Time with Jesus - 21 Nov 2013
Back in 1961, I transferred from
the Apprentice Training School to what was called “The Light Assembly Shop”. It
was my first experience of working in the actual factory. It was something of a
new paradigm, to be actually involved with making something constructive for my
employer. All we made in the Training School were gauges and tools to help us
later as tradesmen. I’ve still got one of them somewhere in my big toolbox.
It’s a “centre finder”, used for finding the centre of round metal bars. I’ve
not used it since I made it in early 1961.
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| Flogging Spanner |
One thing we all made in the School
was a “flogging spanner”. These were special spanners for tightening large
diameter nuts. Hydraulic and pneumatic tools had not yet found their
application in some of the larger diameter nuts and bolts for certain purposes.
For example, after the steam had passed through the turbine, it was condensed
in the condenser. You can’t really pump steam, so to get water pumped back to
the boiler, it had to be condensed. This was fastened onto the turbine exhaust.
The turbine casing and condenser were held together by these large nuts and
bolts. The “joint” between them had to be “air-tight”. This is where the
flogging spanner was used.
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| Steam flow through Turbine to Condenser |
The name “flogging spanner” was
appropriate, because we would tighten the nuts and bolts by hand as best we
could. Then we put the spanner on the nut and started to get a tight fit by
hitting the spanner with a 14 pound hammer. It was tiring work and could be
dangerous. If you missed hitting the spanner, the inertia of the hammer could
easily upset your balance resulting in you falling.
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| 14 Pound Hammer |
Of course, these spanners didn’t
last very long. In no time at all, these were badly distorted and in need of repair.
The “teachers” in the Apprentice Training School knew all about what happened
to the spanners. They knew it was ideally suited for the training of
apprentices! They were “in league” with the foundry, who provided the basic
forged/casting for the apprentices to work with. Trying to file these forgings
soon made the apprentices perspire profusely. It was hard work! Then the
apprentices were given a gauge for the spanner itself. The teachers used the
“cigarette paper” test, to check the space between the gauge and the spanner.
If they could pass the cigarette paper between the gauge and the spanner, the
apprentice had to take the spanner back to the foundry.
There, one of the
welders would build up the offending part. Then, we took the repaired spanner
back to the school and started again. Incidentally, the teachers didn’t care
how many times you took the spanner back for repairs. They would be satisfied only
with the fit of the gauge. Then they turned to the shank and striking end of
the spanner. We had to file a 45o chamfer on all four sides and make
sure each side was flat and smooth. Once again, a couple of trips back to the
foundry made sure that we were much more careful.
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| Condenser |
Against this background, you can
imagine how I felt about the way these flogging spanner were used. Any thoughts
of being gentle with them vanished when it came to testing the joint between
the condenser and turbine. The joint was tested when it came time to raise
vacuum on the turbine condenser. Finding vacuum leaks can be a nightmare. It’s
easy to check for leaks on high pressure parts. A can of soapy water and paint
brush produces “bubbles” where there’s a leak. Looking for a vacuum leak is
more difficult. We went round with a light piece of cloth watching to see if it
was “sucked into” the leak.
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| Vacuum Pump |
In the end we put a Freon detector into the vacuum
raising equipment and went round spraying Freon at the joints. It worked a
treat. But in those days we knew nothing about the dangers of using Freon. Now,
Freon is banned in power stations as is asbestos. Not so back in the 1960’s. I
think Jesus protected me somehow. Asbestos coverings were used universally.
Sometimes, we had to walk through clouds of the stuff. Asbestosis was known
about, but it didn’t seem important then.
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| St Augustine Quote |
Winter 1961/2 in UK was the coldest
experienced for many years. You can imagine what it felt like hunting for leaks
in an exposed power station site. The temperature fell to below freezing and
many water pipes in the plant froze. For an apprentice, it was something of a
baptism of fire. Change the word “fire” into “ice” and it is a great reminder
for me of the early 1960’s in UK.
We all know nature abhors a vacuum.
The space under vacuum tries to suck whatever it can into itself. Certainly
this is true in mechanical engineering. It is equally true in the spirit. God
knows this very well. He is our designer. He has placed in us a “place”; a
space inside us that is designed only for Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Exactly
where it is, no one knows.
All we know is, until the space is filled, there is emptiness
inside us. We talk about an emptiness in our heart. It’s a good description
provided we are speaking figuratively. If there was a hole in our hearts, our
cardiologist would not be a happy man. Sadly, he can’t take our heart out and
send it to the foundry for a quick welding job! However, the doctor also has
the same “space” in his “heart”. Some of us refer to it as the “God-space”
within.
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| St Augustine |
This “God-space” presents us with a
serious problem. It demands to be filled. So we try and comply. We fill it with
all sorts of “stuff”. A week or so ago we looked at Solomon and found he tried
to fill the space with Power, Money and Sex. None of these things worked for
him. They will not work for us either. The difference between Solomon was, from
the human point of view, he could indulge any whim he fancied. No matter how
hard he tried, he could never find complete fulfilment. In a way he took the
biggest flogging spanner he could find and tried to seal the leaks into his
heart. He ended up tired and completely spent. Even then he tried to flog
himself into finding the unfindable. He would never find it until he started
looking in the right place. You cannot fill the “God-space” in your heart and
life with anything else. It completely fails the “cigarette paper” test. The
chamfers are not square and the sides are not flat. Another trip to the foundry
is needed. You will never manage to get it right until you ask the Lord to come
in and take His rightful place in your “heart”.
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| Turbine having blades installed |
Personally, at 18, I asked the Lord
to come into my heart and change me. He did. He fitted into the God-space
perfectly. He still does. I’ve tried a couple of substitutes. None of them
brought anything other than heartbreak.
St Augustine of Hippo (13 November
354 - 28 August 430) is on record of having written, "You have made us for
yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." It’s
just as true now, as it was then.
Shalom
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 21 Nov 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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JIMMETS
- THE VOID & JESUS’ PRAYER
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There
are not many occasions when men have heard the audible voice of God the
Father. One occasion was at the time of Jesus’ baptism. It was an extraordinary
occasion told vividly by Matthew. John didn’t want to do it. He felt that
Jesus should baptise him. But Jesus insisted. He was very aware of Biblical
types and shadows. He was also very aware of what the future held for Him. He
would die on the cross for humanity. 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering
for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.2 Cor. 5:21 NLT
He
would die a sinner’s death. He also knew that through baptism a sinner would
be returned to life, a new person. Baptism in the New Testament was a death
to sin and a resurrection to new life. It follows, for Him to be restored to
life by His Father and the Holy Spirit, He needed to be baptised. He lived a
sinless life and as such had no need to be baptised. But the one who was made
sin for us, needed baptism to be resurrected. So He started His ministry with
baptism. He was fulfilling all righteousness. He now had the “right” to be
raised from the dead! So perhaps we can say His baptism was a preparation for
His death on the cross. Before He died a sinner’s death, He had already made
provision for His cleansing in the waters of baptism and subsequent resurrection!
Brilliant! Planned in advance by His Father, anticipating what would happen
three and a half years later. Satan couldn’t say He had no “right” to be
resurrected. It happened before He began His ministry. The Father rightly
said, “This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased!” The Father could
say this of His Son and the one raised from the dead!
Before
we committed our lives to Jesus Christ, there was something inside us that
was searching for God. It has been described as a “God sized” space only He
can fill. Augustine of Hippo in his famous “Confessions” wrote "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is
restless until it rests in You." The Jimmet, “The Void” speaks of
this.
One
of the few prayers of Jesus we have, is written in John 17. This for me is
really “The Lord’s Prayer”. I believe this took place in the Courtyard of the
temple. I say this because it is sometimes called the “High Priestly Prayer”
of Jesus. Within the precincts of the temple, would be the “appropriate”
place for our great High Priest to pray; for His followers throughout the
generations. His discourse about the vine, (John 15) suggests He was at the
very gates of the temple. From here He would go on to Gethsemane. What better
place for Him to pray? The courtyard of His Father’s house. The temple in
which the High Priest would pray! It makes sense to me that He would step
into the courtyard. His prayer is recorded for us in John 17. Poignant and
unforgettable!
Jim &
Phyllida
Strickland
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13 For
he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves,
Colossians 1:13 TNIV
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The
Void
There was a time
when I was in the dark,
Far away from
God and from His Son.
But deep down
within me was a spark
Planted there
when first I was begun.
What it was, I
really didn’t know.
Something like a
vacuum we can’t fill.
A hole that ever
bigger seemed to grow
An emptiness
which I remember still!
I did my very
best to fill that void,
With the
“trappings” this world could provide.
All this made me
more and more annoyed.
Nothing changed
the emptiness inside.
Then I gave the
Lord my heart and soul.
He has filled
that gap and made me whole.
Jim
Strickland
21 Nov 2012
Jesus’
Prayer
The prayer of
Jesus Christ our Sovereign Lord
Written for us
in John seventeen;
Reading it, we
should be overawed;
By the prospects
Jesus had foreseen.
Kneeling in the
Temple’s outer court,
Our High Priest
was pouring out His love.
In a way it was
the last report,
He would give
His Father High above.
What a prayer!
That all of us would be,
One with Him in
Spirit soul and mind,
One with Him in
perfect unity,
One in purpose;
One with all mankind!
One with Father;
One with Christ His Son;
One in all
intentions; truly one!
Jim
Strickland
21 Nov 2012
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17 and
behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:17 ESV
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1
"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My
chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He
will bring forth justice to the nations.
Isaiah 42:1 NASB
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18 No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son,
who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has
made him known.
John 1:18 TNIV
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9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we have
loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins.
1 John 4:9-10 ESV
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16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God
has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God
abides in him.
1 John 4:16 ESV
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22 I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did
this so that they are united in the same way we are. 23 I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely
united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have
loved them in the same way you have loved me.
John 17:22-23 GW
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1 What marvellous love the Father has extended to us!
Just look at it--we're called children of God! That's who we really
are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or takes us
seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.
1 John 3:1 MSG
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