MY FAVOURED SONS AND DAUGHTERS

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Favoured by the Lord

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

 Hi all,

God is omniscient! There is nothing He doesn’t know, all the way down to the smallest detail. He has always known everything. He knew exactly what would happen. He knew that Lucifer would “fall”; that ⅓ of the angels would side with Satan; that Adam would fall; In the light of all this, we are puzzled why He went ahead with creation! Genesis 6 expresses one of the saddest statements in the Bible. The message puts it as follows: ⁵ GOD saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil - evil, evil, evil from morning to night. ⁶ GOD was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. ⁷ GOD said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds - the works. I'm sorry I made them." Gen 6:5-7 MSG

We read these verses of Scripture. How do we react? Incredulity? If God knew all this before it happened, why did He go ahead with creation? There is only one answer I can think of. He must know, that in the final analysis, His decision to proceed, would be fully justified! Is such a thing possible? Absolutely! Ultimately, in eternity, God will show that He was right.

The only illustration I can think of, that remotely resembles this, is to think of the average man and wife today. She knows full well the implications of pregnancy. She knows that things will not be easy during those nine months. She knows about the pain of childbirth and the possibility of her own death. But when the baby is born, her joy is indescribable. So much so, that she willingly does it again and sometimes again! If you ask her if it was worth it, she will take the baby in her arms and the look on her face, will speak louder than any words she may say. Furthermore, we will wonder why we asked such a stupid question! I suspect that in a small way, God will refer to all that has taken place since He began with creation. The look on His “Face” will be sufficient for us to wonder why we asked Him such a dumb question!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 20 March 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	My Favoured Sons and Daughters
Genesis is a marvellous book. It’s the book of beginnings. David Pawson’s observation was that if it wasn’t there, the Bible would begin with slaves in Egypt. How or why, would be something we could hardly even guess? For me, Genesis is the best book in the Old Testament. It takes us from before creation. I love the vast panorama of history. The characters are so real. They were no more perfect than you or me. They made mistakes and have the appearance of a human touch. When Noah came out of the ark, he planted a vineyard and promptly got drunk. Abraham was afraid of the Egyptian Pharaoh. So he let them take his wife into Pharaoh’s harem. He lied and said she was his sister! Jacob was a liar and a cheat. Today we would say that he was a hustler or a conman. No one would want to buy a used car from a man like Jacob. He ended up with two wives, two concubines, twelve sons and a daughter. God radically changed him & gave him the name, “Israel”. One summary states that Genesis begins in the heavens before the Garden of Eden and ends with a coffin in Egypt. It covers more time than all the rest of the Scripture combined. It is called the seed plot of the Bible. Virtually every other book has a flash-back to Genesis. The book of Revelation has several references to Genesis. So there is a sense in which all the Bible is founded on this amazing book. Today’s meditation begins with a reference to one of the most tragic comments in Biblical history. 5 God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil--evil, evil, evil from morning to night. 6 God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. 7 God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds--the works. I'm sorry I made them." Gen 6:5-7 MSG It’s hard to imagine how wicked the people were for God to state He was sorry He made them. According to the ages of the respective antediluvians, it took place about 1600 years after the creation of Adam. In other words, from the fall of man to when mankind became totally depraved, was in the order of 1500 years. This was all the time Satan needed to achieve this. Today’s meditation is in the form of a discussion between God and a man; perhaps you or me. It focuses on what God saw prior to the flood. It then traces the difference between keeping the law and salvation, by grace, through being faithful to the Lord. It concludes with the realisation that it is only in Jesus Christ that we can be accepted into the family of God. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. Gen 6:7-8 ESV 11 We know that no one is made right with God by keeping the law. Scripture says, "Those who are right with God will live by faith." Gal 3:11 NIrV 4 "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. Habakkuk 2:4 NLT 20 Noah built an altar to the LORD. On it he made a burnt offering of each type of clean animal and clean bird. 21 The LORD smelled the soothing aroma. He said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of humans, even though from birth their hearts are set on nothing but evil. I will never again kill every living creature as I have just done. Gen 8:20-21 GW 8 Everyone living on earth will worship it, (the beast) everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life. That book belongs to the lamb who was slaughtered before the creation of the world. Rev 13:8 GW 1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Rom. 5:1 NLT 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. Rom. 3:20-22 NLT 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Rom. 5:11 NLT 30 And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory. 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one--for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Rom. 8:30-33 NLT	The Bible’s saddest Scripture is found in Genesis.                Gen 6:5 Is anything more tragic than what we see in this? The thoughts of man were evil. There wasn’t any break. The Lord was grieved He’d made them. “It’s more than I should take! I’ll blot them out completely; all men and birds and beasts. I never should have made them; from greatest to the least”. But then He looked at Noah; and Noah made Him pleased. And when God thought about this, His anger was appeased. How does a man find favour in the eyes of God Most High? There is a way to do it, if only we will try. The secret’s to be faithful, obedient and true; To do what is expected, from the likes of me and you. We know that it’s impossible for us to keep the law. But rather that we understand what it was given for. God knows we cannot keep it. He knew that we would try. That we would break it frequently, before our time to die. So law was not our answer. That really is a shame. But there is still one answer. To call on Jesus’ Name. To trust in Christ the Saviour, to give His righteousness, To swap it for our sinful lives and utter wickedness. “But isn‘t that immoral? I’m sure it isn’t fair. I get all His joyfulness and He gets my despair! It’s so much more than I deserve. The mess that I am in, Was brought about because of my intense desire to sin! I know I cannot change it. But Father God Most High; Your Son was far too excellent to take my place and die”. “My son, I know the problem. I knew it from the start. Before the world was ever made, I knew in My heart. There had to be a better way for you to be with Me. And Jesus Christ, My only Son, complied implicitly. He knew you were imperfect, you couldn’t keep the law. And if He came and died for you; that He could do no more. And now He makes this promise; if you will faithfully, Walk in what He’s done for you, then you will certainly, Receive from me forgiveness. Because He took your place; And was the representative of all the human race! Then, anyone who trusts in Him, will be a child of Mine; My favoured sons and daughters through Jesus Christ Divine!” Jim Strickland Written 20th March 2012