GRACE GIFTS

Time with Jesus - 4 Oct 2013

Hi all,

I’ve mentioned my dad before. He was gifted by God to be an outstanding turbine erector. When he was 15, he started working of C A Parsons & Co in Heaton Works, Newcastle on Tyne. His father (my grandfather) had a senior position in the Despatch Department and, in spite of the depression, persuaded the company to take on my father as an apprentice fitter and turner in the factory. 

He started working there in 1932. He told me that his starting wages were in the order of 5/- (five shillings) per week. Not a lot of money. But since you could buy a house for £500, (my grandmother paid that for her house in Hull) it was probably par for the course. In those days my dad was a smoker. (He stopped in 1951) If I remember correctly, he could buy 10 cigarettes and a box of matches for less than 1/-. He worked 5½ days per week. However, he was a skilled fitter, who took to the job like a “duck to water”. He made rapid progress through his 5 years of training. So much so, they sent him to work in the Outside Department. 

This means that he travelled from construction site to construction site where turbo-generators were being installed in the small power stations of those days. Once again his gifts were appreciated and in 1937 he was one of their itinerant installers/repairers. He was unsupervised and thrived on the work. When the war began, he was working in a reserved occupation all over Britain repairing and re-commissioning plant. He was so busy and the demands of the war were such that the company didn’t want to give him time off to get married. Where and when necessary, he would work round the clock to get plant up and running again.

I would have loved to have his skills and ability. I didn’t. I was also taken on as an apprentice fitter and turner in September 1960. They paid me £2.12/4 per week; not very much. That’s ±1/- per hour! In fact, dad had to pay for my board and lodgings in Newcastle. He was working in Essex building West Thurrock Power Station. It was a 40 hours week. Dad found me a job and Jesus found me right there. Jesus said nothing about working hours or salary. What he did tell me was according to Romans ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23 NLT

It was pointed out I’d spent 18 years earning my wages. I’d worked very hard at what I had done and was doing, so there was a big back-log due to me. It was guaranteed that I would be paid in full. Furthermore, I was warned, living the life I thought I enjoyed, would mean that by the end of my life, my accumulated wages would be astronomical. The case of the man in Matthew’s gospel was drawn to my attention. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Mat 18:24 ESV

Exactly how much this was in 1960 £ was far too much for me to calculate. I understand that it would not be possible to repay such a debt, even if I lived several lifetimes. In the meantime I was clocking up my wages at more or less the speed of light. Now Jesus had said, ²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Mat 5:28 NLT Now I was only 18 and had an eye for the ladies; something I understood is normal for an 18 year old male. But the way I was looking at them, must have been as close to “lust” as the eyes of any 18 year male could be. Yes! I had a problem. It was insoluble. If it went on much longer, ten thousand talents would be small change!

Then a voice sort of “whispered” in my inner ear, “What next? Do you want to carry on down this road?” “No sir!” was my response. “I’m in a jam aren’t I?” “You sure are” said the voice. Then the voice continued. “How would you like to swap? I’ll forgive you. More than that! I’ll pick up your wages. More than that, I’ll help you change your life so that your wage account won’t get any bigger. Here’s the deal. Commit your life to Me. Make Me Lord of your life. Promise to follow me until you die. Repent and walk with me on the “straight and narrow” road, and I’ll be your Saviour.”

“But Sir”, I replied, “what will it cost me”? “Entrance costs you nothing. From then on it costs everything you have. I’ll give it to you as a free gift.” Now even at 18 I could spot a good deal. “One question Sir!” I asked. “Is this for real? Why are you offering this to me?” I asked. “Because I love you,” the voice stated.

A gift costs nothing. If there is a cost, it’s not a gift. If you have to work for it, you have earned it. If you’ve earned it, it’s not a gift. For example, when I married Phyllida, she had four children. We have always regarded marriage as giving ourselves to each other. We are in covenant together. I gave her everything I have. She gave me everything she had. These were gifts to each other. It meant that now, all four of her children are my children. They didn’t have to earn it to “deserve it!” 

They became mine because I love Phyllida and we are in covenant together. She is my beloved and I am hers. We are committed to each other in much the same way as Jesus is committed to the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are also in covenant. The covenant of life! Phyllida and I are in the covenant of marriage. As far as we are concerned, it will never be broken.

The reality of this is the essence of giving. Phyllida and her children are a “gift” from her to me. Our gift of ourselves to each other will never be taken away. Covenant commitment demands this. Thank You Lord Jesus!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give			Time with Jesus – Friday, 04 October 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	GRACE GIFTS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Love / Goodness Joy / Faithfulness Peace / Gentleness Patience / Self Control Kindness		GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT Discerning of Spirits / Faith Word of Wisdom / Word of Knowledge Prophecy (foretelling and forth-telling) Tongues / Interpretation of Tongues Gifts of Healing / Working of Miracles		6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 1 Corinthians 12:6-8 NLT	1              Let us take on The Christ who’s the One. And walk in the gifts He will bring For all that we do Will only come true When Jesus is truly our King. 2              So let’s look around At what we have found As we have come into this place. The gifts will emerge In a powerful surge As Jesus expresses His Grace 3              Yes, let us be found Where assignments abound And let all our gifts be displayed For stewards we’ll be When the people all see A love that forever can’t fade 4              So how do we build That the Word is fulfilled And people all look to our King? It’s not you or me That the people must see, But Jesus who’s praises we sing 5              And let us all serve With sinew and nerve The One we all love and adore. For as all we give He’ll cause us to live And worship our Master much more. 6              As Moses’ face Was veiled in that place Let Jesus’ gifts be revealed. There’ll be no surprise When He opens our eyes To things we thought were concealed. 7              Fulfilment is found Where the gifting’s abound And we flow harmoniously. The ultimate end, We needn’t defend For sinners converted we’ll see!		8              We don’t want a flake Or anything fake To walk in the way we should go. So fill us with power To move hour by hour In all of the things that You know. 9              His burden is light It isn’t a fight To do all the things He desires. Just listen and do And all will come true. And His people will all be on fire. 10            Give thanks for the gifts And the way that they lift And carry your people on high. We won’t interfere When Your Spirit draws near And Jesus will cause us to fly. 11            God’s gifting is sure It’s Holy and pure And we will bring Him all the praise And if we are humble We won’t cause to stumble The people who walk in Your ways. 12            We’re not all the same And we worship the name Of Him who is more than complete. And as we harmonise And cast out all lies, We’ll all behold Satan’s defeat 13            Our body’s at rest And we will be blessed When all of our people are one. The warring will end When our knees we all bend And all of our quarrels are gone. 14            So let’s celebrate That as from this date The gifts of His Spirit we’ll see. And as we mature We’ll begin to endure And everyone here will be free.
Here we go again. Yesterday we looked at the Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit. Today’s Scriptures warrant a further look at these topics. It is widely held that the Gifts of the Spirit were only needed during the time of the apostles in order to “kick start” the Church. I’ve met many lovely Christians who are convinced of this. The view is, that something like the Apollo Space system, the Gifts of the Spirit were needed to “launch” the young church into orbit. Then, rather like part of the used rocket system, the spent parts fell back down to earth. With the satellite in orbit, those various stages were no longer required. Thus, when the church was established, the gifts were no longer needed and could crash back to earth. It’s an excellent comparison. For convenience this has been called the evangelical point of view. The real question is whether or not it is true? The Charismatic/Pentecostal (C/P) view is that the gifts are as valid today as they were some 2000 years ago. Indeed, they would go so far as to say that there has never been a time in history, since Apostolic time, that the gifts have not been in evidence. Phyllida and I are unashamedly part of the C/P stream. At the same time we are deeply grieved that this issue has divided God’s people into these two “camps”. Both streams have much to offer each other if only we could both put aside these apparent opposing positions. I rather suspect that our Lord is deeply grieved by this lack of unity. We have a great love and respect for our evangelical brothers and sisters. We love the comparative tranquillity of their services. More than anything we admire the passion they have for God’s Word. Evangelical Churches study the Scripture in a disciplined and systematic way. It has been suggested that the Evangelical “Trinity” is Father, Son and Holy Scripture. This may be unfair. But it does show the huge emphasis on reading and studying God’s Word that quite frankly, the C/P’s have not adopted. The C/P by and large tends to be shallow when it comes to the knowledge of the Bible. It has been suggested that the C/P “Trinity” is “Holy Spirit; Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit”. Again it is a gross simplification, but is a fair assessment of C/P’s by our Evangelical brothers and sisters. Sadly there is much truth in this comment. Far too many C/P’s know very little of the Content of God’s Word. They can quote proof texts by the score. But most of those who do, know precious little about exegesis and hermeneutics. Lots of froth and bubble; lots of excitement, singing and dancing. But how often does the preacher even read from the Bible? Not very often. What both streams need today is the Evangelical commitment to God’s Word and the C/P freedom and enthusiasm. O Lord help! We badly need each other! Jim & Phyllida Strickland				19 Some men from Manasseh defected from the Israelite army and joined David when he set out with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But as it turned out, the Philistine rulers refused to let David and his men go with them. After much discussion, they sent them back, for they said, "It will cost us our heads if David switches loyalties to Saul and turns against us." 20 Here is a list of the men from Manasseh who defected to David as he was returning to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each commanded 1,000 troops from the tribe of Manasseh. 21 They helped David chase down bands of raiders, for they were all brave and able warriors who became commanders in his army. 1 Chronicles 12:19-21 NLT
				32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. 33 Of Zebulon 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David with singleness of purpose. 1 Chronicles 12:32-33 ESV
				8 A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can't make up his mind about anything. James 1:8 GW
				25 God's purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 GW
				4 There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything. Ephesians 4:4-6 GW
					Jim Strickland Written 2009