Time with Jesus - Friday, 14 June
2013
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| Anthony Ashley-Cooper |
Hi all,
Have you heard of Anthony Ashley-Cooper?
He was the 7th Earl of Shaftsbury! Have you heard of him? No? If
not, neither had I, until a few years ago. In fact He was a committed Christian
in the 19th Century. His personalised note paper included the
phrase, “Even so, Come Lord Jesus”, demonstrating that he was prepared to
express his faith openly.
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| 21st Century Poverty |
He was an English parliamentarian committed to
reformation of the appalling working and living conditions or the poor in UK.
In this, he was a major contributor to the success in bringing reform to: - The
Lunacy Laws; Factory and mines working hours; Women and children working
underground in mines; Chimney Sweeps (young boys being “sold” to crawl up
chimneys to clean them); Education reform; Religion; and Restoration of the
Jews to Zion;
For Him, the essence of
Christianity was spreading the Gospel and helping the poor. For both of these, he
worked tirelessly. Indeed, one of his biographers, Georgina Battiscombe,
claimed, "No man has in fact ever done more to
lessen the extent of human misery or to add to the sum total of human happiness"
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| The Angel of Christian Charity |
You and I may or may not have
heard of him. But the memorial to his achievements is well known all over the
English speaking world. It is located in Piccadilly Circus where, unfortunately
it is known as “The Statue of Eros”. It actually symbolises
the selfless philanthropic love of the Earl of Shaftesbury for the poor. The memorial was originally given the name “The
Angel of Christian Charity”. Today, we use the
word “love” rather than charity. Implied
is the “agape” love of God.
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| Mother Teresa Love in Action |
For most Christians, the major
difficulty is balancing our love for the Lord with the practical, outward
demonstration of love.
On the one hand we find many of the traditional
denominations focus on responding to the needs of others. Practical
Christianity could thus become a “works program”. For Charismatics, the focus
has been on the spiritual aspects of Christianity. We are accused of being so
heavenly minded we are no earthly use! In fact, both are correct. Our problem
is achieving both! As quoted several weeks ago. “You can’t have one without the
other”.
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| Focus on the Need of Others |
Shalom,
Jim &
Phyllida Strickland
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus
Friday, 14 June 2013 |
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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MARY
AND MARTHA
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In
January 1974, my family and I returned to South Africa. I’d been out of RSA
fourteen years. Getting in back then was rather complicated. The application
forms were horrendous. Apartheid was in full swing and the authorities wanted
to make certain I wasn’t bringing undesirable elements here. In those days,
anything Non-European was undesirable. South Africa had left the Commonwealth
and many of the laws were draconian. They wanted to know everything about
everything. Presumably all this was examined by the security people. It took
about six months to process. Then we got the green light to travel from
Heathrow to Jan Smuts airport, as it was called in those days. The plane landed
at Nairobi and most of the passengers were allowed to stretch their legs in
the transit lounge. Those who had South African passports, stayed on the aeroplane.
The
South Africa I had left and the one I returned too was different. Although
apartheid was well and truly entrenched, the flavour of society, as a whole,
appeared more prosperous than in the 1950’s. The Rand was very strong. The exchange
rate was R1.8 to the £. Twenty years later it was nearer R10 to the £. The
pace of things was much slower than it is today. I was taken on by what was
called the Electricity Supply Commission; abbreviated ESC. The comment was
that it represented Easy, Slow and Comfortable!
Certainly
the pace was much slower than today. My working hours, were from 08h00 to
17h00. There was no question of working after hours, unless it was for a
specific task. This meant that there was sufficient time for family life.
This
changed rapidly as sanctions began to bite into the life of working men and
women. By the middle of the 1980’s, a twelve hour working day had become normal.
Today people are under such pressure, there is hardly any time for family
life.
It
seems as though there is no longer any choice. When Jesus visited the home of
Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Mary had time to sit down and listen to Jesus as He
taught the people. Today all three would have become so busy working for the
“Company Store” that there would be no time to spare. I suppose if Jesus
visited any South African home today, He would be hard pressed to find anyone
there at all. He may well rebuke us for not finding time for Him, or His
ecclesia. But if we don’t work the required hours, we will be dismissed and
the job given to someone willing to put up with the hours and conditions. In RSA
with unemployment being a major problem, few people are willing to take the
risk of being put out of work.
There are also many deeply committed Christians in
our country. People who want to have a close personal relationship with Jesus.
Thus, we need to revisit our concept of what we see as “Church”. We have to
make time to sit at His feet in a way that is meaningful. The early church managed
it at a time when the great majority of the Christians were impoverished
slaves. We haven’t quite got there yet. But we all need to take a close look
at our priorities and find a way whereby every aspect of life can reflect the
greatness of Jesus.
Jim &
Phyllida
Strickland
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41 The
Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You worry
and fuss about a lot of things. 42 There's only one thing
you need. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be
taken away from her."
Luke 10:41-42 GW
24
"Think about the ravens. They don't plant or gather
crops. They don't have any storerooms at all. But God feeds them. You
are worth much more than birds!
Luke 12:24 NIrV
27
"Think about how the lilies grow. They don't
work or make clothing. But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon
in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers.
Luke 12:27 NIrV
29
"Don't spend time thinking about what you will
eat or drink. Don't worry about it. 30 People who are
ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father
knows that you need them.
Luke 12:29-30 NIrV
8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into
temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge
them into ruin and destruction. 10 For
the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving
money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:8-10 NLT
19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the
worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so
no fruit is produced.
Mark 4:19 NLT
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of
witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us
down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance
the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1 NLT
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Tom, Dick and Harry, Felicity and Joan.
“We are always tired”,
is their collective moan.
“They seem to be so busy; they’re
running round all day.
They never seem to have the time, to meditate
or pray.
“I’ll do it when I’m finished. There’s
still so much to do.
It would be very helpful to share the
work with you.
I’ve got to spread the table and
position all the knives.
The guests are so important. Perhaps
they’ll bring their wives?
The curtains must be taken down, then
quickly washed and dried.
I hear they like potatoes; whole or
mashed or fried?
I’d better telephone them. But what
about the tea?
The water’s nearly boiling. Please see
to it for me.
The towels in the bathroom; the sheets
upon the bed;
The paper for the toilet; They have to
be well fed;
The napkins for the table; This cloth
is getting old;
What about the cutlery? The silver or
the gold?
What about the seating? There could be
ten or more.
Should I put the coat rack next to the
front door?
What if it is raining and everything
gets wet?
What about the airport? My brother may
forget.
It may be he is rather late. Perhaps a
traffic jam?”
My daughter, pause and listen, your
every need, I AM!
Does it really matter if it’s wet or
if it’s dry?
If there is an error, you do not have
to cry.
Look at your priorities. I think
you’ve got them wrong.
If you run around like this, you’ll
hasten death along.
Change your way of thinking. Look at
the birds that fly.
You know My Father feeds them; on that
they all rely.
Now think about the lilies that grow out
in the field.
They’re better dressed than anything a
magazine might yield.
And as for food and clothing. There’s
always been enough.
I challenge you to look around and
call the devil’s bluff.
You don’t need pots of money. Man’s
wealth can be a snare.
I want you free from worry. Don’t
think I do not care!
Don’t let your frantic actions kill
you while you’re young.
There’s so much more in front of you;
So much still to be done.
Slacken off a little and strip off
every weight.
The witnesses are watching. Walk with
me through your gate.
Jim Strickland
Written 14th
June 2012.
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