Friday, August 9, 2013

JIMMETS- SAFETY AND COMPARE

Time with Jesus - 10 August 2013

Hi all,
The Royal Couple
Can you remember what you were doing on 2nd June 1953? Those who read this may well shake their heads and say, “I can’t remember!” Others will say, “What a dumb question. I wasn’t born then!” Well, be that as it may. It is a most important date in the history of UK and the British Commonwealth of Nations.
South Africa was still a member of the Commonwealth. 
A seat in the stands for the
Coronation. See the price!
The National party were well entrenched as the political leaders and some of the draconian apartheid laws were being introduced. The ties South Africa then had with Britain were still strong and many schools and school children were given a day’s holiday to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. 
In Port Elizabeth, many of us went to St Georges Park, to the stadium. We had a great time together celebrating the crowning of the new Queen.
Crowned as Queen
Wearing the Crown Jewels
South Africa had good reasons to celebrate the coronation of the new queen. She had her 21st birthday in this country. She was on a tour of South Africa with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margret. They were here on the invitation of General Smuts. He was a good friend of UK in spite of having been a Boer General in the “Boer War.
One of her Crowns
Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, celebrated her 21st birthday in our land. It was recorded on film for posterity. For her, 1947 was a watershed year. In this country, she addressed the world and the Commonwealth and stated that she was committing her life to the service of the people of UK and the Commonwealth. 
It was a brave speech by a young woman, spoken in a high pitched female “squeak”. The voice which has become so appreciated and loved by her people all round the world. Those who listened to her, would have valued the “vow” she made to serve her people. For all who heard her speak, the question was, whether she would keep her vow. It was a fair question.

On 3rd June 2013, 60 years after her coronation, she referred to the speech she made on the 21st birthday. She referred to that speech. She renewed that vow, much the way she had done many times during her long reign.
On 9th October 1960, in the Bainbridge Memorial Methodist Church Hall a young 18 year old teenager stood before an audience of his peers. He vowed he would devote his life to the service of Jesus Christ. No film was made of the event. However, the date is inscribed on his heart and is recorded for posterity in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The angels of heaven looked on and cheered. Would he keep his vow they wondered?
The years came and went and that young man went through highs and lows spiritually. At times he followed Jesus. At other times he wandered off into the world and its many attractions. He trained and qualified as a professional. He married and two children, a son and a daughter, were born of the marriage. The family was transferred to Canada in 1970. In 1974 his family moved to South Africa, his homeland. Other incidents could be mentioned including a divorce and a marriage to a woman who loved Jesus as much, if not more, than he did! From then on he followed a reasonably successful professional career, along with a ministry shared with his wife. In September 1990, because of ill-health, he became a pensioner. This was the catalyst that enabled him to devote the balance of his life to the joint ministry he shared with his wife. On 9th October 2013, he will have followed Jesus Christ for 53 years.


More Crown Jewels
On several occasions during the intervening 53 years, he renewed his vow to be a servant of Jesus Christ. For 32 of those years, he shared the ministry with his wife, the woman he loves. Friends have come and gone. Many have wondered if he would stay the course and serve Jesus Christ. Thankfully, he has. 
Our Wedding - 12/12/1981
Queen Elizabeth II of England has kept her vow. This man has done his best to do the same. Unlike her, he has only been partially successful. Now, in the evening of his life, like the apostle Paul he is able to say 6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  2 Timothy 4:6-7 NLT

It’s no secret that I am the man and Phyllida is my wife. We have done our best to be faithful to Him and to each other. That is what is important. Many men and women have started the Christian journey. Lord, be merciful to those who have not finished! There are no prizes for those who don’t.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland


Our Objective

Our Commitment

Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give
Time with Jesus – Saturday, 10 August 2013
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give
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©
INTRODUCTION
DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
JIMMETS- SAFETY AND COMPARE
Memories from childhood seem to come and go. Surely this is a “carry-over” from before Adam fell? Some of the things which happened to me years ago are as vivid as the events of yesterday. Two things spring to mind in this “season. In 1952, the Olympic Games were held in Helsinki and I vaguely remember crowding round a radio listening to what was happening. During the previous year I remember crowding round the radio listening to the Vic Toweel boxing with Jimmy Carruthers for the world bantamweight title. (Carruthers won easily!)
For most “Brits” 1952 was memorable because that was the year Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne. Even in South Africa, this was considered a major event. The following year, the schoolchildren in Port Elizabeth were asked to go to St Georges Park stadium to celebrate the coronation. We walked from our school to the stadium.
These events will soon be outside living memory. But what did they mean to a schoolboy back then? On reflection it seems to me that they were just flashes from the passing parade. They were important to the men and women of those days, but now are little more than footnotes in history. These comments may be unfair. I admit they have been “tinged” with my passion for Jesus Christ and His Word.
The crowning of the Queen is almost nothing compared with crowning of Jesus Christ. She wore a crown of exquisite beauty; priceless in financial terms. Jesus was crowned with a simple crown of thorns. Queen Elizabeth was crowned on 2 June 1953 with the crown of the UK, her Dominions and Commonwealth. Jesus was crowned with the crown of creation. Queen Elizabeth will continue to grow old and will die. Her crown will then be passed to her successor. Jesus lives forever. No other man or woman will succeed Him. He is unique. He does not grow old. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Someday, Queen Elizabeth, from the comfort of her own bed, will utter her final words. The world will say, “The Queen is dead. Long live the King!” Like all her predecessors, she will be committed to the grave and crowned with the dirt of the earth. Jesus’ final speech, from the cross on Calvary, was very simple. “It is finished!”
Things are now completely different. Jesus Christ is crowned “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. His crown is all of creation. He has no successor because He is eternal. It will never be possible to say of Him, “The King is dead - Long live the King”. Instead we can say, “Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, is alive forevermore”!
Jim and Phyllida
Strickland
25 If you are afraid of people, it will trap you. But if you trust in the LORD, he will keep you safe.
Proverbs 29:25 NIrV


SAFE IN GOD

Safety comes from trusting in the Lord.
You’re sure to fail if you trust in a man.
Jesus Christ wields an almighty sword;
With an overwhelming battle plan.
Nothing can resist the word He says.
Everything He states is a command.
Going on and on for endless days,
Irresistible in every land!
Man does not have this ability.
Everything he says, is merely bluff.
Who can match Divine authority?
Instantly all men will cry, “Enough!”
But He is as gentle as a dove,
With the ones who turn to Him in Love.

Jim Strickland
Written 10th August 2012



WHO COMPARES WITH GOD?

Who can be compared with God Most High?
He looks down from heaven on this earth.
No one can demand that He will die.
Womankind can never give Him birth.
How can we contract into a span,
Him Whom we are sure is infinite?
How can the Creator be made man?
How can darkness ever clothe the light?
Looking at this from man’s point of view,
We all say, “Impossibility”!
This is something none of us can do.
It’s beyond mankind’s ability.
That which is impossible to man
Is “a piece of cake” in Jesus’ plan!

Jim Strickland
Written 10th August 2012
5 Though the LORD is very great and lives in heaven, He will make Jerusalem His home of justice and righteousness.
Isaiah 33:5 NLT
4 For the LORD is high above the nations; His glory is higher than the heavens. 5 Who can be compared with the LORD our God, who is enthroned on high? 6 He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. 7 He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. 8 He sets them among princes, even the princes of His own people!
Psalms 113:4-8 NLT
4 But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. 5 So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God's grace has saved you. 6 God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom because we belong to Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-6 NIrV
32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else?
Romans 8:32 NLT
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39 NLT