TEN OUT OF TEN

Time with Jesus - 26 Dec 2013

Hi all, 
One of my all-time favourite singers is Don Francisco. He has an excellent singing voice. In addition he is a gifted guitar player. Furthermore, he is a composer and writes the material he sings. If you combine these factors and realise that nearly everything he sings glorifies Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, you begin to appreciate the impact he has made on the lives of countless believers and unbelievers.

I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING
I loved you long before the time your eyes first saw the day; And everything I've done has been to help you on the way. But you took all that you wanted, then at last you took your leave, And traded off a Kingdom for the lies that you believed!
And although you've chosen darkness with its miseries and fears. Although you've gone so far from Me and wated all those years. Even though my name's been spattered by the mire in which you lie, I'd take you back this instant if you'd turn to Me and cry.
	I don't care where you've been sleeping, I don't care who's made your bed. I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me.
When you come back to your senses and you see who's been to blame. Remember all the good things that were yours with just My name; Then don't waste another thought before you change the way you're bound. I'll be running out to meet you if you'll only turn around!
	I don't care where you've been sleeping, I don't care who's made your bed I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me.

I first came across his material in 1982. That year I attended Bible School in the evenings. ±3 hours per night, 5 nights per week; it was exhilarating and fairly exhausting.

In those days, I was working for Eskom. This necessitated my having to drive from Jo’burg to the various Power Stations mainly in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal. 
The round trip took about 3 hours plus, with the time required to conduct the business for which I visited them. It kept me fairly busy. While driving a car, you can be very lonely. To redeem the time, I took cassette tapes with me and listened to them while driving. Mostly I listened to Gospel music. That’s how I came across Don Francisco.

As most of you know, in 1981 I went through a horrible divorce experience. Then, a few months later, Phyllida and I married. We were both satisfied that our marriage was God’s plan for our lives. 32 years later, we have not changed our minds. However, in those early years, we felt “second class”. We knew only too well that God hates divorce. The question at that time was whether or not, marriage after divorce, was acceptable in God’s eyes. In other words, should the two of us have married in 1981? We felt that we had done the right thing. Even so, we felt intimidated. We may have done the wrong thing!

We devoted a considerable amount of time to investigating what Scripture said about this topic. We found that the opinions of others varied. We knew that divorce was “breaking covenant” with our previous husband/wife. Of course it’s always easy to justify things after having done whatever it was. Men and women have an uncanny ability to gloss over anything they have decided to do. Then they then feel that what they have done is right. In this regard, only God knows the truth. Jeremiah, quoting God, expresses this as follows: ⁹ "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ¹⁰ But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve." Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

By the end of 1982, Phyllida and I had studied everything we could get our hands on. Finally, we came across a teaching series by Dr Ken Stewart entitled “Divorce and Remarriage”. These teachings were life changing. So much so, we took them to many people in Johannesburg and elsewhere.

In spite of this, we both felt “uneasy” at times. That’s when I came across a Don Francisco tape entitled “The Live Concert”. I listened to it “spellbound”! The track that had me riveted and in tears was, “I don't care where you've been sleeping”. The words described my situation almost perfectly. The words were: When you come back to your senses and you see who's been to blame. / Remember all the good things that were yours with just My name; / Then don't waste another thought before you change the way you're bound. / I'll be running out to meet you if you'll only turn around!

These words described me; what had happened and what I’d done. It was as though Jesus was personally ministering to me. He knew how I was feeling; the disappointment of going astray and wasting 16 years of life. Suddenly, it was as if this was the very first time of receiving something directly from Him! Jesus gave me the assurance we both so badly needed. For both of us, that old spectre was banished. Those magnificent words, “There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love”, were healing balm to an inflamed and hurting soul. Yes, we knew that divorce was wrong. But we also found that our sin was not stronger than His love. It wasn’t stronger than His love in 1982. 31 years later, it’s still not stronger than His love. Since then, I’ve managed to get hold of a copy of the cassette. We now have a CD and installed it on our I-pod.

At the same time, we began listening to Dr Ken Stewart’s cassette called, “What is Sin”. We were very surprised. He reminded us that Paul had written, ²² So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn't feel guilty. He is blessed. ²³ But if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn't act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 GW

That’s when we realised that if we thought we were in sin, we were. Dr Ken then asked the question again. “What is sin?” He answered, “Sin is forgiven”. Repentance from sin and faith in His willingness to forgive, results in sin being forgiven.

 In other words, our sin of divorce and subsequent remarriage was forgiven. It still is today. Thank you Lord Jesus.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 26 Dec 2013					Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES			TEN OUT OF TEN
Science fiction has always fascinated me. I think it’s the “impossible” aspect that catches my attention. If it has a touch of the ludicrous, it really draws my attention. For example I thoroughly enjoyed the one about the metal coat hangers in the closet. The number seemed to grow day by day. So the author began to write about a closet in which coat hangers reproduced! After observing this for a day or two, he wondered if anything else would multiply in that closet. It didn’t work with money. But it did work with bicycles. That really amused me. The thought of someone trying to get a bicycle into the closet is hilarious. The other was a story by Isaac Asimov. He was a professor of bio-chemistry. In the course of his experiments, he came across a substance that dissolved in water astonishingly quickly. It occurred to him that if it was any more soluble, it would dissolve before the water was added. Since he was busy writing a doctoral thesis at the time, he decided to write a “scientific report” about this mythical substance. He said he needed practice writing in the typical “turgid” style demanded of science reports. So he wrote the “report”, complete with graphs and experimental results. He included references to other equally mythical reports found in science journals. It was great fun to read and was popular in the biochemical world! As we all know, Prof Asimov’s report about this mythical substance is strongly representative of Christian behaviour and the Lord. We live in a delusional society. Men and women all around us believe they are Christians when it is not true. You know what I mean. They go to church. The same one their family has attended for more years than anyone can remember. They live a perfectly normal life and think they are Christians by default. After all if you live in USA or UK and you are not Jewish or Muslim, you must be a Christian! As long as they aren’t involved with any of the sects, they are on God’s side. In the end He’ll receive them to His great reward. After all, that’s what God does! What makes this thinking so dangerous is the fact that there is a passing grade for everything in life. In my day you required 40% to pass into the next grade. In any case, nobody got 100% in the exams. That was unreasonable. Sadly, the thinking is that God works like that too! I mean, after all, if the University only needs 50%, surely God won’t require much more. That’s what I thought. I knew I was a sinner. On my own, I still have those tendencies. But to find out that one false move resulted in complete rejection wasn’t even on my radar. Then Jesus found me! That’s when I saw I was a “Monster of Iniquity”! I deserved hell. But Jesus loved and saved me. I still don’t know why? Jim & Phyllida Strickland				25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25 TNIV	He saves us from the “gutter-most”, wherever we have been. He saves us to the “uttermost”; He’s washed and made us clean! Who can understand this? I’ve tried to work it out. But it’s incomprehensible. Of that there is no doubt. I thought I was a good guy. That’s what I perceived. A sort of “average sinner” and that I hadn’t grieved, God’s precious Holy Spirit. “I can’t be all that bad!” When I looked at others! If I’d done what they had, Then I’d deserve His judgement. But fifty one per cent, Was all I thought I needed and what God really meant. Perhaps I wasn’t perfect. This fact I would concede. But surely fifty one per cent was all a man would need! I hadn’t murdered anyone. I hadn’t been a thief. Apart from pens and pencils; which much to my relief, I thought was not important. The bosses didn’t mind, Because they also did it. So wasn’t in a bind. I know I was a liar; but they were little tales. Not enough to tell me that my percentage fails. I wasn’t very envious about the things I saw. Except the Aston Martin the people owned next door. I hadn’t been adulterous. I hadn’t had the chance. But I have looked at ladies with a most erotic glance! I hadn’t worshiped other gods. It’s really not my way. But I followed my football team on each and every day. I didn’t go with sinners. With them I didn’t mix. So, on a scale of one to ten, I must deserve a six. This meant I’m so much better than the average man around. It follows that to heaven I certainly was bound. And then I came to Jesus. What was it that He saw? Someone who depended on a more than average score. He said that He demanded, from all the sons of men, Absolute perfection. A score, ten out of ten! Its then I came to realise that I had been a fool. Life is not a game you play like kids in Sunday School. In fact it is impossible to ever get it right. But absolute perfection was demanded in God’s sight. So I fell before Him. O Lord what can I do? “Let me take away your sin and wash you through and through. Man can never do it. It’s done in Me alone. For your myriad of sins, I only can atone. Come and be My servant. Repent and let Me be, The one who has the power to live a holy life in thee! Then you’ll have My righteousness. Your sins I’ll take away. We will be together, with Me you’ll always stay.” Jim Strickland Written 26th December 2012
				6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 TNIV
				12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 ESV
				27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, John 10:27-28 NLT
				6 I'm convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 GW
				14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." Genesis 18:14 NLT
				24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 ESV