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| A Virgin Shall Conceive |
Time with Jesus - Saturday, 01 June 2013
Hi all,
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| A Young Woman 1921 |
In the study above my desk
there are two prints. They were taken from photographs. One is of Phyllida
taken in 1952. She had just committed her life to Jesus and it shows. The
expression on her face is “divine”. The other is one of her mother. It was
taken in 1921! It shows a very beautiful young woman. There is a resemblance in
the two photographs that suggests mother and daughter. These are my two “pin-up”
girls.
Phyllida’s mother was born
toward the end of the reign of Queen Victoria. Her great grandfather was a missionary
from Scotland which accounts for her “religious” upbringing.
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| Queen Victoria 1847 |
As a young woman,
she had “rebelled” against that lifestyle. But she was not openly aggressive toward
Christians and Christianity. She was suspicious of anyone who professed to be a
Christian. She had “seen it all before”. Furthermore, she continually
challenged Phyllida on what she believed. For example, Phyllida would come home
from attending church. She would be greeted by her mother saying, “I don’t believe
in the Virgin birth”!
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| The Word was made Flesh |
On another occasion, Phyllida was greeted by the comment,
“I find my God in the roses”! Strangely enough, we became firm friends almost
from the day I met Phyllida. It was clear to her that I only had good
intentions toward her daughter. Later, when I asked for her approval to marry Phyllida,
she smiled and agreed. We became good friends and had some very interesting
discussions about history.
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| Immanuel Means God With Us |
The Protestant view on the “virgin
birth” is mostly misunderstood. The Roman Catholic position is that she was and
remains a virgin. Protestants believe that Jesus had several half-brothers and
half-sisters. Mary was their mother but after the birth of Jesus, she was no
longer a virgin. We believe that the words of Isaiah were literally fulfilled. 14
All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the
sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a Child!
She will give birth to a Son and will call
Him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us'). Isa 7:14 NLT
The words are important. Isaiah
stated “The virgin will conceive”. It says
nothing about her remaining a virgin after the child was born. Even so, as we
all know, it is impossible for a virgin to conceive. Mind you I dare say many
young women would love to say, “God is my baby’s Father”. In other words, Protestants
believe Mary remained a virgin until the birth of Jesus. How could this have
happened? Scripture does tell us what happened. A Virgin gave birth to a Son.
When I was a child, this was a medical impossibility. No longer! Medical
science can do the same. Exactly how they do it is beyond me. But they can do
it. Medical Science makes it possible to be a surrogate mother. Once again, I
don’t know how.
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| The Son of God |
The Bible tells us exactly what
happened. 34 Mary asked the angel,
"But how can this happen? I am a virgin." 35 The angel replied, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. So the baby to be born will be holy,
and He will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:34-35
NLT Note the words, “So the baby to be born
will be holy”.
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| God and Man's DNA |
This could only happen if Jesus’ mother was a virgin! No
man is holy. But the Son of God is Holy. Jesus had the DNA of His Father and
Mary. He had to be 100% God and 100% man. The “union” between Mary and the Holy
Spirit gave rise to Immanuel. God with us!Shalom,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 01 June 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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IMMANUEL
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There was a time when people believed the Bible and
believed in God, because the prophetic word had been fulfilled. There was no
question that Jesus Christ was a real person. His miracles were acknowledged
as fact. Every detail in the Bible was accepted as “Gospel” truth. For me, it
is still the truth. It doesn’t really matter what others think. The Bible is
true. It is the Word of God.
Today there are more sceptics than believers.
Indeed, many University professors and lecturers are not just sceptics, they
are unbelievers! They may be theologians, but they believe nothing! As far as
they are concerned, all religions are equal. They teach about the God they
don’t know! In this matter, I’m reminded of something Dr Ken Stewart said
when I was in Bible School thirty years ago. He said he went to Seminary to
prove the existence of God. He shared a room with a man who had gone to the
same seminary, to prove God doesn’t exist. Ken added that when he entered the
seminary, about 20 students believed in God. By the time he qualified with
his doctorate, there were only three believers remaining. Unbelief dominated
the campus. What baffles me, is how these men can be regarded as Christians.
Thank God this is not true in all universities.
There still remain those who are committed to Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, it
is a wise Christian parent, who will warn their sons and daughters about the
onslaught against Christianity. They will encounter this in many places of
tertiary education.
Today, it takes a certain amount of courage to face
up to the challenge of the unbelieving “masses”. This is not new. It has been
on-going for centuries. This world has always ridiculed those who are out of
step with them. It is probably true, that the Jews have suffered from this
form of treatment, since the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
Some 2000 years ago, the Jewish people believed the
time had come for God to send the Messiah. The Son of David, would deliver
them from the hands of the Romans. It would have been the desire of nearly
all the young women to be the mother of Messiah. No doubt many prayed and
asked the Lord to choose her. There could be only one mother of Messiah.
There would have been no shortage of applicants. Perhaps we might compare it
with the young ladies in the 21st century who would have given
anything to marry Prince Harry.
Mary qualified biologically. She was descended from
King David. She was young, loved God, unmarried and a virgin. In addition,
she was promised in marriage to Joseph, another descendant of King David.
This was essential. The Jewish religious authorities knew the Messiah would
be a “son of David”. They had all the genealogical records and would reject
out of hand, anyone claiming to be the Son of David, unless it was possible.
Then the date in history arrived when a young Jewish
virgin would conceive miraculously, just as their prophets had foretold. Mary
had been chosen “before the foundation of the world”. The time was exactly
right. Mary conceived supernaturally. Her baby was the Son of God. It’s not
necessary to go into the detail. It’s recorded for us in the Bible exquisitely.
There we get a beautiful insight into what took place; a culmination of what
is predicted so joyfully in Song of Songs. God’s love for His people through
the woman of His choice!
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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23 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to
a son, and they will call Him Immanuel,
which means 'God is with us.'"
Matthew 1:23 NLT
18 "But will God really live on earth
among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain You. How
much less this Temple I have built!
2 Chronicles 6:18 NLT
14 The Word became a human being. He made
his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the one and only
Son. He came from the Father. And he was full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NIrV
16 Without question, this is the great
mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated
by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed
in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16 NLT
2 And now in these final days, He has
spoken to us through His Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance,
and through the Son He created the universe.
Hebrews 1:2 NLT
19 That Sunday evening, the disciples were
together behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus
stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you!" 20
When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad to see the Lord.
John 20:19-20 GW
26 A week later Jesus' disciples were again
in the house, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were
locked, Jesus stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27
Then Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger
here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, and believe." 28 Thomas responded to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"
John 20:26-28 GW
6 For a Child is born to us, a Son is given
to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NLT
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Isaiah
spoke about Him, a long, long time ago.
He had it written in his book, so
everyone would know,
There
would be a Messiah long after he had died.
Someone Who would save us from our
sins of stubborn pride.
He told us
it would happen. He didn’t tell us when.
And from that very point in time, the
“Jews” saw it as “gen”.
Examine
what he prophesised. The Lord God would draw nigh.
His name would be “Immanuel”, God with
us from on High
He said a
virgin would conceive. That’s rather strange to me.
How could that ever happen? It surely
cannot be?
But this
is what would happen, just when the time was right.
And from that time in history, the
girls would pray at night,
And ask to
be the virgin who’d bring forth the Divine!
She had to be descended from the
Davidic line.
We know
that Mary qualified, her genealogy
Complied with every aspect of Isaiah’s
prophesy.
So now we
have the woman. A virgin through and through,
Praying she would be the one whom this
would happen to!
Then when
the Lord was ready and when the time was right,
God’s Spirit “overshadowed” her one
very special night.
And here
we see the miracle; a virgin girl conceived.
We think it is impossible and hard to
be believed.
But
nothing is impossible; not for the Living God.
So why are we so sceptical and think
that it was odd?
But
there’s something important. After the baby’s birth,
She couldn’t be a virgin. Not on this
present earth.
I don’t
need to explain it from man’s biology.
I’m sure that every mother will
totally agree!
So Mary
was a virgin until the birth was done.
And she brought forth “Immanuel”,
God’s One and only Son!
They gave
Him the Name “Jesus”, and people couldn’t tell.
That He was God in overalls while
being man as well!
This was
no schizophrenic! He made the universe.
But when He came to be with us, He
needed a wet nurse!
Was this
humiliation? He didn’t think that way.
He only ever did the things He heard
His father say.
He lived
among His people a life of truth and grace.
And He became the Saviour, of all the
human race!
Exactly
what Isaiah said, down to the fine detail,
Took place when Jesus Christ was born.
It happened without fail.
A Son was
given to us; a virgin girl gave birth.
The “Everlasting Father” was sent from
Heaven to Earth
“The
Prince of Peace”; the “Mighty God”, “The Counsellor Divine”,
Came as had been promised to take your
sins and mine.
Indeed
this really happened. Believe that it is true.
For Jesus came and gave His life, for
folk like me and you.
Jim Strickland
Written 1st June 2012
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