FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 05 March 2013

Jim & Phyllida Strickland at home in Jo'burg South Africa

Hi all,

My wife and I have just begun reading one of Philip Yancey’s book, “The Jesus I Never Knew”! I was touched by the fact that, like Philip, the Jesus I “grew up” with in junior school, is vastly different from the Jesus we know now. We grew up with “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” Of course that is still true. But He is so much more than that. He is the Lion of Judah; the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; at His feet every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. He is the One who will separate the sheep from the goats. How is it possible for Him to be both at the same time? I don’t know. But since He is God, it should not be too difficult for Him.

Today we are at a time in history when we are expected to “fight the good fight of faith”. Paul deals with our preparation for this battle. But we don’t fight against a physical foe. Our foe is in the spirit. There will come a time when He will “take over” the battle. Then singlehandedly, He will defeat His enemies with the sword of His mouth. God’s Word will annihilate the enemy. You and I will watch this in grateful amazement.

In the meantime we must fight the good fight. This fight shapes us and forms us into the spiritual warriors He desires. Today’s meditation looks at fighting the good fight in more detail.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 05 March 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	Fight the Good Fight
Christianity, or being a follower of Christ, is not for wimps. This is another of those things we aren’t told, when we decide to follow Him. Maybe it’s just as well. I suspect that if we could have seen the future at that time, we would have wondered if we could possibly cope? As a child in primary school I remember singing “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war; with the cross of Jesus going on before”. An easy song to sing with easily remembered lyrics. I had no idea how accurately, the hymn depicted our walk in Jesus! Some years later, I recall a dear friend of ours, who is a Methodist Minister, mentioned in one of his stories, from the history of Methodism. It concerned a rather headstrong couple, who loved each other, but revelled in minor scrapes and arguments. For the opening hymn in their marriage service, they chose “Fight the good fight with all thy might”. He told us that the closing hymn was, “Abide with me”! I rather suspect he was pulling our leg! He had one or two similar stories we thought were rather dubious. Fighting in a war can sometimes present difficulties for Christian people. Whether or not to take up arms can be very controversial. Many have refused to join the army and carry a gun. “Conscientious Objectors” are usually convinced that to shoot and kill the enemy is wrong. Sometimes this can produce some fascinating situations. I well remember the 1956 movie “Friendly Persuasion” starring, among others, Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire. Set during the American Civil war, the topic was dealt with in a very light-hearted way. It contained humour and pathos. It showed how difficult it can be, to be a consistent consciences objector, in times of war. Yet men have served their country in war carrying only a Bible as a weapon. Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. Paul knew what he was talking about. He’d been there! All his life, after his dramatic conversion to Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, was one succession of confrontations after the other. “Fight the good fight of faith”, is what he wrote to Timothy. But Paul also indicated that God has equipped everyone to fight this fight. In his letter to the Ephesians he wrote: 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Eph. 6:13-18 ESV There’s little doubt in my mind, that Paul was sharing with the people of Ephesus, his own experience and method in prayer. As far as he was concerned, this was warfare. These “Prayer tips” may not be in 21st century language. But guess what? They are more up to date than tomorrow’s newspaper. This is his recipe for fruitful Christianity. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			12 Fight the good fight along with all other believers. Take hold of eternal life. You were chosen for it when you openly told others what you believe. Many witnesses heard you. 1 Tim 6:12 NIrV 5 When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. 2 Cor. 7:5 NLT 15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Oh, sir, what will we do now?" the young man cried to Elisha. 16 "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" 17 Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:15-17 NLT 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Eph. 6:10-11 NLT 45 David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. 46 This very day GOD is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. 1 Samuel 17:45-46 MSG 33 This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. 34 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 2 Samuel 22:33-35 ESV 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3:5-6 ESV 7 The angel of the LORD stands guard around those who have respect for him. And he saves them. Psalm 34:7 NIrV 32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Heb. 11:32-34 NLT	The moment you’re a Christian, you’re fighting in a war. You cannot see the enemy, and you’re a little raw. You haven’t had experience in battling this way. But there’s no way of quitting, no matter what folk say. The opposition’s sneaky; they operate through friends! They listen to your comments and focus on your trends. Their purpose is to stop you from what you may achieve. If you continue standing in the faith which you believe. Their tactics are deception; to push you to the side, Where they can make you stumble into any form of pride. Their army looks intimidating, powerful and huge. But it is just a method of evil subterfuge. They usually begin by attacking from the front. They threaten they are powerful and call on every stunt, To keep you from resisting and make you fall away. Anything that they can do, to keep the Lord at bay! Their techniques are so tricky; they’ll fight you from the rear. Anything that they can do to fill your heart with fear. They know that if you’re terrified, you’ll turn around and run; Then all of your resistance will be surely overcome. But you have a weapon that cannot be dismissed. The Word of God to fight with and they cannot resist, Its double edged action as it sweeps them all away. You also have a helmet to wear into the fray. A breastplate of God’s righteousness, the enemy can’t pierce. A shield of faith to stop the barbs, which seem to be so fierce. A belt of truth, to recognise the devil’s wicked lies; With sandals on your feet resisting your demise. We have all of this armour. At first we do not know. But as you gain experience, your confidence will grow. For you have one more weapon to keep away despair. That weapon is invincible and it’s the power of prayer. Even if you’re naked and all your armour’s gone, It’s prayer that gives ability to keep on keeping on. You have the blood of Jesus. It’s God’s atomic power. To bring His people victory each day and any hour. So Christian, take courage. Defeat will not take place. Not while you are looking into the Master’s face. Ask for just a little glimpse of how the chips are stacked. There’s many more with Jesus and Satan’s seat is smacked. You can’t be defeated and you must surely win, Against the devil’s army and the crushing power of sin. Jim Strickland Written 5th March 2012

STRANGE FIRE!

Time with Jesus - Monday, 04 March 2013

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Hi all,

My Dad was a stickler for detail. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly”. He did not approve of shoddy work. It was something he learned while working as an apprentice in the factory. The apprentices went through some very hard training, even in the 1960’s. One of our jobs was to make what was called “Flogging spanners”. These were big heavy spanners made for tightening certain bolts for the turbine covers. These spanners were put over the head of the nut on a bolt. Then we had to tighten the bolts by “flogging” them with a 14lb hammer. It worked well. But you can imagine what these spanners looked like after a couple of nuts had been tightened. But that did not matter in the apprentice training school. We had to make them “exactly according to the pattern”. So if what we’d done was unacceptable to our foremen, we would have to take our spanner to the foundry for it to be “welded up” so that we could file the shapes correctly. The foremen had special gauges to check what we made. Each spanner had to be right! We also soon learned that filing weld material was hard work. Later on, working with a flogging spanner and hitting it with a 14lb hammer nearly brought tears to my eyes!

God’s standards are higher than those in the apprentice school. The penalty for doing anything that was not according to the pattern He had given was severe. For Nadab and Abihu, it was death. Uzzah touched the ark and died. Ananias and Sophira died for lying to the Holy Spirit.

Today we meditate on what the outcome was when Nadab and Abihu used “unauthorised fire” in their sensors.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 04 March 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	Strange Fire!
God is incomprehensible. Isaiah expressed it as follows: 8 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT Why God does the things He does, frequently defies all human understanding. A classic example is what took place on the cross. To us it looks like an overwhelming defeat. A “man” dying on a cross, It was actually the greatest victory this world has even seen or known. There is one thing we can say about God with a reasonable degree of certainty. If He says something, it must be believed and acted upon. “Do not eat of the fruit” illustrates this. Adam disobeyed. We know the outcome. Moving on down the centuries, we come upon an extraordinary statement by God to Moses. 8 "Have the people of Israel build Me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. 9 You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you. Exodus 25:8-9 NLT This is what Moses and his people did. Men have tried to describe the splendour of the tabernacle - the tent in the wilderness. No doubt they’ve done their best. It’s doubtful if anyone can do so adequately. God required many things from His people; too many to go into in this short message. There were two I’d like to draw to our attention. The light shining from the menorah was never to go out. Another was associated with the consecration of the tabernacle and furnishings. The details are recorded in Leviticus. 23 Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. 24 Fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground. Lev 9:23-24 NLT We are told that the fire on this altar was never to be extinguished. It also follows that fire generated by any other method would be “strange fire”. In this morning’s Scripture, we are informed that Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire from the Lord. They had used fire obtained by another method. It was “strange fire”. Nadab and Abihu disobeyed a direct instruction from God. The result was their death. Why the Lord did this is not for me to question. All we know is they had violated a pattern He had laid down. We may not touch God’s Holiness. To do so could be to proclaim our own death sentence. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			15 When he sees that his resting place is good and that the land is pleasant, he will bend his back to the burden and will become a slave labourer. Gen 49:15 GW ! 10 For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. James 5:10 NLT 11 Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who are living at the time when God's work is being completed. 1 Cor. 10:11 NIrV 10 Job replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. We accept good things from God. So we should also accept trouble when he sends it." In spite of everything, Job didn't say anything that was sinful. Job 2:10 NIrV 3 Then Moses spoke to Aaron. He said, "That's what the LORD was talking about when he said, "'Among those who approach me I will show that I am holy. In the sight of all of the people I will be honoured.'" So Aaron remained silent. Leviticus 10:3 NIrV 17 "What did the LORD tell you?" he asked. "Please don't hide anything from me. May God strike you dead if you hide anything he told you from me." 18 So Samuel told Eli everything. Eli replied, "He is the LORD. May he do what he thinks is right." 1 Samuel 3:17-18 GW 20 My best friend has betrayed his friends. He has broken his solemn promise. 21 His speech is smoother than butter, but there is war in his heart. His words are more soothing than oil, but they are like swords ready to attack. 22 Turn your burdens over to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will never let the righteous person stumble. Psalm 55:20-22 GW 4 Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV 28 Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Mat 11:28-30 ESV	We have to do things properly, so we can do them right. The Lord is most particular; and so He shines His light, On each and every one of us, to make sure what we do, Conforms to what’s expected from the likes of me and you. We see this very clearly in the Scriptures for today. His priests were consecrated, in a very special way. They’d been through all the ritual for them to be a priest. Their ministry was starting. At death it would be ceased. They’d heard all God’s instructions; the lamps must not go out. They had to keep them burning; of that there was no doubt. The offering was burned up by fire from on High. That flame upon the altar; they mustn’t let it die. It had to be kept burning for seven twenty-four. Any other fire was acceptable no more. But Nadab and Abihu; they failed to do it right. Their incense burner’s fire was “strange” within God’s sight. It wasn’t from the altar; so they were both consumed, By fire from the Lord. “It doesn’t matter” they presumed. Moses informed Aaron, the reason why they’d died. The holiness of God by their “strange fire” was put aside. We have to be particular in everything we do. To violate His holiness means death for me and you! Much the same thing happened when Uzzah touched the ark.  (2 Sam 6:7) Never be transported on an ordinary cart! On the Levite’s shoulders was where it had to be. Covered and not visible, for everyone to see. Perhaps, it may be argued, these victims didn’t know, That what they had been doing would offend the Master so. But He is God Almighty. We know He does what’s right. Your or my opinion doesn’t matter in His sight. We must never violate the “pattern” He has shown; Even accidentally; such things must not be known. God is not an ogre. But sometimes He must act, In ways we find disquieting and very short of tact. Know that these things happen for reasons in His mind; Seldom understandable, the cause is hard to find. But Jesus and His Holiness we never may downgrade. And it will never happen if He’s constantly obeyed. Jim Strickland Written 4th March 2012