Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 19 March 2013
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| Who Wrote This? |
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| Jim & Phyllida at home in garden |
When I committed my life to Jesus in 1960, I was faced with a major
problem. I would ask a question. The person, to whom I spoke, then opened his
Bible to prove his point. I was told, “The Word of God states” ….. as if there
was nothing else to say about my question. But I wasn’t sure what this meant.
Had God written it? Who wrote down what God said? Was it all His Word or were
His words scattered around the Bible arbitrarily? Questions of this nature are
very real to a new Christian. I remember wanting to ask, “Which Words are His?”
It took me about two years to get to grips with this. Only then could I state,
“The Word of God states”.
Today it’s much easier to explain what is meant by the statement, “It is
God’s Word”. My regret is that no one bothered to explain it to me, then!
Shalom,
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 19 March 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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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
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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Utterly Dependable
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Psalm 119 is awesome.
It’s a wisdom psalm. It’s an acrostic of praise about God’s Word. An acrostic
is very difficult to write. In English we would have 26 lines. Each successive
line begins with the next letter of our alphabet. It’s a daunting task. Now
Psalm 119 has 176 lines. It is divided up into 22 parts. Each part begins
with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus we have eight lines
beginning with the letter “Aleph”. This is followed by eight lines beginning
with the letter “Beth”. Thus they use the entire Hebrew alphabet. The NIV
indicates this by using the phonetic for each successive Hebrew letter. We
have to bear in mind that Hebrew poetry is unlike traditional English poetry.
We talk about rhyme and metre. Hebrew poetry is different. There is
insufficient space to elaborate on this. Even so, this psalm is a
masterpiece.
What is important here,
is Psalm 119 focuses on God’s Word. Reading it gives the impression that the
accuracy and reliability of God’s Word is paramount. As Christians we need to
have the same attitude toward the Bible. Liberal Scholars tend to approach
the Bible with a pair of scissors. They cut out everything that doesn’t
appeal to their reason. It seems that they regard the rational mind as
greater than God’s Word!
One of the questions we
are often asked, is, how do we know that the Bible is God’s Word? It’s a fair
question. How do we answer? We can’t call God to the bar of human logic. It
has been written and we are not compelled to accept it as God’s Word. What we
can do is test it for veracity. This has been done by many scholars. It
hasn’t failed the test.
I’m reminded of a story
told by Dr Ken Stewart when I was in Bible School, 30 years ago. He stated
that he went to seminary to prove God’s Word was true. To his amazement he
shared a room with a man who had gone to seminary, to prove that God’s Word
was not true! He added, that neither of them succeeded. Then Dr Ken decided
he would accept it as true. That’s when it started working for him.
In my early days as a
Christian, I was faced with the same problem. Was the Bible really God’s
Word? Like Dr Ken, I was unable to prove it. Then, when I started to believe
it, everything fell into place. That’s when I realised that God isn’t
impressed with unbelief. He has no need to prove Himself. The epistle to the
Hebrews makes this very clear. 6 It's
impossible to please God apart from faith. And
why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he
exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Heb. 11:6 MSG When I started to believe that the
Bible is God’s Word, veracity was no longer an issue.
Now, when I’m being
challenged on this matter or and other faith issue, I have a standard reply.
“I believe”. No man or woman can gainsay it. No matter what they say, my
reply is “I believe”. “But you’re an arrogant, dogmatic, fundamentalist,
idiot!” “I believe!” No apology is necessary. “I believe”, is all we need!”
Today’s meditation is on
God’s Word. What it means to me and what this belief has done for me.
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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28 I am
drowning in tears. Strengthen me as you promised..
Psalm 119:22GW
49 Remember the word you gave me. Through it you gave me
hope.
Psalm 119:49 GW
14 Delirious,
I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning
dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!"
Isaiah 38:14 NLT
33 Heaven and earth will disappear, but My words will never
disappear.
Luke 21:33 NLT
14 "As you can see, I'm about to go the way we all
end up going. Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not
one detail has failed of all the good things GOD, your God, promised you. It
has all happened. Nothing's left undone--not so much as a word.
Joshua 23:14 MSG
19 "Don't be afraid," he said, "for you are
very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!" As he spoke
these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, "Please
speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me."
Daniel 10:19 NLT
4 "But
now, Zerubbabel, be strong," declares the LORD. "Chief Priest
Joshua (son of Jehozadak), be strong. Everyone
in the land be strong," declares the LORD.
"Work, because I am with you," declares the LORD of Armies.
Haggai 2:4 GW
6 Then he
said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the
LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:6 ESV
10 A final
word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty
power.
Eph 6:10 NLT
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Veracity; veracity is what we truly need!
Without it, can we ever tell if on it we can feed?
It has to be dependable! The Word of God - No less!
For everything that comes from man, will curse and never bless!
So how can we be certain the Bible is God’s Word?
It has to be consistent and all of it occurred,
At some time in our history that we can verify.
If it’s a “fairy story”, it’s no more than a lie.
It has to be consistent and it’s inerrancy,
Confirmed in every aspect, throughout all history.
In cannot be just guesswork; it must be guaranteed!
It has to be reliable in each and every deed.
It must include a future that only God could know.
It must describe each incident correctly, blow by blow.
It must contain correction; so we need not go wrong.
It has to bring encouragement, to help us to be strong.
It must speak of the places we can identify.
It has to bring us laughter. It ought to make us cry.
We have to know for certain, that all who wrote it down,
Were not some raving lunatics or some celestial clown!
It has to bring us comfort; it has to bring us hope!
It has to show it’s possible; that somehow we can cope.
It has to touch our spirit, our body and our mind.
It has to give us guidance and never leave us blind.
We have to know that others have found these qualities;
And that we can be like them. We can’t complain at these!
It has to show relationships within this world of men,
Can also be repeated. Not only now and then,
But with a certain confidence that if in Him we trust,
We will not be discarded, or thrown outside to rust.
It must have all these qualities and many, many more.
It must reveal a Saviour, Whom people can adore.
It has to give us confidence that right up to the end,
We have a God on whom we can forevermore depend.
My brothers and my sisters, for over fifty years,
God’s Holy Word, the Bible, has brought me joy and tears!
I’ve found that it’s dependable far more than I can say.
Not once, but through the many years, right up until today!
It’s been the central bastion of all I’ve sought to do.
And every single word of it’s proved absolutely true.
No longer can I doubt it. For Christ has done for me,
Far more than I can think about, or estimate, or see.
Jim Strickland
Written
19th March 2012
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