery; for restoration and reconciliation; for repentance and forgiveness; for wisdom and direction; for open doors and closed doors; for safety and protection; for deliverance from bondage of many kinds; for profitable work; for grace and mercy; for the will to do right; for daily bread and household expenses; all of us fit in here somewhere, ABBA, and I trust You to help us all because You have given us Yourself, You will surely give us all things that pertain to living here and now. Thank You, ABBA. Thank You.

Kathie

On Our Way

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

This is our Word to us today.

Do it now. The good that is. That which blesses ABBA and others.

Don’t walk by that ________________ still sitting on the counter, pick it up and put it in its place. It won’t take but a second or two.

So much of life gets left undone because we don’t do it on our way to doing something else.  And there you have it – For what it’s worth.

Happy Wednesday my Friends!

Thank You, ABBA, for another day to sit with my friends even for a moment; help us take this Word to our hands and feet and do it. Let us not be just hearers of Your WORD but Doers. Thank You for reminding me; thank You for helping me; for helping all of us. We love You, ABBA.

Kathie

You Name It ‘s’ (again)

IDOK DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

You Name It ‘s’

It is late as I begin.  I may not tarry. It has been a sweet, sweet day!  My Baby Girl and I had our once a month day together; we don’t often miss a month.  Anyway this time, we did lunch and a movie.  Her first time to see The Blind Side; my second – she loved it, I loved it again! 

(P.S. at this typing it is 8.28.13 and at seeing the trailer for The Blind Side AGAIN my eyes well with tears. Just saying. Have a precious day my Friends!) 

I have a least two passages of Scripture that I want to share but either would take some time to develop and that football game is gonna be over soon and like I said it’s late here in lower Alabama.  So maybe I’ll save those for next week.

For now, carry this one around with you. 

John 16:33 (Amplified Bible) I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] [source]

            Amen and amen again!

This verse is in the midst of Jesus last training session with the Apostles before He went to the Garden and you know from there was taken to ‘trial’.  He told them tribulation, trials, distresses; frustrations were coming but that even in all of it He wanted them to have peace and confidence, to take courage, to be certain.  Be certain I HAVE overcome, He said.  For us that means even before any nasty, difficult, hard, troubling, frustrating ‘you name it’, comes upon us, Jesus has already overcome it for us.  It is for us to be confident. It is for us to value and treasure this PEACE He has given us so much that we will not forfeit it for anything or any body.    

And in this moment, my resolve is to so value You, so value holding onto to the Peace You have given me that I will not forfeit it for anything; not even for the ‘pleasure’ of sin for a season.  That’s what I feel and want right now as I sit here in the quiet.  I pray that more and more I will want it when the ‘you name its’ are screaming at me.  And I pray this for our IDOKs too. ABBA, I know I should be asleep already and I surely hope most of our IDOKs already are.   And as I think of those spoken here, You know who they are, You know the loss they are feeling, You know the sorrow of the empty chair and the vacant pillow; it grieves me, Lord, and I know it does You even more – comfort them, ABBA, be their everything to them and carry them through this.  We appreciate and we applaud You for the good reports.  Thank You.  And as so many days before we pray for our IDOK Troops; how can we say thank You for Your goodness for the protection and safe keeping of them.  Thank You. Thank You.  And so we keep asking that You keep on protecting them and that You bring each one home safe and sound.  You know who needs what and when listed here and we just trust You in Jesus Name to do it. Amen and amen.

Kathie

Seventeen and Prison Cells (again)

IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010

Seventeen and Prison Cells

Genesis 39:1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.  And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. [source]

Can we by any stretch of our imaginations visualize how Joseph was feeling standing there on the slave block?  Let us recall that Joseph was about 17 when his brothers ‘gifted’ him with a ticket to Egypt.  Seventeen and previously rich.  Seventeen and the favored son. Seventeen and a former clothes horse, we might say; remember that coat of many colors that ONLY he had.  Seventeen and a dreamer of dreams that he did not keep to himself; which contributed to landing him on the slave block. What emotions do you imagine were coursing through his veins?  Do you think he ever asked God, why?  Do you think he would have understood if God had answered him immediately? Let us step into Joseph’s shoes when we are asking ‘Why, God, why’? As we read Joseph’s story, we can readily see the why God why for Joseph.  And I dare say one day when we look back over our lives, when this present circumstance (story) is told, we too will see why God why.  But for now, let us choose to take comfort and find strength the way Joseph did.Verse 2: The LORD was with Joseph . . .  .   Verse 5: . . . the LORD blessed . . . for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field. [source]

This GOD who loved/loves Joseph loves YOU (and me) no less than He loved (loves) Joseph.  Will HE do less for YOU (or me) than HE did for Joseph? Not if we will set our minds and our souls to obey Him.  Read more about Joseph.  Read how he obeyed.  Read how ABBA responded to Joseph’s obedience.  We might learn something and we just might garner some motivation to do likewise, even from our own ‘prison cells’.
Remember! Remember the Last Thing our children and grandchildren and we ourselves need is to compromise, neglect and fail to LIVE SCRIPTURE.
Romans 12:19 (New King James Version) 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. [source]
And tomorrow maybe we will be blessed with another verse to ask ourselves are we obeying this consistently. 
ABBA, It’s been a fruitful day, I think and I am grateful.  Thank You.  I pray now that You will use the words on this page to minister to the minds and souls of our IDOKs and Readers.  I pray Your Word will empower us and change us for Your glory and our good.  I pray for a compelling will to love You and live Your Word.   And we pray for friends and family and the many needs of our people listed here; that each one will receive from You what they are hoping and praying for and if that is not Your Will, we expect for them better than they are praying.   We pray for our IDOK Troops, for their safety and protection; for peace of mind too and safe and sound returns home — please, LORD.    And as I put this edition to ‘bed’ I ask You to quiet and give rest to each one on this email list and to any that will stop by the webpage – You know who that will be even now and I pray for them that You will minister to them then and now.  That now, tonight, they will rest and be refreshed and that in the morning when they awaken You will be first on their minds and Your Holy Name, giving You praise will be the first words they utter.  Thank You, ABBA.  We love you too.

Kathie

1 John 4:19 (New King James Version) 19 We love Him because He first loved us.  [source]