Time with Jesus - Thursday, 14 March 2013
 |
| Jim & Phyllida in Paris 2009 |
 |
| Jim & Phyllida wedding 12/12/1981 |
Do we love Jesus? Do we love God with our whole heart, mind and strength?
It’s a loaded question. How can you love someone you can’t see? Actually you
can love someone you can’t see. Army and navy wives managed to love their husbands
for several years, while the men were away fighting in the war. What is
impossible, is trying to love someone you don’t know. Those women knew their
husbands before they went away. They coped for all those years, because they
knew them in the first place. Do you love Jesus? Do I love Jesus? The fact is
we can only love Him, if we know Him.
So let’s rephrase the question. Do you know Jesus? Do I know Jesus? By way
of answer, you and I can only love Him if we’ve met Him. You can’t know someone
you’ve never met. So perhaps the real question should be, “Have you met Jesus?”
If we can answer “Yes”, we can say, “To meet Him, leads to knowing Him, leads
to loving Him”! To meet Him is easy. All we need to do is ask Him to meet with
us. He will!
Shalom,
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
|
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Thursday, 14 March 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
|
Knowing Jesus
|
||||
|
The elixir of youth. Not
exactly Christian but the “Holy Grail” of most non-Christians. Why not? Most
people would like to live forever. In some ways, it’s still very popular.
Although we all know that, unless the Lord returns beforehand, we are 100%
certain to die. We are subject to the “Satan bug”. This bug, introduced by
Satan, ensures we all die
This overwhelming
certainty, doesn’t seem to bother any of us. Why? Because God has put
eternity in our hearts. 11 He has made
everything beautiful in its time. Also, he
has put eternity into man's heart, yet so
that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Ecc 3:11 ESV So in spite of the
overwhelming evidence, we think it won’t happen. Not yet anyway.
This “eternity” concept
is supported by science which tells us that there is no reason why our bodies
should die. Scientifically we should live indefinitely. Except for the fact
that at some juncture in our lives, the cells don’t work as well as they did.
The final outcome is well known and inevitable. My father is a case in point.
He lived until he was 89 and was looking forward to a family celebration for
his 90th birthday. It was all planned and people intended flying
in from all over the world. He looked fit and healthy. He was still driving
his motor car on Good Friday 2007. Then he took ill and went to Olivedale
Clinic on the Saturday evening. He died on the Tuesday of “natural causes”. I
asked the doctors what they meant by this. I was told everything had “run
down” together. The Satan bug got him.
But the Lord has not left
us helpless in our situation. Put simply the principle is; Born twice, die
once. Born once, die twice. The maths is strange. I doubt if Newton would
approve. But it’s still true.
In the meantime we have
an opportunity of being obedient to the Lord. It’s all there in His Word. It
is best summed up and recommended by Jesus. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your
heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' Mark 12:30 NLT
We see here that husbands
are commanded to love their wives. Probably, because as a general rule, they
don’t? Oddly enough, wives are not commanded to love their husbands. Could it
be because most of them do? Unlikely. But we are all commanded to love our
neighbour as ourselves. I can’t think of any husband who isn’t his wife’s
neighbour. There is another commandment we avoid like the plague. We are all
told to love our enemy. If we put this together we find that we are commanded
to love our family, our neighbour and our enemies. Regardless of gender, your
spouse fits into this somewhere. So loving your wife or husband is not
optional. He/she fits perfectly!
Jim
& Phyllida
Strickland
|
63 The
Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and
life.
John 6:63 NLT
18 God chose to give us new birth through the message of
truth. He wanted us to be the first and best of everything he created.
James 1:18 NIrV
6 He
has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. The covenant is not
based on the written Law of Moses. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor. 3:6 NIrV
25
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the
church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it
using water along with spoken words. 27 Then he could present it to himself as a glorious
church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle-holy and without faults. 28
So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who
loves his wife loves himself.
Eph. 5:25-28 GW
Beth 9 How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in
keeping with your word.
Psalm 119:9 NIrV
50 Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my
troubles.
Psalm 119:50 NLT
16 I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't
forget a word of it.
Psalm 119:16 MSG
11 I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not
sin against You.
Psalm 119:11 NLT
42 Then I will have an answer for the one who insults me
since I trust your word.
Psalm 119:42 GW
72 Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions
in gold and silver.
Psalm 119:72 NLT
93 I will never forget your guiding principles, because
you gave me a new life through them.
Psalm 119:93 GW
103 How sweet Your words taste to me; they are sweeter than
honey. 104 Your commandments
give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Psalm 119:103-104 NLT
|
This is life eternal, to know God’s only Son. John
17:3 GW
And this is what’s important when all is said and done.
We have some strange ideas; we think it is a place
But really it’s with Jesus Christ and looking at His face
Of course it will be somewhere. But I don’t care a jot.
As long as I’m with Jesus I’m in the proper spot.
The very words He speaks to us are spirit and are life.
All other human effort bring nothing more than strife.
But how is it we get there? The Lord has made it plain
The only opportunity is being born again.
We’ve got to quit the contract that’s locked us into death.
We have to follow Jesus with each and every breath.
Unlike the Law of Moses the covenant He’s made
Has made it possible for us that He may be obeyed.
This is a different covenant. This one is clean and new.
And He has made it possible for folk like me and you
To follow and obey Him and go the way’s He’s led.
And we may all partake of Him; of Christ the living bread.
We’re told how we should love Him; as husband loves his wife.
Be constantly aware of Her and even give his life.
If it’s in the best interests of the woman he has wed.
Give her the pre-eminence and, as the Lord has said
She’ll give her submission as she’s been told to do.
Never by compulsion, but out of love for you!
But how can it be possible for us to live this way?
It isn’t complicated. Just honour and obey
The master who has shown you the Bible is the place
For us to find the right way for all the human race.
Obey its guiding principles; for it will keep you pure.
It will bring you comfort when is so hard to endure.
It will give instructions more valuable than gold.
And its awesome wonders for you it will unfold.
Taste His Word. It’s sweeter than honey from the comb.
Read it to your family when gathered in your home.
God is not a spoil-sport. He wants to see you thrive.
And think you have the very finest family alive.
All this seems incredible; but there is so much more?
Made available to those, whom Jesus Christ adore.
Jim Strickland
Written
14th March 2012
|
||||
