DEATH IS CONQUERED

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 04 January 2012

We should never be surprised if we find that false religions contain some truth. There must be a measure of truth or Satan would have nothing to pervert. This tactic of perverting truth has been his trick since before Adam took charge of Eden. These are the ploys of a confidence trickster. We shouldn’t be surprised at that. Some believe that when he was “thrown out” of heaven, he took one third of the angels with him. Only a superb “con man” would have been able to persuade one third of the angels to go with him. So Adam and Eve were “conned” into giving him dominion over themselves.

If we look carefully at the way he went about it we see the master deceiver at work. Just enough truth to get Eve interested. He then questioned the outcome. Just sufficient to get her to decide to eat the forbidden fruit and give some to Dumbo (Adam) to eat. That’s all it took. Death came into the world and we’ve been stuck with it ever since. Only Jesus could achieve that which no one else could do. In order to do so, He first had to die. Then He could literally swallow death completely! That’s exactly what He did.

So why do we still have to die? Because, in spite of inflation and the collapse of the international currency system, the wages of sin is still death. Nothing has changed since the fall of man. You and I were born with a sin nature. So we have to die until Jesus decides to return. Then the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. Until that happens, we will continue to “sleep in death”.

It’s interesting to note than when anyone spoke of someone’s death, Jesus remarked that the person was not dead but sleeping. Of course, since He is the Resurrection and the Life, He has authority to awaken people from the sleep of death. So when He raised Lazarus from the dead, all He did was use His authority to awaken him from death’s sleep. Incidentally, I recall one preacher saying that if Jesus hadn’t prefixed His statement with Lazarus’ name, all of creation would have come forth! Such is the authority of our Lord and Master!

Today’s meditation looks at death and what Jesus achieved by His death. It’s glorious for Christians to know that when they die, they will literally fall asleep. According to Paul, their Spirit’s will be present with the Lord. Then, when He decides, the trumpet will sound and we will all receive a resurrection body. One that is ageless and deathless. David Pawson makes the comment that we will then all get a free ticket to the Holy Land where we will be with Him. What a magnificent thought. Before or after the great tribulation? Who cares anyway? We will be with the only one who really matters.

So let’s not become afraid of death. It’s only a trick of the master “con man”. Jesus has already defeated death so it should hold no terrors for us anyway.

Today’s meditation takes another look at death and its defeat by Jesus.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

Death is Conquered

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 Wednesday 4th January 2012

SIGHT FOR THE BLIND

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 03 January 2012

I’ve heard it said that everything that took place in the Old Testament was there to illustrate that which Jesus would subsequently do in the New Testament. I’ve no reason to doubt the statement, but struggle with how the historical information fits into this category.

I’ve also been told that every one of the miracles attributed to Jesus have their counterpart in the Old Testament. This same Bible teacher has pointed out that everything Jesus did up to His Crucifixion and death was carried out in terms of the Old Covenant. I have no real reason to gainsay this. It’s true that He was born, lived and obeyed the law of God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 He stated: ¹⁷ "Do not think I have come to get rid of what is written in the Law or in the Prophets. I have not come to do that. Instead, I have come to give full meaning to what is written. Mat 5:17 NIrV

There are many different people who love God’s Word. These men and women have different personalities and temperaments. Some tend to be romantic and read The Word looking for that which is gloriously liberating. Some tend to be more formal and categorize His life and words in terms of predefined classifications. There is a sense in which both are right and both are wrong. It would be wrong for me to be critical of others who tend to be more rigid in their understanding of Scripture. I often find that men and women from this “stream” have insights into Scripture that my romantic nature would never spot without it being drawn to my attention.

Over the years I’ve begun to learn that I greatly need those who have a different personality from mine. In the early 1990’s Phyllida and I served in a church in Worcester. There was one particular man with whom I almost always disagreed. But what we found was that this man was the perfect foil for my artistic romantic nature. We had some real ding dong disagreements. But invariably, his different approach was something we could not do without. In fact we would not hold church meetings without him. We found in practice that our greatest critic was actually our greatest asset! That was a revelation to all of us.

In the Scriptures today we deal with blindness and how Jesus dealt with it. We see Him restore physical sight to a blind man. We also see in Psalm 119 that The Lord gives “sight” to the spiritually blind. Indeed, throughout the Old and New Testaments we see spiritual and physical blindness being restored. Men and women who have walked in spiritual or physical blindness have had their vision restored. God excels in this. It’s almost as though He delights in enabling His people to see Him. Like our friend in Worcester, we may have different perspectives, but He delights in allowing His people to meet and from our different perspectives, to bring greater light than we could ever have achieved on our own.

In writing this morning’s meditation I’ve traced the restoration of sight from the Gospel back into the Psalms and tried to draw out the wonder of God bringing light to blind eyes.

Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

Sight for the Blind

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

RESURRECTION LIFE

Going into a new year is both frustrating and fun. It’s always fun anticipating what the year has in store. Frustration comes from knowing that if we do this year the same as we did last year, we will get the same result.

Mature Christians often have a difficulty knowing what they should be; and knowing what they are not. For some, this spurs them on to greater effort and greater achievement. For others it becomes a recipe for disaster. They see their own limitations and give up trying. On occasions I’ve been in both places.

There is an additional complication which we come across in certain Christian circles. People say, “God told me this” or “God told me that”. Unfortunately we have no other witness to this ‘fact’ so we are not in a position to either support or reject the claim. But the comment is useful to use because it puts the speaker beyond human correction. After all, if God did tell them that, I daren’t contradict it. So we tend to look at people who make such claims with great suspicion. However, time will tell whether the statement was true or false.

Reading the first 3 verses gives me the impression that King David was familiar with this difficulty. A Psalm of David. ¹ O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! ² Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! ³ Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Psalm 141:1-3 ESV

With the exception of King Jesus, David was the greatest king Israel has ever seen. Yet, here is this king who has a heart after God, admitting to his own shortcomings. I suppose we could paraphrase this verse by saying. “Lord, please help me to stop lying!” In verse one, we read of this same king asking God to hear His prayer. Could it be that he had the same problems we do? It gives me great comfort to know that he experienced times when it seemed that the heaven was like brass. I know it too well. David was a sinner. His illicit relationship with Bathsheba and the arranged murder of Uriah confirms this. But God never abandoned him.

So when my head swells with uninhibited pride, it’s a blessing to know that either I will correct myself, or He will correct me. Furthermore, it helps me know that regardless of how bad I have been, forgiveness is not beyond reach. I don’t know about you, but I find this very comforting. I know I should never compare myself with another; but it’s good to understand that even at my lowest point I’m not beyond His salvation and His grace.

The meditation today looks at some of the problems we all have with prayer. Fortunately, He has the solution even for people like you and me.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

Resurrection Life

Each time that you are praying, do thoughts invade your mind? Is prayer to you a burden, a deep unwanted bind? Is contacting the Saviour beyond all you can see? Then I have got good news for you; for you are just like me. I’ve never found it easy in truth it’s very hard. I feel I’d like to go and play in someone else’s yard. So we rely on systems to keep our spirits quiet. When what we’re really needing is a spiritual riot. Something we can cling to, to help us get it right, And really serve the Master without some inner fight. Is this a bad confession? Should I hide this away? But all that I can murmur is, “Lord teach me to pray.” I know I’m not alone in this. I know my friends complain That they would like to pray to You in ways that don’t seem vain. And yet there’s great encouragement when answers come along. We know the time’s not wasted and prayer is never wrong! The problem is our senses. We think that we should feel A sort of dynamism, which makes the Saviour real! We should be filled with power to set the world alight. Instead there’s empty nothingness for we can’t get it right. O Lord, I hate this struggle. It seems I cannot win. And since these words are faithless, I know that they are sin. But Lord I’m tired of trying; I cannot bear the mask That covers my hypocrisy when prayer is just a task. So Lord as we go into the year which lies ahead, Father, work a miracle and raise me from the dead. Help me know your presence in spite of how I feel. Teach me that sensations are not what make things real. I know that You can do it. Please let my prayers ascend Like fragrant clouds of incense, of which there is no end. You’ve said that we can do it. To pray and never cease. Perhaps all I am needing, is some form of release. The freedom to engage with You in way’s I’ve never known. The way the Bible indicates is what You’ll surely own. An inner transformation that causes us to be The essence of what we should know in Christianity. Not some mumbo jumbo of raising up a storm. But where a right relationship is constantly the norm. For working the miraculous for You is just routine And raising sinners from the dead is where you’re always seen And we desire to know You as we have never done In fellowship with Father, the Spirit and Your Son. Jim Strickland – Written Monday 2nd January 2012

THE LORD OF LIFE

Today is the first day of 2012, So let me commence by asking the Lord to bless you, family and friends in 2012.

Some phrases in the English language become “hackneyed” with age. The same is true in Scriptural language. Please don’t think I’m being irreverent when I say that I am more than mildly irritated when I am present at a prayer meeting; or any other gathering of Christians when I hear the phrase, Where two or three people meet together in my name, I am there with them." I’ve heard it so often that I rather suspect it’s become a sort of Christian “mantra” that we need to hear but don’t really believe. In a sense it’s as though people are saying, “Jesus is with us, but don’t expect anything to happen”.

I suspect this frustration comes from my school days at Marist Brothers. There were regular brief interruptions for prayer throughout the day; every hour on the hour. But habit had taken the meaning out of the prayers. So we said the words before we could get on with the class. Great if you love ritual. But if you want to put your heart and soul into prayer, find a better method. For the sake of clarification, look at the way the Message expresses the words, ¹⁹ When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. ²⁰ And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." Mat 18:19-20 MSG. I find nothing in these words to suggest that Jesus’ sole purpose is to answer the prayers of those who are praying.

One of the phrases in English which I find equally disturbing is, “The longest journey begins with a single step.” If ever words were strung together to discourage people they are these words. I wonder if Hudson Taylor or Gladys Aislewood pondered this phrase? How about Paul, Peter or any of the church fathers?

Today we are setting off on a one year journey to follow the Daily Light Evening Scriptures. The journey will take 366 days (Leap year) Let’s not think of this as a chore to be undertaken. Let’s see it as a breathtaking journey into the heart of God. Each day should be a pleasure. It will be if that’s what we decide.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

The Lord of Life

As Moses said to Joshua, “Take courage and be strong. For you will lead these people as soon as I am gone. Go take the land God’s given them, divide and share it out. The time has come for taking it. That’s far beyond a doubt. The Lord will go ahead of you and grant you great success. He won’t fail or abandon you, His purpose is to bless, The people He has chosen to be His very own. Just follow Him consistently and do what He has shown.” The words that Moses gave them, all still apply today, And Jesus says to all of us, here’s what we must obey. It’s not a time for slacking off; It’s not a time to mope. It’s not a time for thinking, that there’s no future hope. It’s time for looking forward and straining for the prize. For focusing on what the Lord has placed before our eyes! It’s time to seek the glory; the type the Father gives. The sort that is reflected by the way the Master lives! It’s taking on the suffering, the way that He endured; That when we trust in Jesus, our victory’s ensured. It’s having a deep knowledge, of all that He has said. It’s putting all our trust in Him, to whom we’ll soon be wed. It’s waiting for the day to come, when He’ll return as judge. To know this is a certainty from which we cannot budge. It’s grasping He will do it; That all will be fulfilled. That nothing can prevent it, for that is what He’s willed. It’s getting into training, so we can win the crown. It’s fully recognising we’ll wear His wedding gown. It’s fully understanding, His word will never fail; In spite of execution, or being thrown in jail. It’s truthfully discerning, the presence of the saints. Who’ve died and gone before us the way the Bible states. It’s listening to them cheering, as we go running by, Aware we will be with them the instant that we die. It’s looking unto Jesus; He is the only way! Assured that He will take us, to be with Him one day. And as we move together, into our Promised Land, Be certain He will be with us to help us understand, That when the battle’s over, He’ll give us a reward. For being His disciple and making Him our Lord. Jim Strickland  - written – 1st January 2012