Time with Jesus - 01
Sept 2013
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| Camden Power Station South Africa |
From the September 1961 to September 1963 I was working
on the construction of West Thurrock Power Station. In those days the plant was
slightly earlier than “state of the art”. As a consequence, it would be phased
out and demolished in the middle of the 1990’s. It had been in service for ±30
years so the British public had already received value for their money.
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| Fenchurch Street Station |
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| Ford Dagenham UK |
These parts were “very cheap”.
These parts could be “ordered” and obtained at these excellent prices on the
old, “Ask no questions” basis! Clearly they were stolen. How the thieves got
them out of the Ford Plant is anyone’s guess.
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| Ford Dagenham Assembly Line |
I’m not in a position to say what
could and could not be obtained “very cheap” in that part of the world. What I
can say is, some of the construction workers were able to supply just about
anything you wanted. All you had to do was ask them and within a day or two, it
would be yours.
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| Rolex |
Now a Rolex watch, real or imitation, looked like the
real thing. It would take an expert to say which was which.
Even then you and
I, the general public, would be dependent on the integrity of the expert. Did
he have an “axe to grind”? Did he have a hidden agenda? Was he taking bribes to
identify something as genuine? The reason I ask this question is because we
have a similar situation with our Bibles today.
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| Expert |
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| Manuscript on a Scroll |
Actually our Bible is not merely one big book. It’s a
bit like a library. There are 66 books within its precious pages. 27 are in our
New Testament and 39 in the Old, written by some 40 different people over ±1600
years. The Old Testament is mainly in Hebrew and the New, mainly Greek. Now
Paul wrote to Timothy and said, 16 God has
breathed life into all of Scripture. It is
useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes.
It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to
do what is right. 2 Tim 3:16 NIrV
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| Scribe "writing" a document |
Let’s now send a copy to 50 different destinations and start
again. It would not take very long before the autograph was so dog-eared through
handling that it would become illegible and perhaps thrown away. That wouldn’t
matter, provided each copy made from the autograph was 100% accurate. To avoid inaccuracy,
scribes would follow well defined rules to make sure every copy was identical.
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| KJV - Tried and Tested |
The New Testament was affected this way during the early ±400
years of Christianity. Round about then, erroneous copies of the New Testament we
identified and put to one side.
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| “Received Text” or the “Byzantine Text" |
Then
in 1844 a further manuscript, Codex Sinaiticus, was discovered in a waste paper
basket in St Catherine’s monastery on Mt Sinai. Some think this is also one of
the early erroneous manuscripts. However, they are older than the “Received Text”
manuscripts.  |
| Codex Sinaiticus |
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Sunday, 01 September 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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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
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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THE OLD CROSS OR THE NEW
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For many years, Phyllida and I have been convinced
that the Word of God – the Bible - is inerrant. No mistakes in it whatsoever.
Of course this applies to the original version in the original language. It
may be that over the centuries; scribes have made errors in copying. Although
scrupulous attention was paid to detail, errors of transcription may have taken
place. Furthermore, the original has been translated into a variety of
languages. So what we read in the English version of our choice may not be
100% accurate. One only has to compare translations with each other to
realise that there are differences. For us to establish now what was written
in the original is difficult. Textual critics do not agree. We do know that
the King James Version was compiled by exceptionally highly qualified
Scholars based on the received text, sometimes called the Byzantine text, of
which there are some 1800 ancient documents extant which roughly correspond
with each other. Translations that have been made since 1881 or thereabouts
have made use of older manuscripts which some regard as corrupt. (I’m one of
them). My approach to these devotionals has been to look at the KJV; then
find a translation which best reflects the KJV in more understandable English.
The reason I make this point is because it is
essential we understand what the author intended us to understand; not something
filtered through the minds of many of today’s preachers. I have found that
many preachers today preach a “feel good” and “prosperity” gospel that is not
in harmony with Jesus’ teaching. Luke tells us; 23 Then Jesus said to the crowd, "If any of you wants
to be My follower, you must turn from your
selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NLT.
This Scripture makes it very clear. To follow Jesus
means to put aside your own selfish desires. Then to pick up the cross on
which you will be crucified and go to your own Calvary. You are supposed to
do this every day until it actually happens. I can find no evidence of
Mercedes Benz, big fancy luxurious homes in the best part of town with
millions in your bank account. I find the complete opposite. Historically,
the genuine Christian lifestyle for some 1900 years after Jesus was crucified,
was to lay aside your own life and obey Him even unto death. The early
Christians did this. Satan tried everything he could do to smash the
fledgling church. He failed because people would rather be tortured to death
than deny Jesus. They perished in their thousands; crucified; fed to the
lions; covered with pitch and used to light the gardens of the Caesar. Read
Foxes Book of Martyrs. It gives the details of the suffering and death of
Christians up to the middle of the 1650’s. At one time it was regarded as a
“must read”. Only the Bible was more widely read.
Over the last hundred years or so, the “flavour” of
Christianity has changed. The cross has been velvet padded. We have seen the
influx of “cross-less Christianity” An attitude that says, “Come to Jesus” He
will bless you and give you all you need to enjoy life here. A sort of heaven
on earth in which you can do anything you wish, confident His grace is more
than enough. Sadly, that’s a lie. To follow Him we still have to die to
ourselves. Then, each day, take up our cross and make our way to our place of
execution.
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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23 Then
He said to the crowd, "If any of you wants
to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross
daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23 NLT
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The strangest thing has happened in
the past one hundred years.
Something so deplorable, we all should
be in tears.
It seems the very nature of the cross is
not the same,
As that which Christians looked at,
back then when Jesus came.
An instrument of torture, of agony and
pain.
The instant that you picked it up, you
set out to be slain.
No more opportunity to tell the folk
“good bye”
It was a one way journey to the place
where you would die.
The cross was unforgiving and made no
compromise
When you were nailed upon it and
lifted to the skies
Your life on earth was over. This was
your final act;
And death in monstrous agony would
soon become a fact.
It may be that you’d linger on perhaps
for several days.
But death by suffocation and
exhaustion were the ways,
You would be defeated and your candle
be snuffed out.
The cross was going to murder you. Of
that there was no doubt.
The victim picked his cross up and took
it to the place,
Where all of the above was something
which he had to face.
How long that it would take him before
he would arrive,
Was all the time available for him to
be alive.
Everybody knew this and Jesus showed
the way.
That is what His followers expected
every day.
They were on a journey, the cross upon
their back.
Without the opportunity of finding
time to pack.
They all knew the outcome; that they
would surely die.
But every day they picked theirs up it
didn’t matter why.
You couldn’t be His follower, unless
you had agreed,
To pick your cross up daily and go
where He would lead.
But this longer happens. A velvet padded
cross,
Speaks about prosperity, where you
won’t suffer loss.
The cross has been downgraded. It’s
comfortable and clean.
Grace has been interpreted in ways God
didn’t mean.
Living will be painless and God will
pay your bills.
Off you go and live it up; enjoy as
many thrills
You’ll find along the journey. The
fact is, you’ve been saved.
Therefore it doesn’t matter how badly
you’ve behaved!
But that is not the gospel and
Christians are tricked.
They follow in a lifestyle which Jesus
never picked.
Sadly they’re deluded. The cross has
never changed.
If you think sin’s acceptable, you’re
mentally deranged.
And all that you believe in, will
crumble and will fall.
Instead, pick up the old cross and
make Him Lord of all.
Jim Strickland
Written 1st Sept 2012
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8 We serve God whether people honour us or despise us,
whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us
impostors.
2 Corinthians 6:8 NLT
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12 Those who try to live a godly life because they believe
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3:12 GW
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11
Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still
being persecuted? In that case the offense of the
cross has been abolished.
Galatians 5:11 TNIV
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10
Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be
Christ's servant.
Galatians 1:10 NLT
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14 Suppose people make fun of you because you believe in
Christ. Then you are blessed, because God's Spirit rests on you. He is the
Spirit of glory. 15 Suppose you
suffer. Then it shouldn't be because you are a murderer or a thief. It
shouldn't be because you do evil things. It shouldn't be because you poke
your nose into other people's business. 16 But suppose you suffer for being a Christian. Then
don't be ashamed. Instead, praise God because you are known by that name.
1 Peter 4:14-16 NIrV
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29 There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ.
There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the
trusting.
Philippians 1:29 MSG
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14 Either
way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to
our old life. 15 He died for everyone
so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves.
Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NLT
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12 If we endure hardship, we will reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He will deny us.
2 Timothy 2:12 NLT
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