Monday, January 16, 2012

IT’S HAPPENING – HE’S COMING


Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 17 January 2012
For the past 30 years I’ve been passionately interested in the prophetic. That’s not surprising since, when I met Phyllida, she was moving in the prophetic. There was a time in those very early days when we “flowed” together in speaking in tongues and interpretation. In a very inadequate way, we saw through a “glass darkly” and were able to be a blessing to a number of friends and acquaintances. It still happens occasionally as the Lord wills.
One of the reasons this happened was because of our great interest in God’s Word. Not in the usual way many of our brothers and sisters in the charismatic movement preferred. We wanted to know something of the Old and New Testaments and not just a few selected texts, many of which were taken completely out of context. But I mustn’t start preaching!
Today’s Scriptures provide us with a wonderful overview of the prophetic. The focus is mainly on the Second coming of Christ and our understanding of the associated implications. The comments by Jude, Paul and John harmonise in their warning about apostasy and false prophets during the end times. In 1996 I composed a poem about what we could see was happening in the church. It was called “It’s Happening”. In spite of its being written some 15 years ago, it seems relevant for today.
The second section of poems, written in a similar style, are based on what two or three of the Scriptures state. All I’ve done is express the thought behind the Scripture in poetry.
The style is similar to limerick. Writing this way provides an unusual challenge in arranging the rhyme and metre in a similar way but which appears to be very different.
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

It’s Happening – He’s Coming


1)
It's happening! It's happening;
Just as the Lord predicted!
The blind are leading those who cannot see.
We ridicule the prophets,
The way that He depicted;
And teach the deaf to hear what cannot be!

They stumble through the darkness
With the light behind their backs,
And gesture with the antics of the dumb.
Their hearts are full of evil,
And as Lucifer attacks,
They lap up every syllable and crumb!

Father God, in Jesus' Name,
Please turn again our face;
That we indeed may turn again to You.
Lord, our plight is desperate,
With shame at the disgrace,
Of doing what the Pharisees did do.

Place Your fingers in our ears,
So that we all may hear.
And make Your clay of spittle for our eyes.
Help us know reality;
And that You're drawing near,
That we'll no longer heed the devil's lies.

Jim Strickland – 1996
2)
The Lord is surely coming.
The keys are in His hand.
To open and unlock the gates of Hell.
He’s been resurrected,
Just as His Father planned.
Write down everything you’ll hear us tell.

The mirror isn’t clear enough.
The image is distorted.
Enough to make the message incomplete.
So, be rather careful of
Those things you see reported.
Perhaps it’s not the thing God said must be?

Everything the Lord has made,
Is under Christ’s control.
Though it doesn’t seem to be that way.
Do not be deluded.
He’s managing the whole.
And we’re sure to see it all some day.

Children let me tell you,
This is the final hour,
And many anti-Christs are all around.
They’re deceiving many,
But trust in Jesus’ power.
He’ll ensure each one of them is found.

Jim Strickland 2012/01/17