REAL LOVE

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 20 January 2013

Hi all,

What do you and I know of real love? Probably it’s very little! Deuteronomy states, ⁵ and you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deut. 6:5 NLT I’ve no fight with the statement. But how do I know I’m doing it? Jesus told us how. In John’s Gospel it states; ¹⁰ When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father's commandments and remain in His love. John 15:10 NLT

The simple answer is to say we know we love God when we do what He says! It’s not complicated and it doesn’t require great genius. Today we meditate on real love!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Sunday, 20 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	Real Love
In the Book of Deuteronomy, God indicates that “Israel” belongs to Him and “Jacob” is His special possession. In the context in which this is written, Jacob and Israel are the same. It’s a classic piece of Hebrew writing in which the same thing is stated twice. We can say God is expressing His love for His people. Special possession is an interesting term. The best illustration I’ve heard was by Malcolm Smith in 1984. He said that from God’s perspective, Israel is my “pocket money”. The entire world belongs to Him. In a sense, if the entire world past, present and future could be expressed in terms of Rand and cents or dollars and cents; no matter how great the total might be, it was all His. He is free to dispose of it or keep it, as He wills. No one can interfere in any way. It’s all His1 We get a better understanding of the term “pocket money” from a small illustration. You and I earn a wage or a salary; so much per week or month. Whatever! Now we have certain commitments that must be paid. These are essential expenses we can’t avoid. For instance, we have to buy food, clothes, family needs, rentals etc. Although all the money is ours, we are compelled to spend it in a particular way. But every one of us likes to have something to spend on whatever he/she wants. We call it our pocket money. For you and me, it’s special. It’s mine for me to spend as I want. No strings attached, it’s mine. As children, most of us received something from our parents to spend somewhere. That was my pocket money. My parents might have asked me where I spent it, but didn’t interfere unless they thought it was wasted on something silly. Now think of it on a Divine Scale. God loves us all. We are all His people. Every man and woman on this earth is His. We are all His possession. But, like us, God has a special possession. Special in the sense that the pleasure we get with our pocket money, is how He sees His people. His people are His pocket money! The implications of this are staggering. Suddenly the Song of Songs starts to make sense. God is the King. In the book, He is the groom. Then He begins to describe His love for you and me; we are His bride; His special possession. He shares His passion with and for us. We respond in the way a bride responds to her groom. It’s breath-taking! You are His special possession. You are His pocket money. You are His beloved. How can such a love be described? It’s supernatural; It’s that unique love of God that gives itself away. The Greek word somewhat Anglicised is “agape’” What’s it like? Some years, ago I was listening to one of our better known SA speakers. He asked much the same question. How much does God love us? By way of answer he spread out his arms as far as he could. He added that it’s exactly, what Jesus did – then Jesus died. He can go no further, because there is nothing any further. That’s agape’! No limits and no end. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			9"For the people of Israel belong to the LORD; Jacob is His special possession. Deut. 32:9 NLT 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. 1 Cor. 3:23 NLT 10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. SoS 7:10 TNIV 16 "My love belongs to me, and I belong to him. Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies. SoS 2:16 NIrV 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20 ESV 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 ESV 20 But you--GOD took you right out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to become the people of his inheritance--and that's what you are this very day. Deut. 4:20 MSG 9 For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building. 1 Cor. 3:9 NLT 6 But Christ is a faithful son in charge of God's household. We are his household if we continue to have courage and to be proud of the confidence we have. Heb. 3:6 GW 5 You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 GW 17 "They will be My people," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "On the day when I act in judgment, they will be My own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Mal 3:17 NLT 10 All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory. John 17:10 NLT 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Eph. 1:18 ESV	There’s little understanding of the love of God Most High, For guilt-infested sinners, the like of you and I. We don’t know why He bothers. Why should He even look, At people who don’t care for Him, or what is in His Book. It seems we’ve been inoculated, so we cannot tell, If we are bound for heaven, or have been condemned to hell. We know it’s done by Satan. We know about his hate. Any person that is born – they have to share his fate. And so he does his very best, in order to ensure, That not a person in the world could any way be pure. But thank God, Jesus knows it. He knows of Satan’s trap. And just because He loves us, He died to fill the gap, That Father had erected the instant of the fall. And He came here to close it. He died to save us all. We mostly find His love for us is more than we have seen. It stretches to eternity, where we have never been. This world is full of “eros” which usually is lust. Do the things you want to do! There’s no one you can trust. So if your “love” is glandular then grab it double quick. The value of virginity, That makes me feel so sick. Mankind are only animals, so you can copulate With anyone or everyone. Who needs a marriage mate? We find it all around us. This is normality? If that is now your attitude, it’s crass stupidity. The fact is, you don’t understand what Christ has really done. He didn’t die upon the cross to stop you having fun. He died because He loved you. There was no trace of lust. He didn’t have to do it for the children of the dust. He didn’t love for my sake, but because it had to be. He didn’t get emotional and concentrate on me. He saw a dying people, who had been led astray. A lost and mad humanity who didn’t have a way, To come and meet His Father. Compassion then arose, And filled Him with a longing to go and rescue those, Who truly would receive Him and love Him for His sake. A love that gives itself away and cannot bear to take! A love that says, “Whoever, no matter where you’ve been, I’ll freely give My life away so that you can be clean. No matter what they do to Me, my focus is on you. My love for you is limitless. I’ll do what I must do. If you will just believe me, I’ll teach you how to love. Then you can also give your life for God who reigns above”. Jim Strickland Written 20th January 2012.

DECEPTION

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 19 January 2013

Hi all,

Being deceived is one of the hardest things we experience in life. Husbands deceive wives so they can have an affair. Wives deceive their husbands by hiding expensive purchases so that he doesn’t know. Children deceive parents by telling them they will be with a friend; then they go to a party. It’s not new. But when the truth comes out, which it nearly always does, the pain and recriminations are horrendous. It seems to be Satan’s favourite tool. Today’s meditation deals with deception.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 19 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	Deception
By way of introduction, Phyllida and I acknowledge we have been divorced (Phyllida 1976; Jim 1981) and subsequently married. This is the backdrop to the topic of deception and the associated meditation. Deception is perhaps the greatest tool in Satan’s armoury. It seems to be his specialisation. The deception of Eve in Genesis 3 introduces us to the fall of man. There is a sense in which the effect of deception is the focus of God’s attention throughout the Bible to the end of the Book of Revelation. Mother Eve was deceived. Adam was not. I’ve tried to see if I could possibly find some excuse for what he did. Did he love her too much? I’ve tried to work out some reason why he seems to have stood there like a spectator. Personally I can find no reason why he just stood there and looked on while Satan deceived her. Sadly, it seems that he was just a copycat. Like many husbands today, he went along with his wife no matter what. It’s possible that she had never been told God’s instruction to Adam not to eat the fruit of that particular tree. Her comments to Satan could suggest that she had no clear understanding of the implications. Be that as it may, the fact is He was not deceived. He knew what he was doing but did it anyway. So what else is new? The Bible has a number of classic deceivers. Abram, Jacob, 10 of Jacob’s sons, Joseph in Egypt; Moses birth, Joshua; the list goes on and on. Today, deception is rife. The best comment I’ve heard about this is the question, “Would you buy a used car from Jacob?” Mind you, if that’s your comment about Jacob, what about dear old uncle Laban. He was Jacob’s mother’s brother. Furthermore, It’s likely that Laban had tried to pull a couple of similar tricks on Rebecca before she went to Canaan to marry Isaac. Certainly her departure from her brother’s influence suggests that it was not just the prospects of being Isaac’s wife that attracted her. She seemed thrilled by the prospect of getting away from him. So what had he done? We don’t know. Jesus deceived no one. He was sinless. He is the only person who could truthfully state: - 30 I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry--he has nothing on me, no claim on me. John 14:30 MSG If He might be accused of anything; it would be allowing Satan and his forces to crucify and “kill Him”. Three days later Jesus was raised from the dead! Satan had bitten off more than he could chew! He found he had a severe case of indigestion! Think about this for a moment. Did Jesus deceive Satan into thinking he had won? Not really. He went to the cross legitimately. He was condemned in accordance with the wiles of men. The Jewish leaders wanted Him out of the way. He threatened their “status quo”. They were the ones in charge and they wouldn’t put this aside for anyone, not even God! They enjoyed the respect of the people. They liked being deferred to by the people. It massaged their pride. If the same masses deserted them in favour of Jesus, they would lose face. They had to get rid of the “Galilean upstart” before the whole world went after Him. From Satan’s perspective, his enemy was being dealt with and would soon be trapped in his kingdom. He was due for a very rude awakening. Jesus experienced victory by surrender. He let the devil do his worst. Throughout the entire experience, Jesus was fully in control. He could have stopped everything with one simple command. He didn’t. He knew the future of humanity was riding on His actions. The only way to defeat death was to “die” and swallow it whole. That’s what He did. Today’s meditation looks at deception. What happened and some of the implications. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 NLT 21 He (Noah) drank some of its wine. It made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on. Gen 9:21 NIrV 11 As Abram drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. 13 Do me a favour: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live." Gen 12:11 & 13 MSG 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau." 24 "But are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "Yes, I am," Jacob replied. Gen 27:21 & 24 NLT 33 Because they defied GOD yet again, Moses exploded and lost his temper. Psalm 106:33 MSG 14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD. 15 Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath. Joshua 9:14-15 NLT 5 David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:5 ESV 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Heb 11:39-40 ESV 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom 324 ESV 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 ESV 32 But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O My people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done! Ezekiel 36:32 NLT	Deception’s not acceptable, no matter who it’s by. We may think we must do it. It’s better not to try. “Sarai is my sister”. Is just what Abram said, It’s true, to His half sister, that Abram had been wed. But it was a deception and Pharaoh wasn’t pleased, He put her in his harem and his “wives” became diseased! He found they couldn’t reproduce and Sarai got the blame. So Abram had to leave with her, far richer than they came! The arch-deceiver Jacob, tricked everyone he could; He paid his uncle Laban a lot more than he should. He only wanted Rachel, but he had been deceived. The fact he married Leah, was hard to be believed. So Laban added Rachel. He worked for seven more years. With two wives and two mistresses! He would be close to tears! Perhaps the “best” deception that ever has been told, Is of the men from Gibeon. The thing they did was bold! They loaded up their donkeys, with very old stale bread. “We’ve travelled from so far away” is what their leader said. “We’ve heard about your exploits and what your God can do; So we have travelled from afar to make a pact with you. We’d like a firm agreement to always be your friend. So can we cut a covenant on which we can depend?” Now Joshua and his people did not ask God’s advice. And so they cut a covenant; they did it in a trice. Then, found out that the Gibeonites lived only just next door. But they were in a covenant which they could change no more. For it was done and settled. The Covenant was cut. They didn’t want to keep it. They nearly did their “nut”. And they would have to live with it, throughout the years ahead. They forced the men of Gibeon to serve till they were dead. Then, some years in the future, when Saul became the king, He tried annihilation, to end this problem thing. But he forgot the covenant and it was still in place. So seven of Saul’s offspring with death itself were faced. Each one of them was butchered and their bodies left to rot. Perhaps Saul had forgotten it, but Father God had not. He never will forget it. Time doesn’t wipe away, The terms of any covenant. They’re still in place today. And this is why a husband and wife are next of kin. It goes back to the covenant that they have entered in. So do not let deception destroy your marriage bond. You cannot dump each other because you are not fond, Of living as a couple, before the Lord Most High. You cannot break a covenant no matter how you try. But Jesus might forgive you, repentance is required. You never will repeat it, is what you’ll find desired. Jim Strickland  Written 19th January 2012