MASTER

Time with Jesus - 23 Aug 2013

Hi all,

Have you ever wondered what Adam understood when ¹⁶ the LORD God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden ¹⁷ - except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die." Gen 2:16-17 NLT

I’ve read this verse and wrestled with it, to try and get inside it. For me, the big problem is what he understood by “you are sure to die”! After all, he was in a sinless world in which there was no death. What did he know about death? He could not have seen a dead body. Death was completely absent! What was that like? 

We can only guess. Likewise, we know nothing of a death-free world. On the contrary, we thrive on death! Compost is an example. 

Furthermore, what would predators eat if they didn’t kill other animals? We also eat dead animals. We have a thriving meat industry in South Africa. What about plant life? What do you do with roses when they have bloomed? In a deathless world, would plants grow, or would they be in bloom eternally?

If there was no death, would there be any cemeteries? What for, if nothing dies? 

What would lions eat? Isaiah prophesied about a time when Messiah reigned saying: ⁶ The wolf will romp with the lamb, the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them. ⁷ Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Isa 11:6-8 MSG

Uiileann Pipes
The Irish Bagpipes

We have some concept of what conditions will be like after Jesus has returned. I have no proof for this, but I guess it will not be grossly different from the creation before the fall. In this regard we know that people lived for many years after the fall. Methuselah lived for 969 years. It was much the same for most of the recorded antediluvians.

Riverdance

Adam must have had a wonderful time in Eden. He walked and talked with God in the cool of the evening. Does this mean the earth was revolving on an axis? If this was not the case, how would anyone know it was in the cool of the evening? There can be no evening without a morning and a night!

Final Outcome for all

In his letter to Corinth Paul wrote, ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Cor. 15:22-26 ESV.

If the last enemy to be defeated is death, we must assume that death will continue to be a part of life until Jesus returns. This means that until He does, you and I have an appointment with death. It’s not a threat. It is a fact. 

As my dad would say, “It’s as sure as God made little apples.” We know it’s true because when we look at each other as the years roll by, our physical appearance changes. I’m not the man I was 30 years ago. I can’t do a lot of that “stuff”. I haven’t got the strength. I’m a bit like the 90 year old man who was arrested and charged with rape. “Are you guilty or not guilty” asked the judge. “Guilty” replied the old man. “Memories! Memories!”

Memories are very important for all of us. As we grow older, our memories reach further and further back into our past lives. We have good memories and bad memories. Strangely enough, we seem to hang onto the good ones. The ladies seem to have memories that are more accurate and with more detail than men. In spite of this we like to cast our minds back to the days of yesteryear.

Foster and Allen

In today’s meditation, if you like Irish folk tunes with words changed to Christian lyrics, you’ll enjoy what I’ve written. I’ve taken “Maggie”, an Irish folk song made popular by Foster and Allen in the 1980’s. I’ve changed the word “Maggie” to “Master” and made it applicable to Phyllida and me, in praise of what Jesus Christ has done for us. It’s a bit of a “tear-jerker”. 

Frankly, we mean every word!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 23 August 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	MASTER
In 2010, Phyllida and I took a Trafalgar Tours bus trip to places which included England, Scotland, Irish Republic and Wales. It was a wonderful tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. We “fell in love” with Ireland. It’s one of the few places in the world outside South Africa, we would like to live. It is aptly called “The Emerald Isle”. The greenery is beautiful. We loved Limerick. We went to Blarney Castle but didn’t kiss the stone. We couldn’t face all those steps to the top! The journey brought back old memories for me. Memories of 1952 and the song “Galway Bay”. I’m not sure why this song was popular at that time. It’s more like a traditional Irish folk song than anything else. The Irish are a remarkable people. The nation has been through so many unhappy incidents over the past couple of hundred years. But this has not embittered the people. We found them warm, open and friendly. We enjoyed listening to their extraordinary music. “Riverdance” has highlighted many of their talents; and traditional Irish dancing has taken the world by storm. Part of “Riverdance” features the Uilleann pipes. It has a strange, “haunting” sound that is matchless. Sometimes called Irish bagpipes, they are uniquely Irish! The songs of Foster and Allen have been favourites of ours for many years and today’s meditation takes its cue from one of their songs. Entitled “Maggie”, it’s a song about an “old” Irish couple looking back down the years of their lives. Primarily it is the man singing to the love of his life and recalling the things of yesteryear. I appreciated  it the first time I heard it sung. A small bit of research tells me they recorded the song back in 1996. However, I can remember them singing it from the mid 1980’s For some time, I thought that if Foster and Allen could immortalise “Maggie”, I could have a go at using the song as a basis for a Christian version. This one not based on “Maggie”, but upon “The Lord Jesus Christ”. The word, “Master” seemed appropriate. So a number of years ago I composed the song “Master” in similar vein. In this case it was my own personal tribute to Jesus. Then it struck me that the words applied to Phyllida and me equally. So I’ve revisited the song, added a verse and came up with a version that applies to both of us. I’m glad I did. The Lord has given us over thirty years of life together as husband and wife. They have been wonderful years. At times they have been very difficult. Not hard between us as a couple. That love has blossomed, grown and gets better every day. But we are no longer “young”. We have followed Him all our married life, into our golden years. Now we pause, look back on the past and look forward to being with Him forever. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. Isaiah 46:4 NLT	(Based on the Song “Maggie” sung by Foster and Allen) We've laboured so long in the field, Master; Or bodies are ageing and grey. Our spirits are longing to yield, Master, And go to our home far away. We've loved You with all of our heart, Master, And tried to do all You have said. We've done all we know to be part, Master, Of following where You have led. You let us be husband and wife, Master When things seemed to go down the drain Wonderful partners for life, Master You caused us to love once again. We didn’t know how it would be, Master We’d been through the pain of divorce Your loving set both of us free, Master And put us back on the right course It's been such a wonderful life, Master, In everything, we are replete. You've husbanded us like Your wife, Master, Through fellowships gentle and sweet. You've helped us in all we have done, Master; Provided assistance and aid; Together we've had so much fun, Master And You brought us back when we strayed! So as we look back down the years, Master, Remembering all we have known; The laughter, the joy and the tears, Master, We see now how much we have grown. You've caused us to come to this place, Master, Of utter contentment and peace. Your wonderful love and Your grace, Master Have caused all our strivings to cease. So what can we do but adore, Master, The God Who allowed this to be, A life that has meant so much more, Master, Than all we expected to see! Jim Strickland 23rd August 2012
			1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:1-2 ESV
			4 And I'll keep on carrying you when you're old. I'll be there, bearing you when you're old and grey. I've done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you. Isaiah 46:4 MSG
			11 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so He spread His wings to take them up and carried them safely on His pinions. 12 The LORD alone guided them; they followed no foreign gods. Deuteronomy 32:11-12 NLT
			9 In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years. Isaiah 63:9 NLT
			8 For Jesus doesn't change--yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself. Hebrews 13:8 MSG
			38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 ESV
			15 The LORD answers, "Can a mother forget the baby who is nursing at her breast? Can she stop showing her tender love to the child who was born to her? She might forget her child. But I will not forget you. Isaiah 49:15 NIrV