LIES AND LYING

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 05 January 2013

Hi all,

There is a world of difference between a parable and a statement. Jesus never minced words and told several parables. In one of them He refers to “binding” the strongman. ²⁹ For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger; someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. Matthew 12:29 NLT I’ve always struggled with understanding how this Scripture gives Christians the authority to ‘”bind” Satan. It is a illustration by Jesus, not an instruction. The verse does not say we should seek to “bind” the strongman. Jesus was merely commenting on confronting anyone stronger than we are. Somehow I think we have missed the point. Look at what Jesus’ half-brother said. ⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT James actually shows us with what we should do about Satan. 1) “Humble yourself before God”. When you have done so you are in a position to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” Trying to “bind” him, without an attitude of humility toward God in the heart, is pointless.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 05 January 2013			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	Lies and Lying
For me, Satan is something of an enigma. Many believe that his fall from heaven is described in Isaiah. 12 What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of Dawn! Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations! Isaiah 14:12 MSG I’ve never been entirely happy with this. The context is within Isaiah’s “lament” over the dead king of Babylon. To say this is a reference to Satan, seems to me to be “stretching” Scripture, to mean something not intended. It may be a reference to the fall of Satan. But to take this description out of context seems unwise. I’ve got much the same difficulty with the lament of Ezekiel 28. Here Ezekiel speaks of the king of Tyre. To say this refers to the fall of Satan also seems to stretch the truth beyond breaking point. It all seems too “convenient”. We want to know where he originated and think these verses give the answer. Now, Jesus speaking to the Pharisees about Satan said, 44 You belong to your father, the devil. You want to obey your father's wishes. "From the beginning, the devil was a murderer. He has never obeyed the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his natural language. He does this because he is a liar. He is the father of lies. John 8:44 NIrV. This comment by Jesus tells us a great deal about Satan and his kingdom. Basically, he is a liar. How he can rule his kingdom is questionable? How can he give orders? If he tells them to go to Cape Town, they end up in Harare. Where else? You choose. It can’t be Cape Town! He’s a liar and can’t give accurate instructions. Lying is his natural language. So his minions don’t know where to go or what he wants! For them, anywhere will do. No wonder Peter tells us, 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8 NLT What else can an inveterate liar do? He’ll devour anyone and anything regardless of whose “side” they are on. So who exactly is Satan? If you want to go along with those who like Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and believe it, that’s fine. Personally I’m not convinced. What I can say is that he is no push over as Jude tells us. 9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jude 1:9 NLT So what can we do? James puts it in a nutshell. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT It’s the best Biblical recommendation I know. You may or may not be able to “bind” him. If Michael couldn’t, I doubt we can. But you can resist him. Go for it! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			3 LORD, guard my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3 NIrV 3 LORD, if You kept a record of our sins, who O Lord, could ever survive? Psalm 130:3 NLT 33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. Psalm 106:33 TNIV 11 What goes into your mouth does not defile you, but what comes out of your mouth that is what defiles you." Mat 15:11 TNIV 28 A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Proverbs 16:28 NLT 18 Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise. 19 Truth lasts; lies are here today, gone tomorrow. Proverbs 12:18-19 MSG 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. James 3:8-10 ESV 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices Col 3:8-9 ESV 3 God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. 1 Thess. 4:3 MSG . 5 Their mouths told no lies. They are without blame. Rev 14:5 NIrV	I’ve often wondered how the devil’s forces can be strong. They’re all a bunch of liars, so they always get things wrong. The devil is their father. The truth is not in him. He says that he is flying while he’s going for a swim. It’s terribly confusing. When he gives a command, They don’t know if it’s local, or in some foreign land! He tells them, “Go to Cape Town!” so they go to Timbuktu. They can’t obey his orders, ‘cause they don’t know what to do! While I was an apprentice, I met someone from his gang. He said that he was thirty and was injured in a prang. But everything we said, he told us he had done before. And from his great achievements we guessed he was much more. He’d seen so many places and done so many things, We thought he was a puppet that was hanging by his strings. If what he said was true, he was the oldest man alive. We stopped our calculations when we go to ninety five. The Lord has told us Satan is the Father of all lies. So everything he does, should never take us by surprise. Our children are his followers. They have a bent that way. When they have just been naughty you’ll always hear them say, “It wasn’t me that did it. I don’t know who it was. It must be mister nobody! I’m innocent because, I wasn’t even playing in that portion of the house. So if you heard a racket, it must have been a mouse!” We know that they are lying. They just will not own up. “It wasn’t me that did it. My sister broke that cup!” Now this was clearly mentioned by the Master’s brother, James. He said the tongue was wicked and it poisoned people’s names. He said no one can tame it and we know that it is true. And that is why the Spirit gave a special gift to you. This gift is often criticised, the gift of “tongues” it’s named; And every time you use it, the Lord is not defamed. You don’t know what you’re saying. Your speaking to the Lord; And everything you say declares the Master is adored. So if you have a problem and the devil’s drawing near; You really needn’t worry or start trembling with fear. Allow God’s special gift to flow from deep within your lungs, And Satan will freak out ‘cause he’s not got this gift of tongues! So now we have a weapon in our battle for the truth, From all of Satan’s minions and every lying youth. Let your spirit speak to them in something that’s unique. The only way we’re certain that it’s only truth we speak. Jim Strickland Written 5th January 2012

DEATH IS CONQUERED

Time with Jesus - Friday, 04 January 2013

Hi all,

Our meditation today is on the fact that Jesus has conquered death and the grave. To do so, He had to die and be raised from the dead. In the Old Covenant, various animals were sacrificed and offered to God. In every case, the prescribed animal was ritually killed. The exception was the Grain offering in which no animal was included. However, this offering included a drink offering, usually wine. As we know, Jesus likened His blood to wine when He lifted the cup and said, “This is my blood shed for you!” So under the New Covenant we also have a drink offering! His blood poured out for us which we commemorate when we take communion!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Friday, 04 January 2013			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	DEATH IS  CONQUERED
Do you remember your twenty first birthday? In some cultures it’s a very important date. Within that culture you’ll find that some are very fussy about keeping the celebration and having a slap up “wing-ding” of a party. For many it’s the second most important function in their lives. Only a wedding is thought to be of greater importance. Personally, a big bash for my 21st wasn’t all that important. So it was a very quiet occasion in a little town called Basildon with my parents. It was all I really wanted. Most of the religions of the world have special days for celebrating events. In the West, Easter and Christmas are very important; some for all the wrong reasons. In Jewish life in terms of the Old Covenant, there were seven feasts every year. Passover, Unleavened Bread, First-fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. Partially associated with them, the family made sacrifices or offerings to God for unintentional sin. No sacrifice was available for deliberate sin. These offerings were the Burnt, Fellowship/Peace, Grain/food or Meat, Sin and the Trespass or Guilt offerings. These sacrifices or offerings to God were, to a large extent, prescribed. Each of them represented a specific aspect of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross. You couldn’t just pitch up at the tabernacle with a camel or a dog and say that you wanted to offer them as a sacrifice to God! With the Burnt and the Meat offerings along with the morning and evening sacrifices, ±one quart, of wine was poured out onto the altar fire for each animal sacrificed. The quantity varied in accordance with the size of the animal. It’s been suggested that the offering of an animal, grain, oil, and wine in combination produced a smoke that metaphorically was a “soothing aroma to the LORD” Pouring out a drink offering is also a metaphor for the blood Jesus spilled on the cross. Jesus spoke of this directly in Luke 22:20 when He instituted the New Covenant. He picked up a cup of wine and said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilled the need of a drink offering, His blood literally pouring out when the soldier pierced His side with a spear John 19:33. Paul used the metaphor twice. He used the image of a drink offering to describe his service to the Lord. Phil 2:17; 2 Tim 4:6. The burnt offering and the meat offering were both voluntary offerings to God. For Paul this would be important. He voluntarily “gave his life to God” There was no compulsion. It’s our prayer that we will all follow him and voluntarily “pour out our own sacrificial life blood” for Jesus. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?" 56 Sin gives death its sting, and God's standards give sin its power. 1 Cor. 15:55-56 GW 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice. 27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him. Heb. 9:26-28 NLT 14 Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Heb. 2:14-15 NLT 6 My life is coming to an end, and it is now time for me to be poured out as a sacrifice to God. 7 I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith. 8 The prize that shows I have God's approval is now waiting for me. The Lord, who is a fair judge, will give me that prize on that day. He will give it not only to me but also to everyone who is eagerly waiting for him to come again. (The Crown of Righteousness) 2 Timothy 4:6-8 GW	What is it folk are frightened of? For most of them, it’s death. They don’t know what will happen when they’ve breathed their final breath. It’s surely understandable, for all of us must die; No matter how we put it off, it comes for you and I! It happened to the Master, when He was on the cross. He took in death and swallowed it. Now He’s become death’s boss. As Christians, we should know it; but most of us still fear, The prospect of what happens, when we get out of here! We know the way it happened. Adam disobeyed. So Satan was his master and death came in and stayed. The devil thought he’d triumphed. This world became his own. He thought that he could never lose his well established throne. He knew that the sin nature would always be passed down. It would require a perfect man to take away his crown. He knew that if a perfect man would ever pass away, That God would raise him up again, for death could never stay, On someone who was perfect. Before the corpse could rot, That God would raise Him back to life. Corruption just could not; Hold him in its icy grip. Perfection couldn’t stay, Forever in an earthly grave. There wasn’t any way, That Satan’s hosts could keep him. His wages were not death. In fact the very life of God would dwell in every breath. And that is just what happened. He had the victory. Because He lived a perfect life, there was no way that He, Could stay within death’s bondage. He died and so His soul, Could never be held captive; and death was swallowed whole! So why are people frightened of all that death can bring? The truth is that in Jesus Christ, that death has lost its sting. We may have the experience of what it is to die. But Jesus Christ will raise us up to heights above the sky. It has no power over us that He does not permit. And any instant He decides, He’ll lift us out of it! So dying is a victory that Jesus turns around. The grave can’t hold us in its grip. We just wait for the sound. A trumpet blast in heaven will raise us from the grave; And we will rise to be with Him, no longer Satan’s slave! And live with Christ forever; and death will disappear; No longer can it terrify for Jesus Christ is near. Jim Strickland  Written  Wed. 4th January 2012

SIGHT FOR THE BLIND

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 03 January 2013

Hi all,

For those of us who have lived our lives being able to see, blindness is a frightful prospect. For most of us, when we turn off the light to go to sleep, the darkness seems impenetrable. About ten minutes later, when our eyes have adjusted to the darkness, we realise that it’s not quite as dark as we thought! To be born blind is another matter. The man Jesus healed in Luke 18 was such a man. Whether he was totally blind or severely partially sighted is not certain. Not that it matters. He received his sight. This was not blind Bartimaeus. This man was healed while Jesus was on His way to Jericho. Bartimaeus received a reconstructive healing when Jesus was leaving Jericho. Matthew 20 contains the story of two other blind men whom Jesus healed. Were there others? There may well have been. These four are sufficient evidence for me to believe that Jesus Christ could restore sight to blind eyes. It’s today’s meditation.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Thursday, 03 January 2013			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	Sight for the blind
Miracles: There was a time when men and women believed that the miracles of Jesus actually took place. This is not true today. Rationalism has made significant inroads into the faith of many. They have discarded miracles on the basis that the laws of nature cannot be overridden. Rationalists, if they have any connection with Christianity, deal with miracles in a convenient manner. They believe in God. However they have a different view of creation. They see it something like a huge clock that has been designed by God. He “wound” it up and set it in motion. Now it is running and even God can’t change it. Therefore the miraculous is impossible. This “type” of believer is classified as a “Deist”. God exists but He can no longer do anything about what He has designed. Believers of this sort would never pray and ask God to change anything because He cannot. Don’t ask Him to change the weather because He no longer is able to do so. One wonders exactly what such people pray for? They are one step “higher” than “Atheists”. An “Atheist” states that there is no such “person”. God is an illusion. A crutch for religious men and women to lean on. Phyllida and I are “Theists”. We believe God is active in this world. He can and will change situations as He wills. As a Theist, I have no difficulty believing the miracles of the Bible are true. He is able to change anything He wishes. Furthermore He responds to the prayers of His people. We believe He always answers prayer. The answers are “Yes”; “No” or “Wait”! If I’ve missed out any other answer, please let me know. We see Jesus in action this way in Luke 18:41. The blind man called out to Him. Jesus asked him what he wanted. The man told Him. Jesus answered by healing him. These steps are important. We cry out to God for some reason. He knows very well the details of the problem. But He wants us to tell Him. He could act without us, but He has chosen to include us in this way. Having heard us, He decides what He is going to answer. He may say “No”! This happens when someone dies in spite of what we would regard as “oceans” of prayer. He could say “Yes”! And we could have an instant miracle. He may say, “Wait”! This may be to achieve some purpose we know nothing about. Perhaps the timing isn’t right? I’m sure those who were taken captive by the Babylonians would have prayed for deliverance. Likewise the slaves in Egypt must have prayed on many occasions for deliverance from their oppressors. Deliverance would come. However, many would die before it happened. Why? If I could answer that, I would be God. Thank God I’m not! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			41 "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked. "Lord, I want to be able to see," the blind man replied. Luke 18:41 NIrV 18 Open my eyes so that I can see the wonderful truths in your law. Psalm 119:18 NIrV 44 Jesus said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything written about me must happen. Everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must come true." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures Luke 24:44-45 NIrV 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as My representative--that is, the Holy Spirit--He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:26 NLT 17 Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. James 1:17 MSG 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called--His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honour at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Eph. 1:17-20 NLT	What is it you are wanting the Lord to do for you? The blind man wanted vision, to see the way we do. It seems he had been blind from birth, so couldn’t comprehend, The things that he would look at, when his blindness reached its end. But Jesus had compassion and told him he could see. His faith had made the difference from the way he used to be. And when the Saviour left him, he followed on behind, Praising God for giving sight to someone who was blind. This story is recorded in the gospel of Saint Luke. There in chapter eighteen we see it was no fluke. For Jesus was in “business” to give the people sight, When all that they had ever seen was never-ending night! But Jesus also shed His light on what is in His Word. And He will end our darkness, by the words that we have heard. He opens up our minds so that each one of us can see, The Scriptures that were written for the likes of you and me. The Lord God has been doing this for some two thousand years. He’s brought His understanding to mollify our fears. His Word is never changing, so what He did back then, Is what He’s made available for ordinary men. Now Jesus has ascended and sent the paraclete; His precious Holy Spirit so that Satan can be beat. He said that He would do it and so it’s guaranteed, That everything He did back then still could be done indeed. His brother James has told us, that all gifts from above, Come down to us from heaven, from the God of light and love. His gifts are not deceitful when they’re cascading down. They’re not two-faced or fickle; the very best in town. So if we ask the Father for wisdom and insight, He will not disappoint us and we’ll receive His light! We’ll grow in Godly knowledge. He’ll flood our hearts with hope, To better understand all things and show us how to cope. We’ll be His Holy People and know His mighty power. Our glorious inheritance, that’s bigger every hour. Then, as we honour Jesus, His Spirit will ensure, That while all of our motives are good and clean and pure, Our eyes indeed He’ll open, so that we all can see, Far better than that blind man He healed in Galilee. Jim Strickland  Written Wednesday  3rd Jan 2012