GRACE GIFTS

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 04 October 2012

Hi all,

Today’s meditation is more or less a continuation from yesterday’s one. We looked at gifts and fruit. Today we look at grace gifts. We also look at the need for Charismatic/Pentecostal believers to unite with their Evangelical counterparts. The fact is we have much to learn from each other. Lord hasten the day when it becomes reality.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give			Time with Jesus – Thursday, 04 October 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	GRACE GIFTS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Love / Goodness Joy / Faithfulness Peace / Gentleness Patience / Self Control Kindness		GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT Discerning of Spirits / Faith Word of Wisdom / Word of Knowledge Prophecy (foretelling and forth-telling) Tongues / Interpretation of Tongues Gifts of Healing / Working of Miracles		6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 1 Corinthians 12:6-8 NLT	1              Let us take on The Christ who’s the One. And walk in the gifts He will bring For all that we do Will only come true When Jesus is truly our King. 2              So let’s look around At what we have found As we have come into this place. The gifts will emerge In a powerful surge As Jesus expresses His Grace 3              Yes, let us be found Where assignments abound And let all our gifts be displayed For stewards we’ll be When the people all see A love that forever can’t fade 4              So how do we build That the Word is fulfilled And people all look to our King? It’s not you or me That the people must see, But Jesus who’s praises we sing 5              And let us all serve With sinew and nerve The One we all love and adore. For as all we give He’ll cause us to live And worship our Master much more. 6              As Moses’ face Was veiled in that place Let Jesus’ gifts be revealed. There’ll be no surprise When He opens our eyes To things we thought were concealed. 7              Fulfilment is found Where the gifting’s abound And we flow harmoniously. The ultimate end, We needn’t defend For sinners converted we’ll see!		8              We don’t want a flake Or anything fake To walk in the way we should go. So fill us with power To move hour by hour In all of the things that You know. 9              His burden is light It isn’t a fight To do all the things He desires. Just listen and do And all will come true. And His people will all be on fire. 10            Give thanks for the gifts And the way that they lift And carry your people on high. We won’t interfere When Your Spirit draws near And Jesus will cause us to fly. 11            God’s gifting is sure It’s Holy and pure And we will bring Him all the praise And if we are humble We won’t cause to stumble The people who walk in Your ways. 12            We’re not all the same And we worship the name Of Him who is more than complete. And as we harmonise And cast out all lies, We’ll all behold Satan’s defeat 13            Our body’s at rest And we will be blessed When all of our people are one. The warring will end When our knees we all bend And all of our quarrels are gone. 14            So let’s celebrate That as from this date The gifts of His Spirit we’ll see. And as we mature We’ll begin to endure And everyone here will be free.
Here we go again. Yesterday we looked at the Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit. Today’s Scriptures warrant a further look at these topics. It is widely held that the Gifts of the Spirit were only needed during the time of the apostles in order to “kick start” the Church. I’ve met many lovely Christians who are convinced of this. The view is, that something like the Apollo Space system, the Gifts of the Spirit were needed to “launch” the young church into orbit. Then, rather like part of the used rocket system, the spent parts fell back down to earth. With the satellite in orbit, those various stages were no longer required. Thus, when the church was established the gifts were no longer needed and could crash back to earth. It’s an excellent comparison. For convenience this has been called the evangelical point of view. The real question is whether or not it is true? The Charismatic/Pentecostal (C/P) view is that the gifts are as valid today as they were some 2000 years ago. Indeed, they would go so far as to say that there has never been a time in history since Apostolic time that the gifts have not been in evidence throughout the church. Phyllida and I are unashamedly part of the C/P stream. At the same time we are deeply grieved that this issue has divided God’s people into these two “camps”. Both streams have much to offer each other if only we could both put aside these apparent opposing positions. I rather suspect that our Lord is deeply grieved by this lack of unity. We have a great love and respect for our evangelical brothers and sisters. We love the comparative tranquillity of their services. More than anything we admire the passion they have for God’s Word. Evangelical Churches study the Scripture in a disciplined and systematic way. It has been suggested that the Evangelical “Trinity” is Father, Son and Holy Scripture. This may be unfair. But it does show the huge emphasis on reading and studying God’s Word that quite frankly, the C/P’s have not adopted. The C/P by and large tends to be shallow when it comes to the knowledge of the Bible. It has been suggested that the C/P “Trinity” is “Holy Spirit; Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit”. Again it is a gross simplification, but is a fair assessment of C/P’s by our Evangelical brothers and sisters. Sadly there is much truth in this comment. Far too many C/P’s know very little of the Content of God’s Word. They can quote proof texts by the score. But most of those who do, know precious little about exegesis and hermeneutics. Lots of froth and bubble; lots of excitement, singing and dancing. But how often does the preacher even read from the Bible? Not very often. What both streams need today is the Evangelical commitment to God’s Word and the C/P freedom and enthusiasm. O Lord help! We badly need each other! Jim & Phyllida Strickland				19 Some men from Manasseh defected from the Israelite army and joined David when he set out with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But as it turned out, the Philistine rulers refused to let David and his men go with them. After much discussion, they sent them back, for they said, "It will cost us our heads if David switches loyalties to Saul and turns against us." 20 Here is a list of the men from Manasseh who defected to David as he was returning to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each commanded 1,000 troops from the tribe of Manasseh. 21 They helped David chase down bands of raiders, for they were all brave and able warriors who became commanders in his army. 1 Chronicles 12:19-21 NLT 32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. 33 Of Zebulon 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David with singleness of purpose. 1 Chronicles 12:32-33 ESV 8 A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can't make up his mind about anything. James 1:8 GW 25 God's purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 GW 4 There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything. Ephesians 4:4-6 GW
					Jim Strickland – Written 2009

GIFTS AND FRUIT

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 03 October 2012

Hi all,

Today we have a look at the gifts and the fruit. Usually we add the words, “of the Holy Spirit” after those words. On this occasion I’ve deliberately decided not to do so. Instead I’ve used the title to describe the content of today’s meditation. It’s a huge topic and I’ve given a very basic overview. What I would like to draw to your attention is the attachment which I’ve found very helpful. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

If you would like a copy of the table, please leave a comment on this blog. 

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 03 October 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	GIFTS AND FRUIT
When any of us speak about gifts from God, we somehow rush into some sort of theological minefield. People disagree with each other. It never comes to blows. Not as far as I’m aware. But the laundry bill after discussions about this topic get somewhat inflated. People get hot under the collar; this increases perspiration and makes for extra washing. Hence higher laundry bills. People tend to argue about which member of the Holy Trinity gives a particular gift. Frankly, this has never really troubled me. All three of them are God. Each of them appears to focus upon a certain aspect of the lives they created. James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, adds clarity to this understanding. He wrote 17 Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. James 1:17 GW We know that God created everything. Exactly how He did it, none of us really understand. Does it matter? Not really. I can’t imagine the three of them arguing about who did what. No doubt if you asked Them, each would say, “I did!” This is perfectly true. Sadly, those who are made in His image have opinions. The Lord may not be fussy about the question or the answer. But we are a contrary people. We love to fight for what we believe. He probably finds this intensely annoying but ends up writing it off to the sin nature we appear to so thoroughly enjoy! This will only change when Jesus comes again; so in the meantime please allow me to add something to this discussion which I’ve found helpful. Note that I wrote helpful! It is not intended to be God’s absolute and honest final revelation. Human beings seem to love categorising. You know what I mean. We file eggs under “E” and bacon under “B”. So we have taken the various gifts which all originated from God and have set them out neatly under various headings. Personally, I find this helpful. Others may not. The three categories are: We have A) the motivational Gifts of the Father. B) We seek the manifestation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit along with the character of Jesus – the fruit of the Holy Spirit and C) so that we may become the ministerial gifts of God the Son. If this is as clear as mud, do not despair. One of today’s attachments presents this in a very understandable table format. If you take time to open and print the table you will find a diagram that can prove to be very helpful. Please note that I am not the author. It came to me some 11 years ago courtesy Rev Willie Liebenberg a minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. I took one look at the table and decided to make use of it myself. I have found the table presents the various gifts and fruit of the Spirit of the Triune God in a thoughtful yet provocative way. My suggestion is to have a good look at the table. Revisit it from time to time and see if it hasn’t helped you clarify your ideas about the way it all “hangs together”. I love the way the table summarizes everything under the heading, “The Gifts of God”. The concept that this is what we have, this is what we seek and this is what we become, appropriately expresses that which God wishes to put in our hearts. Hopefully it will help us open our eyes to more of the wonders of the God we love to serve. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			5 There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. 1 Corinthians 12:5 GW 25 These were all the commanders in charge of King David's property: for the royal treasuries - Azmaveth, son of Adiel for the goods in the fields, cities, villages, and watchtowers- Jonathan, son of Uzziah 26 for the farm workers in the fields - Ezri, son of Chelub 27 for the vineyards - Shimei from Ramah for storing wine that came from the vineyards- Zabdi from Shepham 1 Chronicles 27:25-27 GW 31 And over the flocks was Jaziz the son of Hagar. All these were the rulers of the substance which was King David's. 1 Chronicles 27:31 MKJV 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 ESV 11 All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when. 1 Corinthians 12:11 MSG 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10 -11 ESV	There’s different ways of serving, the same Lord is still served. The gifts God gives to each of us, are not what we deserved. They come to us from heaven, they are His sovereign choice; There is no “birthday wrapping” and there is no invoice! We cannot pick and choose them. And here’s the reason why. They all come from Almighty God, Who reigns from way up high. We try to list them separately, to say what comes from Who. We do it for convenience; as we’re inclined to do. We put each in a category we can understand; And so we miss the very point, they came by His command. There is another factor, which sometimes we forget. The Holy Spirit filled us, the time when first we met! There is a further filling each time we overflow. And yet we’re never empty. It’s Him each time, you know. Now when His Spirit’s comes to us, it’s not in little bits. It’s all of Him in each of us. Don’t ask me how He fits! I also do not understand how all of Him’s in me. And all of Him’s in others! O Lord, how can this be? And yet it’s fundamental. It has to work that way. So favouritism’s not perceived by anyone each day. Now every good and perfect gift comes down from God above. James, the Master’s half-brother, speaks of His light and love. In chapter one he tells us and in verse seventeen, He doesn’t change or alter; it’s how He’s always been. Now every gift God gives to us is perfect, good and true. The Father, Son and Spirit, will not bamboozle you! We speak about each separately, so we can comprehend, Just what the Lord is doing with what He wants to send. The gifts for motivation, is what our Father gives; For serving and for speaking, to direct the way we live. The Son of God gives people; His ministers of grace; And they equip His people for what they have to face. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, so we can manifest, The gifts for the occasion as only He knows best. He seeks to change our character, so we may all display, The sort of life the Master lived in each and every way. That is why we speak about the Holy’s Spirit’s fruit. To live a life for Jesus, that no man can dispute. But let’s not be too fussy, about Who gives us what. A man who walks with Jesus is never hard to spot. He’ll walk a path of holiness equipped by God above. And everyone he contacts, will know he walks in love. Jim Strickland – Written 3rd October 2012

BOAST IN THE LORD

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 02 October 2012

Hi all,

Today’s meditation looks at the topic of boasting. There is also a connection between forgiveness, judgement and boasting that is not obvious until the ramifications are thought through.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 02 October 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	BOAST IN THE LORD
In God’s eyes, there is a very small difference between forgiveness and judgement. Both are available for Him to pronounce. Judgement is the outcome of forgiveness one way or the other. Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:23-35) illustrates this beautifully. The master had a servant who owed him 10 000 talents. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Matthew 18:24 ESV. According to Adam Clarke, this was equal to the revenue of the entire British Commonwealth. It could be even more because, as I understand, the Greek term used means an amount so large it cannot be calculated. This makes good sense. It was so large it couldn’t be repaid in a lifetime. Not even in several consecutive life-times could the average man repay such a debt. When the servant couldn’t pay, the Master forgave him the debt. This same servant had loaned a few Rand to a fellow-servant. When that man couldn’t pay, he had him arrested and thrown into prison. We all know the outcome. One of the points of this parable was to highlight how important it is for us to be forgiving towards each other. My debt and your debt to God for a lifetime of sin is incalculable. The expression, “ten thousand talents” indicates the enormity of the amount. The few Rand owed to us by others is negligible. Now here’s the nub of the parable. If we don’t forgive others for the few odd sins they have committed against us, we are in big trouble. God will require payment in full for our sin. Eternity itself would not be enough time to discharge our debt to Him. The connection between judgement and forgiveness is, therefore, something we determine. If we have forgiven others, He will forgive us. If we haven’t forgiven them, His judgement on us is certain and we will be condemned. In other words, your measure of forgiveness of others is the measure He will use on you! Now that’s scary! Particularly when I sit in judgement on someone else. If I declare him guilty, how much more will God find me guilty? If I forgive and release him, God will do the same with me. That’s what it means to use my measure on me. It really isn’t worth it. For the sake of your own future in God’s Kingdom, be generous and forgive others – quickly! What has this got to do with boasting? Everything. When you boast about your own achievements you are setting yourself above your brothers and sisters. By saying, “I wouldn’t do that”, and declaring them guilty, you are implying they owe you something. Perhaps they do. But that’s not the issue. If you think you are superior, you declare them inferior. If you do that, God will declare you inferior. So much so that there will be no room in His Kingdom for you! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			7 For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift? 1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV 18 He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures. James 1:18 MSG 16 Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. Romans 9:16 MSG 27 So who can brag? No one! Are people saved by obeying the law? Not at all! They are saved because of their faith. Romans 3:27 NIrV 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 ESV 1 You were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead. 2 You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at work in those who don't obey God. 3 At one time we all lived among them. We tried to satisfy what our sinful nature wanted to do. We followed its longings and thoughts. God was angry with us and everyone else because of the kind of people we were. Ephesians 2:1-3 NIrV 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV	There’s nothing that you have or are, that doesn’t come from God. Consequently, judgement is something rather odd! Whatever He has given you, was given as a gift. Do you think your purposes you really ought to sift? How can you make comments about what others do? The self-same standard you have set, the Lord will use on you. Instead, be most forgiving, you need to empathise; Or you will find the Master will cut you down to size. The Lord had mercy on you and poured on you His grace. You surely didn’t earn it. In fact your rightful place, Is in the very pit of hell. That’s where you ought to be. But Jesus in His mercy, had pity upon thee. Your “modus operandi” must be to strengthen those, Whom Jesus as their Saviour, to others will disclose. Christians are all brothers or sisters on their way To be with Christ their Saviour on each and every day. So you must never judge them. Perhaps you’ll see them sin. Then give the Holy Spirit space for Him to enter in. Remember how He saved you. He used God’s Holy Word, That’s when you responded to what was seen and heard. Of course you are not perfect. But Jesus wants to show, The depth of His forgiveness to all whom He does know! You’ve been made His creature; a jewel in His crown. This is not the time for you to want to let Him down. Remember His compassion did not originate, From bleeding hearts or moral sweat. But in your sinful state! That’s when His awesome mercy, was poured upon all men. In ways which are so staggering, they’re far beyond our ken! His mercy is the leveller which treats us all the same. None of us was worthy, Not one of us can claim, That we could be superior to any of the rest. It’s only by His righteousness that we can pass the test. So put away all bragging. Not one of us can boast. The only one significant is Jesus’ Holy Ghost! In Christ there is redemption and we are sanctified. There’s nothing in our favour; there is no place for pride. And when it comes to boasting, boast only in the Lord. For He alone is worthy to be worshipped and adored. Jim Strickland – Written 2nd October 2012