WHEN TO PRAISE THE LORD

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 25 August 2012

Hi all,

In the early 1980’s, one of the better known author’s was Merlin Carothers. His books focused on Praise. Today’s meditation topic is Praise.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 25 August 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	WHEN TO PRAISE THE LORD
One of my earliest recollections in Christianity was the realisation that feelings follow facts. It was a revolutionary thought to me back then. I’d never really put them together in a meaningful way. Like most new believers, my disposition was governed by feelings. If I felt bad about something, it had to be that way. It was a bit like taking medicine. I didn’t want to take it because it tasted horrible. How do you persuade yourself that you have to take it anyway? What I found was that taking it, made me feel better. In other words my feelings followed the facts. I took the medicine to make me feel better. If I didn’t take it, I felt worse. There is a strange logic hidden in this. My feelings followed the facts. It was taking the medicine that did it. That’s what controlled my feelings of wellness. The next time I spotted this was shortly after marriage. I went to bed feeling great about being married. I woke up the next morning feeling terrible about it. What had changed? Nothing really; only my feelings. I realised that I was just as married when I went to bed as I was in the morning. All that had changed were feelings. The same was true of being a Christian. I felt “saved” when I went to bed. I didn’t feel “saved” in the morning. But nothing had changed. I was not conscious of committing sin while I was asleep. That’s when I realised that feelings can never be trusted. In fact, when I believed something to be true, it very soon became the way I felt about it. Paul refers to this obliquely in the letter to the Romans. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 TNIV My understanding was that no matter what happened to me, Jesus was in my life, turning all circumstances to my advantage. He did it because I loved Him and He loves me! I found a very practical illustration of this in 1987. I’d just experienced a nervous break-down. We had to move from where we were to somewhere else. We didn’t want to go, but could do nothing about it. On the morning of the move we woke up to find our favourite kitty had been poisoned. We were both in tears. Then we remembered Romans 8:28. We said to the Lord, “We don’t understand any of this. But we do know that you will use this for good in our lives”. This was the first step in the direction we both were looking for; to leave Eskom and trust the Lord for everything. We didn’t know this at the time. But we soon found it in the full reality. Being “boarded” by Eskom provided us with a small pension and gave us the freedom to follow our calling! Now we look back on all things and praise Him for what He is doing! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			10 I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 NLT A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away. 1 I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. 2 I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. 3 Come, let us tell of the LORD's greatness; let us exalt His name together. Psalms 34:1-3 NLT 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 LORD Almighty, blessed are those who trust in you. Psalms 84:11-12 TNIV Of David. 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Psalms 103:1 ESV 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. James 5:13 TNIV 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18-20 TNIV 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. Colossians 3:16 NLT 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Acts 16:25 NLT 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 TNIV	Praise Him when you're happy; Praise Him when you're not! Praise Him when you’re seated; Praise Him on the trot! Praise Him when you're wide awake; Praise Him when you sleep; Praise Him when your praises, make you want to weep Praise Him when you’re healthy; Praise Him when you're sick; Praise Him with expression; Never miss a trick. Praise Him when you’re laughing; Praise Him when you’re sad; Praise Him when you’re angry; Praise Him when you’re glad! Praise Him very gently; or when you’re feeling bold; Praise Him when you’re burning; Praise Him when you’re cold; Praise Him in the Summer; Winter or in Spring Praise Him in the Autumn, or what the seasons bring! Praise Him with your children; Praise Him with your spouse; Praise Him while you’re driving or working in the house; Praise Him when you want to; Praise Him when you must. Praise Him when your praises feel terribly unjust. Praise Him for your family, your husband or your wife. Praise Him for the influence He’s had upon your life. Praise Him when you’re crying bucketsful of tears. Praise Him that’s He’s been with you for all your many years. Praise Him when on holiday, relaxing on the beach. Praise Him when you’re angry that you’re standing in the breach. Praise Him at a distance; Praise Him when up close. Praise Him when your critics say that you’re verbose. Praise Him in the Hospital or flying through the air. Praise Him when the circumstance seems terribly unfair. Praise Him when arrested; Praise Him when in jail. Praise Him when you think you have a tiger by the tail. Praise Him for your diet; Praise Him for your food. Praise Him when you’re fully dressed; Praise Him in the nude. Praise Him when promoted; Praise Him when you’re fired. Praise Him when it’s hectic and you are feeling tired. Praise Him as a duty; Praise Him just for fun. Praise Him is the darkness; Praise Him in the sun; Praise Him as an instinct; Praise Him with your will. Praise Him out of habit; Praise Him for the thrill; Praise Him with a purpose; The best that you can do. Praise Him, He’s your Saviour and He has died for you. Jim Strickland – Written 25th August 2012

SCRIPTURE IN LIMERICKS

Matt 10:8  Freely you received, Freely give

Time with Jesus – Friday, 24 August 2012

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

I wonder how many of us remember the great comedian and concert pianist, Victor Borge. Sometimes called the “Clown Prince of Denmark”, he had a way with the piano and words that appealed to many people. I first heard him while still at school. He was telling us all about inflation in English. How since the war “Tuesday”, should be “Threes-day” You haven’t “won” the race you have “twod” the race. “Unfortunately” became “Twofivethreeninely” As a pianist he was exceptional. While playing the Minute Waltz he would discuss the uses of the tune as an egg-timer. For me, the very best was his phonetic pronunciation. He would make strange sounds representing full-stops, commas, exclamation marks and inverted commas. I loved his zany comedy and listened carefully to how he would play the works of some of the great composers. Then in the middle, without skipping a beat he would include, in an identical style, the tune, “Happy Birthday to you”.

For me, punctuation has always been a problem. Where do you put what? As for colons, semi-colons and full stops, where should they be? So I have a tendency to leave them out while I’m writing. Then I have to go back and litter them liberally all over the page. I must confess that without Phyllida looking at what I’ve written, my spelling and grammar would border on the classic comedy of “The Great Dane”.

This difficulty with punctuation expresses itself best when I put together my truncated limericks. The 7, 2, 2, 3 style lends itself to not being sure what should go where as I’m sure most of you will have already noticed. I may have done well as a scribe when Greek words were all compressed together so that no one was quite sure where one word started or ended.  For example, “The cat sat on the mat” would be “thecatsatonthemat”. The clever bit was reading and understanding what was written. A case in point from the days when my mother did the crossword puzzle. I asked her on one occasion what was a “castironalibi”? It’s a “cast iron alibi” she commented. Something a little closer to the bone we have an interesting puzzle in the English translation of Jesus’ words to the dying thief on the cross. Jesus’ words to him were, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise." But if I adjust the punctuation I read:  "I tell you the truth today, you will be with Me in paradise." Luke 23:43 NIV 

Notice that the words are exactly the same. But by moving the comma one word to the right, the meaning changes. Jesus was not telling the thief they will both be in Paradise on the day of the crucifixion. He was saying to the thief today, they will be in Paradise together. This latter understanding seems to be better than our usual understanding. If I’m correct what this means is that sometime between the original, and what we have today, the comma was misplaced. Since they weren’t there anyway it would not be difficult. I do it regularly. So perhaps I’m not as bad a scribe as I thought? Hopefully, one day we will all be together in Paradise with Jesus and Victor Borge. We’ll ask Victor to please read the Scripture for us complete with the phonetic punctuation. That should finally settle it. The thief will probably have a good laugh and say how wonderful it is to be with Jesus in Paradise.

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

 

DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES

⁴ I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.

John 9:4 MKJV

⁴ People who refuse to work want things and get nothing. But the longings of people who work hard are completely satisfied.

Proverbs 13:4 NIrV

²⁵ The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25 NLT

³⁴ Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent Me, and from finishing His work. ³⁵ You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. ³⁶ The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!

John 4:34-36 NLT

¹ "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

Matthew 20:1-2 MSG

² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

2 Timothy 4:2 NLT

¹³ So he sent for ten of his servants. He gave them each about three months' pay. 'Put this money to work until I come back,' he said.

Luke 19:13 NIrV

¹⁰ But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favour on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10 NLT

SCRIPTURE IN LIMERICKS

 

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