THE SPIRIT IN ACTION

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 01 November 2012

Hi all,

Today’s meditation focuses on the Holy Trinity and in particular the Holy Spirit in action. I’ve tried to “rattle our cages” a bit. Sometimes it a good idea to look at what we believe and see if it really makes sense to us.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Thursday, 01 November 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	THE SPIRIT IN ACTION
The Holy Trinity: Father Son and Holy Spirit. The Three In One. Three persons – One God. If you understand this truth, please explain it to every other Christian in the World. How Three can be One and at the same time be separate? If I really understood it I’d be a super-genius. People have used a number of ideas in an attempt to illustrate this. One is an egg. It is one egg but it has a shell, a white and a yoke. It helps, but doesn’t describe our Infinite God adequately. Another I’ve come across is Water, Ice and Steam. Indeed they are the same substance, H2O. But this is also very inadequate. Another is; draw a circle and divide it up into three equal segments. Then imagine compressing it down to a minute dot, all three will be one. It boggles the mind a bit and may help some. Sadly, it doesn’t help me. Frankly, none of these ideas are completely helpful. What they do show is our inability to describe our Creator. If we could explain Him, He would not be God. Furthermore, such a description would enable us to concoct a mental impression of God. That would be an idol of our own making. It may be done for all the right reasons. But to our Lord, it would be an idol in the mind. As offensive to Him as building a golden calf and worshiping it. Something that has helped me is the fact that in the Bible we are told 8 But anyone who does not love, does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 NLT In order to love there must be someone to love. I suppose you can love a thing. But love is not really something you can do on your own. It takes at least two “people” for love to be real. If we take a ‘sideways” look at the same Scripture, we could conclude that God must be more than One or He could not love. So for God to be Love, there must be more than One. You may not like my logic, but it seems fairly clear that there must be at least “Two Persons in One” Of course with “Three in One”, love is not centred on one Person. Complete devotion to only one person could become a selfish relationship. So we’ve settled for the belief that God is Three Persons in One, committed to each other in a covenantal totally unselfish relationship! Now let me rattle all our cages? Could it be that there are more than three? Personally, I don’t think so. But when I read about the “Seven Spirits of God”, my theology gets a bit rattled. In the poem today, I’ve looked at Isaiah 11:1-8 and it sort of threatens my comfort zone! We are dealing here with the Infinite God so it doesn’t have to make sense. But I just may be “treeing” up the wrong “bark” if you follow what I mean. My late Dad would say, “It’s a ‘can-ack-a-ler’”. What’s that? An unanswerable question. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 TNIV 2 The life-giving Spirit of GOD will hover over him, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-GOD. 3 Fear-of-GOD will be all his joy and delight. He won't judge by appearances, won't decide on the basis of hearsay. Isaiah 11:2-3 MSG 1 Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? Proverbs 8:1 ESV 4 (Wisdom says) "To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. 5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. 6 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, Proverbs 8:4-6 ESV 14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. Proverbs 8:14 ESV 29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. Isaiah 28:29 ESV 5 If any of you need wisdom, ask God for it. He will give it to you. God gives freely to everyone. He doesn't find fault. James 1:5 NIrV 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIrV	The gracious Holy Spirit! Isaiah clearly shows, How He will be recognised; so everybody knows, That this is nothing “spooky”. In fact, He’s rather grand! He will give us wisdom; He’ll help us understand, What our Holy God requires; so we can recognise That what we are looking at is Jesus in disguise! We need to know for certain that it is not a trick; Sent to us by Satan dressed up as someone slick. For He’ll bring us counsel and demonstrate the way, To walk with God Almighty, on each and every day. He will give us power. The strength that we all need, To walk in true obedience and not in selfish greed! His power will be gentle and yet as strong as steel. To do that which is proper and not just how we feel. Show the way to knowledge, that we may be equipped, To walk the Christian tightrope, without our being tripped! For wisdom goes with knowledge. You cannot separate, What one does for the other. Together they equate, To showing us the way to go when everything goes black; When we’ve been confronted by a spiritual attack. Knowledge gives us wisdom, to fear the Lord Most High. Without which, our foolishness, would cause us all to die. But we’ll be delighted, when we obey the Lord. Rejoicing in the Spirit where Jesus is adored. He won’t make a judgement by the way that we appear. Nor draw a conclusion from the rumours which He hears. He’ll make fair decisions and bring justice to the poor. If they have been cheated, they won’t have to endure, Wicked exploitation and find there’s no relief. All their persecutors will be treated like a thief. He’ll clothe the Messiah, with wisdom and with grace. Give Him the authority, to look in Satan’s face, And to overcome him by the power of God’s Word. Thus God’s Holy Spirit will be both seen and heard! He will bring God’s righteousness which Jesus will dispense. For that is what’s needed; it makes lots of sense. We can’t live for God the way that Jesus Christ requires. But with the Spirit’s filling we get our heart’s desires. Jim Strickland  Written 1st November 2012

JIMMETS – VERACITY & CREATIVITY

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Hi all,

I thought today would be a good day for a couple of Jimmets; makes for a change. Today’s Scriptures describe the total dependability of God. They illustrate His truthfulness and His reliable creativity!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 31 October 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	JIMMETS – VERACITY & CREATIVITY
“Cross my heart and hope to die!” Are these words as familiar to you as they are to me? They come from childhood. Someone would say something. “Is that true?” someone else would respond. In my day, it was something you said to confirm your statement. “Yes it’s true”, was never quite enough to add credence to your words. So we would make foolish statements hoping the other person would be convinced. It was certainly not a “Christian” phrase. But when you’re somewhere between the age of 6 and 10, what else can you say to emphasise that your statement is absolute truth. If memory serves correctly, it was only partly true anyway. Part of it was said for effect; to make yourself seem more reliable and truthful than you really were! To some extent, David’s words to the Lord in 2 Samuel 7 have a feeling of incredulity about them. Yes, these were words of thanks and grateful appreciation to God for promising David that His line would continue forever. After all, what do you say to God when you hear that He has made such an extraordinary promise? It’s not a time to say, “That’s great so what’s for lunch?” How can I say this about David’s comment to God? It has nothing to do with David and everything to do with God and the prophet Nathan. David was already thoroughly aware that God doesn’t tell lies. David also knew that Nathan the prophet always only brought God’s truth to the discussion. If Nathan really was a prophet of God – and David correctly believed that he was – God’s message would be totally reliable. In those days, lying prophets very quickly vanished from the scene. Rapidly removed might be the way to put it. Stoned to death! Not a bad idea! Perhaps we should do it today? There is something else about God not telling lies that is hugely comforting. It’s the fact that we can be sure that what has happened in the past will happen today and tomorrow. If God is a liar, how do we know tomorrow will come? Why would the speed of light be constant? Would we have children or cabbages? Would there be anything we can depend on? Would two and two still be four? All these are true because of God’s invariable reliability. Now God also understands the creatures He has made. He knows that we live in a fallen world and that we are sceptical about anything and everything. We are inclined to doubt the Lord God Himself. So when He made a promise to Abraham He said, 16 "I swear by My own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number. Gen 22:16-17 NLT Now that’s a trustworthy statement. It’s His version of, “Cross my heart and hope to die!” Jim & Phyllida Strickland			25 "And now, O LORD God, I (David) am Your servant; do as You have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. 2 Samuel 7:25 NLT 38 Keep your promise to me. Then other people will have respect for you. Psalms 119:38 NIrV 42 Then I will answer those who make fun of me, because I trust in your word. Psalms 119:42 NIrV Zayin. 49 Remember what you have said to me. You have given me hope. - 54 No matter where I live, I sing about your orders. - 72 The law you gave is worth more to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold Psalms 119:49, 54 & 72 NIrV Lamedh. 89 LORD, your word lasts forever. It stands firm in the heavens. 90 You will be faithful for all time to come. You made the earth, and it continues to exist. Psalms 119:89-90 NIrV 17 So God took an oath when he made his promise. He wanted to make it very clear that his purpose does not change. He wanted those who would receive what was promised to know that. 18 God took an oath so we would have good reason not to give up. We have run away from everything else to take hold of the hope offered to us in God's promise. So God gave his promise and his oath. Those two things can't change. He couldn't lie about them. 19 Our hope is certain. It is something for the soul to hold on to. It is strong and secure. It goes all the way into the Most Holy Room behind the curtain. 20 That is where Jesus has gone. He went there to open the way ahead of us. He has become a high priest forever, just like Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:17-20 NIrV 1 And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:4 NLT	VERACITY It’s difficult for us to understand, Almighty God will never tell a lie. Liars we observe on every hand, Many of them, do not even try To tell the truth; and lying is their norm. Every word they speak is to impress. Speech is little more than verbal porn, Weaved into a web of “truth-less-ness”. Politicians – whom can we believe? Government’s a stranger to the truth. Is it they’re intending to deceive, Voters and especially the youth? What has happened to veracity? Bring it back O Lord, we beg of Thee. Jim Strickland  Written 31st October 2012 CREATIVITY The things the Father told us long ago, Are guaranteed and they will come about. This is something we all need to know. There need be no wavering or doubt. Why is this? Because it was His Word Spoken; and creation came to be. In that empty, nothingness was heard, God Almighty’s creativity. That is how our universe was born. Light with time and space quickly appeared. What God said was like the break of dawn. All the host of heaven loudly cheered! God had started what He had said He’d do. Make a paradigm for me and you. Jim Strickland  Written 31st October 2012

LITTLE FOXES

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Hi all,

Song of Solomon speaks about the little foxes that ruin the vineyard. What are they for you and me? We have a love relationship with Jesus Christ in our own personal vineyard; that secret place where we go to share our love with Him. Our love is more than an intellectual nodding relationship. It should be passionate and experiential. But we allow things into our lives which spoil our love relationship. Usually these are distractions and sin. These are our little foxes. We examine this in more detail in this morning’s meditation.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 30 October 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	LITTLE FOXES
It is commonly believed that Oliver Cromwell, when he was Lord Protector of England, gave a very clear instruction to his portrait painter, Sir Peter Lely. It seems that Cromwell’s face was not particularly attractive. It was disfigured by ugly warts. Portrait painters in those days always tried to do their best to make the subject look good. So if there was anything unsightly, the defect would not be shown on the canvas. It is believed that Cromwell told Lely to paint him, “Warts and all”. Today we would talk about spin doctors who are paid for making the person look better than they really are. It’s the difference between truth and a “snow-job”. Traditionally, Song of Solomon was written by King Solomon as a young man. The book is said to be a sort 950BC description of the physical relationship between a man (the King) and the woman he loved. It’s a bit “racy”, But if you look beyond the physical descriptions you read of the passionate love Jesus has for the woman of His choice; the Bride of Christ. There is a sense in which it could be written no other way. How do you describe God’s love for anyone or anything? We know it is not an intellectual appreciation of love between a man and his wife. It cannot be. It must reflect, in some incredible way, how Jesus feels about his people. He loves us passionately in a way we can’t quite understand. The way newly-weds feel about each other on honeymoon. It is said that they try and “eat” each other. But how do you describe the love of Jesus for His people? Certainly not coldly and dispassionately. It must be described in understandable language. This way cannot be a full description. We wouldn’t be able to grasp that anyway. So, describing it inadequately using a medium we all understand is more or less all that can be done. It is described to us “warts and all”. With all the defects that are inevitable when God seeks to convey truth to His people! So God uses the language of the bed-chamber so that we can get the “feel” of what He is saying to us. The little foxes are the intrusions into the physical relationship brought about by our circumstances. For you and me, the little foxes are sin. Sin always comes between God and His people. Paul wrote, 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Colossians 3:5 NLT. Sin is idolatry. It means we are worshipping another god. It is the same as adultery. We can’t passionately love Jesus while we are in sin! Such little foxes must be excluded. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			15 Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming! Song of Solomon 2:15 NLT 12 But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Psalms 19:12 TNIV 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; Hebrews 12:15 ESV 7 You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience? Galatians 5:7 MSG 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 NLT 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, Philippians 1:27 ESV 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:5-8 ESV 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6 TNIV	All the little foxes that come and spoil the vine, Are like the little errors that spoil the love of mine For Jesus and His Kingdom. We know that they are sin. And illustrates the difficulty you and I are in. The lovely book of poetry which Solomon once wrote, Speaks about two lovers. The one a man of note, The other of a maiden and how they both relate, Loving one another like husband and his mate. The lover in the poem is like Jesus Christ above. Speaking with a passion, about His awesome love, For the one He’ll marry as soon as He returns. It speaks about the fire, that deep inside Him burns, To be with His beloved for whom He gave His life And live with her forever as husband and His wife. The poem shows the problems, hindering the pair. And of those tender moments, when no one else is there. Of how the little foxes often come between, The Lord and His beloved; the one who’ll be His queen. All the other verses describe just what will be, If we will continue with our quest for purity. The Scriptures tell us plainly of the sins which we commit. They damage our relationship and render us unfit To being with our “husband” and fails the find His grace, If any root of bitterness comes in to take His place. We’d been running perfectly, but we have been deflected. The course of true obedience in us was not detected. We’d become unworthy of the Gospel of the Lord. Only by repentance we will not face His sword! It seems our biggest problem is the wagging of the tongue. Gossip is unrighteous; it places us among, Those who worship idols; the things their hands have made. Just to think about it, should make us feel afraid. The tongue that worships Jesus, must never worship Baal. That’s a certain practice which causes love to fail. Can you see the foxes that suddenly appear, Spoiling our relationship? They stop us drawing near, To the only person on Whom we can depend? Our everlasting Lover, our Saviour and our Friend. Jim Strickland  Written  30th October 2012