GOD’S ABIDING LOVE

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 22 July 2012

Hi all,

Today we have a couple of “Jimmets”. The first is about the vine and the second is about keeping ourselves in God’s love. Overall we are looking at integrity. This is today’s meditation

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Sunday, 22 July 2012			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	GOD’S ABIDING LOVE
Hanging on my wall there are three certificates of which I am rather proud. They are the result of a number of years of tertiary study. They required time and effort on my behalf to obtain. No doubt many of you have similar certificates or diplomas. On occasions I’ve wondered how accurate they really are. I’ve asked myself, “How do I know that the examination was actually written by the person in question?” Much depends on the integrity of the individual and the vigilance of the examining authority. They needed to be sure it was me who sat in the exam room on the date and time. Is it possible that a “professional exam writer” went and wrote the exam on my behalf? In which case, the qualification isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Do such things happen? On occasions, I’ve felt the “expert” found his/her qualification in a lucky packet! Integrity is a very strange “thing”. There was a time when such questions were never asked. People were as good as their word. Not very long ago, agreements were settled with a handshake. No longer. We employ lawyers to examine each clause and the fine print before we agree to any contract. Obviously, the lawyers have profited from this. But what about you and me? As a schoolboy I remember the number of “weighing machines” that were found on just about every street corner in town. For one penny it would “spit out” a piece of paper with your weight on it. One of the later refinements was to select a question on the dial. Then the machine would give you your weight and the answer. The one I remember most was the one that asked, “Where will I find happiness?” The answer was, “Under ‘H’ in the dictionary. I mention this because I’ve found that in the world around us, if I asked the question, “Where will I find integrity?” the answer would be, “Under “I” in the dictionary”. It particularly grieves me, that this is true even among Christians. Our Lord, Jesus Christ and his human half-brother Jude commented on this some 2000 years ago. Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in You”. The very fact that He said this indicates that there was a possibility, large or small, that His followers would not do so. They would be tempted away from Him and lose their connection with Him. They would be “cut off from the vine”; as a result they would perish and die. He added that without Him, we can do nothing. There is a sense in which if we lose our integrity as Christians, we have lost everything. You may well be forgiven, but others will not trust you again. Jude made it clear that we are to keep ourselves in God’s love. By implication this suggests that we are free not to do so. Whether or not this refers to our eternal salvation is not the issue here. What is important is to see that you and I have a responsibility for doing so. He will not do it for us. His love is there and is available for anyone and everyone. But He does not force His love on anyone. If you don’t want it, you can quit or say, “No thanks!” Staying in His love is our responsibility. We must do it. How? The answer is by living a life that follows His lifestyle. Integrity is an example of this. Integrity may perhaps be equated to keeping your word. Better still, it’s a question of keeping His Word. Are we, or does He look at us and say that for us, integrity is only found in the dictionary. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 21 NIV 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 ESV 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV 8 When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples. 9 "Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. John 15:8-10 NIrV 5 But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God's love is perfected. That's how we know we are in Christ. 1 John 2:5 GW 12 This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. John 15:12 MSG 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLT 16 So we know that God loves us. We depend on it. God is love. Anyone who leads a life of love shows that he is joined to God. And God is joined to him. 1 John 4:16 NIrV	ABIDE IN THE VINE Those who are abiding in the vine, Their fruit will always be the very best. This is His intention and design, Helps us see how much we have been blessed. The sap is always flowing from the root, And spreading to each branch’s outer tip. To bring it’s juicy richness to the fruit, And luscious flavour to its very pip. There’s no other way for fruit to grow. The sap must rise to bring the nourishment. If you ever interrupt the flow, The fruit will wither, for its life is spent. Abide in Him. United to the vine. You’ll be fruitful, ‘til the end of time. Jim Strickland – 22nd July 2012 KEEP YOURSELF IN GOD’S LOVE Jude said “Keep Yourselves within God’s love; Wait for Christ, eternal life to bring. It is not the task of God above. We’re responsible to do this “thing”. There are some tasks Jesus will not do. They’re for our accountability. God is never going to do for you, That which He’s commanded you and me. Loving others isn’t idleness. It’s involvement, not just standing by. Seeking opportunities to bless, Other folk and never asking “Why?” This was Jesus’ lifestyle to the hilt! It’s no wonder that His blood was spilt. Jim Strickland 22nd July 2012

COMPLETE ACCESS

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 21 July 2012

Hi all,

Our meditation focuses upon the veil; the heavy curtain in the Temple which separated the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat and the presence of God from the people. At the same instant Jesus died, this veil; this curtain; was ripped open from top to bottom. Many think it was done by God because the death of our Saviour gave us access to the Most Holy Place. Thank you Lord

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 21 July 2012			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	COMPLETE ACCESS
Trying to get in from the outside can be very difficult, particularly in a country intensively protected by armed guards etc. We all have to make arrangements to get in and out of premises and past various deterrents, deliberately installed to keep others out. In spite of this, people occasionally manage to slip past the cordon and achieve their nefarious intentions. A friend of mine mentioned to me that someone was managing to get into his house and steal a beer from his fridge. He had a good idea who the person was but couldn’t prove it. Now my friend was a qualified biochemist.  He decided to lay a trap for the thief. What he did was carefully remove the cap from one of his beers. He then added to it a small quantity of the active ingredient of Brooklax. (A preparation designed to get your bowels moving quickly) With his trap duly set he sat back and watched. After a couple of days the beer was gone. Suddenly the suspect started to get a severe dose of the runs. It was the end of my friend’s theft problem! There is a world of difference between the antics of my friend and the action of our thrice Holy God. We have great difficulty understanding God’s attitude to sin. It has become such a “normal” part of our daily life that it doesn’t seem to bother us at all. But God is not like that. He is righteous and has a hatred for sin that we find almost incomprehensible. Each and every sin ever committed will be dealt with so severely that it is terrifying. We get an inkling of this when we see Peter’s reaction to the remarkable catch of fish in Luke 5. 8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened; he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me--I'm too much of a sinner to be around You." Luke 5:8 NLT For any ordinary man to approach our Holy God would result in instant death. He is not approachable by ordinary people. To us, His problem seems insurmountable. On the one hand He wants to stretch out His hand and love us. That is His very nature. But His infinite Holiness knows what would happen if we ventured near. For us this is an insurmountable problem. But not for our infinitely wise God. All of humanity combined would not be able to stand up His Holiness and judgement. But someone had to be punished for our sin. God’s justice demands it. So He decided to take our punishment Himself in and through Jesus. His crucifixion and death on that barbaric Roman cross paid for the sins of the world. This means that our punishment is complete. No longer must we stand outside the veil. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ has paid our debt to God in full. So now the veil is no longer an obstacle. We may come and go as we please. All because of Jesus sacrifice! Come on, let’s go in! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. Matthew 27:51 NIV 23 I passed on to you what I received from the Lord. On the night the Lord Jesus was handed over to his enemies, he took bread. 24 When he had given thanks, he broke it. He said, "This is my body. It is given for you. Every time you eat it, do it in memory of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup. He said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do it in memory of me." 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NIrV 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Everyone who eats some of this bread will live forever. The bread is my body. I will give it for the life of the world." 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves. They said, "How can this man give us his body to eat?" 53 Jesus said to them, "What I'm about to tell you is true. You must eat the Son of Man's body and drink his blood. If you don't, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "My body is real food. My blood is real drink. 56 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood remains in me. And I remain in him. 57 "The living Father sent me, and I live because of him. In the same way, those who feed on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Long ago your people ate manna and died. But those who feed on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Jesus' disciples heard this. Many of them said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about his teaching. So he said to them, "Does this upset you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man go up to where he was before? 63 The Holy Spirit gives life. The body means nothing at all. The words I have spoken to you are from the Spirit. They give life. John 6:51-63 NIrV 20 By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:20-22 NLT	There was no way to enter, except once every year. The High Priest then could enter; that’s when he could near, That portion of the tabernacle, hidden from man’s view. A brightly coloured curtain of purple, red and blue, With interwoven cherubim; a beautiful design, To hide away the Mercy Seat reserved for the Divine. No man was given access to God’s Great and Holy Place. Anyone who did so would fall dead upon his face! They said it was Most Holy; too much for sinful men, To even think of going in and coming out again. The pattern had been given to Moses by the Lord. It was the place a Holy God by man could be adored. And later, when the temple was erected by the king, He knew that God required that he didn’t change a thing. And so on Mt Moriah, he built the Holy Place. And once again the Mercy Seat was hidden from man’s face. The “wall of separation” was a curtain that was strong. It took two teams of horses to pull the veil along. The entrance of the people, was likewise still denied. And it was far too heavy for man to draw aside. Then one day something happened; they nailed Christ on the tree. He hung as a sin offering for you as well as me. And then the greatest miracle. He breathed His last and died. That was the very moment the veil was torn aside. Ripped from top to bottom, by God’s Almighty hand; The Mercy seat was visible. They didn’t understand, That anyone could enter. The Christ had made the way, For ordinary people to come to God that day. The rule was very simple. God’s wrath they’d have to face. To pass beyond the curtain into God’s Most Holy Place. And that is just what happened. The Saviour passed away. And so the veil was torn aside for anyone today. His Mission was completed, with nothing more to do. The way to God is open wide for folk like me and you. The blood He sprinkled for us upon God’s Mercy Seat, Was that which ran down from His hands, His head and side and feet. The offering was perfect. This wasn’t once per year. Our Great High Priest’s blood sacrifice has ended all our fear. Come boldly to the Throne of Grace; the veil’s been rent aside. And there is total access for Jesus and His bride. Jim Strickland Written 21st July 2012

JOYFUL IN GOD

Time with Jesus - Friday, 20 July 2012

Hi all,

The meditation today is about joy. Joy is not happiness and happiness is not joy. You can be filled with joy, the Joy of the Lord, when you are extremely unhappy.  The author of Hebrews puts it like this: ² Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the author of faith. He also makes it perfect. He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there because of the joy he was looking forward to. Then he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 NIrV Now that’s joy!

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Friday, 20 July 2012			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	JOYFUL IN GOD
The derivation of words can be fascinating. The word translated “joy” in Gal 5:22 and rejoice in Phil 3:1 come from the same root. In other words joy and rejoice mean about the same thing! It’s important! When I first came into Christianity, I was full of the joy of the Lord. There were a number of other young men and women who had been touched the same way. It sounds a bit cock-eyed, but when we sang Wesley’s Great hymn, “And can it be that I might gain and interest in my Saviour’s blood?” I used to cry like a baby! God’s Spirit had so touched me I would weep tears of joy. It seemed the right thing to do. What disappointed me at the time was the fact that so many of the older people could sing it. But it was without any display of enthusiasm at all. At the time I felt that this was “normal” for older people. There was a problem in those days. People would not discuss religion or politics in public. It seemed to be an unwritten law of the “church” that people would not wax lyrical about Christianity. I’m reminded of a story from those days. A rather excitable Pentecostal visited a Cathedral while on holiday. Naturally, he got a bit excited during the service and kept on interjecting, “Praise the Lord” or “Amen, Hallelujah” Eventually one of the church elders tiptoed up to him and whispered in his ear, “We don’t praise the Lord here”. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. No doubt the church elder and others in the congregation were disturbed by what they thought were the man’s emotional outbursts. Nevertheless, we see that the usual “atmosphere” in the church was one of strictly controlled emotion. Certainly that’s what I saw in the 1960’s. The comment was that the people looked as though they had been baptized in lemon juice! How the church of Jesus Christ has changed. There was a time when men and women were “thrilled” to have been whipped or beaten for believing in the Saviour. I’ve often wondered why it was like it in those dim and distant days. The question is not easy to answer. In every outpouring of the Holy Spirit that I’m aware of, the result was to touch the people in their emotions. People wept, shouted, cried and fell over unconscious as a result of what took place in their lives. There are even stories of people laughing hysterically under the influence of the Spirit of God. Why? I suspect it has much to do with the way they suppress themselves. Then, when they are touched by the Lord, the chains of their suppression are snapped. Then they start doing things they would have liked to do, but wouldn’t. Now they were free. Joy at their release would bubble up and overflow in a delightful expression of their love for the One who liberated them. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			15 All the days of those who are crushed are filled with pain and suffering. But a cheerful heart enjoys a good time that never ends. Proverbs 15:15 NIrV 10 He continued, "Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don't have anything: This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of GOD (The Lord) is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 MSG 17 The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Romans 14:17 TNIV 18 Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18-20 NLT 15 So let us never stop offering to God our praise through Jesus. Let us offer it as the fruit of lips that say they believe in him. Hebrews 13:15 NIrV 17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18 NLT 10 We are sad, but we are always full of joy. We are poor, but we make many people rich. We have nothing, but we own everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10 NIrV 3 That's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. Romans 5:3 NIrV	God is not a spoilsport, He likes us having fun. It all depends on what it is He sees and what we’ve done. It is our definition of all the things we do. We may think it is funny! But what is it to You? If we abuse our parents, so we can have a laugh, The Lord will blow us all away like little bits of chaff. We may think stealing’s funny; but God is not amused; And entry into heaven, for you will be refused. There’s lying and there’s cheating and other funny jokes; And sexual offences with other gals or blokes. There’s cheating on your husband and there is also pawn. The only things these do to God are aggravate His scorn! God has a word for all of this. He says it’s blatant sin. And when we dabble into these, you’ll never see Him grin. In fact the Bible tells us, in words so very clear, That if we carry on with them, He never will draw near. We will not enter the reward the Lord Himself has planned; And end up in a dungeon, in darkest demon-land. The Lord is not a prostitute. He’s made it clear as day. That He is not a bit like that in the remotest way! He’s not manipulate-able; you cannot twist His arm. The Christians, who think that way, are at the “funny farm”! We really have to understand, that humour isn’t joy. The things I think are funny, may easily annoy, People who think differently. Perhaps you want to cry? But with the joy of Jesus, His peace is standing by. So even if the fig tree has no blossoms we can see. Even if the grape vine fails, perhaps the olive tree, Is barren and the flocks and herds lie slaughtered in the field. You can still rejoice because your covenant is sealed. With the blood of Jesus, there’s sure to be no lack. The Word of God declares that Satan has to bring them back! We don’t know how he’ll do it. We do not even care. He must find a method on time, in place, somewhere! Even if we suffer and they burn you at the stake. It’s an opportunity for joy to surely break, The bonds that are restraining you. So laugh aloud with glee. In just a few short moments, the Lord your God you’ll see. Pain is momentary and joy is evermore. Kept for those who persevere, right up to heaven’s door! Jim Strickland   20th July 2012