Daily Devotionals in Verse and Rhyme

Thursday, October 3, 2013

GRACE GIFTS

Time with Jesus - 4 Oct 2013

Hi all,

I’ve mentioned my dad before. He was gifted by God to be an outstanding turbine erector. When he was 15, he started working of C A Parsons & Co in Heaton Works, Newcastle on Tyne. His father (my grandfather) had a senior position in the Despatch Department and, in spite of the depression, persuaded the company to take on my father as an apprentice fitter and turner in the factory.

He started working there in 1932. He told me that his starting wages were in the order of 5/- (five shillings) per week. Not a lot of money. But since you could buy a house for £500, (my grandmother paid that for her house in Hull) it was probably par for the course. In those days my dad was a smoker. (He stopped in 1951) If I remember correctly, he could buy 10 cigarettes and a box of matches for less than 1/-. He worked 5½ days per week. However, he was a skilled fitter, who took to the job like a “duck to water”. He made rapid progress through his 5 years of training. So much so, they sent him to work in the Outside Department.

This means that he travelled from construction site to construction site where turbo-generators were being installed in the small power stations of those days. Once again his gifts were appreciated and in 1937 he was one of their itinerant installers/repairers. He was unsupervised and thrived on the work. When the war began, he was working in a reserved occupation all over Britain repairing and re-commissioning plant. He was so busy and the demands of the war were such that the company didn’t want to give him time off to get married. Where and when necessary, he would work round the clock to get plant up and running again.

I would have loved to have his skills and ability. I didn’t. I was also taken on as an apprentice fitter and turner in September 1960. They paid me £2.12/4 per week; not very much. That’s ±1/- per hour! In fact, dad had to pay for my board and lodgings in Newcastle. He was working in Essex building West Thurrock Power Station. It was a 40 hours week. Dad found me a job and Jesus found me right there. Jesus said nothing about working hours or salary. What he did tell me was according to Romans ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23 NLT

It was pointed out I’d spent 18 years earning my wages. I’d worked very hard at what I had done and was doing, so there was a big back-log due to me. It was guaranteed that I would be paid in full. Furthermore, I was warned, living the life I thought I enjoyed, would mean that by the end of my life, my accumulated wages would be astronomical. The case of the man in Matthew’s gospel was drawn to my attention. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Mat 18:24 ESV

Exactly how much this was in 1960 £ was far too much for me to calculate. I understand that it would not be possible to repay such a debt, even if I lived several lifetimes. In the meantime I was clocking up my wages at more or less the speed of light. Now Jesus had said, ²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Mat 5:28 NLT Now I was only 18 and had an eye for the ladies; something I understood is normal for an 18 year old male. But the way I was looking at them, must have been as close to “lust” as the eyes of any 18 year male could be. Yes! I had a problem. It was insoluble. If it went on much longer, ten thousand talents would be small change!

Then a voice sort of “whispered” in my inner ear, “What next? Do you want to carry on down this road?” “No sir!” was my response. “I’m in a jam aren’t I?” “You sure are” said the voice. Then the voice continued. “How would you like to swap? I’ll forgive you. More than that! I’ll pick up your wages. More than that, I’ll help you change your life so that your wage account won’t get any bigger. Here’s the deal. Commit your life to Me. Make Me Lord of your life. Promise to follow me until you die. Repent and walk with me on the “straight and narrow” road, and I’ll be your Saviour.”

“But Sir”, I replied, “what will it cost me”? “Entrance costs you nothing. From then on it costs everything you have. I’ll give it to you as a free gift.” Now even at 18 I could spot a good deal. “One question Sir!” I asked. “Is this for real? Why are you offering this to me?” I asked. “Because I love you,” the voice stated.

A gift costs nothing. If there is a cost, it’s not a gift. If you have to work for it, you have earned it. If you’ve earned it, it’s not a gift. For example, when I married Phyllida, she had four children. We have always regarded marriage as giving ourselves to each other. We are in covenant together. I gave her everything I have. She gave me everything she had. These were gifts to each other. It meant that now, all four of her children are my children. They didn’t have to earn it to “deserve it!”

They became mine because I love Phyllida and we are in covenant together. She is my beloved and I am hers. We are committed to each other in much the same way as Jesus is committed to the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are also in covenant. The covenant of life! Phyllida and I are in the covenant of marriage. As far as we are concerned, it will never be broken.

The reality of this is the essence of giving. Phyllida and her children are a “gift” from her to me. Our gift of ourselves to each other will never be taken away. Covenant commitment demands this. Thank You Lord Jesus!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give			Time with Jesus – Friday, 04 October 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	GRACE GIFTS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Love / Goodness Joy / Faithfulness Peace / Gentleness Patience / Self Control Kindness		GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT Discerning of Spirits / Faith Word of Wisdom / Word of Knowledge Prophecy (foretelling and forth-telling) Tongues / Interpretation of Tongues Gifts of Healing / Working of Miracles		⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. ⁷A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 1 Corinthians 12:6-8 NLT	1 Let us take on The Christ who’s the One. And walk in the gifts He will bring For all that we do Will only come true When Jesus is truly our King. 2 So let’s look around At what we have found As we have come into this place. The gifts will emerge In a powerful surge As Jesus expresses His Grace 3 Yes, let us be found Where assignments abound And let all our gifts be displayed For stewards we’ll be When the people all see A love that forever can’t fade 4 So how do we build That the Word is fulfilled And people all look to our King? It’s not you or me That the people must see, But Jesus who’s praises we sing 5 And let us all serve With sinew and nerve The One we all love and adore. For as all we give He’ll cause us to live And worship our Master much more. 6 As Moses’ face Was veiled in that place Let Jesus’ gifts be revealed. There’ll be no surprise When He opens our eyes To things we thought were concealed. 7 Fulfilment is found Where the gifting’s abound And we flow harmoniously. The ultimate end, We needn’t defend For sinners converted we’ll see!		8 We don’t want a flake Or anything fake To walk in the way we should go. So fill us with power To move hour by hour In all of the things that You know. 9 His burden is light It isn’t a fight To do all the things He desires. Just listen and do And all will come true. And His people will all be on fire. 10 Give thanks for the gifts And the way that they lift And carry your people on high. We won’t interfere When Your Spirit draws near And Jesus will cause us to fly. 11 God’s gifting is sure It’s Holy and pure And we will bring Him all the praise And if we are humble We won’t cause to stumble The people who walk in Your ways. 12 We’re not all the same And we worship the name Of Him who is more than complete. And as we harmonise And cast out all lies, We’ll all behold Satan’s defeat 13 Our body’s at rest And we will be blessed When all of our people are one. The warring will end When our knees we all bend And all of our quarrels are gone. 14 So let’s celebrate That as from this date The gifts of His Spirit we’ll see. And as we mature We’ll begin to endure And everyone here will be free.
Here we go again. Yesterday we looked at the Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit. Today’s Scriptures warrant a further look at these topics. It is widely held that the Gifts of the Spirit were only needed during the time of the apostles in order to “kick start” the Church. I’ve met many lovely Christians who are convinced of this. The view is, that something like the Apollo Space system, the Gifts of the Spirit were needed to “launch” the young church into orbit. Then, rather like part of the used rocket system, the spent parts fell back down to earth. With the satellite in orbit, those various stages were no longer required. Thus, when the church was established, the gifts were no longer needed and could crash back to earth. It’s an excellent comparison. For convenience this has been called the evangelical point of view. The real question is whether or not it is true? The Charismatic/Pentecostal (C/P) view is that the gifts are as valid today as they were some 2000 years ago. Indeed, they would go so far as to say that there has never been a time in history, since Apostolic time, that the gifts have not been in evidence. Phyllida and I are unashamedly part of the C/P stream. At the same time we are deeply grieved that this issue has divided God’s people into these two “camps”. Both streams have much to offer each other if only we could both put aside these apparent opposing positions. I rather suspect that our Lord is deeply grieved by this lack of unity. We have a great love and respect for our evangelical brothers and sisters. We love the comparative tranquillity of their services. More than anything we admire the passion they have for God’s Word. Evangelical Churches study the Scripture in a disciplined and systematic way. It has been suggested that the Evangelical “Trinity” is Father, Son and Holy Scripture. This may be unfair. But it does show the huge emphasis on reading and studying God’s Word that quite frankly, the C/P’s have not adopted. The C/P by and large tends to be shallow when it comes to the knowledge of the Bible. It has been suggested that the C/P “Trinity” is “Holy Spirit; Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit”. Again it is a gross simplification, but is a fair assessment of C/P’s by our Evangelical brothers and sisters. Sadly there is much truth in this comment. Far too many C/P’s know very little of the Content of God’s Word. They can quote proof texts by the score. But most of those who do, know precious little about exegesis and hermeneutics. Lots of froth and bubble; lots of excitement, singing and dancing. But how often does the preacher even read from the Bible? Not very often. What both streams need today is the Evangelical commitment to God’s Word and the C/P freedom and enthusiasm. O Lord help! We badly need each other! Jim & Phyllida Strickland				¹⁹ Some men from Manasseh defected from the Israelite army and joined David when he set out with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But as it turned out, the Philistine rulers refused to let David and his men go with them. After much discussion, they sent them back, for they said, "It will cost us our heads if David switches loyalties to Saul and turns against us." ²⁰ Here is a list of the men from Manasseh who defected to David as he was returning to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each commanded 1,000 troops from the tribe of Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David chase down bands of raiders, for they were all brave and able warriors who became commanders in his army. 1 Chronicles 12:19-21 NLT
				³² Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. ³³ Of Zebulon 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David with singleness of purpose. 1 Chronicles 12:32-33 ESV
				⁸ A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can't make up his mind about anything. James 1:8 GW
				²⁵ God's purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. ²⁶If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 GW
				⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything. Ephesians 4:4-6 GW
					Jim Strickland Written 2009

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

GIFTS AND FRUIT

Time with Jesus - 3 Oct 2013

Hi all,

From “My Fair Lady

Hear a Yorkshire man, or worse,

Hear a Cornishman converse,

I'd rather hear a choir singing flat.

The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.

There even are places where English completely disappears.

- In America, they haven't used it for years! –

Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?

Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks have taught their Greek.

Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning.

And Hebrews learn it backwards, which is absolutely frightening.

But use proper English you're regarded as a freak.

Why can't the English, Why can't the English learn to speak?

Written by Allan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe

The vast majority of people who read this message are English speaking.

Julie Andrews as Eliza

There are one or two friends who speak Afrikaans at home. However, their English is so impeccably spoken; you’d think their home language is English. I should say, “Queen’s English”. A visit to various parts of the UK would convince you that what you are listening to is a different language.

The Original LP Cover

The Scots speak English in an immediately recognisable “dialect”. In the delightful Stage Show, “My Fair Lady”, which also became a “Hit Movie”, Professor Henry Higgins had a “conversation” with Colonel Pickering and Eliza. It was all about “bad” English. Nothing has really changed since then!

Rex Harrison - Audrey Hepburn
& Wilfred Hyde-White

Indeed, as Henry Higgins said, An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him. The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him!

I submit that in the Christian Church today, we have a similar problem. We tend to classify each other in terms of the things we say and do. It’s a great tragedy. In the church we have two streams; “Charismatics” and “Evangelicals”.

Both streams undoubtedly love the Lord Jesus. Both have a passion for the Word of God; perhaps the Evangelicals more so than the Charismatics. In the main, the Evangelicals are in Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Methodist churches.

The Charismatics are mostly in the Independent churches such as IFCC, Vineyard and Pentecostal Church. Sadly, these two streams tend to take “pot-shots” at each other. The issue is usually the gifts of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

Evangelicals say these passed away with the last of the apostles. The Charismatics say they are as much “alive” today as they were ±2000 years ago. Personally, I don’t want to fight over this issue.

We have some beautiful friends in both camps. However, what I would like to know from either camp is this. “How did the people in the book of Acts know others were filled with the Holy Spirit? For instance, did their eyes go all funny? How did Peter and Paul know if someone had been filled with the Holy Spirit?

Did they suddenly have a “masonic type” handshake? How did Peter know Cornelius and members of his household had received the Holy Spirit? Was it a sudden desire to only eat kosher food?

How did Philip know the new converts in Samaria had not received the Holy Spirit? Whatever it was, it must have been something seen and or heard!

Those who received the Holy Spirit didn’t look different. Reading the accounts of what happened, it seems it was nothing they saw. It was something they heard!

What was that? Was there a “voice” from Heaven saying they were now filled? Of course not! The fact is those converts spoke in tongues. What does that mean? Well the Samaritans and the Jews had a common ancestry.

It’s reasonable to assume that even if they spoke in the vernacular, Philip would understand. In which case, it would not be speaking in tongues.

But Philip heard nothing! He knew they had not been filled with “Holy Spirit”. How did he know? The logical answer is because they did not speak in tongues! That happened later under the ministry of Peter and John.

How did these two apostles know? Because they heard them speaking in tongues! They may well have spoken in an unknown language. But how would Philip, Peter and John know?

They wouldn’t. Not unless they heard them overflow in “glossolalia” or something similar they would recognise. Otherwise, all these incidents make no sense.

What has this got to do with the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Everything! According to David Pawson, historically, being filled by the Holy Spirit can be traced back from today to the time of the apostles.

Furthermore, since God doesn’t change, what happened back then can be expected today. That’s exactly what Phyllida and I have both experienced and seen in others. The only real difference is in time, people and clothing.

Phyllida was “born again” in 1951. It was only in the latter 1970’s that she was filled with the Holy Spirit and overflowed in tongues. It’s a wonderful story which we can’t go into now.

I was “born again” in October 1960. It was only in April 1981 (21 years later) that I was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a sense, our experience was similar to that of the Samaritans. For both of us, the experience was life changing. A passion for Jesus was “birthed” in us in a way we still don’t understand. Frankly, we don’t care if we never understand! Understanding it will not make it more real.

In a way, we were empowered by the Holy Spirit” to be “more” than we had been previously. Phyllida suddenly had a passion for the Bible and to teach God’s Word, initially to single women. I was blessed with an ability to write poetry. If you think its mere doggerel, that’s fine. John Newton wrote, “I once was blind, but now I see”. For me, once I couldn’t write that way. Now I can! He gave this gift to me. Why? I don’t know. It also doesn’t matter. I must continue writing until I die.

Eliza & Prof Higgins

Today in our meditation, we have a look at the gifts and the fruit. Usually we add the words, “of the Holy Spirit” after those words. On this occasion I’ve deliberately decided not to do so.

Stanley Holloway

Instead I’ve used the title to describe the content of today’s meditation. It’s a huge topic and I’ve given a very basic overview. What I would like to draw to your attention is the MS Excel attachment, which I’ve found very helpful. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 3 Oct 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	GIFTS AND FRUIT
When any of us speak about gifts from God, we somehow rush into some sort of theological minefield. People disagree with each other. It never comes to blows. Not as far as I’m aware. But the laundry bill after discussions about this topic get somewhat inflated. People get hot under the collar; this increases perspiration and makes for extra washing. Hence higher laundry bills. People tend to argue about which member of the Holy Trinity gives a particular gift. Frankly, this has never really troubled me. All three of them are God. Each of them appears to focus upon a certain aspect of the lives they created. James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, adds clarity to this understanding. He wrote ¹⁷ Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. James 1:17 GW We know that God created everything. Exactly how He did it, none of us really understand. Does it matter? Not really. I can’t imagine the three of them arguing about who did what. No doubt if you asked Them, each would say, “I did!” This is perfectly true. Sadly, those who are made in His image have opinions. The Lord may not be fussy about the question or the answer. But we are a contrary people. We love to fight for what we believe. He probably finds this intensely annoying but ends up writing it off to the sin nature we appear to so thoroughly enjoy! This will only change when Jesus comes again; so in the meantime please allow me to add something to this discussion which I’ve found helpful. Note that I wrote helpful! It is not intended to be God’s absolute and honest final revelation. Human beings seem to love categorising. You know what I mean. We file eggs under “E” and bacon under “B”. So we have taken the various gifts which all originated from God and have set them out neatly under various headings. Personally, I find this helpful. Others may not. The three categories are: We have A) the motivational Gifts of the Father. B) We seek the manifestation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit along with the character of Jesus – the fruit of the Holy Spirit and C) so that we may become the ministerial gifts of God the Son. If this is as clear as mud, do not despair. One of today’s attachments presents this in a very understandable table format. If you take time to open and print the table you will find a diagram that can prove to be very helpful. Please note that I am not the author. It came to me some 13 years ago courtesy Rev Willie Liebenberg a minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. I took one look at the table and decided to make use of it myself. I have found it presents the various gifts and fruit of the Spirit of the Triune God in a thoughtful yet provocative way. My suggestion is to have a good look at the table. Revisit it from time to time and see if it hasn’t helped you clarify your ideas about the way it all “hangs together”. I love the way the table summarizes everything under the heading, “The Gifts of God”. The concept that this is what we have, this is what we seek and this is what we become, appropriately expresses that which God wishes to put in our hearts. Hopefully it will help us open our eyes to more of the wonders of the God we love to serve. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			⁵ There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. 1 Corinthians 12:5 GW	There’s different ways of serving, the same Lord is still served. The gifts God gives to each of us, are not what we deserved. They come to us from heaven, they are His sovereign choice; There is no “birthday wrapping” and there is no invoice! We cannot pick and choose them. And here’s the reason why. They all come from Almighty God, Who reigns from way up high. We try to list them separately, to say what comes from Who. We do it for convenience; as we’re inclined to do. We put each in a category we can understand; And so we miss the very point. They came by His command! There is another factor, which sometimes we forget. The Holy Spirit filled us, the time when first we met! There is a further filling each time we overflow. And yet we’re never empty. It’s Him each time, you know. Now when His Spirit’s comes to us, it’s not in little bits. It’s all of Him in each of us. Don’t ask me how He fits! I also do not understand, how all of Him’s in me, And all of Him’s in others! O Lord, how can this be? And yet it’s fundamental. It has to work that way. So favouritism’s not perceived by anyone each day. Now every good and perfect gift comes down from God above. James, the Lord’s half-brother, speaks of His light and love. In chapter one he tells us and in verse seventeen, He doesn’t change or alter; it’s how He’s always been. Now every gift God gives to us, is perfect, good and true. The Father, Son and Spirit, will not bamboozle you! We speak about each separately, so we can comprehend, Just what the Lord is doing with what He wants to send. The gifts for motivation, is what our Father gives; For serving and for speaking, to direct the way we live. The Son of God gives people; His ministers of grace; And they equip His people for what they have to face. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, so we can manifest, The gifts for the occasion as only He knows best. He seeks to change our character, so we may all display, The sort of life the Master lived in each and every way. That is why we speak about the Holy’s Spirit’s fruit. To live a life for Jesus, that no man can dispute. But let’s not be too fussy, about Who gives us what. A man who walks with Jesus is never hard to spot. He’ll walk a path of holiness equipped by God above; And everyone he contacts will know he walks in love. Jim Strickland Written 3^rd Oct 2012
			²⁵ These were all the commanders in charge of King David's property: for the royal treasuries - Azmaveth, son of Adiel for the goods in the fields, cities, villages, and watchtowers- Jonathan, son of Uzziah ²⁶ for the farm workers in the fields - Ezri, son of Chelub ²⁷ for the vineyards - Shimei from Ramah for storing wine that came from the vineyards- Zabdi from Shepham 1 Chronicles 27:25-27 GW
			³¹ And over the flocks was Jaziz the son of Hagar. All these were the rulers of the substance which was King David's. 1 Chronicles 27:31 MKJV
			²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 ESV
			¹¹ All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when. 1 Corinthians 12:11 MSG
			¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10 -11 ESV