Time with Jesus - Friday, 27 April
2012
Hi all,
After this is message is posted, we will be getting into the car and going back to Jo’burg. We had a good
break. Not long enough, but they never are.
During the week I've deliberately not answered mobile phone calls. I’m told that each call is
charged at R6,00 per minute to the caller and recipient of these calls. This
has enabled me to cut down the on the cost of my own calls as well as those of
the caller. So if you thought I was being rude not answering you, you know why!
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Time with Jesus – Friday, 27 April 2012
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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THY WILL BE DONE
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Weddings and wedding
ceremonies are ubiquitous. No matter the country or custom, men and women
marry. It has always been this way. Marriage is God’s idea. Marriage is under
attack at the moment. Many young people are living together without being
married. My wife and I do not approve. But our approval is irrelevant. People
will do what they wish, without our sanction. What they will say to God about
this, is something they must worry about. All we can do is share His message.
Many of our Anglo Saxon
and American marriage customs have fascinating origins. For example, brides
almost always have someone who “gives them away”. It’s a beautiful part of
any wedding and the privilege of “giving away” the bride is generally carried
out by her father. In the event that her father is unavailable, one of her
sons is asked to do so. If the bride is young and no longer has a father and
no children, she usually selects a man who has a special significance in her
life.
What modern women seem
to have forgotten, is the origin of this custom. In bygone days a woman had
no rights of her own. She belonged to her father. She could only do what he
said. In history, fathers sometimes sold their daughters as slaves. A good
cure for disobedience?
When it came to
marriage, she was given to the husband he had chosen. Since she was her
father’s “property” her opinion was irrelevant. She had no choice.
Fortunately, most parents loved their daughters and referred the matter to
her.
As a further difficulty,
a woman was completely under the authority of her husband. It wasn’t
optional. If she didn’t obey, there could painful repercussions. A cane less
that 50mm diameter could be used to beat his wife.
Ownership or authority
over the woman passed from the father to the husband at the marriage
ceremony. Her father gave her hand in marriage to her husband. From then on,
her husband was her authority.
In the Bible, the King would
offer to give his daughter to the man who did something he required. For
instance Saul promised his daughter to the man who defeated Goliath. Thus Saul’s
eldest daughter Merab was offered to David. It is a long & complicated
story in 1 Samuel 17: 25 The men of
Israel said, "Did you see that man coming from the Philistine lines? He
keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king
will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his
daughter to that man to marry and elevate
the social status of his family."1
Samuel 17:25 GW. In spite of this history, a lady still wants someone
to “give her away”.
I could continue writing
about other customs and traditions associated with the wedding ceremony.
Taking each other by the right hand; the wedding ring; white wedding dresses;
taking her husband’s name etc.
For us, the highpoint in
our lives was when Phyllida became Mrs Strickland on 12th Dec.
1981. Phyllida took my name and became Mrs. Ernest James Strickland, by which
she is known today. I’m unashamedly proud to call her my wife. Apart from the
Lord Jesus Christ, we mean everything to each other. If we could remain this
way for eternity, it would not be long enough. We also know that unless the
Lord returns, death will end our marriage. Either way, His will remains the desire
of our heart.
Jim &
Phyllida Strickland
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17
"Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what
He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some
of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one
a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a
new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Revelation 2:17 NLT
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She walked into the gathering of
family and friends.
They’d come to see her married the way
the Lord intends.
She knew that it would happen, because
some time before,
The Lord said that a husband, He’d
placed within her store.
She hadn’t ever met him; but knew he
was defined;
And pictured in Psalm forty five. She
knew he was designed,
To love her and to cherish her and all
along the way,
To be her special soul mate. And from
that very day,
Would be her life’s companion and
always do her good,
The way a faithful husband throughout their lifetime should.
They
had both been excited as day succeeded day.
His Spirit had confirmed it, whenever they did pray.
And as they stood together, she now would
change her name.
From this moment onward things could
never be the same.
The former life of struggle and bad
experience,
Was gone. New life before them made
such a lot of sense.
She was born Miss Brownlee and later
she had wed,
A man who had misused her; but that
was done and dead.
Today she was quite willing, to wear
Jim’s wedding band.
From now on she’d be a spoken of as
Mrs Strickland.
She’d follow the tradition established
years ago.
She would take her husband’s name; and
willingly do so!
Name change is significant. The Lord
had shown the way.
Abram changed to Abraham right from
that very day.
Jacob became Israel; A Prince of God
was he.
No longer a deceiver; a man of
destiny.
That day in nineteen eighty-one was
special for them both.
There before the witnesses, their
everlasting troth,
They plighted to each other. God
joined the two as one,
And in the strength of Jesus Christ
they both would carry on.
They have a happy marriage. But that
is not their boast
The cross of Jesus Christ the Lord is
what excites them most.
Both have known the trauma of a
marriage that went wrong.
Now they live for Jesus. They know it
won’t be long.
Before they go to be with Him. This
way it has to be!
And they have asked Him please Lord,
don’t take us separately.
We’ve been so long together and life
has been such fun;
You have been the centre, of all that
we have done,
In ways that only You can tell; we’re
walking in Your light.
You mean everything to us. We know You’ll
do what’s right!
Yet Lord above our preference, Your
will we will embrace.
We know it may be difficult for one of
us to face,
A life without each other. But this
one thing is true.
The will of Jesus Christ our Lord is
what we’ll gladly do.
Jim Strickland – Written Friday 27th
April 2012.
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25 Then
Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him,
he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for
a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It
was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)
Acts 11:25-26 NLT
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19 But God's
solid foundation stands firm. Here is the message written on it. "The
Lord knows who his own people are." (Numbers
16:5) Also, "All who say they believe
in the Lord must turn away from evil."
2 Timothy 2:19 NIrV
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24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their
corrupt nature along with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24 GW
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19 Or do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have
of God? And you are not your own, 20 for
you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 MKJV
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14 But it's unthinkable that I could ever brag about
anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my
relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified.
15 Certainly, it doesn't matter
whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new
creation.
Galatians 6:14-15 GW
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1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
children. 2 And walk in love, as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice
to God. 3 But sexual immorality
and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is
proper among saints.
Ephesians 5:1-3 ESV
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8 At one time
you were in the dark. But now you are in the
light because of what the Lord has done. Live like children of the light.
Ephesians 5:8 NIrV
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