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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

 

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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

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Applause (again)

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IDOK Devotion for Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Applause
Now comes the hard part.  Deciding which Scripture to share and develop with you in the amount of time I have before taking inventory of the freezer, going to the store and ironing clothes, etc. etc.
More and more I am convinced this personalizing Scripture is the way to freedom in Christ.
Isaiah 53:(NKJV)
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
      He was bruised for our iniquities;
      The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
      And by His stripes we are healed.
We have read this Scripture so many times maybe we are too familiar with it – familiar but not intimate. It is intimacy we want.  I have not watched the movie, The Passion, in a way long time.  I need to do that again to bring fresh again in my soul His wounds, His bruises, His stripes for me.   And as important as they are and it is of upmost importance, something else has caught my attention this morning: And by His stripes I am healed.  I made this note to myself: He is my Healer.  That means every thing that is broken or sick about me, He is my Healer. He came to fix my brokenness.  He came to fix every sin sick thing about me.  That was/is my focus this morning as I read that verse.  Maybe you would like to focus on it too.  Maybe you could be encouraged too that whatever is broken about you; whatever is sick within you – He came to fix it!   Not maybe He did, but for sure He did!  You can depend on Him to heal You.  I am depending on Him to heal me – every broken part, every sin sick part!
Isaiah 54:10 (NKJV)
10 For the mountains shall depart
      And the hills be removed,
      But My kindness shall not depart from you,
      Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
      Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
However shaken the terrain in my world gets, He will not depart from me.  He will continue to be KIND to me. He has made peace with me – put me at peace with Him and that is not going to change, not even if mountains and hills around me are blasted level.   Now! That will preach!
Let me give you one more verse.  I could spend so much time on this and would love to, but your time to read and my time to write is limited.
Isaiah 48:18 (NKJV)
18 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
      Then your peace would have been like a river,
      And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
I confess Beth (Moore) got me started on this (well, all of them this morning).  Peace like a river.  How is a river?  It promotes life around it, gives transportation, runs freely over and around boulders, rocks, and mud banks; has a source of beginning and has a destination. Oh, yes I was about to forget – it has boundaries!  Do you see it? The Peace we have from Christ Jesus promotes life in us and those around us.  His peace in us reaches out to give others ‘transportation’ to Him.  His peace in us gives us the power to go over or around obstacles in our path.  His peace within us gives us FREEDOM to flow from when He saved us all the way to Heaven, our destination.  And boundaries; the Peace of Christ active within us will keep us between the ‘banks’ of His Righteousness!  And that is the safest place for us to be from now all the way to Heaven!
Okay. Your turn.  Like the waves of the sea – His righteousness is like the waves of the sea. What are the waves of the sea like?  May I get you started?  Powerful! Beautiful!  Here’s an interesting link: http://www.virtualnjshore.com/tbwaves.html
If you will, spend a little time comparing righteousness like the waves of the sea – I’d be delighted for you to share your insights with me.  No obligation, of course.
            DADDY GOD, You’ve blessed me so today!  Thank You.  You are AWESOME!  Your Word is alive.  It’s full of Your Power.  You transform us with Your Word.  With all the reverence I have, I just want to clap my hands and say Good Job, LORD! Good Job!  You certainly deserve our applause!  Thank You that You are teaching us to applaud You.  And I pray that my applause won’t be confined to just sitting here before this screen with others who think pretty much the way I do but that I and them will get up from here and applaud You out there too where our rivers twist and turn and wind among people who need Your Life and need to know they can come to Peace with You; that they must come to Peace with You or they will never see Heaven.  Make us uncomfortably aware of hell and that people are going there — so uncomfortable that we will be instruments of Peace in Your Hand to them.   I am remembering that You are calling us to prayer; I don’t want to forget that, don’t let me.  Don’t let me slack up on praying, make it so that churches will be Houses of Prayer.  Make it so that our homes will be houses of prayer too.  Real, effective prayer that moves mountains of doubt and unbelief in us and our families and friends and acquaintances – make it so, LORD.
We bring too every name spoken here; all of them, LORD, heal what’s broken, heal what’s sick we pray.  Remember Israel, to keep Her safe.  Remember America to forgive and bring to repentance.  Expose lies all over this Nation and exalt Your Truth I pray.  And now as we prepare to move from this screen, keep us mindful of You.  Amen and Amen.
Kathie