LET US DRAW NEAR

There isn’t an alternative; it’s quite enough for me, To serve the Lord Almighty wherever He may be. Perhaps He’s in the Temple? He may be in the field. No matter where the Master is, my will to Him I yield. He always is my refuge; my shelter from the storm. His Holy Presence is enough; I wish it was my norm. O Lord I love Your Temple; it’s where Your glory dwells. Just knowing Lord that You are there, it’s more than tongue can tell! I’d rather spend a day with you than in some other place. A thousand days without You; exceeds what I can face. I’d rather be a doorkeeper; I’d rather be on guard; Than following the other folk right into Satan’s yard. He can give me nothing but misery and pain. But Father, You provide for me more than I can explain. You give great satisfaction to those who draw in near. Your goodness and Your mercy, fill me with Holy fear. O Lord, You are my portion and my inheritance; To stray for just a moment makes very little sense. For if You are not present, what can protect my soul? No other in creation can ever make me whole. Why should I need protection when You are on my side? A thousand men will look at me, then run away and hide. They are intimidated; at times they even flee. It must be Jesu’s presence each one of them can see. O Lord my God why is this? Why is it they react? We’re forced to the conclusion your presence is a fact! And so we realise that when You are on the scene, They know about Your presence and just what that can mean. Perhaps the blood of Jesus is what they comprehend? Perhaps they know instinctively that they cannot defend, Against the One whose power is greater than their own?     But they will have to face You while they are all alone.

O Lord You opened up for us a new and better way. A route we didn’t know about until this very day; And since we are forgiven and can rely on You, We have a holy confidence in everything we do. So we can come in boldly before Your Fathers throne. And know He will receive us as if we are His own. Jim Strickland – written Saturday, 24 September 2011

HOMEWARD BOUND

It happened back in Egypt some thousand years ago. Our people in such slavery, we trust you’ll never know. The task-masters were vicious; our people felt the lash. The pace was unrelenting; they treated us like trash. Each Israelite was helpless; they couldn’t get away. And they’d succumbed to hopelessness as day succeeded day. It seemed we’d been forsaken for some four hundred years. But “God has not abandoned us”, this thought allayed our fears. And then the Lord sent Moses; he came at God’s behest. He led us as a people to a land the Lord had blessed. Then we were disobedient; and we were led away. This time it was to Babylon where we were forced to stay. As Jeremiah prophesied, we knew captivity; And seventy years later is when we were set free. We wondered why it happened. Then God made it so clear, Our people broke the covenant; that’s why He sent us here. He needed to bring discipline into our people’s ways. If we were disobedient, and not done what He says, The outcome would be punishment; and He would carry on, Until the last resistance in all of us had gone. The Lord had not abandoned us. It happened for the best. A mother can’t abandon the baby at her breast! Indeed that was unthinkable; He couldn’t turn away, The family of Abraham; with them He’d always stay. And so the Lord had answered; King Cyrus was in place; - Isaiah 44:28 We’d leave the Babylonians and all of that disgrace; To journey to Jerusalem to build a house of prayer, Where we could pray for Babylon and all that happened there. The Lord had not forgotten us. Our names had been engraved, Upon the palms of both His hands to make sure we were saved. The city of Jerusalem He said He can’t forget,     The picture of it’s shattered walls; before His face was set.

And so we were returning to our homeland once again. Not many would go back with us; a mere handful of men. Now we are on a journey, the temple to rebuild. We hope that when it’s finished, the Lord God will be thrilled. That is our chief intention; our discipline complete. O Lord, please undertake for us; we don’t need a repeat.  Jim Strickland – written Friday, 23 September 2011

MESSIAH

I have to use superlatives in praise of Christ my King. But they are insufficient, to speak of everything That He has been, or He will be, on any future date! For language is inadequate; it’s far too poor to state, In words that are coherent, how wonderful He’s been, To those who are His bond-slaves; the ones He has washed clean. Our purpose is to worship Him; to give Him all our praise. So let us praise and worship in a Scriptural turn of phrase! An apple tree in blossom among the forest trees;  -  SoS 2:3 GW With fruit that tastes delightful and only seeks to please. He’s dark and He is dazzling more than ten thousand men. – SoS 5:10 His head is of the finest gold; His hair like a raven. – SoS 5:11 His sparkling eyes appear like doves beside a mountain spring, – SoS 5:12 Like jewels that are washed in milk; fairer than anything. – SoS 5:12 His cheeks emit a fragrance; a park’s spice they infer; – SoS 5:13 note  park =garden His lips are like the lilies, perfumed with finest myrrh! – SoS 5:13 His arms like rounded bars of gold inlaid with chrysolite.– SoS 5:14 His body, polished ivory with sapphires shining bright. – SoS 5:14 His legs like marble pillars in sockets of fine gold. – SoS 5:15 His posture is as stately as the cedar trees are bold. – SoS 5:12 He is of utmost value; a pearl of highest cost. – Matt 13:46 We cannot live without Him; without Him we are lost. And God has given all to Him; complete authority! – Eph 1:18 He is the head of everything for all eternity. This news cannot be hidden; It’s open and laid bare, - Mark 7:24 For all the world to recognise, regardless when or where! A very special person Who speaks to one and all. – John 7:46 The God-man more exalted than any we recall! He is King of Creation. He is the Lord of Lords. – Rev 1:5 The one Who has dominion; more than this world affords! How can I then do justice to; or speak about the One; Who broke the power of Satan and ahead of us has gone? To be with Him forever. To worship constantly! It surely is impossible for folk like you and me, To put down in a language that man can understand?  - John 7:46 The wonder of His Majesty and faithfulness He’s planned,- Psalm 31:16 For those who will submit to Him; will see His smiling face; – Psalm 4:6 & 31:16 There is no higher privilege for all the human race! Jim Strickland - written Thursday 22 Sept 2011

MEMORIES

One thing we know for certain; It’s that God cannot forget. The Person who knows everything, and the enormous debt The people have placed on Him. If memory could fail, Then God would not be perfect, and we’re just as well in jail. God has a perfect memory. No instance has gone by That He cannot recall it, and tell the reason why. But that’s to be expected from Divine Omniscience. So how does that affect us? What is the consequence Of coming to our Maker, and asking to be free, If He cannot forget about what’s in our history? The answer is quite simple. Because our God is King He says He won’t remember that ugly dreadful thing. It’s not that He’s forgotten it; that never could take place! He says He won’t remember the source of our disgrace. So if He won’t remember it, for us it is the same, As if He had forgotten it. And that’s why Jesus came! It wasn’t just a matter of setting sinners free; But asking of His Father, Please block that memory. It’s not that You’ve forgotten. It is a great deal more, Than sitting on the sideline and adding up the score. And just because He loves us He lays that all aside. We know it’s not forgotten, but will not be applied! Which means that for our purposes, the outcome is the same, As it was forgotten and cleansed in Jesus Name. The implications of this are surely staggering; He welcomes us as children who have not committed sin. His Son has worked a miracle. God’s memory’s in check. And He will not recall it and lay it on our neck. This means that everything we do has favour with the Lord. We may think it’s disastrous but take Him at His Word. He says our situation will always ‘come up trumps’, While Jesus is our Master who deals with all the bumps! So even though our bodies grow weaker day by day; Our spirit man grows stronger in each and every way. And though the opposition may last a little while; We know that ultimately, we’ll look back and will smile. So when we are confronted by troubles that annoy, Aware that very shortly, our tears will turn to joy! Our faith may have been tested but in it we have grown, And we have learned endurance in ways we’ve never known. Let us therefore be thankful; He’s perfecting us each day; To be more like Him regardless, come what may! Jim Strickland – written Wednesday, 21 September 2011

GRACE

They say it means God’s Riches At Jesus Christ’s Expense; And when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. For Grace is so contrary to everything men think. To get something for nothing could drive the world to drink! We’ve all been preconditioned to work for a reward. A sort of mental “fairness”, that means we can’t afford, To see someone get slightly more when equally employed. And if you’re given more than me it makes me most annoyed. So grace is contradictory to everything we know. The world demands equality no matter where we go. But Father isn’t like that; we don’t get equal pay. He does whatever pleases Him in spite of all we say. For grace is not dependent on anything we do. He gives it with abandon to folk like me and you. He says we cannot earn it; it doesn’t work that way. He gives it from the mercy He pours out every day. He says we cannot earn it. The price is far too high. And even if we’re working until the day we die, We don’t have one instalment to pay off the price of sin. The money in the universe can’t fix the mess we’re in. So God took the decision that He would pay the price. Forgiveness was available and given in a trice, To anyone who came to Him, no matter what they’d done; Provided they repented and believed in Christ His Son. He wouldn’t make it difficult for anyone to do. He would give His riches to men like me and you. Perhaps it was the opposite of anything we’d earned. His grace would make it possible in spite of all we’d learned. His grace became the substance of how He treated men. And though they had resisted Him time and time again; Though it was the opposite of what they aught to get; His gift of grace would see that His requirements were met. So grace is given freely to any man alive. There was no way to earn it, no matter how they strived. Regardless of all we’d done His grace would meet the need, Of those who had repented from all their evil deeds. No sin we can imagine that any could commit, Can possibly prevent us, or render us unfit, For being a recipient of His amazing grace; No matter what our standing within the human race. I know I couldn’t earn it and so He gave to me, His grace in its abundance and was absolutely free. Jim Strickland – written Monday, 19 September 2011 God's Riches At Christ's Expense