TOO BIG A THOUGHT

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 22 April 2012

Hi all,

Swaziland is great. I’ve spent the past few hours watching the trees grow. Not very stimulating or exciting; but very relaxing. Perfect for pensioners on holiday!

I’m still experimenting with an easier way to “blog” my poetry

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Time with Jesus – Sunday, 22 April 2012
INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES					TOO BIG A THOUGHT
My father was sent to South Africa by his company in 1947. We arrived in Cape Town in the middle of January. I have only dim, indistinct memories of the sea voyage from Southampton to Cape Town on the Carnarvon Castle. At that time the ship was still built as a troop ship so the women and children were on one side and the men on the other. After the austerity of WW2 in UK, Mom told me years later that she thought she was seeing “fairyland” All the lights were on and rationing was a thing of the past. My fifth birthday took place two months later. I’ve got a couple of faint memories of war-time UK. So faint that I’m not sure if they were genuine or my imagination. There was one incident from those days which I’ll never forget. Somehow or other I managed to lock myself in a cupboard in my grand-parents’ house. The incident is unclear. The feeling of utter terror still lives in my memory. Sure, I was rescued “double quick” but that terror invaded my psyche and at times comes back. It’s probably demonic. But that doesn’t help a four year old child. A little later, in Durban in Glenwood, I was lying on my back on the hotel lawn and looking up at the sky. Suddenly the enormity of it “hit me” and that feeling of terror returned. It was a panic attack. After a while I calmed down but had these two memories that influenced me for more years than I prefer to remember. Satan was behind it and for many years I struggled with them. It took 48 years for me understand it. Why? Hadn’t Jesus delivered me from panic attacks when I was 18 and committed my life to Him? Yes and No! The sad thing is that it took 30 years before I could “walk in my healing”. Why? I don’t know. One thing I did establish was that it was part of a fear of death. Some folk would say Christian maturity; or immaturity, if you prefer. There is much truth in this. I suspect it sprang out of a feeling of being out of control. A four year old has no control over a cupboard door. A child has no control over the size of the universe! One truth is that the younger we are, the more we look forward and enjoy the prospect of life! We don’t want to die. The younger we are, the more we seek to prolong life. Now, at the other end of life, it’s good to know that although I share the same fear of death as the average Christian, it is no longer an issue. I’m not asking to die, but have realised that it’s inevitable. Moreover, as more and more bits of me cease to function with the precision they had 30 years ago, the more I’m looking forward to a resurrection body. I suppose I could say that the fear of death is slowly diminishing. Some day in the future when everything has shut down, I’ll go and be with Jesus. That’s exciting. Indeed, Paul commented that he was .looking forward to going home and his resurrection body 54 When this body that decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture will come true: "Death is turned into victory! 55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?"1 Corinthians 15:54-55 GW. Sounds great to me! Jim and Phyllida Strickland		13 Great is your love for me. You have kept me from going down into the grave. Psalm 86:13 NIrV					We know it is inevitable, everyone must die. And yet although we know it, the thoughts just pass us by. We know it’s not attractive to think about our death. We think somehow we’ll miss it and fight for every breath. But it is an illusion. We’ll all be dead some day. Unless our Lord and Master “raptures” us away. For Jesus Christ can do it. He’s God and has the power, To stop us going to the grave on any day or hour. He’s done it for two others. He’s risen from the grave. He is in fact the only One Who has the power to save. Some other men have claimed this. But it is only lies. Which we will see the instant our mortal body dies. In any case, they’re people. The same as me and you. And saving anybody is something we can’t do. But Jesus Christ can do it. He is the One to fear. Yes! He has the ability to draw salvation near. He says He has redeemed us and called us all by name. No other man was good enough to take away sin’s shame. A man can’t save another. The cost is far too high. To think that I am good enough! “That’s pie up in the sky!” So I have been disqualified. I cannot do for me, What Jesus came and did for us upon Mount Calvary. A human life Is special; the cost is very steep. But Jesus died for all of us. That can’t be seen as cheap. The life of God is worth much more than all whom He has made. So if He died for all of us, the price is fully paid. So Jesus paid our ransom. He paid it with His blood. For all the sinful people He’d fashioned out of mud. He did it in His mercy; He did it by His grace. He did it so that wicked men could look Him in the face. It was His sense of justice He had to satisfy; And every sin demanded that someone had to die. All of us are sinners. It’s death we all must reap. A coffin is our future home where we will be “asleep” Then at the time decided He’ll call us from the grave. We’ll rise when He commands it and enter His enclave. We’ll be with Him in glory and death will then be dead. A thought that is a bit too big to squeeze into my head! Jim Strickland – Written 22nd April 2012.
		28 "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 NLT
		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. Isaiah 43:1 ESV
		11 I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Saviour. Isaiah 43:11 NLT
		25 "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25 ESV
		6 They trust in their wealth. They brag about how rich they are. 7 No man can pay for the life of anyone else. No one can give God what that would cost. 8 The price for a life is very high. No payment is ever enough. Psalms 49:6-8 NIrV
		24 He is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; Job 33:24 ESV
		4 But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT
		12 No one else can save us. Indeed, we can be saved only by the power of the one named Jesus and not by any other person." Acts 4:12 GW
Compiled – Sunday, 22 April 2012	P O Box 1694, Randpark Ridge, 2156, South Africa			Page 1 of 1	14 Conduit Street, Johannesburg North, 2153, South Africa			Printed - Sunday, 22 April 2012
Email - jim.s@telkomsa.net - ejsnpbs@gmail.com Phyllida@telkomsa.net	Mobile +2782 755 8872		Jim & Phyllida Strickland			Home+2711 462 4061; Neotel+2711 234 5670		Fax +2786 531 4962
	E:\My Documents\MS Word\Time with Jesus\2012\Devotionals\20120422 - Time with Jesus A.doc							PBS Mobile 082 574 0750

ENOCH GOES MISSING

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 21 April 2012

Hi all,

This morning I send you greetings from Swaziland where we are having a short break with a friend we have known since 1985. We won’t be home until 27^th April and will enjoy the break!

Comments, and previous Devotionals can be found on my Blog – http: //jimnphyllida.blogspot.com I’m still experimenting with an easier way to “blog” them

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Time with Jesus – Saturday, 21 April 2012
INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES					ENOCH GOES MISSING
Adam Seth Enosh Kenan Mahalalel Jared Enoch The comment about Enoch in Genesis 5 is one of the most unusual in the Bible. For convenience the male line from Adam to Enoch is shown alongside. If you examine the lifespan of these m en you will find that it is quite possible that Adam knew Enoch. According to the ages given, Adam lived for 930 years. Presumably this means 930 years after the fall of man. We will also find that Enoch was born when Adam was 622 years old. If you do a bit of mathematics you will find that Enoch was taken to be with the Lord 57 years after the death of Adam. You will also find that Adam was the first in the male line to die after Enoch was born. I’m not sure if this influenced the Lord to “rapture” Enoch when He did. The mathematics are, however, fascinating. Have a ‘go’ at compiling the names with their dates! We are told that Enoch walked with God during Adam’s lifetime. Have you ever wondered what impression this made on Adam? His great, great, great, great, grandson had a relationship with God that he (Adam) had lost! Did it make Adam envious? We don’t know. I think I would be a bit envious if I was Adam. I recall a story about Enoch asking Adam why they had been “thrown out” of the garden. Like most men, he blamed his wife. He said she had eaten them out of house and home! We only know of three men who were taken up to heaven. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Elijah was taken there in a fiery chariot. Enoch was taken by God in a manner not stated. Was Enoch’s “rapture” a sort of prophetic statement concerning Jesus? I suspect it was, but won’t fight with you if you don’t agree. Is there a significance of these being pre-flood, post-flood and Christian? We don’t know. What thrills me is the fact that if you walk with God long enough in sincerity and purity as best as you are able, the Lord has a reward for you. Sadly, none of us has 300 years to do it in. Do we have the perseverance to do this? Good question. The best comment that I can make comes in the form of an old chorus which we sang in the 1960’s. “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before”. Perhaps it’s just as well that we don’t have 300 years still to go. Another 10 or 20 years is quite sufficient for me. So, what happened to Enoch? As the poem says, I’m looking forward to asking him the same question. There are probably dozens of us who want to do the same. Jim & Phyllida Strickland		24 Enoch walked with God. Then he couldn't be found, because God took him from this life. Genesis 5:24 NIrV					No one knew what happened. He simply wasn’t there, They did their best to look for him; they hunted everywhere They checked the many places where he’d been seen to walk. They wondered who was with him. They’d often heard them talk! It really was a mystery. They knew that he was gone. They thought that God had taken him; for answer there was none! They said that he was talking with God, The Lord Most High. Perhaps he was a friend of God Who thought he shouldn’t die? And so the Lord had taken him. They didn’t realise, That God had walked with Enoch, who vanished from their eyes. It seemed that Enoch walked with God for some three hundred years. The father of Methuselah, had loved God, it appears. They couldn’t walk together unless they were agreed! Their friendship was so precious; God must have done the deed. Was there a better reason the Lord took him away? It’s still a valid question right down until today. Was Enoch so remarkable, God thought that he should see, The one Whom He decided would die for you and me? Of course we can’t be certain and God knows everything. But Enoch’s own salvation, by Jesus’ cross He’d bring! Was he a kind of “first-fruits” to make all men inspired, To see there is a great reward for doing as required, By Father, Son and Spirit? Christ’s blood drew Enoch near. And shows that a relationship will drive away all fear. And though we once were enemies, His Son has made a way, For us to be a friend of God like Enoch in his day! O Lord this is fantastic. One day we’ll be caught up, A little bit like Enoch was and all of us will sup, With Jesus Christ our Master; and we can hardly wait, To go into the heavenlies, where we will celebrate, The glory of the Father, the Spirit and the Son, Around His banquet table and give thanks for what He’s done. I’m sure we will know Enoch. We’ll spot him instantly. I’m sure he will then tell us all, “What God has done for me!” And as we listen to him as clear as any bell He’ll give the explanation that only he can tell. And all of us will marvel that our God of love and grace Has opened up a way for us to meet Him face to face. Jim Strickland – Written 21st April 2012
		3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? Amos 3:3 NLT
		20 God was pleased to bring all things back to himself because of what Christ has done. That includes all things on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ's blood, through his death on the cross. 21 At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways. 22 But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ's death has made you holy in God's sight. So now you don't have any flaw. You are free from blame. Colossians 1:20-22 NIrV
		13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NLT
		10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:10-11 NLT
		3 This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 GW
		14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV
Compiled – Saturday, 21 April 2012	P O Box 1694, Randpark Ridge, 2156, South Africa			Page 1 of 1	14 Conduit Street, Johannesburg North, 2153, South Africa			Printed - Friday, 20 April 2012
Email - jim.s@telkomsa.net - ejsnpbs@gmail.com Phyllida@telkomsa.net	Mobile +2782 755 8872		Jim & Phyllida Strickland			Home+2711 462 4061; Neotel+2711 234 5670		Fax +2786 531 4962
	E:\My Documents\MS Word\Time with Jesus\2012\Devotionals\20120421 - Time with Jesus A.doc							PBS Mobile 082 574 0750

FROM SAUL TO PAUL

Time with Jesus - Friday, 20 April 2012

Hi all,

Wow! Thanks a million. The general consensus is that the new three column “Time with Jesus” is a winner. Thanks to everyone who has commented. So I’ll stick to this format. I particularly like having the Scriptures central. His Word is central in the lives of His followers so having them central makes good sense to me. This will definitely simplify the book next year; always assuming that we are all here next year. I would raise no objection if He decides to return before then!

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

INTRODUCTION

Do you have a testimony? Many of us have one of some sort. Some are dramatic. Rather like Paul, they can point to a time and place. “This is how I was”, they say. “This is what He has done in my life”. I can say that too, although nothing quite as dramatic as Paul’s was. Some years ago I heard a story that helped me with this difficulty. It seems that a lady evangelist was visiting a church. (Lady evangelists are out there somewhere!) Another lady had been asked to chauffer her around. Accordingly, these two women spent several hours together. At one of the meeting, the evangelist gave her testimony. She spoke of where she had been. Drugs, prostitution, alcohol. You name it and she had been there. Then very dramatically she heard about Jesus Christ and what He could do in her life. She was converted “on the spot”. Jesus broke all her addictions, cleaned her up and called her into His service. The outcome was like night and day. Later that afternoon driving the evangelist to her next appointment, the “chauffer” broke down in tears. She turned and said to the woman, “I don’t have a testimony at all. I was brought up in a Christian home. I committed my life to Jesus when I was a young girl. I’ve always known Him. Nothing like what has happened to you has happened to me. At that the evangelist herself started crying. “You’ve got a much better testimony than I have”, she mumbled through eyes awash with tears. “I can only speak of His saving power. You can speak of His keeping power”. They stopped at the nearest safe stopping place and embraced. The power of what Jesus Christ can do in the lives of His people is limitless. We hear of testimonies, “From the gutter-most to the uttermost”. At times they are dramatic. Mine was fairly typical of your average teenage male in the 1960’s, along with one or two other things I prefer not to remember. Then Jesus came into my life. I’d like to say that I’ve been as faithful to Him as He has been to me. I haven’t. But on the occasions when I’ve returned to Him, something like the prodigal son, all that “stuff” didn’t seem to matter. He made me welcome and enabled me to pick up where I’d left off. That was the greatest surprise. He found me 52 years ago. I didn’t find Him. I wasn’t even looking for Him. But He found me! That’s the really unbelievable part. For the past 32 years He’s walked with me. Through the ups and downs of life He has never let me down. He’s said He never will!

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES

15 "'Who are You, lord?' I asked. "And the Lord replied, 'I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting. Act 26:15 NLT 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." Matthew 14:27 ESV 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Isaiah 43:2-3 NLT 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 ESV 23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (Meaning, God with us). Matthew1:23 ESV 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  Matthew 1:20-21 ESV 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1 ESV 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Romans 8:34-35 ESV

FROM SAUL TO PAUL

The first Damascus visit that was carried out by Saul, Transformed his life forever; and so they called him Paul. He set out breathing curses against “Christians” who’d been Jews. He wanted to arrest them so they could be accused, Of following a man Saul considered was a cheat; A Rabbi whom they’d crucified. This ‘sect’ he had to beat. As he neared Damascus, Saul saw a blinding light. He heard a voice Who spoke to him and gave him such a fright He fell upon the pathway his face against the floor. “Saul, what is the reason you persecute Me for?” “Who are you Lord?” Saul answered. “I’m Jesus!” He replied. “It’s Me you’re persecuting! From now, you’re on My side! So Saul became a Christian. We know the story well. And Paul went to the Gentiles, to save their souls from Hell. This story of the impact that Jesus has on men, We find has been repeated, time and time again. He brings with Him the savour of His delightful peace. He proclaims His presence and all our worries cease. If we are in deep waters, He said He’d calm us down. Soothing every worry and banishing our frown. Even in the furnace, we will not be consumed. It’s only Jesus’ enemies who’ll find that they are doomed. Walking in the valley, when death is all around; Evil can’t befall us, if in Him we abound. His rod and staff protect us. His comfort calms us so. We call His Name Emmanuel, God with us where we go. He came here as a miracle. A virgin girl conceived, And gave birth to the Son of God. That’s what we all believe. They gave Him the Name “Jesus”. He saved us from our sin. He is our Righteous Advocate and he is bound to win. And though we often stumble and sin comes in to call. We know that by His precious blood, we do not have to fall! Repentance and forgiveness are ours throughout the land. And He in His unending grace will help us all to stand. No one can condemn us. Although they all may try His Holy Spirit’s with us and He is God Most High So everything that happened to the apostle Paul Can happen to believers who make Christ Lord of all! Jim Strickland – Written 20th April 2012