DAVID’S PRAYER & WORSHIP

Time with Jesus - Monday, 06 August 2012

Hi all,

Today we look at one of the most extraordinary prayers in the Old Testament. It’s recorded twice so it’s reasonable to think God wanted us to know about it. It’s David’s prayer of thanksgiving, praise and worship for God’s promised to him that one of his descendants would sit on the throne forever.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 06 August 2012			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	DAVID’S PRAYER & WORSHIP
There are some experiences in life that are both intimidating and unforgettable. As I write this I’m reminded of the Olympic Games which are currently in progress in London. Just over a week ago, Bradley Wiggins won the “Tour de France”. This cycle race must be the greatest test in cycling and perhaps many other sports than we have in 21st century. His next opportunity was to compete in the Olympic Games. As we know, he also won that race. Listening to Bradley, we are tempted to wonder which of these two events was the greatest in his eyes. He seemed to struggle with his answer. It seems that an Olympic Gold Medal means more to competitors than any of us realise. This opinion was shared by many of the athletes who won a silver or bronze medal and not a gold medal. We watched as men and women burst into tears because they had not won gold. We also observed the tears of joy of those who had won gold. Paul captures the attitude of the competitors in his letter to the Corinthians. 24 Don't you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win.1 Corinthians 9:24 GW Not many of us have won medals at the Olympics. The vast majority haven’t even competed in the games. Those who have tell us of the honour and privilege of representing their country. To have competed is described as a great honour. I agree with them. One of Scripture’s best loved men is surely King David. In spite of all his faults and mistakes it’s clear He had a love for God that is quite extraordinary, even by today’s standards. If nothing else we can tell from his Psalms that he was an extraordinary worshipper of God. One of his greatest aspirations was to build a “house for God”. We also know that through the Prophet Nathan he was told that because he was a man of war, God forbade it. We know that he did not do the building. That was left to Solomon, his son. But David designed the temple and left most of his personal wealth to be used for this purpose. In a way, God gave David a “gold medal” for wanting to build Him a house. In effect He said, “No David, you won’t build Me a house. Instead, I will build you a house” God told David that his descendants would always be seated on the Royal Throne! David was “gobsmacked”. It was something akin to God telling Bradley Wiggins that one of his descendants would always win the “Tour de France”. Today’s poem, which I wrote back in 1984, is my attempt to describe David’s reaction when God brought him this news. It was his response in thanksgiving, praise and worship to the Lord! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			A psalm of David. 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. Psalms 24:1 NLT 8 She doesn't realize it was I who gave her everything she has--the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all My gifts to Baal. 9 "But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. Hosea 2:8-9 NLT 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to You? Everything we have has come from You, and we give You only what You first gave us! 15 We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. 16 "O LORD our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honour Your holy name comes from You! It all belongs to You! 1 Chronicles 29:14-16 NLT 36 All things come from him. All things are directed by him. All things are for his good. May God be given the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36 NIrV 17 Tell those who have the riches of this world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, they should place their confidence in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17 GW 4 Everything God created is good. Nothing should be rejected if it is received with prayers of thanks. 5 The word of God and prayer set it apart as holy. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 GW 19 You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Philippians 4:19 MSG	2 Samuel 7:18-22   &   1 Chronicles 17:16 - 27 “I am not worthy, Sovereign Lord, of what You’ve done for me, Nor of the promises You‘ve made unto my family; And now You‘ve told me, Sovereign Lord, that You are doing more; Revealed the plans, for all my children that You have in store! To think that You would show me this! Lord, what can I say? You’ve shown this to Your servant, to demonstrate Your way! All these wondrous things You‘ve done, display Your loving will. There is no other God like You, who rescued Israel, From Egyptian bondage, to make us all Your own; And by Your great and mighty acts, Lord God, Your fame has grown, Until throughout this world of ours, You are known to be, The God who saved His people from Egyptian slavery! So now Lord God, for all of time, fulfil Your promises, To me and my descendants. May all the people bless, And spread Your universal fame. May they forever say, ‘The Lord is God of Israel and will remain that way!’ Oh Lord, preserve my dynasty until the end of time. Almighty God of Israel, please hear this prayer of mine. For unto me, Your servant, You have revealed these things; And shown that my descendants will always reign as kings! Lord, keep all these promises You’ve made to me today. Bless all my descendants! Lord, permit that they Will all enjoy Your favour. Lord, let Your blessing be, Continually resting upon my family.” Jim Strickland Written 1984 A Worship Poem I worship You, my Lord, my God and lift Your name up high; In adoration, I look up and now, I testify, That You alone are God above. Yes, You created all; You spoke The Word and so it was, from very large to small! Yes Lord, You are The Mighty God; The King of all the Earth; The never changing, glorious one, who gives us second birth; And every atom of my frame, a tribute to You sings A loud expression of my love for Christ, The King-of-Kings! Jim Strickland Written 1986

MARTYRDOM!

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 05 August 2012

Hi all,

Over 150 years ago, two young Dutch men sold themselves into slavery. They wanted to minister to a small island off the coast of South America. The island was owned by a wealthy non-believer who vowed his slaves would never hear about Jesus Christ. They went to the island willingly to take the Gospel to the people. To the best of my knowledge, they never returned to Holland. Could I do that? Could you?

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Sunday, 05 August 2012			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	MARTYRDOM!
Martyrdom is a frightening prospect. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone who looks forward to the possibility of giving their life for Jesus. We use the expression extensively in 21st Century Christianity. “I gave my life to Jesus”. It sounds very noble; exciting even. But what we mean when we use the expression has very little to do with the underlying meaning of what it states. Perhaps the best known book on the topic of martyrdom is “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs”. It’s not exactly bed-time reading. But if you would like information on martyrdom, this book is a must read. The details of what men and women experienced because of their belief in Jesus Christ are horrifying. Men, women and children slaughtered barbarically because they would not deny Him. When I read these stories I feel ashamed. I’m not sure if I could bear up under the strain of what took place. The real problem is that I’m a card carrying member of “Cowards Incorporated”. The fact that these atrocities were carried out in the Name of Jesus Christ makes no sense at all. It’s rather like the Auschwitz guards going home at the end of the day to play with their children, sing Christmas Carols and enjoy home life! So what do you and I do about this possibility? The best suggestion I’ve heard came from David Pawson. He stated that if you can bear up under small issues, when the big issues come along, you will have the courage to endure. The suggestion sounds good. Sadly, I’m not in a position to recommend it. Another comment I read was by Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch lady who was taken to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Her comment was that God gives you the ticket when you are on the train. John Huss is recorded as the Lord telling him, “Today I give you grace for living. Tomorrow I’ll give you grace for dying!” One thing about being a martyr, He doesn’t see it as extraordinary. It’s a part of life. If I’ve given my life to Jesus and He decides that it’s in the best interests of His Kingdom that you or I be martyred, He won’t stop it. He died for me. The least He can expect from me is to be willing to die for Him! Personally, I don’t relish the prospect. I’m in good company. What happened to Him in Gethsemane and the next day in Jerusalem did not appeal to Him. Hebrews tells us, 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honour beside God's throne. Hebrews 12:2 NLT If this was His attitude, dare we think we will be better treated by the world? It’s unlikely. If that’s what they did to Him, I can’t expect better treatment. Jim & Phyllida Strickland.			42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, "My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, Your will be done." Matthew 26:42 NLT 23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23 ESV 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine." Matthew 26:39 NLT 2 Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet. My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother's arms. Psalms 131:2 GW 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 ESV 22 "You don't know what you're asking for," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup of suffering I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. Matthew 20:22 NIrV 15 So he gave them what they asked for. But he also sent a sickness that killed many of them. Psalms 106:15 NIrV 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 1 Corinthians 10:6 TNIV 32 I don't want you to have anything to worry about. A single man is concerned about the Lord's matters. He wants to know how he can please the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:32 NIrV 3 LORD, you will give perfect peace to anyone who commits himself to be faithful to you. That's because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIrV	For years he’d been a Christian and he had served the Lord. His life had been exciting and he was seldom bored. He wasn’t very special; at least not in his eyes. But from the aspect of the Lord he was of giant size! He’d only done his duty. But it was widely known, That since he was a Christian, this man was not his own. Some people didn’t like it. “There is no God!” they said. “And we would be much better off, if only He was dead”. And so they schemed and plotted; invented evidence, That if you really looked at, it didn’t make much sense. But they were influential; they always got their way. It wasn’t very difficult, provided they could pay! They had our man arrested and he was duly tried. “Away with him” they shouted. “We want him crucified”! “What has he done?” folk wondered. “He isn’t steeped in sin!” He didn’t even get the chance to speak above the din! They dragged him to the courtyard and nailed him to a tree, They watched him suffering and die in dreadful agony. Our man had been a martyr. His life was snatched away. But he had gone there willingly, when he had died that day. The media were horrified. How could this ever be? The people of the nation said, “What is this we see? How could those wicked people have done this dreadful thing? Justice is perverted here; what can we do to bring, A true sense of the value of what the deed has done, To smash the very fabric of trusting in God’s Son? They raised a great furore, about the dreadful deed. And God looked down from heaven. That death planted a seed, Which sprang forth in abundance and turned the town around; Away from godless practices, to where the Gospel’s found! There was a great revival. God’s Spirit touched men’s hearts. And that’s the point at which we know is where salvation starts. It spread around the country - God’s Spirit everywhere! He changed the hearts of thousands through what had happened there. The death of just one martyr, had been the catalyst, Of bringing thousands to the Lord. So friend, do not insist, That living in God’s Kingdom is just a life of ease. You could be the next martyr, if that would Jesus please! Jim Strickland – Written 5th August 2012

THE CHRISTIAN WALK

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 04 August 2012

Hi all,

We serve a God of faithful compassion and mercy. A God Who loves us with an incomprehensible love; a God who made provision for each and everyone’s salvation, before He formed the earth. There is no sin we can imagine that His love cannot deal with. At the same time, His values are not the same as ours. The advancement of His Kingdom is more important than our comfort. He also requires our obedience, even when we don’t want to obey. Some men go to the grave because in so doing, He is greatly glorified. Will we do it? That’s our meditation.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 04 August 2012			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	THE CHRISTIAN WALK
I was deeply touched a couple of weeks ago by a testimony I read in one of the magazines. The testimony concerns the life of Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was the first of the war criminals executed on 16 October 1946. The story concerns his young niece. With a name like von Ribbentrop, it’s easy to imagine how she and her husband were hounded round Germany and anywhere else they wished to live. As a close family member she had loved her uncle and was greatly traumatized by his trial and execution. Shortly after the war she converted to Christianity. But she was desperately unhappy about Uncle Joachim and where he would be after his death. It so happened that one evening she attended a prayer meeting where she shared her burden with others. Afterwards she was approached by a woman who said that at that time she had prayed for the men on trial for war crimes. Several years later she came across a man who had been one of the Nuremburg guards. He said that during the days prior to von Ribbentrop’s execution, a man of God had regularly visited the condemned men and led all but three of them to the Lord. Joachim von Ribbentrop was one of those who received a death cell revelation of Jesus Christ. He went to his death knowing that in spite of all he had done, Jesus Christ loved him and had forgiven him. I am not in a position to confirm or deny this story. What I can say is that the love of Jesus Christ has no limits. He can even save a Nazi! He did! Today’s meditation looks at Jesus’ willingness to save a Christian from the miry pit. I’m not referring to salvation. I’m referring to those on the road of life. Sometimes He delivers. Sometimes He does not. It doesn’t help asking Him why?  So much depends on God’s purposes. On occasions He gets more glory from the death of an individual than from rescuing him from his circumstance. To some degree it also depends on us! We also don’t have the benefit of hindsight. For example, the destruction of Jerusalem, along with the captivity and transportation of the people to Babylon. It was thought to be catastrophic. Indeed it was for the Jews at the time. But for the Kingdom of God it was critical. The Jewish “diaspora” meant that Paul and other evangelists could visit Jews all over the then known world. This might never have happened without the Babylonian captivity. No one could have realised in 586BC anything about its future significance. Hopefully, if Jesus tarries, by 2345, something worthwhile will have been identified from the Holocaust. God alone knows what that might be. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			16 He reached down from high above and took hold of me. He pulled me out of the raging water. Psalms 18:16 GW 2 I was sliding down into the pit of death, and he pulled me out. He brought me up out of the mud and dirt. He set my feet on a rock. He gave me a firm place to stand on. Psalms 40:2 NIrV 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil--the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments. 1 O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! 2 From the ends of the earth, I cry to You for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, Psalms 61:1-2 NLT 2 He said, "I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and He answered me. I called to You from the land of the dead, and LORD, You heard me! 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath Your wild and stormy waves. Jonah 2:2-3 NLT 12 Then You put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood, but You brought us to a place of great abundance. Psalms 66:12 NLT 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Isaiah 43:2 NLT	How much does Jesus care for us? How far will Jesus go, To save us when we’re sinking into the world below? It’s something we can’t measure. It’s up to you and me. In fact it’s all a measure of our sincerity. Of course He has no favourites. He treats us all the same. It’ isn’t our ability, our fortune or our fame. But somehow He can see the things we harbour deep inside. He looks at our integrity and any inward pride. “Mene, Mene, Tekel” was written on the wall;   (See Daniel 5:25-26) If tried and still found wanting. His rescuing will stall. It’s not that He’s vindictive. He truly wants to save. But so much is dependent on the way that we behave. It isn’t what we’re saying. He looks at what we do. There’s many other factors preceding our rescue. It’s not so much our sinning, for He takes care of that. Do we have teach-ability and where it is we’re at? To rescue from the miry pit; is it worth His while? Is His Kingdom better off with or without our smile? We do not know these answers. We cannot even guess. I know from my position, I hope the answer’s “Yes!” Salvation isn’t given by the rolling of the dice. It’s also not a question of whether we are “nice”. It’s what He sees within us. Our capability, Of loving Him forever, no matter where we be! Each and every factor goes through the Saviour’s mind. Will we be His servant, gentle, pure and kind? If He thinks it’s possible, He’ll reach down from on High. And draw us from the miry pit. If not, He’ll let us die. I know that this sounds cruel. It’s difficult and tough. But then again the Christian life is arduous and rough. There’s little point in rescue if you’ll quickly take a tumble; If you are proud and arrogant instead of being humble. If it’s vaguely possible, you needn’t be afraid. The Lord is always standing by, to give to you his aid. But He will not be cheated and He cannot be conned. He doesn’t stoop to foolish tricks nor wave a magic wand. He looks at the reality of character and style If they are not present, you’ll miss Him by a mile. He will always rescue those who’ll make Him Lord and King, Hold them by His mighty hand and give them everything. Jim Strickland –Written 3rd August 2012