THY WILL BE DONE

Jim & Phyllida Wedding
12/12/1081

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 27 April 2013

Hi all,

Today’s meditation is a bit personal. It’s a poem about Phyllida and me getting married. It’s also a comment on marriage from a historical point of view.

Jim & Phyllida Wedding
12/12/108

Some of the customs concerning the wedding ceremony and which are now symbolic and historic only, are referred to in the meditation. I’ve been in favour of equality between men and women for as long as I can remember. One thing can be said in favour of some of the issues of yesterday’s customs. There was very little by way of contraception back then. Large families were quite normal. Susanna Wesley had 19 children. She herself was one of 25 children. It follows that with such large families; mothers would not have been able to go out to work, even if they wanted to! They were far too busy working at home. 

Wedding Crowd

This is possibly one of the major reasons why the role of men and women, fathers and mothers, in society, became very much stereotyped. Indeed, many of those archaic customs were intended to protect women. There’s not much a woman could do about anything else. Not if she spent so many of her child-bearing years being almost continuously pregnant! God help them.

Phyllida the Bride
12/12/1981

All that has passed; a woman is free to decide, with her husband, the size of their family. Furthermore, with all the laboursaving home appliances, women can do anything they would like to do. This has resulted in a bit of an over swing. Today in a number of cases, the wife has become the bread winner and the husband has become the housewife. Rightly or wrongly, that’s the way things are today.

Rings with Vows Inscribed

As a Christian I welcome these changes. A wife was never intended to be her husband’s servant. Neither is a husband intended to be his wife’s servant. It’s difficult to enjoy married life together as a couple, unless both are free to be themselves. I’m glad we are. Furthermore marriage is intended to be a covenant. The idea is that both of them imitate Jesus and lay down their lives for each other.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 27 April 2013			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	THY WILL BE DONE
Weddings and wedding ceremonies are ubiquitous. No matter the country or custom, men and women marry. It has always been this way. Marriage is God’s idea. Marriage is under attack at the moment. Many young people are living together without being married. My wife and I do not approve. But our approval is irrelevant. People will do what they wish, without our sanction. What they will say to God about this, is something they must worry about. All we can do is share His message. Many of our Anglo Saxon and American marriage customs have fascinating origins. For example, brides almost always have someone who “gives them away”. It’s a beautiful part of any wedding and the privilege of “giving away” the bride is generally carried out by her father. In the event that her father is unavailable, one of her sons is asked to do so. If the bride is young and no longer has a father and no children, she usually selects a man who has a special significance in her life. What modern women seem to have forgotten is the origin of this custom. In bygone days a woman had no rights of her own. She belonged to her father. She could only do what he said. In history, fathers sometimes sold their daughters as slaves. A good cure for disobedience? When it came to marriage, she was given to the husband he had chosen. Since she was her father’s “property” her opinion was irrelevant. She had no choice. Fortunately, most parents loved their daughters and referred the matter to her. As a further difficulty, a woman was completely under the authority of her husband. It wasn’t optional. If she didn’t obey, there could painful repercussions. A cane less that 50mm diameter could be used to beat his wife. Ownership or authority over the woman passed from the father to the husband at the marriage ceremony. Her father gave her hand in marriage to her husband. From then on, her husband was her authority. In the Bible, the King would offer to give his daughter to the man who did something he required. For instance, Saul promised his eldest daughter Merab, to the man who defeated Goliath.. It is a long story in 1 Samuel 17: 25 The men of Israel said, "Did you see that man coming from the Philistine lines? He keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his daughter to that man to marry and elevate the social status of his family."1 Samuel 17:25 GW. In spite of this history, a lady still wants someone to “give her away”. I could continue writing about other customs and traditions associated with the wedding ceremony. Taking each other by the right hand; the wedding ring; white wedding dresses; taking her husband’s name etc. For us, the highpoint in our lives was when Phyllida became Mrs Strickland on 12th Dec. 1981. Phyllida took my name and became Mrs. Ernest James Strickland, by which she is known today. I’m unashamedly proud to call her my wife. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, we mean everything to each other. If we could remain this way for eternity, it would not be long enough. We also know that unless the Lord returns, death will end our marriage. Either way, His will remains the desire of our heart. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			17 "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it. Revelation 2:17 NLT 25 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.) Acts 11:25-26 NLT 19 But God's solid foundation stands firm. Here is the message written on it. "The Lord knows who his own people are." (Numbers 16:5) Also, "All who say they believe in the Lord must turn away from evil." 2 Timothy 2:19 NIrV 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their corrupt nature along with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24 GW 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own, 20 for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 MKJV 14 But it's unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified. 15 Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation. Galatians 6:14-15 GW 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Ephesians 5:1-3 ESV 8 At one time you were in the dark. But now you are in the light because of what the Lord has done. Live like children of the light. Ephesians 5:8 NIrV	She walked into the gathering of family and friends. They’d come to see her married the way the Lord intends. She knew that it would happen, because some time before, The Lord said that a husband, He’d placed within her store. She hadn’t ever met him; but knew he was defined; And pictured in Psalm forty five. She knew he was designed, To love her and to cherish her and all along the way, To be her special soul mate. And from that very day, Would be her life’s companion and always do her good, The way a faithful husband throughout their lifetime should. They had both been excited as day succeeded day. His Spirit had confirmed it, whenever they did pray. And as they stood together, she now would change her name. From this moment onward things could never be the same. The former life of struggle and bad experience, Was gone. New life before them made such a lot of sense. She was born Miss Brownlee and later she had wed, A man who had misused her; but that was done and dead. Today she was quite willing, to wear Jim’s wedding band. From now on she’d be a spoken of as Phyllida Strickland. She’d follow the tradition established years ago. She would take her husband’s name; and willingly do so! Name change is significant. The Lord had shown the way. Abram changed to Abraham right from that very day. Jacob became Israel; a Prince of God was he. No longer a deceiver; a man of destiny. That day in nineteen eighty-one was special for them both. There before the witnesses, their everlasting troth, They plighted to each other. God joined the two as one, And in the strength of Jesus Christ they both would carry on. They have a happy marriage. But that is not their boast The cross of Jesus Christ the Lord is what excites them most. Both have known the trauma of a marriage that went wrong. Now they live for Jesus. They know it won’t be long. Before they go to be with Him. This way it has to be! And they have asked Him please Lord, don’t take us separately. We’ve been so long together and life has been such fun; You have been the centre, of all that we have done, In ways that only You can tell; we’re walking in Your light. You mean everything to us. We know You’ll do what’s right! Yet Lord above our preference, Your will we will embrace. We know it may be difficult for one of us to face, A life without each other. But this one thing is true. The will of Jesus Christ our Lord is what we’ll gladly do. Jim Strickland Written 27th April 2012.