Time
with Jesus - Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Hi
all,
The
past ±100 years have been the most traumatic that this world has ever experienced.
Two world wars; the invention of the atomic bomb; the assassination of Kennedy
and Ghandi; the horrors of apartheid, the break-up of the British Empire; the
holocaust; the establishment of the state of Israel; 
The development of electronics
and weapons that enable men to destroy targets thousands of miles away with incredible
accuracy; computers, mobile phones; television; 24 hours per day news channels
on TV that enable us to literally watch wars as they take place.
Strangely
enough, the 20th century commenced with many politicians believing
that the future for the planet was bright and rosy. “On and on and up and up!”
was the comment about the future.
The first real indication that it was an
unrealistic outlook occurred with the sinking of the Titanic. Two years later
the world was plunged into “the war to end all wars”. It didn’t and hasn’t, as
we are all painfully aware.
On 10 May 1940, Winston Churchill became
Prime Minister of the UK. On 13th May he said in the UK House of
Commons, “I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined
this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many,
many long months of struggle and of suffering. - You ask, what is our aim? I
can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs — Victory in spite of all
terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory
there is no survival.” Few speeches have ever touched the heart of people the way
this speech did. What do you say to a people when the outlook is only one or
two decimal points above destruction? Churchill chose to speak of victory.
That situation
was similar to the one which faced the eleven apostles shortly after Judas left
the upper room to betray Jesus. Jesus knew it only too well. He fully expected
it, having been “warned” in advance by the prophetic word. He knew the time had
come from the moment Peter told Him: -15 He
pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter said, "You're
the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Mat 16:15-16
MSG
Now His apostles knew Who He was; He knew His time had come. He was
on His way to Calvary. He knew His “deadline” was on Passover that year. He
knew what would happen to Him and that He would “die” at the same moment was
the High Priest slaughtered the Passover ram that year. He knew that the High
Priest was going through the motions of the “type” of sacrifice that His
sacrifice was all about.
He
could count off the days from the Mount of Transfiguration to Passover. He was
on His way to complete the mission He had been sent to fulfil. He was going to Jerusalem
and Calvary to “endure the unendurable”. God was going to allow Himself to be
abused as no other person on this planet has ever been abused. His experience
would make Churchill, his speech and the UK’s experience in that dreadful war,
look like a Sunday school picnic!
He was about to take on everything that Satan
and his cohorts could bring against Him. He knew it. He also knew He would
succeed. This contest made this planet’s experience of the last ±100 years look
like a pleasure cruise on a fancy yacht!
Jesus
and Churchill shared one objective. That objective was victory. To get there,
Jesus would experience nothing but
blood, toil, tears and sweat. But He would be victorious.
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| Do This in Remembrance of Me |
The outlook for Him to
others must have looked much like that which Churchill outlined on 13th
May 1940. Churchill was merely speculating. Jesus Christ knew the outcome.
Thank you Lord Jesus.
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| Do This in Remembrance of Me |
Shalom,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus
Wednesday, 26 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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BLOOD,
SWEAT AND TEARS
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It
was the evening before the crucifixion. Within 24 hours He would have laid
down His life. He was having what would probably be His final meal before surrendering
His body to be “thrashed, bashed and trashed.” From there He would go on to
be crucified. All this would take place on the same day as the last supper.
He was speaking to and comforting His disciples, telling them He was going on
a journey but would come back later. The fact that He was comforting them is
a miracle. If it had been me, I would have been the one to need comforting.
In fact I would have stood up and run away to Galilee as fast as I could go.
But
Jesus was not panicking. He was introducing a simple method by which His
disciples should remember Him. The casualness of the event was remarkable.
It
was the custom in those days for the lowest slave in the household to wash
the feet of those who entered. The person with the lowest status in the group
was the youngest disciple, John. But he didn’t do it. This ceremony was not a
religious practice. It was done for the sake of all who would partake of the
meal. In those days men didn‘t sit round tables to eat. They sat reclining on
the floor. This means that their feet were more or less under the nose of one
of those they sat next to. The feet would be very smelly after walking for
the day. That’s why a slave washed them. No one volunteered so Jesus took the
place of the lowest slave and washed all their feet Himself. He didn’t need
to wash their hands. They would do it themselves for practical and religious
reasons. Practically, they did so because they ate with their hands. So
everyone would have clean feet and clean hands for the meal. Traditionally,
they would be “seated” in the circle in order of their age. Thus John would
have been on one side of Jesus and Judas Iscariot on the other.
Before
they ate, He took a piece of bread. Unleavened bread because it was what God had
instructed the Israelites to eat before they left Egypt. He took the loaf of bread,
broke it and distributed among them. We are told, 24 He gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in
pieces and said, "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to
remember Me."1 Corinthians 11:24 NLT There
was no religious fanfare, no trumpets, no dancing girls and no men in weird
clothes dressed up to look like women. It was very simple and casual.
After
they had eaten and Judas had left, Jesus took the cup of wine. Many say the
cup was the special “Messiah” cup placed before the people and only to be
drunk by Messiah. It’s possible but not certain. So now they had all eaten
and we are told, 25 In the same way,
He took the cup of wine after supper, saying, This
cup is the new covenant between God and His people--an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this to remember Me as often as you drink it."1 Corinthians 11:25 NLT. Once again there was no religious fanfare, no trumpets’ no
dancing girls and no men in weird clothes dressed up to look like women. It
was very simple and casual. His instructions were to do it whenever you want
in remembrance of Him. All very simple and casual. So why has it become clouded
and crowded out with ritual? He certainly didn’t do that. So why do we?
Phyllida and I have begun to do this each day at home. Just the two of us
unless there are guests or visitors. It’s done very simply. All we do is
remember our Lord. Sometimes we forget. But He doesn’t seem to mind. Praise
the Lord!
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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42 GOD kept watch all night, watching over the Israelites
as he brought them out of Egypt. Because GOD kept watch, all Israel
for all generations will honour GOD by keeping watch this night--a watch
night.
Exodus 12:42 MSG
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord
Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the
Lord Jesus took some bread 24 gave
thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, "This is My
body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me." 25
In the same way, He took the cup of wine after
supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and His
people-an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this to remember Me as often
as you drink it."
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NLT
41 He walked away, about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father,
if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I
want Your will to be done, not Mine." 43 Then an angel from
heaven appeared and strengthened Him. 44 He
prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell
to the ground like great drops of blood.
Luke 22:41-44 NLT
14 It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the
Passover. And Pilate said to the people, "Look, here is your
king!"
John 19:14 NLT
16 Then
Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So
they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by Himself, He went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew,
Golgotha). 18 There they nailed
Him to the cross. Two others were crucified with Him, one on either
side, with Jesus between them.
John 19:16-18 NLT
7 Get
rid of the old "yeast" by removing this wicked person from among
you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which
is what you really are. Christ, our Passover
Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of
wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NLT
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All I have to promise you is blood and sweat and
tears.
Winston Churchill said it to the
British as their fears,
Of enemy invasion was very, very real!
He said it so the British could be people made of steel.
Did he understand it? He knew that it would cost.
He had to make a statement; the war could soon be lost.
But Churchill never wavered. He spoke of victory,
Even though to many, the words were fantasy.
The families of Jacob were oppressed and merely
slaves.
The thought of finding freedom; only just the brave,
Thought that it could happen. Then Moses came along;
And proved the God of Israel was infinitely strong.
The Israelites won freedom in the face of massive
odds.
In ways that could be demonstrated came to them from God.
Both these men had passion; they knew they had to
win
They battled with their “Pharaohs”; not once did they cave in.
They both went through a “baptism” of blood and
tears and sweat
But theirs was only “child’s-play”. The one whom Jesus met,
Was the archangel Lucifer who’d fallen in his pride,
Along with all the others who had taken Satan’s side.
There within a garden, Jesus knew He had to win,
This battle with the devil and the crushing power of sin.
It couldn’t be avoided; Jesus had to take him on;
And thrash him so completely that all his power was gone.
He didn’t want to do it. And yet, His Father’s will,
Was what He Knew He had to do and He kept praying ‘til,
His blood and sweat were mingled with the teardrops
on His face.
He knew this was the moment and was the proper place,
For Him to be the sacrifice. His blood would be
poured out.
His body bent and broken, so there could be no doubt,
That all had been accomplished. There was no other
way,
For Him to beat the enemy on that Passover day.
We know the things that happened; that He was crucified.
“It’s finished” are the final words he said before He died.
And at that very instant the New Covenant was cut.
Satan could do nothing except go off his nut.
The Ram of God was sacrificed and down throughout
the years,
God’s people could remember the blood and sweat and tears.
He wants us to remember Him whenever we break bread.
And every time we drink the wine, remember what He said
He said “This is my body; It’s broken just for
you.
Drink the wine My people. It’s all you have to do.”
His stripes now heal our body. His blood cleanses
our sin.
His body has been broken and we may enter in.
Wickedness and evil can now be put aside.
In truth and in sincerity, we’re now our Master’s bride.
Jim
Strickland
Written
26th June 2012
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