CALVARY FOR YOU AND ME.

Time with Jesus - Friday, 24 February 2012

Hi all,

The great tribulation! Will the church of Jesus Christ be here when it happens, or will they have been “raptured” out of the way? Called the “pre-tribulation rapture”, this is the popular opinion today. Of course God is not subject to popular opinion. So this continues to be argued by Christians internationally.

My opinion is irrelevant. What is clear is that what has happened to Christians since the birth of the Church is liable to happen again. Furthermore, it follows that if it starts again in western “Christian Nations” it need not be part of the great tribulation. I say this advisedly because the persecution and martyrdom of Christians today is a reality in many countries. In other words, persecution is merely part of everyday life for those who are committed to Jesus Christ in the 21st century. It may not have been experienced by many of us. But this does not make it any less real. There is also evidence that persecution of Christians, in one form or another, has been ongoing since the days of the early church.

I’m not in a position to comment on the nature or severity of persecution of Christians during the great tribulation. Frankly, the severity being currently experienced is bad enough to intimidate many. Certainly the prospect of this breaking out in my locality is not something I am looking forward to.

As far as I am aware, the Lord has allowed His church to be persecuted for the past ±2000 years. So if it comes calling for us in South Africa, we should not be surprised. Nor should we jump to the conclusion that such persecution is part of the great tribulation. Our attitude should be that it is our turn to experience what much of the world has known for ±2000 years!

Those of us who are serious about serving Jesus Christ would be well advised to stop worrying about the great tribulation. We should focus on what could take place anywhere and at any time where you and I live. This tribulation is more than enough for me. My own personal Calvary may not be part of the great tribulation. But it will certainly be more than enough tribulation for me!

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Calvary for You and Me.

There’s things about the Master, I do not understand. Things that have been taught to me, that do not seem too grand. We limit God the Father and “stick Him in a box”, Through things we only cling to if our head is full of rocks. So let us take a look at things which people have believed, To see if they are likely, or if we’ve been deceived. First we must acknowledge that without the Lord above, Nothing would exist and everyone could not know love. Everything created is the product of His hand; And this is true in heaven, the sea and on the land. There’s nothing we can ever do and no where we can go, That Jesus cannot look at, or hear, or see, or know. He knows when we are suffering. He knows when we are well. There’s nothing in existence, we can think about or tell. He doesn’t know the circumstance; the tiniest detail, Cannot be concealed from Him; He knows it without fail. Indeed He is the potter; and we are just the clay, And all that we have ever done, He knows in every way. There’s nothing which He cannot do. We must accept this fact. He always does what’s righteous, regardless how we act. He sits as a refiner, of silver and of gold; And purifies the people to do what He has told. He disciplines severely, each and every child, So we can be more like Him; pure and undefiled. We know He is the healer; He wants to see us well. But if we practise wickedness, He’ll send us off to Hell! He may allow the devil to put us to the test; But every time it happens, it happens for our best. He doesn’t bring us sickness, but it is also true, The trial of Job by Satan can happen unto you. And even when we’re hurting more than anything we’ve seen, He sometimes will allow it, for that is where He’s been. It happened to the Master. Why not to you and me? We have to learn obedience, to gain the victory! Our comfort’s not important and Christians have died, By facing up to torture and being crucified. Some have died in agony; by burning at the stake. Some have faced a cruelty far more than we can take. Millions have died this way; and if God’s word is true, The things that they experienced are ripe for me and you. Can it be avoided? O Lord I pray it could. But it appears the Father sees our martyrdom as good! It really makes me tremble. I’m not a masochist. But if it happens to me. Lord, help me not resist, The martyrdom you’ve chosen and allotted unto me. That I may follow faithfully and know my Calvary. Jim Strickland – Written Friday, 24 February 2012

KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 23 February 2012

Hi all,

None of us can say we know God. Those who think they do are mistaken. God is unknowable because He is infinite. Everything He is, He is infinitely. He doesn't have these “things”; He is these “things”. God does not have love. He is love. God doesn't have mercy, He is mercy. He is justice, He is omniscient, He is omnipotent, He is Omnipresent. Frankly, I don’t understand any of these “attributes”. I use the word “attributes” advisedly because I have no idea how to describe the indescribable. It’s a bit like defining colour to a man born blind! But even if we are able to define colour to a man born blind, we are only beginning to touch on the mystery of God.

God is unknowable. But here’s the paradox. He want’s us to know Him! How does that work? What illustration can we use to describe Someone Who is unknowable, Who wants us to know Him? The closest I can think of is a kitten and a University Professor. The kitten will never know the Professor. The Professor knows that; but because He loves the kitten, he want’s it to know him. The shortcoming with this description is that this is a creature dealing with another creature. Yes indeed, there is a huge gap between them. But the gap between the Creator and the Creature is infinite. It cannot be described.

We live in a “Christian Society” which, by and large, has no fear of God. David Pawson states that we have been taught to believe in the Father All-matey rather than the Father Almighty. Few of us have ever “trembled before the Lord”. He has become our “chum”. He has forgiven our sins so we can now do anything we like. God has been taught as a benign myopic old man who wants us to come back to him no matter what we have done or are still doing. Grace has been so exaggerated that there is no longer any penalty for sin in the lives of believers. The expression, “He knows what I’m like and He understands” seems to be a universal panacea for the wicked things we do. But it’s a delusion. He is just as angry about sin in a believer as He is in an unbeliever. In fact, He is angrier with a believer, because we are supposed to know better. In Proverbs we find: ¹⁰ "If you really want to become wise, you must begin by having respect for the LORD. To know the Holy One is to gain understanding. Pro 9:10 NIrV

Today, there is a desperate need among Christians to get to know the Father, albeit based on the very limited knowledge He has given us about Himself. We will never be able to communicate with God and each other until we have a basic idea of Who He is, what He allows, as well as what He will and will not tolerate.

One of the very best books I’ve read about knowing God is entitled, “The Knowledge of the Holy” Written in the late 1950’s by Dr A W Tozer. ISBN 1-85078-621-6. Our copy was printed and published by Authentic Media, 9 Holdsom Avenue, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK1 1QR, UK. Phyllida and I state unequivocally that this book has helped us acquire what little knowledge of God we have. We think it is among the greatest pieces of English literature on this topic. Do yourself a favour. Get a copy and become entranced with the wonderful God we love.

Today’s meditation is about the Knowledge of our Holy God.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Knowledge of the Holy

We’d think that understanding God would be a piece of cake. We think we have Him figured out and so we seldom take, A look at the reality; that He is so much more, Than even in our wildest dreams we thought we could explore. The King of all Creation! We’ll never comprehend, A God Who loved us sinners, enough for Him to send, His only Son to come to earth and die “upon the tree” This sort of pure extravagance make’s little sense to me. The truth is, we dwell in Him. This universe of ours; The realm of Stars and Planets, of Suns, of Rain and Showers, Is somewhere deep within Him. Space isn’t infinite. He has control of all of it and all is in His sight. It seems a contradiction, that anyone so vast, Has time to even think of us. We’d surely be the last, That He would ever bother with. In fact we are so small, We’re not even a micro-dot, on some gigantic wall!. Of course, that is the problem. We think of time and space; And consequently, we dismiss all of the human race. We think we’re insignificant. So small we do not count. How can God ever find us? We’re sure that we amount, To something like a needle in a haystack universe; Who sinned and for that reason, the lot of us are cursed. So when we’re told of Jesus, we say, “Pull the other leg, We’ve fastened bells upon it, now we can go and beg. Who knows the One who made us? He’s left us all to rot, Upon this little planet that even He forgot.” Then, when we think of Jesus, we find reality. We know we have a Holy God who cares for you and me! A God who loves each one of us, more than we’ll ever know, Who knows all of the details, of how we come and go. A God who solved our problems, when we had no idea, We even had a problem! Our lot was far from clear. For size is unimportant. He sees a galaxy, Just as well as He can look at folk like you and me. In fact He sees us better, than all the stars that shine. A star can never love Him with a love like yours and mine And that is what He’s looking for; a loving, caring folk, Who always want to be with Him; and wear His pleasant yoke. Jim Strickland Written Thursday, 23 February 2012

SOUND SLEEP

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Hi all,

We know that God never makes mistakes. It follows that everything He has done, is doing, or will do is 100% correct. But every now and then we look at things and puzzle why it was made the way He has made it. For me, the question is sleep. Why was it written into our systems? Hey, I’m not knocking it. It’s wonderful. But why was it included? I’m told that ants don’t sleep. So why do we?

It seems such a waste of time. About 8 hours per day is the average sleep we need. For some it’s a lot more and for others it’s a lot less. I’m also aware that sleep deprivation is used to get people psychologically unbalanced.

The Bible tells us that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh. We refer to this “day off” as the Sabbath. Why did God rest? He wasn’t tired. He never will be tired. If God tires, you and I are dead. He upholds everything by the power of His Word. So if He went to sleep, it would all fall apart! You can’t uphold anything while you are sleeping.

We understand that He was not speaking about rest in the sense that He was tired. He “rested” in that He ceased creating. How long this was in terms of our concept of time is interesting. Some think He perhaps went away on holiday in much the same way we do. But He doesn’t need a holiday. He has no needs. He didn’t make man because He was lonely. God is not, never has been and never will be lonely. He is utterly complete and needs nothing. We do not make Him better or worse. He is timeless and changeless. He made us for His own good pleasure. We can’t even say He wanted to, because He has no wants.

God does not sleep. So why has He created us to need sleep? We could make all sorts of suggestions. They may or may not be true. It must be something to do with the environment in which we live. Of course He designed it this way; light, gravity, air, water, and all the other factors that are the essentials of life. We are not robots. He could have made a race of robots. But such a creation would not have the ability to love or hate. In the end, in His infinite knowledge and grace, He designed man to fit into the environment He created. Actually, that’s the very opposite of the truth. He had us in mind at the very beginning. Thus everything was created so that we could live here. Every law of nature and the universe was designed with us in mind.

Psalm 121, one of the Songs of Ascent for the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem touches on the way God takes care of His people. ¹ I look up to the hills. Where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. ³ He won't let your foot slip. He who watches over you won't get tired. ⁴ In fact, he who watches over Israel won't get tired or go to sleep. Psalm 121:1-4 NIrV It doesn’t tell us why we need sleep. But it does speak of our Creator God watching over us day and night. This is our God. He doesn’t need to sleep. It’s wonderful to know that even when we are “locked in the arms of slumber” He is watching over us. Awake or asleep, we are safe in the arms of Jesus. So why do we sleep? Could it be so that we can learn to trust Him? Perhaps to learn to trust Him even when we are sleeping? What do you think?

Today’s meditation looks a bit more into this topic

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Sound Sleep

It’s not so much the sleeping, but the problems on your mind. The cares and the anxieties that we so often find, Make us pace the bedroom, looking for a way, To make the day ahead of us, far better than today. For Christians it is silly. That’s what the Lord has said. It’s pointless if we worry. We should get into bed, And leave it all with Jesus. That’s what the Bible says. Leave your many problems with the Ancient of all Days. We know we shouldn’t worry. But nonetheless we do. And often, as a consequence, we get into a stew. The “Video” keeps playing in the forefront of the mind. We’ve put it on “repeat play”, so how can we unwind? We feel a bit like cattle in the local abattoir. We think the knife is coming, let’s get away as far, As it is ever possible. Let’s “run away” to France. This thing which we are facing, is no Divine romance. And so we keep on worrying and we can’t fall asleep. We’ve even gone so far as lying down and counting sheep. But we have found it pointless. The worry in the mind, While looking for solutions, ensures that we are blind, To all the possibilities that Christ already knows. So why not switch the light off and go ahead and doze? It’s sad we don’t know Jesus in the way a Christian should. We know He’s God Almighty and we’d trust Him if we could. But worry is a habit, that all of us enjoy. Forgetting this is Satan’s trick. It’s actually his ploy, To keep our eyes off Jesus and to focus on the mess. Then it will be impossible for Jesus Christ to bless, The one who has the problem. And Satan carries on, Till our relationship with Christ has absolutely gone! So here is a suggestion, when you’re going through this pain, Say, “Satan I am certain this is only you again. Go and take a journey. This is your handiwork. For somewhere in the background you are always on the lurk, To try and get a Christian to focus upon you, Instead of praying, “Master I know that You can do, Everything that’s needed to spike the devil’s guns; And since You’ve told me plainly that we are both God’s sons Won’t you please assist me to chase this “guy” away? He is getting boring with the nonsense he does say! He is most unwelcome in this little home of mine. It’s been dedicated to Jesus Christ Divine. Father, send him packing. I never want to see, Him stopping me from sleeping, when I really have to be, Ready for tomorrow. Alive again once more, For only You are welcome to come inside my door!” Jim Strickland  Written Wednesday, 22 February 2012

SOWING AND REAPING

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Hi all,

We have all of us grown up in a world of order. It may not be a perfect world. In spite of this, the world is filled with an order than could only have originated in the Mind of the great Creator of the universe. In spite of the catastrophic results of the fall of man, certain unchangeable laws remain. One of them is the law of sowing and reaping. What is meant here is that if a pair of canines mate, they produce canines. It’s not some sort of lucky dip in which you get whatever it was that came to the surface. There may be a small evolutionary variation within that species. But dogs produce dogs and not canaries.

This is true in each and every species. When men and women reproduce, the outcome is predictably human. Could you imagine what it would be like if, after the birth, the woman handed her husband a tortoise? No! It doesn’t work that way. Like produces, or reproduces like. There may well be considerable variations within a species. Nevertheless, in spite of all the Darwinian claptrap, the baby is always the offspring of the couple in question. Science can do wonderful things today. But even with invitro-fertilisation, the outcome for men and women is a little baby human. Thank God that’s not something Satan messed up after the fall.

Fish give rise to fish. Gorillas produce baby gorillas. Cats, dogs, cows, marmosets or all other species; they will reproduce after their own kind. Satan hasn’t been able to screw that one up! Not yet, thank God.

Sometimes, that which is reproduced looks different from its parents. A moth doesn’t look like a pupa. But this is the way God intended it to be. So, what will our resurrection bodies look like? We don’t really know. John’s statement gives us some thoughts. ² Dear friends, we are already God's children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. 1 John 3:2 NLT

The Gospels and Acts give us some idea of what He looked like some 2000 years ago. Will we look like that? Scripture suggests we will be like Him. Will we be able to do what He does? Will we be able to appear and vanish, walk through walls and ascend into the sky? Good question. We don’t know. Perhaps we will all get a huge surprise. Paul puts it like this in his first letter to the Corinthians. ⁴² It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. 1 Cor 15:42-44 NLT

What more can we say? Today’s meditation looks at this in further detail.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Sowing and Reaping

We went and bought a random pack of seeds the other day. We wondered what they would produce, there wasn’t any way, That they could be identified. So what on earth would grow? Perhaps some sort of specialist could look at them and know? They didn’t look exotic. To me, they looked the same. Runner beans or flowers? We knew whatever came, Would surely be acceptable; and it was kind of fun. We planted them and watered them and left them in the sun. At first we could see nothing. We thought to dig them up. But thought that if we bothered them, we surely couldn’t sup On anything that tiny. And so we let the be, Convinced that in a few short days we’d know the mystery. And so we kept on watering and fertilised the soil. We knew none of our cosseting would cause the plants to spoil. Then finally a few small shoots appeared above the ground. That’s when our curiosity could never know its bounds! They didn’t look like anything resembling the seed. The only thing we knew for sure was that they were not weeds. That’s how Paul the apostle, described what would take place. That when we’re dead and buried, that Jesus by His grace, Would take our feeble bodies, that were lying in the grave; And give them resurrection life, we’d know was truly saved. How was it ever possible? an evil man like me, Could get a brand new body that would live eternally? The question seemed improbable. But that’s what He can do, With dead and buried sinners, the likes of me and you. I don’t know how He does it. It’s rather like the seed. It grows into a healthy plant, by His Almighty deed! Why should I understand it? Why should I ever know, That dead and buried sinners would surely sprout, and grow, Into what He intended?  But then He pointed out, That only those who loved Him would germinate and sprout. Anyone who didn’t, would stay within the grave. They hadn’t been His people and still were Satan’s slave. But if we will believe Him; and we invite Him in. He’ll bring with Him the power to smash all death and sin. That’s when He’ll take the little seed that deep within us grows; And bring forth someone beautiful - Our Master’s fragrant rose. Jim Strickland – Written Tuesday, 21 February 2012