Time with Jesus - 26 Dec 2013
Hi all, 
One of my all-time favourite singers is Don Francisco. He has an excellent singing voice. In addition he is a gifted guitar player. Furthermore, he is a composer and writes the material he sings. If you combine these factors and realise that nearly everything he sings glorifies Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, you begin to appreciate the impact he has made on the lives of countless believers and unbelievers.
I DON'T CARE WHERE
YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING
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I loved you long before the time your eyes
first saw the day;
And everything I've done has been to help you on the way. But you took all that you wanted, then at last you took your leave, And traded off a Kingdom for the lies that you believed! |
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And although you've chosen darkness with its
miseries and fears.
Although you've gone so far from Me and wated all those years. Even though my name's been spattered by the mire in which you lie, I'd take you back this instant if you'd turn to Me and cry. |
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I don't care where you've been sleeping, I
don't care who's made your bed.
I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me. |
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When you come back to your senses and you see
who's been to blame.
Remember all the good things that were yours with just My name; Then don't waste another thought before you change the way you're bound. I'll be running out to meet you if you'll only turn around! |
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I don't care where you've been sleeping, I
don't care who's made your bed
I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me. |
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I first came across his material in
1982. That year I attended Bible School in the evenings. ±3 hours per night, 5
nights per week; it was exhilarating and fairly exhausting.
In those days, I was working for
Eskom. This necessitated my having to drive from Jo’burg to the various Power
Stations mainly in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal.
The round trip
took about 3 hours plus, with the time required to conduct the business for
which I visited them. It kept me fairly busy. While driving a car, you can be
very lonely. To redeem the time, I took cassette tapes with me and listened to
them while driving. Mostly I listened to Gospel music. That’s how I came across
Don Francisco.
The round trip
took about 3 hours plus, with the time required to conduct the business for
which I visited them. It kept me fairly busy. While driving a car, you can be
very lonely. To redeem the time, I took cassette tapes with me and listened to
them while driving. Mostly I listened to Gospel music. That’s how I came across
Don Francisco.
As most of you know, in 1981 I went
through a horrible divorce experience. Then, a few months later, Phyllida and I
married. We were both satisfied that our marriage was God’s plan for our lives.
32 years later, we have not changed our minds. However, in those early years,
we felt “second class”. We knew only too well that God hates divorce. The
question at that time was whether or not, marriage after divorce, was
acceptable in God’s eyes. In other words, should the two of us have married in
1981? We felt that we had done the right thing. Even so, we felt intimidated. We
may have done the wrong thing!
We devoted a considerable amount of
time to investigating what Scripture said about this topic. We found that the opinions
of others varied. We knew that divorce was “breaking covenant” with our
previous husband/wife. Of course it’s always easy to justify things after
having done whatever it was. Men and women have an uncanny ability to gloss
over anything they have decided to do. Then they then feel that what they have
done is right. In this regard, only God knows the truth. Jeremiah, quoting God,
expresses this as follows: 9 "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and
desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad
it is? 10 But I, the LORD, search
all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve." Jeremiah
17:9-10 NLT
By the end of 1982, Phyllida and I
had studied everything we could get our hands on. Finally, we came across a
teaching series by Dr Ken Stewart entitled “Divorce and Remarriage”. These teachings
were life changing. So much so, we took them to many people in Johannesburg and
elsewhere.
In spite of this, we both felt “uneasy”
at times. That’s when I came across a Don Francisco tape entitled “The Live
Concert”. I listened to it “spellbound”! The track that had me riveted and in
tears was, “I don't care where you've been sleeping”. The words described my
situation almost perfectly. The words were: When
you come back to your senses and you see who's been to blame. / Remember all
the good things that were yours with just My name; / Then don't waste another
thought before you change the way you're bound. / I'll be running out to meet
you if you'll only turn around!
These words described me; what had
happened and what I’d done. It was as though Jesus was personally ministering
to me. He knew how I was feeling; the disappointment of going astray and
wasting 16 years of life. Suddenly, it was as if this was the very first time
of receiving something directly from Him! Jesus gave me the assurance we both
so badly needed. For both of us, that old spectre was banished. Those magnificent
words, “There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love”, were
healing balm to an inflamed and hurting soul. Yes, we knew that divorce was
wrong. But we also found that our sin was not stronger than His love. It wasn’t
stronger than His love in 1982. 31 years later, it’s still not stronger than
His love. Since then, I’ve managed to get hold of a copy of the cassette. We
now have a CD and installed it on our I-pod.
At the same time, we began
listening to Dr Ken Stewart’s cassette called, “What is Sin”. We were very
surprised. He reminded us that Paul had written, 22 So whatever you believe about these things, keep it
between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn't
feel guilty. He is blessed. 23 But
if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn't act in
faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 GW
That’s when we realised that if we
thought we were in sin, we were. Dr Ken then asked the question again. “What is
sin?” He answered, “Sin is forgiven”. Repentance from sin and faith in His
willingness to forgive, results in sin being forgiven.
In other words, our sin of divorce and subsequent remarriage was forgiven. It still is today. Thank you Lord Jesus.
In other words, our sin of divorce and subsequent remarriage was forgiven. It still is today. Thank you Lord Jesus.
Shalom,
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 26 Dec 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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TEN
OUT OF TEN
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Science fiction has always fascinated me. I think
it’s the “impossible” aspect that catches my attention. If it has a touch of
the ludicrous, it really draws my attention. For example I thoroughly enjoyed
the one about the metal coat hangers in the closet. The number seemed to grow
day by day. So the author began to write about a closet in which coat hangers
reproduced! After observing this for a day or two, he wondered if anything
else would multiply in that closet. It didn’t work with money. But it did
work with bicycles. That really amused me. The thought of someone trying to
get a bicycle into the closet is hilarious.
The other was a story by Isaac Asimov. He was a professor
of bio-chemistry. In the course of his experiments, he came across a substance
that dissolved in water astonishingly quickly. It occurred to him that if it
was any more soluble, it would dissolve before the water was added. Since he
was busy writing a doctoral thesis at the time, he decided to write a
“scientific report” about this mythical substance. He said he needed practice
writing in the typical “turgid” style demanded of science reports. So he
wrote the “report”, complete with graphs and experimental results. He
included references to other equally mythical reports found in science
journals. It was great fun to read and was popular in the biochemical world!
As we all know, Prof Asimov’s report about this
mythical substance is strongly representative of Christian behaviour and the
Lord. We live in a delusional society. Men and women all around us believe
they are Christians when it is not true. You know what I mean. They go to
church. The same one their family has attended for more years than anyone can
remember. They live a perfectly normal life and think they are Christians by
default. After all if you live in USA or UK and you are not Jewish or Muslim,
you must be a Christian! As long as they aren’t involved with any of the
sects, they are on God’s side. In the end He’ll receive them to His great
reward. After all, that’s what God does!
What makes this thinking so dangerous is the fact
that there is a passing grade for everything in life. In my day you required
40% to pass into the next grade. In any case, nobody got 100% in the exams.
That was unreasonable. Sadly, the thinking is that God works like that too! I
mean, after all, if the University only needs 50%, surely God won’t require
much more. That’s what I thought. I knew I was a sinner. On my own, I still
have those tendencies. But to find out that one false move resulted in complete
rejection wasn’t even on my radar. Then Jesus found me! That’s when I saw I
was a “Monster of Iniquity”! I deserved hell. But Jesus loved and saved me. I
still don’t know why?
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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25 Therefore he is able to save completely
those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede
for them.
Hebrews 7:25 TNIV
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He saves us from the “gutter-most”,
wherever we have been.
He saves us to the “uttermost”; He’s
washed and made us clean!
Who can understand this? I’ve tried to
work it out.
But it’s incomprehensible. Of that
there is no doubt.
I thought I was a good guy. That’s what
I perceived.
A sort of “average sinner” and that I
hadn’t grieved,
God’s precious Holy Spirit. “I can’t
be all that bad!”
When I looked at others! If I’d done
what they had,
Then I’d deserve His judgement. But
fifty one per cent,
Was all I thought I needed and what
God really meant.
Perhaps I wasn’t perfect. This fact I
would concede.
But surely fifty one per cent was all
a man would need!
I hadn’t murdered anyone. I hadn’t
been a thief.
Apart from pens and pencils; which
much to my relief,
I thought was not important. The
bosses didn’t mind,
Because they also did it. So wasn’t in
a bind.
I know I was a liar; but they were
little tales.
Not enough to tell me that my
percentage fails.
I wasn’t very envious about the things
I saw.
Except the Aston Martin the people owned
next door.
I hadn’t been adulterous. I hadn’t had
the chance.
But I have looked at ladies with a
most erotic glance!
I hadn’t worshiped other gods. It’s
really not my way.
But I followed my football team on
each and every day.
I didn’t go with sinners. With them I
didn’t mix.
So, on a scale of one to ten, I must
deserve a six.
This meant I’m so much better than the
average man around.
It follows that to heaven I certainly
was bound.
And then I came to Jesus. What was it
that He saw?
Someone who depended on a more than
average score.
He said that He demanded, from all the
sons of men,
Absolute perfection. A score, ten out
of ten!
Its then I came to realise that I had
been a fool.
Life is not a game you play like kids
in Sunday School.
In fact it is impossible to ever get
it right.
But absolute perfection was demanded
in God’s sight.
So I fell before Him. O Lord what can
I do?
“Let me take away your sin and wash you
through and through.
Man can never do it. It’s done in Me
alone.
For your myriad of sins, I only can atone.
Come and be My servant. Repent and let Me
be,
The one who has the power to live a holy
life in thee!
Then you’ll have My righteousness. Your
sins I’ll take away.
We will be together, with Me you’ll always
stay.”
Jim Strickland
Written
26th December
2012
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6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 TNIV
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12 And there is salvation in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be
saved."
Acts 4:12 ESV
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27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them,
and they follow Me. 28 I give
them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away
from Me,
John 10:27-28 NLT
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6 I'm convinced that God, who began this
good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ
Jesus.
Philippians 1:6 GW
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14 Is anything too hard for the LORD?
I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 18:14 NLT
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24 Now to him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with
great joy, 25 to the only God,
our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and
authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25 ESV
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