Time
with Jesus - Tuesday, 02 July 2013
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| Junk Mail |
Hi
all,
Some
situations are very difficult to escape. I’m told that if you are ever on the
Mafia hit list, kiss your family good bye. If my memories of the black and
white TV series called “The Untouchables” is anything to go by, we should avoid
Al Capone and Elliot Ness like the plague. Falling out with those two was very
serious. You would be offered something you couldn’t refuse. Now that was
Chicago, USA in the 1930’s.
Since
then, several organisations have sprung up internationally that are almost
impossible to avoid or resist. Have you ever managed to escape the clutches of
a debt collector? I’m told that it is a massive problem. Fortunately, I’ve
managed to keep clear of such people all my life so far.
I’m
told that Scarface Al and his bunch along with the South African Credit Buro
had to learn their trade from someone. It’s rumoured that such training is
provided, free of charge, to anyone sufficiently unfortunate to fall into the
hands of companies like Readers Digest and other mail order suppliers.
Have
you ever tried to cancel your monthly subscription with them? You have? Surely
by this you mean you are still receiving the magazine several years later? Now
I must state at the outset that Readers Digest is an excellent monthly
magazine. But if you ever subscribe, you find that you are somehow “locked into”
an almost unbreakable contract. Signing on the dotted line elevates a contract
to just about covenant commitment. Furthermore, along with the magazine, you begin
receiving an ever increasing volume of junk mail. Whatever you do, don’t
complain. I suspect they report you to the other mail order companies. Then,
your daily dose of junk mail, increases exponentially. “Serves you right for
trying to escape!”
I did
find a way to escape. We left the country! It worked! When we arrived home
almost a year later, we found that we had been forgotten. It was bliss. Since
then we have kept a low profile. To buy a Readers Digest magazine, you have to
go into the local stationery shop heavily disguised and pay cash. There must be
no way they are able to locate you. Not even stray fingerprints!
So
much for “junk mail”. It’s no laughing matter. Those of us who use computers
know about junk e-mail. It’s called SPAM. Do not confuse it with the “artificial
meat” sold during WWII. It does have one thing in common. When you start, you
are stuck for life.
As we
are aware, for something to manifest in the physical realm, it must first have
begun somewhere in the spiritual realm. So how did junk mail begin in the spiritual
realm? My theory is that it originated with junk prayer.
Prayer like, “Lord Jesus,
please bless China!” Now I’ve no problem with the Lord blessing China. My
problem is, what to expect? I suspect this sort of prayer is conveniently moved
into the recycle bin. Then periodically, the Lord empties the bin. On a
computer it sort of vanishes into cyberspace. In the realm in which the Lord
dwells, there must be an even bigger recycle bin. In this way, junk prayer is
disposed of. |
| Recycle |
On a
more humorous note I must tell you the story of the man in the UK who won 50
million pounds on the football pools. When he was asked what he would do with
all the begging letters. He said, “That’s no problem. I’ll keep on writing
them!”
Shalom,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 02 July 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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HEAVEN’S
JUNK MAIL
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Most
of the people who read this devotional have computers. Indeed, without a
computer, there is no way it could be printed out and read. In a way,
computers have become indispensable in the 21st century. They are now
ubiquitous. Banks can’t function without them.
I bought
my first computer in 1985 to enable me to type poetry. In those days, there
was a choice between a word processor and a computer. Either would do. But I suspected
that a computer could do a bit more than a word processor. What that was, I
didn’t know. But I bought a computer on this basis. I bought it from Dion’s
in Randburg! When I got it home, I switched it on. After a few whirring noises,
I was confronted by a screen that said >C: “Wow” I thought. I pressed a
few keys randomly. Letters appeared on the screen. “What next” I wondered?
The answer was “nothing”. No matter what I did, the dumb machine just looked
at me and wrote >C: What it meant, I must confess I had no idea. Furthermore,
there was hardly anybody in the area who could fathom the >C: mystery! Eventually,
I phoned a friend in Jo’burg. He initiated me into this mystery. He also sent
me a “floppy disk” containing a programme called “Word Star” along with the
instructions for how to get it working.
One
of the big problems with a computer is knowing the correct instructions. There’s
a word that explains it well. “GIGO” It means garbage in - garbage out. The
next problem with computers is SPAM. I can’t tell you the exact meaning of
the word. “Junk mail” is what we call it today
If
you have a computer, you will probably have received more than your fair
share of junk mail. The question is, “What is heaven’s “Junk Mail”? Don’t you
think there is such a thing? Evidently Jesus did. In
Luke 18:10-14, He relates the parable of the two men who went to pray
in the temple. One was a proud Pharisee. The other was a tax collector. The
tax collector’s prayer was answered. The Pharisee’s prayer went into file 13.
This was junk “p-mail”. (p being short for prayer) To be fair, it should be
called “junk prayer”.
In my
time I think I’ve prayed more than my own fair share of Junk Prayer. I still
do at times. It’s easy. The secret behind genuine prayer is to find God’s agenda
and pray accordingly. Another way is to treat your wife (or parents?) honourably.
Unless you do, it will stand in the way of your
prayers.1 Peter 3:7 NIrV Isaiah says;
your sins have separated you from your God. They
have caused him to turn his face away from you. So he won't listen to you. Isaiah
59:2 NIrV
If
God isn’t listening, your prayers are useless. They are junk prayers - Heaven’s
SPAM. We do have a solution. Do what the Word says. Ask Him what to pray.
That’s where we find the secret of answered prayer!
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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44 This time He (Jesus) let them sleep on, and went back a
third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
Matthew 26:44 MSG
7 During his life on
earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and
pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his
devotion to God.
Hebrews 5:7 GW
3 Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to
know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or
the coming of rains in early spring."
Hosea 6:3 NLT
12 When
you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When
you pray, be faithful.
Romans 12:12 NIrV
18 Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind
of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind
of effort and make every kind of request for all of God's people.
Ephesians 6:18 GW
6 Don't worry about anything. Instead, tell God about
everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him. 7 Then God's peace will watch over your hearts and your
minds because you belong to Christ Jesus. God's peace can never be completely
understood.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIrV
39 He
went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, "My
Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine."
Matthew 26:39 NLT
14 There is one thing we can be sure of when we come to
God in prayer. If we ask anything in keeping with what he wants, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 NIrV
4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the
desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way
to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
Psalm 37:4-5 ESV
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Lord I come this morning to pray for granny’s corns.
For all the deer in Kruger Park, especially their horns.
We’re going on a holiday; we’re driving in our car.
Send your special angels, we’re driving rather far.
Bless us with the weather Lord. Please don’t let it rain.
It’s going to be another year before we go again.
Lead me to a parking space ‘cause I don’t want to walk.
And keep the children quiet Lord from all that useless talk.
Help me with the shopping Lord, to find a nice new dress.
Help me with the housework Lord. It really is a mess.
Have you ever prayed like this? I’ve done it many times.
And when I pause and look at it, it wasn’t worth a dime.
The focus we are seeking is no one else but “me”.
The purpose is our selfishness in all we do and see.
Do you think God takes the time to listen to such junk?
And if this is the way we pray, our prayer-life will be sunk.
The very essence of all prayer should be for other folk.
That God will bring His blessings and break their dreadful yoke.
But if the focus of all prayer is me and me and me.
Be certain that an answer is what you will not see.
The Master, in Gethsemane, looked for His Father’s will.
He didn’t want to do it. The prospect didn’t thrill.
The thought of crucifixion and taking on man’s sin!
Perhaps there is another way for righteousness to win?
But if it isn’t possible and I must drain this cup,
Then since this is Your will for me, then Lord I’ll drink it up.
And right there is the secret of how we ought to pray.
Find out what the Father wants and intercede that way.
It’s such a waste just chattering and clogging up the air.
Find what He is wanting; that’s when to go to prayer.
We are taught so clearly, that if we pray His will,
All that we are praying for, He’ll certainly fulfil.
If we pray for China, what is it we expect?
But when He tells us what to pray, the prayer will be correct.
So let us learn this lesson. We’ll find we can’t go wrong.
For when we pray for what He wants, we’ll sing a brand new song!
Our prayer life will be meaningful and not just “hit or miss”
When Jesus is the teacher. You can be sure of this.
Jim Strickland
Written 2nd July 2012
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