GOD NEVER FORGETS!

Time with Jesus - Monday, 07 January 2013

Hi all,

Today’s meditation is on the fact that God never forgets anything. We do! We forget things very quickly. There’s a couple of lines in a song from yesterday that said, “You promised that you’d forget me not / But you forgot to remember. The introduction makes this clear. Thank you Lord. Jesus paid the price. Now you don’t need to remember our sins ever again!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 07 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	GOD NEVER FORGETS!
Honore (Maurice Chevalier) - Mamita (Hermione Gingold) H: We met at nine - M: We met at eight H: I was on time - M: No, you were late H: Ah, yes, I remember it well.     We dined with friends M: We dined alone - H: A tenor sang M: A baritone - H: Ah, yes, I remember it well How good is your memory? We all like to think ours is excellent. For most, it’s wishful thinking. We’d like to have a good one, but somehow, things fade away and get lost in a sea of forgetfulness. Then, when we think we’ve got the picture just right; when we check it out, we find that it wasn’t quite what we thought we had remembered! I’m told that women remember romantic incidents better than men. It depends on the topic, but I find Phyllida and I are both a bit hazy about some incidents. The movie, Gigi made in 1958, featured, among others, Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold. I have a huge romantic, sentimental streak, so I loved the movie. One of my favourite scenes featured Maurice and Hermione reminiscing about a date they had together, many years previously. Maurice’s memory didn’t quite match with Hermione’s. I’ve included some of the lyrics to show the male/female memory “problem”. According to what we see on TV and in the movies, men have terrible memories about special days. He always seems to forget her birthday, wedding anniversary or similar occasion. I’m told that most men forget wedding anniversary dates; because they’re sorry they remembered to turn up that day! God has a wonderful memory. As a child I thought it was a great big machine, something like a super-computer that kept track on anyone and everything. How it worked or who made it I never did find out. Later in life, I started to try and get to know something about God. I found that He is far smarter than any computer! I learned He is infinite. By the way, the universe isn’t infinite. Only God is infinite. The next thing I learned, was that whatever God is, He is infinitely. Thus when we read that God is love, we have to come to grips with the fact that He doesn’t have love. I have love for my wife. But God doesn’t have love, He is love. He doesn’t have justice, He is justice. He is infinite love. He is infinitely merciful. He is infinitely just. Everything He is, He is infinitely. If you could find any “shortage” anywhere in Him, He would not be God. Think about it for a moment. He is infinitely just. This means there is no way He can forgive sin. Sin must be punished. If sin was unpunished He could not be a good God! But He is also infinitely merciful. Now God does not fight an internal battle with His righteousness and His mercy. Not at all. Because He has all wisdom and all knowledge, He solved our sin problem by bringing His righteous judgement on His Son. He dealt with all sin forever through Jesus’ death on the cross. God also has a perfect memory. God cannot forget. If He could forget, He could not be God. But He does have perfect control over His memory. So He can choose not to remember something. He hasn’t forgotten it; He has decided not to remember. Maurice sang, “Ah yes, I remember it well!” Maurice couldn’t remember. God chooses not to remember. My sins are not forgotten. He’s decided not to remember them. For me, it’s the same as forgetting them! Jim & Phyllida  Strickland			5 No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will help these people take possession of the land I swore to give their ancestors. Joshua 1:5-6 GW 45 Every single good promise that the LORD had given the nation of Israel came true. Joshua 21:45 GW 19 God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 NLT 9 Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands. Deut. 7:9 NLT 4 He causes us to remember His wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our LORD! 5 He gives food to those who fear Him; He always remembers His covenant. Psalm 111:4-5 NLT 15 Can a woman forget her nursing child? Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb? Although mothers may forget, I will not forget you. 16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are always in my presence. Isaiah 49:15-16 GW 17 The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph. 3:17 TNIV	O Lord, You are so different in everything You do. Forever You are faithful, consistent, sure and true. You don’t forget Your people. They’re never on their own. It surely is unthinkable to say they are alone. Man persecutes Your people; he makes a holocaust. Yet even in their darkest hour; they never were divorced. You saw the crude brutality; The death camps and the pain. You heard them calling out to you; they thought they cried in vain. But never for an instant were You not present there. And even in the gas chambers, they weren’t beyond your care. They thought they’d been deserted; that You had let them down; Their skin was used for lampshades, their bones were even ground; And auctioned off as fertiliser. All was stripped away; Their clothing and possessions. The theft was just child’s play. The shoes of little children were piled up in a heap; And in those dreadful Nazi camps, all Jewish life was cheap. Yet all this is familiar to what occurred that day, When You were taken captive and You were led away. You didn’t try to fight them. You let them do their worst. They mocked You; they spat on You; they said that You were cursed. They beat You like an animal; they crowned Your head with thorns. They gambled for Your clothing and gazed at You with scorn. They nailed You to a wooden cross and hung You up to die. And all Your friends could do for You, was hang their heads and cry. I think the Nazi’s “lessons”, were based upon that day. The murder of Christ Jesus; There was no “better” way; It was the right “solution” to obliterate the Jews. The final way to deal with the people whom You choose. They made them die of hunger of sickness and disease. The guards had their permission to shoot them as they please. And though six million perished, they just could not achieve, Their ultimate solution. But Lord it made You grieve. O Lord, You won’t forget it. It’s etched into Your hands. There’ll come a day of judgement in each and every land. The Love of God will triumph, when justice is applied. And You will see the perpetrators criminally tried. Lord, thank You for the statement that You will not forget. Your memory is perfect and there is still a debt, To pay for what has happened to Jesus and the Jews. The day will come when all of them by You will be accused. And those, whom You find guilty, will all be led away, For all their atrocities; they’ll find they have to pay. Jim Strickland  Written 7th January 2012

FRIENDS ARE FEW

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 06 January 2013

Hi all,

Friends: How many have you “got”? Most of us have many acquaintances. Folk we will recognise and greet in the shopping mall. Mostly, they are not friends in the true sense of the word. There are only about five men I know who I could really classify as a friend. The sort of man I could go to, if I had been caught red-handed doing something I shouldn’t. Ladies seem to be blessed with more friends than their husbands. Sure, many of Phyllida’s friends are acquaintances. But she also has a number of ladies she has known for many years. I must admit that their friendship with Phyllida has endeared them to me. That’s how it should be. Today’s meditation is about friends.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Sunday, 06 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	Friends are Few
Words. How many do we know? Do we know the meaning of those we use? Very often we do. On a number of occasions we use a word which we think has a particular meaning. Unfortunately, the hearer thinks it means something else. A good example comes from my engineering days as a consultant in Syria. It was a fascinating experience. The contract was written in English. The Syrians spoke Arabic. I only knew one word. “Shukran” meaning “thank you”. The manufacturers, Mitsubishi, spoke Japanese. So all dialog between the Syrians and the Japanese was in English. Fine, if you’re English speaking. But if you only spoke Japanese or Arabic, life could be difficult. So I had to be sure that what I said in English was clear and unambiguous. I learned this soon after I arrived there. I was talking to the Syrians about the oil pipes and how they would be “flushed out”. This caused great consternation. To the Arabic ear, my word “oil” was heard as “all”. They didn’t like the idea of “all” the pipes on the power station being flushed out. It took about half an hour for me to sort out the misunderstanding. Children love using long words. Sometimes they use a word they don’t understand. It sounds good to them so they use it. But occasionally their choice is incorrect. Different countries also use phrases which mean different things to us. In Canada when someone said “See you later” it didn’t mean later in the day. It meant on a future date. They drive automobiles, not cars, and fill up with gas, not petrol. Car boots are trunks and bonnets are hoods. They used thumb tacks, not drawing pins. So what do we mean by the word “Friend”. I tried to find its meaning and came up with this: A relationship between two people, other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection or personal regard. It sounds about right to me. But how many “friends” do we have? Ladies have lots! At least that’s what we’re told. But do they? I’m not so sure. Perhaps those who have time go to lady’s socials. But I rather suspect most of the interpersonal relationships in those gatherings are superficial. For most men, it’s much the same, or worse. One of the chief differences is that most male socialising is in the pub, at the sport’s stadium or at the 19th hole on the golf course. Incidentally, golf is far from being a social occasion. It’s really a chance for Joe Citizen to walk round in comparative silence wishing he had hit that little round XXXXX white thing properly. Biblically, men tend to be loners. Adam was so busy running round the garden he didn’t even know there was a problem. Only when he spotted that all the other creatures were in pairs, did it dawn on him, that something was odd! What I particularly like about the creation story is that Eve was taken out of him! From his side; not from his neck to be above him or his feet to be beneath him. His side was pierced by the finger of God. A rib was removed and, presumably, replaced. It reminds me of our Lord Jesus. His side was pierced by a Roman lance. Out came blood and water. From this blood and water, ultimately will come the Bride of Christ. Eden Restored? God knows! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told Him all they had done and taught. Mar 6:30 NLT 24 Even a man who has many companions can be destroyed. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 NIrV 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face. It was like a man speaking to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But Joshua, his young helper, didn't leave the tent. Joshua was the son of Nun. Exodus 33:11 NIrV 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:14-15 ESV . 10 In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, 'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'" Luke 17:10 NLT 15 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, Rom 8:15 MSG 6 Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. 7 Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus. Philip 4:6-7 GW 8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. Proverbs 15:8 ESV	There has to be a reason why we men have so few friends. I cannot understand it. Perhaps friendships depend, On those we’re introduced to, most likely by our wives. But few have long-term friendships that last them all their lives. I know that in reality, men-friends are very few. And in my past experience, there’s only one or two. In fact as I look backwards and down through all my years, There’s very few whose passing, would cause me to shed tears. The guys I was at school with, I never will forget; But since I’ve started working, there’s few men I have met, Who’s really been a friend to me. A few have been a pal. But normally I’ve met them as I courted some sweet gal. Of course I’ve met a lot of men. Acquaintances? OK. But very few continue and still are friends today. I wonder if this problem is mine and mine alone? Perhaps I should be thinking, of the way that I’ve been known? The men for me are usually like ships that pass at night. We seldom take the time to pause. We part when it grows light. Of course I’ve met the people my wife has come to know. And they have all been marvellous. In fact they’ve helped me grow. But few of them were friends of mine, except by accident. And this is surely not the way that being friends was meant. But there’s someone Who’s special; a friend for fifty years. I met Him as a brash young man; a mass of guilt and fears. I didn’t know what I should do. My life was one big mess. And someone introduced me to a Person Who would bless. He’d make my living purposeful. He looked into my face, And told me what was wrong with me. He said I needed grace. He said He would be with me and stick closer than a brother And since I’ve got to know Him, I’ve found there is no other Man, who wants to know me, as an eternal friend; He said we’d walk together, ‘til time comes to an end. And since I fell in love with Him, I’m bored with other men. And we have a relationship that’s far beyond my ken. Perhaps I am unusual? Perhaps I’ve got things wrong? But I’ve not met another man who fills my heart with song. No other human friendship can possibly compare, With walking with my Saviour and knowing He is there. Most men are insipid. Sex and booze and sport, Is not the sort of lifestyle, I ever could support. And if this makes me different, I think I’d rather be, A friend of Christ my Saviour, Who has befriended me. Jim Strickland  Written 5th January 2012.

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