I Will Be With You

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Hi all,

God will never leave you nor forsake you. How does that stand up to the fact of the holocaust? There’s no clear answer. What I can say, is that He was in the gas chambers with the people while they were being murdered. His heart broke as He saw His people taken to Babylon. The ±400 years of His people’s slavery in Egypt was agonising. No doubt He saw the POW camps in Burma. In fact He has been present at every atrocity in history. How could He stand by and watch it happen?

John Baptising Jesus

Somehow all this is influenced by the fact, that man has been given the right to obey, or disobey Him. You cannot be free to be good or evil if He keeps getting in the way. In a way, He has given man temporary permission to do whatever man wants to do. Until this time is over, He has bound His own hands, so that He can only watch and wait. Sadly, Habakkuk was mistaken. God’s eyes have no choice but to look at evil every day. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look at what is evil. You can't put up with the wrong things people do. So why do you put up with those who can't be trusted? The evil Babylonians swallow up those who are more godly than themselves. So why are you silent? Hab 1:13 NIrV The day will come when this will end.

We ask ourselves, “Why?” Surely He can intervene? Surely Godly men or women deserve better than that? John the Baptist was the prophet sent ahead of Jesus, to proclaim the way of the Lord. Jesus Himself stated, ¹¹ "I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! Mat 11:11 NLT

Salome Dances for John's
Head

Surely he deserved better than to be decapitated and his head given on a platter as a reward to a vulgar young woman for a lewd, erotic dance?

No man can answer these questions. We do not have the mental capacity, to even begin to comprehend the ways of God. Solomon, apart from Jesus Christ, is said to be the wisest man who ever lived. As an old man he concluded the following: ¹² That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. ¹³ God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Eccl 12:13-14 NLT

King Solomon

Would it be a good thing to understand God? I’m not too sure. Lucifer is said to have been the greatest of God’s created angels; he got “carried away” with pride and fell. There is a sense in which the wiser we are, the more we are inclined to despise those, whom we think are beneath us. This is particularly true of many white people in South Africa; a feeling that remains a carry-over from the apartheid years. This is also true of most races, black, yellow or white. Scratch deeply and under the skin, there is still a racist.

Jabez Prayer

Knowing this about each and every one of us compels me to conclude, that none of us deserve better. Not even John the Baptist. Like all of us, he was conceived in sin. His very best didn’t live up to God’s righteous standards. He too was flawed and, despite everything he did, it was not sufficient. If Jesus could die the way He did, what makes us think we deserve better? We don’t. We do know that His grace will see us through this life and into His arms in the next. Even so, Come Lord Jesus.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Introduction	Daily Light Evening Scriptures	I Will Be With You
Living in South Africa on and off since 1947, I’ve seen many things. I remember being in the car with my parents on 4 June 1948. That’s when the National Party became the Governing Political Party in South Africa. It remained in power until the first general election on 27 April 1994. Don’t ask me why I remember that particular event. Presumably it had to do with going into something strange and new. I distinctly remember wondering what effect, if any; the new government would have on me. The fact that this type of change was taking place throughout the British Empire, as it was still called back then, was something I neither knew about nor cared. Six year olds don’t really take a great deal of interest in politics. Various places in RSA became my home for the following ±12 years. Most of them were spent in Port Elizabeth, a political and cultural backwater in the Eastern Cape. It was and still is a beautiful town, with the dubious distinction of being a place noted for the lack of employment. PE, as it is called, has grown considerably since then. It remains a backwater in RSA. Maritz Brothers in Bird Street was the school I attended for most of those years. Then it moved to Walmer, into premises that were subsequently been pulled down, to erect a shopping complex. The Brothers ran out of money! Although the Roman Catholic Brothers (teachers) made no attempt to proselytise, their Christian influence was considerable. They encouraged the protestant boys to go to church. This included time off for confirmation lessons at the local Anglican Church. Later on, we were permitted to go to the communion service on Sunday mornings. It was a long walk, but that didn’t matter. It was early in the morning and, provided it wasn’t raining, it was good to be able to think a little about the Lord. One thing we were never taught was how to find out from the Lord, what we were supposed to do after we grew up. There were many stories about heroic men and women, who had been called by God to do things. The stories were wonderful, but did not register with me. Such people were a species apart. I was much too ordinary to be called by God to do anything! That was for “super-Christians”. The thought that I could be one of them, was as distant for me as the rings round Saturn! Not me! The fact that Moses had the same problem didn’t feature. Oddly enough, children can spot it in others. They can’t spot it in themselves. What I neither knew, nor understood, was the Lord was with me. It was His Spirit that drew me. It was His hand that took me to England in April 1960, when I had spoiled my future in South Africa. He led me to Newcastle and the Methodist Church. He was there when I took my first faltering steps toward Him. He has never left me even when I thought I was through with Him. I called on Him when I was in trouble. He rescued and protected me. He gave me a Godly wife and provided for us financially. Not me – He! Jim & Phyllida Strickland	14 The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name. 15 When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them. Psalm 91:14-15 NLT 10 He (Jabez) was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that You would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request. 1 Chron 4:10 NLT 7 That night God appeared to Solomon. He said to him, "Ask for anything you want me to give you." 8 Solomon answered God, "You were very kind to my father David. Now you have made me king in his place. 9 LORD God, let the promise you gave to my father David come true. You have made me king. My people are like the dust of the earth. They can't be counted. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge. Then I'll be able to lead these people. Without your help, who would be able to rule this great nation of yours?" 2 Chron 1:7-10 NIrV 29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 1 Kings 4:29 TNIV 11 Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but You can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You alone. It is in Your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, You are our God; do not let mere men prevail against You!" 12 So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled. 2 Chron 14:11-12 NLT 2 (O) You (who) answer our prayers. All of us must come to You. 3 Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, You forgive them all. Psalm 65:2-3 NLT	Nothing is more comforting, than knowing as a fact, That Jesus Christ will be with me and I will not get sacked. It is His very nature. He’s always been this way. Nothing will divert Him from being this today. This doesn’t give me freedom to wallow in my sin. If anything, it’s likely to stop me going in, It would be such a statement. In fact I must obey, Each of His instructions, if I want Him to stay. And yet He knows I’ll fail Him. I cannot ever be A picture of perfection, for all the world to see. This seems a contradiction, when actually it’s not. There is a certain principle that mustn’t be forgot. Temptation comes to all of us. It cannot be evaded. But every time it happens, we have to be persuaded That even in our weakness, the Lord is always strong: And if we trust ourselves to Him, He will not get it wrong. I cannot beat the devil, if I look unto me. But when the Lord is in command, He has the victory. It’s something like a tightrope. Focus on the Lord, And we can walk upon it and not be overawed. But if we look around us and see the roaring crowd, We’re sure to lose our footing. That way is not allowed. The tight rope just might slacken, if Satan interferes, Or if we get all silly and blind ourselves with tears. The balance pole may catch the breeze and seek to make us fall. But while we are in Jesus, and listen for His call, We know we’ll find our balance and reach out for our goal, Which He has set before us to save and make us whole. In the case of Jabez, all that he possessed, Was free of pain and trouble. God granted his request. Insight and great wisdom, Solomon received, Because of what he asked the Lord; that’s what he believed. Asa, in his helplessness cried out to God Most High. The Ethiopians ran away because the Lord was nigh. This truth throughout the ages, the Lord has put on tap. All God’s enemies will run and fall into His trap. All that’s ever needed, is to call upon His Name, He said He will answer; the outcome just the same. Jim Strickland Written 16th April 2113