MY CHRISTMAS TESTIMONY

Today is Christmas day. Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus. There’s a big sign at Northgate, the local shopping mall, which reads, “Happy Birthday Jesus”. We know for a fact that 25^th December was not His birthday. Opinions are divided concerning the correct day of the year to celebrate His birth. But In a way, everyday is His birthday, because every person who has ever been born is in some way connected to Him. Along with you and me, they comprise the “whoever” ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 TNIV

Today’s meditation comprises the outline of my testimony. In it you will find some of what took place which changed me from a “whoever” into an adopted son of the Most High God. As I look back over my life to that dreadful experience in 1959, I become more convinced that He “set me up”. It’s as though I was a small part in the great ocean of life and that miraculously He pulled me from the waves.

As a 9 year old boy I attended Kingswood College in Grahamstown. That was in 1951. Every Wednesday evening all the boys in the junior school gathered in the hall and sang hymns from the Methodist hymnbook. In that school I believe that the Lord began to whisper into my heart. Sometimes we would sing Charles Homer Gabriel’s great Hymn,

In loving-kindness Jesus came My soul in mercy to reclaim. And from the depths of sin and shame, He came and lifted me.		He called me long before I heard Before my sinful heart was stirred But when I took Him at His word Forgiven He lifted me.	His brow was pierced with many a thorn His hands by cruel nails were torn When from My guilt and grief forlorn In love He lifted me.	Now on a higher plain I dwell And with my soul, I know tis well Yet how or why, I cannot tell He should have lifted me!
Chorus:	From sinking sands He lifted me. With tender hand, He lifted me. From Shades of night, to plains of light. O Praise His Name. He lifted me!		Hymn No 336 in the 1936 version of the Methodist Hymn Book

As I reflect over my life and read the words of this great hymn, I get the feeling that the author was thinking of me when he composed these words. If not for me it must have been the twin brother I’ve never known.

Phyllida and I pray that today will be a great blessing for you and your family.

Blessings

My Christmas Testimony

I thought that I was clever and unquestionably smart.

I thought I had life by the tail; and couldn’t wait to start.

A lawyer, or a doctor or perhaps an engineer?

And in my pride and arrogance, I wouldn’t let God near.

I thought I didn’t need Him; I thought my way was the best.

And then disaster happened; I didn’t pass the test.

They caught me in the very act of doing something wrong.

And so I went and wrote the words; my “pity party” song.

Who was there I could turn to? I didn’t have a clue.

There was no easy answer for what I was to do.

I thought I’d be rejected and I’d be cast away.

My parents would want answers; and what was I to say?

For me this was a crisis. I thought that I should run.

But when my father spoke to me, he said I’m still His son!

I started to appreciate the fullness of his love.

I didn’t know that all of this came from the Lord above.

I felt just like the prodigal; I’d gone home to my dad.

He greeted me with open arms, which made me feel quite sad.

He soon made an arrangement for me to join his firm.

I’d start as an apprentice, with such a lot to learn.

And so I started working on the ladder’s lowest rung.

But after my ambitions – those memories still clung!

I think that Jesus chose for me, the proper thing to do.

And an apprentice fitter was something rather new.

And when He came and called me some 50 years ago,

It really was a miracle, beyond what I could know.

He showed me that He loved me far more than I could guess.

He said He was the starter and ender of my mess!

He said that through my father, I’d found that I was worth,

Far more than I would understand could happen by my birth.

He said His Father loved Him much more that man could see,

And as He loved His only Son, He loved me equally.

His love was so much bigger than everything I’d done.

And He would like to take me on as His adopted son.

How could I understand this? What ever could I say?

That God could be my Father. My reason said, “No way!”

That surely Jesus didn’t know about the way that I had been.

The wrong man had been chosen and I was far from clean!

And then I glanced up at Him; the love shone in His eyes.

I knew that He had meant it. O what a great surprise.

So way back in October of that dim and distant year,

He made me His step brother. Since then, He’s always near

Jim Strickland – Written 25^th December 2011