Time with Jesus - Thursday, 26
April 2012
Hi all,
The Swaziland weather
continues to be wet and cold. Not that I mind the cold. Those who know me know
how I struggle with the heat. At times I have to take a small towel with me to
cope sitting through a church service. Mind you, some preachers are so boring; I
need a towel to catch tears. Home on Friday!
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Time with Jesus – Thursday, 26 April 2012
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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THE TWO BECOME ONE
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Today’s Scriptures are very interesting. They focus
on Jesus Christ and His love for His People – His Church. It begins with the
acknowledgement of her beauty by the young women. It progresses through the
protection of the Church against false teachers and the love required by a
husband for his wife. It culminates in heaven with a description of a
glorious woman about to marry the Lord Jesus Christ. It concludes with Jesus’
“gift” to His bride; the same glory His Father had given Him.
In our meditation, these aspects have all been drawn
into one. I’ve described a wedding between Jesus and His bride. The poem is
allegorical rather than something to be taken literally. This is not intended
as doctrinal. It incorporates some features observed as a marriage officer as
well as my own personal experience. Included is the reaction of the people –
a reference to the young women in Song of Songs who played their part in
making this wedding a reality
As a marriage officer I have had the privilege of
standing next to the groom and seeing many brides walking down the aisle. For
me it remains one of the most moving parts of the wedding service. Seeing the
faces of brides and grooms at this high point in their lives has prompted me
to attempt to describe it. There is a very special beauty in the deep love
expressed inaudibly to each other as they have come together and made their
marriage vows.
What has this to do with Jesus marrying His bride?
Perhaps very little. However I know what was in my mind as my bride
(Phyllida) walked towards me on the arm of her eldest son. It was awesome. Suddenly
I wanted to be a husband who would lay down his life for his wife in the way
Scripture describes. It’s still true!
I find it hard to believe that what I have known and
experienced is not a small expression of what the Lord will feel when He
marries His bride! He sometimes allows His people to get glimpses of the
reality He will bring in due course. If I have captured only 1% of this
reality I will have achieved more than I dare to believe.
Within the poem I’ve included comments toward the
end of the poem regarding Jesus inviting His “wife” to join the Trinity. Once
again this is an allegorical comment. It describes the oneness between a
husband and wife. We know that His wife will be One with Him. The impact of
this on Father, Son and Spirit will be significant. It reminds me vividly of
the Lord’s High Priestly prayer in John 17. This prayer has eternal implications
beyond anything and everything we can imagine. To share His glory with us the
way He shares His Father’s glory, beggars the mind.
To some extent it also provides an answer to why we
were created. It was not to be some kind of Divine exhibition of humanity in
the Zoo of His imagination. The purpose was far higher than that. Fathers
want to lavish love upon their sons. They often “glory” in their son’s bride.
Could it be that our Heavenly Father wishes to do much the same for His Son?
Does He not also want to incorporate His Son’s “wife” into the family? I
don’t know. Just perhaps there is a measure of truth in this idea?
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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10 [The chorus of young women] Who is this young woman? She looks like the dawn. She
is beautiful like the moon, pure like the sun, awe-inspiring like those
heavenly bodies.
Song of Solomon 6:10 GW
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He looked
at her enraptured! Could He believe His eyes?
Such beauty; was it possible beneath
God’s cloudless skies?
Who had
been inspired that she be clothed like this?
The urge to take her in His arms, to hold her and to
kiss,
Her lips as red as crimson He hardly
could endure!
Her eyes were bright as diamonds; her
nails were manicured.
The light
shone on her wedding dress, exquisite in His sight.
It glowed with holy righteousness,
incredibly bright.
It seemed
the sun was shining from within her wedding dress,
Casting sunbeams round her, of
faultless loveliness.
There was
no spot, nor wrinkle that anyone could see!
He wondered, ”Is it possible that anyone could be,
Even half as
beautiful? She’s perfect as my queen!
Beyond all expectations or what any man
could dream.”
His heart
went “pitter-patter” with expectancy and zeal
“Do My eyes deceive Me and is she truly real?”
I’ve looked at
many virgin brides and know what I’ve been told.
But she appears more ravishing than all I
could behold!
Here is now the
woman, for whom I’ll give My life.
And in a few short minutes, I’ll take her
as My wife.”
She took a step toward Him. The people
gasped in awe!
Was such a vision possible? They
couldn’t take much more.
They felt
intoxicated! Who could this woman be,
Who gives herself in marriage to the Man
from Calvary?
Where is
her special father? Where is the wife who bore,
This vision of exquisiteness, whom
angels will adore?
She started
walking slowly; she looked at Him and smiled.
He felt He had been smitten and was
utterly beguiled.
“Poetry in motion”, is what went through His mind.
Nowhere in eternity could man or angel
find,
Anyone
more fitting than the one with whom He’d wed.
Live with for eternity, the way the
Scripture’s said.
Suddenly,
in front of Him He noticed her bouquet.
The fragrance and her loveliness quite
took His breath away.
Then she
was beside Him. He saw her catch her breath.
He remembered everything that led up to
His death!
This was
whom He’d thought of as they drove home the nails.
This was now the moment! No longer
“fairy tales”
He heard
the question being asked; and then He said, “I do!”
He added, “O My precious one, I have a love for you,
Beyond what I
thought possible. This is our wedding day.
From this moment onward, if you honour and
obey,
You will have
your heart’s desire. I’m yours and you are mine.
You will be a member of the Trinity Divine
Now that we
are married, the two of us are one.
Father, Spirit, Son and wife. The former
things have gone”
Jim Strickland - Written 26th
April 2012
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28 "So
guard yourselves and God's people. Feed and shepherd God's flock--His church, purchased with His own blood--over
which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. 29 I know that
false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave,
not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:28-29 NLT
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25 For
husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ
loved the church. He gave up His life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of
God's word. 27 He did this to
present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any
other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT
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1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed
with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars.
Revelation 12:1 ESV
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7 Let us
celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready.
8 She was given a bridal gown of
bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints.
Revelation 19:7-8 MSG
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21 "I'll
give those who overcome the right to sit with me on my throne. In the same
way, I overcame. Then I sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 "Those who have ears should listen to what the Holy
Spirit says to the churches.'"
Revelation 3:21-22 NIrV
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21 Father, I
pray that all of them will be one, just as you are in me and I am in you. I
want them also to be in us. Then the world will believe that you have sent
me. 22 "I have given them the
glory you gave me. I did this so they would be one, just as we are
one. 23 I will be in them, just as you are in me. I want them to
be brought together perfectly as one. This will let the world know that you
sent me. It will also show the world that you have loved those you gave me,
just as you have loved me.
John 17:21-23 NIrV
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Compiled – Thursday,
26 April 2012
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P O Box 1694,
Randpark Ridge, 2156, South Africa
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Page 1 of 1
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14 Conduit
Street, Johannesburg North, 2153, South Africa
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Printed - Wednesday, 25 April 2012
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Mobile +2782 755
8872
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Jim &
Phyllida Strickland
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Home+2711 462
4061; Neotel+2711 234 5670
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Fax +2786 531
4962
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