FAITHFULNESS

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Hi all, 

Jim & Phyllida in Israel

Today’s meditation is on “faithfulness”. Obviously, being faithful is being full of faith! It’s a bit obvious! The real question is what this “thing” is called “faith” we are supposed to be full of? The answer is not obvious. This is because the word “faith” is a noun. The Biblical description is in Hebrews. ¹ Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIrV

In this Scripture we see “faith” as a noun. Rather like a rock, or a brick, or an aeroplane. You can see it, hold it and even travel in it. This being the case, how do we quantify it? You can’t go to Pick n Pay and buy a “bag” or a “bunch” of faith for R10. So “faith” is abstract. Moreover, we can’t tell with our human senses whether we have “lots” of it or only a “little”.

Sadly, what we seem to be able to do is comment on the “faith” of other people. “Where’s your faith?” is the statement we make about others. More often than not, the question is asked based on the opinion of the questioner. So if I don’t agree with you, I can comfort myself by saying under my breath, “Where’s his/her faith?”

One day we will realise that the measure of faith each of us has received from the Lord, is tailor made for the recipient. Mine may be greater or smaller than yours. That quantity is between the Lord and me!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 27 March 2013			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	Faithfulness
What exactly is faithfulness? We all have different ideas about this topic. As a youngster for me it was indicated in a “cowboy song” sung by Elvis Pressley. I’ve found a copy of the lyrics on the net this morning. It was called “Old Shep” It was a sentimental tear jerker. But that’s me anyway. In those days we had a dog called “Blackie”. A black Labrador combined with Heinz 57 varieties; Blackie was a faithful old dog. I’ll never forget him. He was a genuine canine comedian. In a strange canine sort of way, he is unforgettable. But what exactly is faithfulness? A story I heard many years ago illustrates it beautifully. It’s about a man and his dog. They were inseparable. Suddenly he died. The dog didn’t understand. How could he? But he managed to follow his late master to the corner of the cemetery. He lay there at the foot of the grave. For the rest of his life that dog came to the grave everyday regardless of the weather. He lay down at the foot of the grave looking toward the headstone. Somehow that dog knew where his master was. It ended when the old dog passed away. Now that was faithfulness personified. Or should that be per-dogified? Am I faithful to My Lord to the same extent as that dog? I’m sorry to admit that I’m not. There have been times when I’ve gone “off the rails”. For me, as with most men, it was associated with a lady. Not in a bad way. She was being trained at the teacher’s training college in Sheffield. We had been fairly serious in our relationship together. She was a Methodist Local Preacher. The whole thing ended between us and, typical of men in their early 20’s, when we separated, I was angry and “blamed God”. Back then, I was young and ignorant. Another precious memory is of a time spent in Worcester. We came across Vineyard music and loved it. It was the day when the “Toronto Blessing” was spreading round the world. We loved the music. One of the songs on the CD was called “Faithful One”. We still do! FAITHFUL ONE - BRIAN DOERKSEN Faithful one, so unchanging.  / Ageless one, you’re my rock of peace Lord of all I depend on You. - I call out to you, again and again. I call out to you, again and again,. - You are my rock in times of trouble You lift me up when I fall down. - All through the storm - Your love is the anchor.  - My hope is in You alone. Time tends to reduce memories and change how we see things. Even the memory of past pain dulls with age. Thank you Lord. If it didn’t, life would become unbearable. The faithfulness test today is from conversion to the grave. Are we faithful to the very end?  I hope so! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Cor. 10:13 NLT 19 God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn't change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. Numbers 23:19 GW 21 Jesus became a priest when God took an oath. God said about him, "The Lord has taken an oath and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever." Heb. 7:21 GW 17 God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. 18 So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it’s impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. Heb. 6:17-18 NLT 19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Pet 4:19 TNIV 12 That's why I'm suffering the way I am. But I'm not ashamed. I know the One I have believed in. I am sure he is able to take care of what I have given him. I can trust him with it until the day he r. - turns as judge. 2 Tim 1:12 NIrV 24 The One who has chosen you is faithful. He will do all these things. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIrV 20 God has made a great many promises. They are all "Yes" because of what Christ has done. So through Christ we say "Amen." We want God to receive glory. 2 Cor. 1:20 NIrV	Faithfulness is difficult, because we are so weak. Things go wrong so easily. We have a faithless streak. We know what we’re supposed to do, but do not get it done. The problem is, we’ve actively gone out to have some fun. We know it was a promise. It’s inconvenient. I’ll leave it for the moment and later I’ll repent! But who is it we’re cheating? We dare not truly say. Because we think it’s better, to carry on this way. And so we justify it and ask who really cares? The answer is undoubtedly, the one Who answers prayers. He has a special instrument to note our current score. If we are unfaithful, it tots up a little more. The total is quite frightening and herewith is the rub. It makes us all a member of the devil’s evil club. It doesn’t cost us anything; the membership is free. But trying to get out is an impossibility. He wants to keep us with him and in his “faithful” way. He doesn’t want defectors on each or any day. Thank God he has forgotten that Jesus is in charge. And He has the authority to set us all at large. Provided we are faithful and Jesus is our King, He’ll faithfully preserve us in the shadow of His wing. So we have got two choices. To follow Him or No. To promise we will stick with Him, wherever He may go. To faithfully obey Him, regardless of the cost. Then we have His assurance we never will be lost. When things are inconvenient in any sort of way, We promise to be faithful on each and every day. To always do our utmost, to put the flesh aside. To let Him be a husband and we will be His bride. To worship Him forever, no matter how we feel; And show Him that our love for Him is absolutely real. So if we’re feeling faithless, it means we’re being weak. And we are exercising a somewhat stubborn streak. In which case it is time for us, to take ourself in hand. Make a firm decision, that we are going to stand; And faithfully obey Him, regardless what may come. There is no other way for us to be the Master’s chum! Jim Strickland Written 27th March 2012

THE KINGDOM ECONOMY

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Hi all,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland in Switzerland

The earliest game most of us play is “Peek-a-boo!” We see a baby in a cot. Then we go into the peek-a-boo routine. We hide from the baby. Then we appear and say “peek-a-boo”. The baby usually loves it and laughs, kicks his legs and googles. (Not IT Google! That comes by osmosis when they are 3 or 4) It’s a wonderful game and you are likely to get tired of it before the baby does.

Did you know that after His resurrection, Jesus played peek-a-boo with His disciples? Now you see Me; now you don’t! It occurs to me that they all enjoyed it. In fact, what Jesus was teaching them was; He was as much with them when they could see Him as He was when they could not. Today we know this to be fact. Perhaps we can’t see him. But He is still there. The fact is He lives in the only permanent dimension, the spirit dimension. We live in a changing dimension. To quote the song of yesterday “In time the Rockies will crumble, Gibraltar will tumble. They’re only made of clay. But – our love is here to stay.”

For you and I there is only one way to be permanently in the spirit dimension. Death! But on occasions, the Lord opens our eyes and shows us the reality of His Kingdom dimension. He “switches on the light”. We stand amazed We see the reality of what He has, where He lives! WOW!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 26 March 2013			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 Kingdom Economy
Today is my seventy first birthday. A word of thanks to those who have sent their greetings! If you have not done so, please don’t feel that you must do so now. It’s not necessary. Incidentally, having arrived at 71, it’s nothing to get excited about. Things don’t suddenly change on the day you reach 71! It would however, be much more fun if we could do the things we were able to do in our twenties and thirties. Somewhere in our bookcase there is a book by Tony Lighterness written in the 1970’s called, “Living in the Kingdom Here and Now”. As the title suggests, it is not necessary to die before we begin living in the Kingdom. According to Paul, It begins here and now: 6 For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6 NLT If you are anything like me you will probably struggle with this concept. Scripture tells me I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. My problem is that at present I’m seated in front of my computer in Johannesburg. Paul does help us with this. 18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. 2 Cor 4:18 MSG In other words, what I am looking at as I sit in front of my computer, is some form of an optical illusion. It looks real. But for a Christ follower, we are not looking at reality. This will pass away and the truth will be apparent. So I am seated in the heavenly realm with Christ Jesus. That’s what Scripture teaches and I can’t contradict God’s Word. It’s a rather odd thought, but we all need to understand we are living in a temporary world in temporary bodies with temporary eyes. To “see” reality we need our spiritual eyes. How does that work? I’ve no idea. Without wanting to be irreverent, it’s something like what we see when a conjurer “performs” before us. We “see” something. Then it somehow vanishes. I’ve seen this done on TV with an aeroplane. Now you see it, now you don’t! Of course, we all know that it is a trick. But Spiritual reality is not a trick. It’s more real than anything we see! From 1992 to 1996, Phyllida and I lived and ministered for the Methodist Church in Worcester. Thanks largely to the efforts of Andrew Murray; Worcester has a school for the blind and a school for the deaf. One of our Sunday School teachers was blind. We got to know her and, on the odd occasion, we visited her at home. We were amazed how well she coped in her own home. She knew where everything was. She made tea or coffee without sight. Later in the evening, as it grew dark outside, we had a problem. We couldn’t see in the dark. Suddenly she said, “I’d better switch on the lights for you”. For her to sit in the dark meant nothing. She had us at a disadvantage. In her world, being blind was normal. We couldn’t see in the dark. But when she switched on the lights we could see. It’s much the same for us in the Spirit dimension. We are blind to its reality. The things of this world with which we are familiar, look real enough to us in our spiritually blind state. But like us, they are temporary. Switch on the light and we will see reality. One day soon, Jesus will “switch on the light”. Then we’ll be able to see in His dimension! The real one! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			13 When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Rom 12:13 NLT	For those who are in business, herewith my sympathy. You’re in a strange environment where Christians shouldn’t be. The problem’s business methods and the things you have to do. You have to be competitive and pressure’s put on you. Your product must be better than all of those around. Undermine their products wherever they are found. We are in a world in which the truth is relative. It’s different for each one of us no matter where we live. Two and two are seven. That is the truth for me! Don’t say that I’m dishonest, that’s how it has to be. And so you climb the ladder that leads you to success. But Jesus isn’t in it and you are in a mess. The way we ought to do it is to imitate the Lord. But be a little careful, for business can’t afford, To let the competition, find a winning edge. That will put you out the door and standing on a ledge. They’ll try to push you over, so grab them by the throat. Run them out of business and steal their hat and coat. No part of this is Christian. It’s wicked through and through. No wonder I have sympathy for businessmen like you! We have to change our methods and trust the Lord to act. Start by helping others and you will find in fact, That other folk will help you. so you don’t have to cheat. And you have His assurance there’ll be enough to eat. Give to those who ask you. Even stand aside. Feed the hungry, quench their thirst and stay away from pride. Give a cup of water, to those who are in need. Don’t hold on too tightly, for that will turn to greed. If they prosecute you and want to take your shirt, Give your coat along with it. For ladies, give your skirt! If they want to take your job, then simply stand aside. The Lord has one much better, if in Him you’ll abide. You only ever get to keep that which you give away. And if you do not do it, you’ve lost it all that day. Never doubt God’s justice. But God is never fair. That’s a man-made concept and He does not go there. Put the other person first in everything you do. Do not make a whimper if he is cheating you. What is said may be correct, significant and just. But who is it you’re following and Who is it you trust? If they want to curse you and beat you ‘till you’re raw. Let them mock and spit on you till they can do no more. It is what the Master did. He never made a sound. If you emulate Him, Your blessings will abound. Nothing really matters in this life of sin and pain. If it’s done for Jesus, it won’t be done in vain. Jim Strickland – Written 26th March 2012
			1 David asked, "Is there anyone left in Saul's family to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2 Sam 9:1 GW
			34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Mat 25:34-40 ESV
			42 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives any of my humble followers a cup of cold water because that person is my disciple will certainly never lose his reward." Mat 10:42 GW
			15 Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name. 16 Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship--a different kind of "sacrifice"--that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets. Heb. 13:15-16 MSG
			10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Heb. 6:10 NLT