YOUR HEART’S DELIGHT

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 22 September 2012

Hi all,

We all know that we are certain to achieve victory if we keep on going until the very end. One question? How do we do this? We are told that if we love the Lord we will keep His commandments. The obvious corollary is that if we don’t love God, we won’t keep His commandment. These are not merely a couple of recommendations from God. “You will do well if you do this!" Husbands and wives are given separate commands regarding their interpersonal relationships. You don’t have to like them. You have to keep them. Life will be better for the whole family if you do!

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 22 September 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	YOUR HEART’S DELIGHT
Most men have a “soft spot” for women. That’s exactly what God planned. In Genesis it was as true then as it is today. 18 GOD said, "It's not good for the man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." Gen 2:18 MSG The first thing that springs to mind is what was meant by God saying it was not good for man to be alone. God had just stated that everything was very good. (Gen 1:31) By implication, even in the perfection of God’s entire creation, which was very good, something was not quite right. God saw Adam had no-one like himself to love. This is very important. To obey God and love someone else, there must be someone else! Every creature except Adam had a mate. They couldn’t multiply and fill the earth without a mate. Now this didn’t particularly bother Adam. He was “totally absorbed” in tending the garden. Today, generally speaking, most men are totally absorbed by their work. They would do it 24/7 if it was physically possible. It occurs to me that Adam was so focussed on his job that he didn’t know there was a problem. Don’t be surprised. In a perfect environment with no “female” distractions he’d still be there today. Why not? He didn’t even know he had a problem! Sure, he had a very gregarious nature. But being on first name terms with the animals - he did name them all - he must have thought he was in paradise! There was a minor problem. God had told all the “animals” to 28 “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”. Gen 1:28 It must have puzzled Adam. They could, but he couldn’t! God knew all about this and had created Adam with this in mind. Adam needed a creature like himself. He didn’t need a boss or a servant. He needed an equal to help him. They would have had different roles in the order of things. But there would be no “battle of the sexes”. There would be perfect harmony between them. Their love relationship would have been impeccable. They would both have been seeking ways to enrich each other’s lives. Children would do that. Each “child” would have been perfect and equal in every respect other than gender. So what! There would be no shame or embarrassment. Not one of them would have even been aware of their own nakedness. Today we are familiar with the differences between the male and female anatomy. But in that perfect environment, would these differences have been so obvious? The question is academic. One thing we can say for certain is that Adam and Eve were pleased with each other. What did they look like? We don’t know. We know that Adam was delighted. In our fallen world with fallen faculties and minds, when we read of them being brought together, we tend to think of gender differences and sexual pleasure. But did they think and feel like that? It’s difficult to imagine anything else. But we should. Today, the highest form of pleasure is glandular. This is fact, not fantasy. The guys chase the girls. The girls enjoy being chased. According to some, every aspect of human life is governed by sexual attraction. How can this be changed? Only by a decision to follow Jesus Christ and the New Testament pattern for family life. Husbands love your wives as Jesus loves the church and laid down His life for her. It is done by a decision he makes. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. This is done by a decision she makes. When we follow this model, fulfilment becomes the norm. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			39 He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine." Matthew 26:39 NLT 27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. John 12:27 ESV 38 I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me. John 6:38 MSG 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8 ESV 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:7-8 ESV 53 Don't you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies--more, if I want them--of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? Matthew 26:53 MSG 46 He told them, "This is what is written. The Christ will suffer. He will rise from the dead on the third day. 47 His followers will preach in his name. They will tell others to turn away from their sins and be forgiven. People from every nation will hear it, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47 NIrV	Submission is the strangest word, most women do not like. Not enough for them to think that they should go on strike. I must admit the attitude is sometimes hard to bear, Particularly thinking, that the men don’t seem to care! There’s much misunderstanding about what the Lord intends. There is no subjugation He imposes on His friends. Yet that is what most people think submission really means. And ladies are subservient because of female genes! But women aren’t inferior at all, in any way. A wife is not a slave, a husband doesn’t have to pay. But there is still an attitude that men can have it all. And women must bow down to every word the men-folk call. That isn’t in the Bible. It really isn’t true. A woman is permitted to do all that men can do. The model is the Master and all that Jesus did. He made it clear He’d only do that which His father bid. He wasn’t “second fiddle” to Someone way up high. Whatever He was told to do, not once did He reply, I do not have to do this. I’m not some kind of fool, Who walks round in obedience to any petty rule! I’m following My Father for it’s the finest way, For Me to get the very best on each and every day. I know that we are “equal” for I am God as well. But I am in submission to all that He may tell. A wife is just like Jesus in the way that she relates. She has complete authority to govern her own fate. But of her own volition she chooses to submit, And it’s so liberating, she never wants to quit. Her husband doesn’t rule her. That never was God’s plan. But there’s Divine relationship between her and her man. He was “hoop-ak-o-ay” is the word we find in Greek, Harkening attentively; obediently meek; Comes from Strong’s Concordance, where it very clear. (Heb. 5:8) He was in submission to His Father ever near. Look at where it took Him. To death upon a cross. He didn’t want to do it, but Father was the boss. In spite of all His suffering, He held on to the end. And gave us an example on which we can depend. So do not be discouraged. You ladies have it best, If you’re loved as Jesus was by Father, you are blessed. You don’t have to worry if your husband’s wrong or right. He’ll know what you need and give to you your heart’s delight. Jim Strickland Written 22nd September 2012