HE IS OUR PEACE

Time with Jesus - 27 Dec 2013

Hi all,

Never have more than one wife at a time, even when it may be permissible, under the law. Apart from other considerations, it’s a sure recipe for losing your peace. Jacob learned this lesson by bitter experience. He lost a piece of peace without which he would never recover. The arch deceiver was out-deceived by his Uncle Laban in a way that has given rise to innumerable problems. Problems he didn’t really want. We saw a couple of days ago; Jacob married Leah thinking she was Rachel. 

Can you imagine how he felt next morning when he woke up? Instead of his beloved Rachel, he was sharing a pillow with Leah, sometimes referred to as the ugly sister! Then with Uncle Laban’s approval, one week later he married Rachel. His peace must have departed permanently. Mind you, Leah seemed happy enough!

Over the period of a couple of years, Jacob had six sons and a daughter by Leah and four sons by the two slave girls Bilhah and Zilpah. Only then did Rachel conceive. She gave birth to Jacob’s favourite son, Joseph. For the record, Rachel died some time later giving birth to Jacob’s youngest son, Benjamin.

All this presented Jacob with a major problem. He would have liked to make Joseph the “chief” son and head of the family. Unfortunately for him, it was not possible. All six of his sons by Leah were “senior” to Joseph. The birth-right of the family usually devolved upon the first son. That son was Reuben. Reuben was entitled to receive the double portion of the inheritance along with the family headship after Jacob’s death. Jacob couldn’t give that to Joseph, even if he wanted to.

We know that the first son, Reuben disgraced himself in his father’s eyes by sleeping with one of Jacob’s concubines. So Jacob was able to bypass Reuben. Thus, Simeon would become the family head. That would have happened if Simeon, along with his younger brother Levi, (Jacob’s third son) hadn’t massacred the people of Shechem. Read Gen 34 for the details. This so angered Jacob, they too lost the birth-right and double portion. That’s when the birth-right and family headship devolved upon Judah. In other words, the head of the family and recipient of the double portion of inheritance after Jacob’s death, would be Judah. In terms of the culture of the day, that’s how it had to be.

This didn’t change Jacob’s preference for Joseph. He was the son of Rachel, the wife he had really wanted. Jacob would have loved to pass everything on to Joseph. That would have been contrary to family custom and Jacob had to comply with the laws of succession. Nevertheless, Jacob wanted to give Joseph a double portion of the inheritance. The question was, how would he do it? He thought things through carefully. Then, toward the end of his life and while living in Egypt, he formally adopted Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh (the first-born) and Ephraim (the second-born). Joseph himself was already “filthy rich” as Pharaoh’s Prime Minister so had little need for wealth. This would have been much more than any double portion of inheritance he could hope to give Joseph. Thus Joseph was taken out of the inheritance equation and was replaced by Ephraim and Manasseh. ⁵ "So your two sons, who were born in Egypt before I came here, are my sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are. Gen 48:5 GW

Jacob proceeded to bless his two adopted sons, the sons of Joseph. Note what happened. ¹⁴ But Israel crossed his hands and reached out. He put his right hand on Ephraim's head, although Ephraim was the younger son. He put his left hand on Manasseh's head, although Manasseh was older. Gen 48:14 GW Under the sign of the cross, he changed their inheritance order. He declared Ephraim the elder and Manasseh the younger. I presume this was acceptable in terms of adoption. Then it was “done and dusted”. Joseph was “removed” and Jacob’s two “grandsons”, now slotted into Jacob’s inheritance sequence where Joseph would have been. Thus Joseph would receive, albeit indirectly, a double portion just as Jacob wished.

If this was a fairy story we would say, “They all lived happily ever after”. The fact is, they didn’t. For many generations there was tension in the family on the basis of who should lead the family. The traditionalists insisted it would be Judah. That’s what happened. Finally King David was crowned as the leader from the tribe of Judah. But Ephraim was not forgotten. His tribe was the one through whom many insisted the kingship should have come. The “high point” of this tribal disagreement came about when the Kingdom split at the time when Rehoboam came to the throne. He wanted to make things more difficult for the people. 

As a result, 10 tribes broke away under Jeroboam and established the Kingdom of Israel. Two tribes remained behind with Rehoboam. These were Judah and Benjamin. The Northern Kingdom was sometimes called, Ephraim in honour of the tribe Jacob would have liked to appoint as head of the family. This rivalry remained behind until ±722 BC when the Assyrians took the ten tribes in the North into captivity. Ephraim was gone. Only Judah remained.

In a way, two women brought about a family crisis which lasted for over 1000 years! One wife at a time is more than enough. Two wives could destroy peace in the family. That’s what happened. Only Jesus can re-establish peace in such circumstances.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Jacob's Sons by his two wives and two concubines

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 27 Dec 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	HE IS OUR PEACE
Examination nerves. Who still experiences them? Who can recall them? What I recollect is that the more I knew and remembered about the subject, the less the examination nerves. I can’t quantify this in real terms, but it was true enough. I do recall opening the exam paper and reading the questions. They seemed easy enough, so I got on with it and did quite well. I also remember writing a hydraulics exam paper in 1963. One look and that was the end. I hadn’t enjoyed the subject and it showed. The only question I could answer with any degree of certainty was on the front cover. It said Name? I think it was a clear example to me of reaping what I’d sown. Another way to put it is: zero input = zero output. That would have been the end for me. But the following year I was at a different Technical School. This school didn’t include hydraulics in the syllabus. So I managed to get through for two years and ended up with my Higher National Mechanical Engineering Certificate. Even today, hydraulics continues to be a closed book. Fortunately I’ve never needed it. But I’ve never forgotten those exam nerves. Mr Bernoulli, his theorem and I, didn’t get on! What about Jesus? Did He experience a nervous reaction before the crucifixion? We know He did. The whole Gethsemane account clearly tells us He didn’t particularly want to pass that exam. If anything, He would have preferred an alternative test in a different School. Who can blame Him? If I knew that what happened to Him from Gethsemane to His death on the cross, was about to be my lot, I think I would have run away. As far and as quickly as possible! How do you prepare for something like that? I suppose a good pass from the School of Martyrs would be ideal. But Jesus had the wonderful ability of being able to focus on the present, rather than on what would happen a few hours hence. Even so, He was able to sit down with the twelve; later the eleven; and encourage them. He knew He was on His way out. He knew what tomorrow would bring. In spite of this he was able to say to his disciples: 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV For me, this is perhaps one of His greatest miracles. Less than 24 hours before His death on the cross, He encouraged His disciples. Of course He is the Prince of Peace, so He could speak to them of the peace He was leaving them. Not an absence of war type “peace”. This was a supernatural peace. One that would take them into any and every situation with very little fear. Fear and peace are not good bedfellows. It’s what they needed to hear. That’s what He gave them. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			14 So he is our peace. In his body he has made Jewish and non-Jewish people one by breaking down the wall of hostility that kept them apart. Ephesians 2:14 GW	There’s such a massive difference between the Lord and men. None of us can bridge it, though we try it now and then. But He is God Almighty. He’s infinite in size. And we are almost nothing. Regardless how man tries, To get to The Creator; to close the massive gap, It seems it gets much bigger; and therein lies the trap. We think that we can do it. But we are doomed to fail. There’s no way to get to God while we’re in Satan’s jail. We know the gap originated many years before, Satan and his followers were chucked out heaven’s door. He was in rebellion; his peace with God was broken. He wondered if in Eden, the same could be awoken. So he came to Adam and called on his wife Eve. He had one objective, the woman to deceive. When he was successful and Adam disobeyed, A gap between the Lord and them instantly was made. This has grown much greater as sin was piled on sin. And it became impossible for man to enter in. Sin is so offensive. God could never stand, Anything that’s sinful, come to His right hand. People couldn’t do it. They’d be torn to pieces; Shredded to a nothingness that never ever ceases. Only God could do it. Only He could go, Into situations that man could never know. He is ultra-hostile to sin in any form. So this separation for Him was quite the norm. But He didn’t like it. The people He had made, Couldn’t ever get to Him unless His wrath was stayed. So between the Maker and His folk there was no peace. Something needed doing to cause the gap to cease! The Father solved the problem, by sending us His Son. He received the punishment that to us should be done. He became the bridge that crossed the monumental span, Sin and Satan put between Divinity and man. Simultaneously a bridge was also built Between the Jews and Gentiles. His precious blood was spilt So that all His people were likewise reconciled. Now in Christ the Saviour, we are all undefiled! Jim Strickland Written 27th December 2012
			19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 NIV
			19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation Colossians 1:19-22 NIV
			14 He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 NIrV
			15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Ephesians 2:15 NLT
			27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

TEN OUT OF TEN

Time with Jesus - 26 Dec 2013

Hi all, 
One of my all-time favourite singers is Don Francisco. He has an excellent singing voice. In addition he is a gifted guitar player. Furthermore, he is a composer and writes the material he sings. If you combine these factors and realise that nearly everything he sings glorifies Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, you begin to appreciate the impact he has made on the lives of countless believers and unbelievers.

I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING
I loved you long before the time your eyes first saw the day; And everything I've done has been to help you on the way. But you took all that you wanted, then at last you took your leave, And traded off a Kingdom for the lies that you believed!
And although you've chosen darkness with its miseries and fears. Although you've gone so far from Me and wated all those years. Even though my name's been spattered by the mire in which you lie, I'd take you back this instant if you'd turn to Me and cry.
	I don't care where you've been sleeping, I don't care who's made your bed. I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me.
When you come back to your senses and you see who's been to blame. Remember all the good things that were yours with just My name; Then don't waste another thought before you change the way you're bound. I'll be running out to meet you if you'll only turn around!
	I don't care where you've been sleeping, I don't care who's made your bed I already gave My life to set you free; There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love; And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me.

I first came across his material in 1982. That year I attended Bible School in the evenings. ±3 hours per night, 5 nights per week; it was exhilarating and fairly exhausting.

In those days, I was working for Eskom. This necessitated my having to drive from Jo’burg to the various Power Stations mainly in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal. 
The round trip took about 3 hours plus, with the time required to conduct the business for which I visited them. It kept me fairly busy. While driving a car, you can be very lonely. To redeem the time, I took cassette tapes with me and listened to them while driving. Mostly I listened to Gospel music. That’s how I came across Don Francisco.

As most of you know, in 1981 I went through a horrible divorce experience. Then, a few months later, Phyllida and I married. We were both satisfied that our marriage was God’s plan for our lives. 32 years later, we have not changed our minds. However, in those early years, we felt “second class”. We knew only too well that God hates divorce. The question at that time was whether or not, marriage after divorce, was acceptable in God’s eyes. In other words, should the two of us have married in 1981? We felt that we had done the right thing. Even so, we felt intimidated. We may have done the wrong thing!

We devoted a considerable amount of time to investigating what Scripture said about this topic. We found that the opinions of others varied. We knew that divorce was “breaking covenant” with our previous husband/wife. Of course it’s always easy to justify things after having done whatever it was. Men and women have an uncanny ability to gloss over anything they have decided to do. Then they then feel that what they have done is right. In this regard, only God knows the truth. Jeremiah, quoting God, expresses this as follows: ⁹ "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ¹⁰ But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve." Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

By the end of 1982, Phyllida and I had studied everything we could get our hands on. Finally, we came across a teaching series by Dr Ken Stewart entitled “Divorce and Remarriage”. These teachings were life changing. So much so, we took them to many people in Johannesburg and elsewhere.

In spite of this, we both felt “uneasy” at times. That’s when I came across a Don Francisco tape entitled “The Live Concert”. I listened to it “spellbound”! The track that had me riveted and in tears was, “I don't care where you've been sleeping”. The words described my situation almost perfectly. The words were: When you come back to your senses and you see who's been to blame. / Remember all the good things that were yours with just My name; / Then don't waste another thought before you change the way you're bound. / I'll be running out to meet you if you'll only turn around!

These words described me; what had happened and what I’d done. It was as though Jesus was personally ministering to me. He knew how I was feeling; the disappointment of going astray and wasting 16 years of life. Suddenly, it was as if this was the very first time of receiving something directly from Him! Jesus gave me the assurance we both so badly needed. For both of us, that old spectre was banished. Those magnificent words, “There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love”, were healing balm to an inflamed and hurting soul. Yes, we knew that divorce was wrong. But we also found that our sin was not stronger than His love. It wasn’t stronger than His love in 1982. 31 years later, it’s still not stronger than His love. Since then, I’ve managed to get hold of a copy of the cassette. We now have a CD and installed it on our I-pod.

At the same time, we began listening to Dr Ken Stewart’s cassette called, “What is Sin”. We were very surprised. He reminded us that Paul had written, ²² So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn't feel guilty. He is blessed. ²³ But if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn't act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. Romans 14:22-23 GW

That’s when we realised that if we thought we were in sin, we were. Dr Ken then asked the question again. “What is sin?” He answered, “Sin is forgiven”. Repentance from sin and faith in His willingness to forgive, results in sin being forgiven.

 In other words, our sin of divorce and subsequent remarriage was forgiven. It still is today. Thank you Lord Jesus.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 26 Dec 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			TEN OUT OF TEN
Science fiction has always fascinated me. I think it’s the “impossible” aspect that catches my attention. If it has a touch of the ludicrous, it really draws my attention. For example I thoroughly enjoyed the one about the metal coat hangers in the closet. The number seemed to grow day by day. So the author began to write about a closet in which coat hangers reproduced! After observing this for a day or two, he wondered if anything else would multiply in that closet. It didn’t work with money. But it did work with bicycles. That really amused me. The thought of someone trying to get a bicycle into the closet is hilarious. The other was a story by Isaac Asimov. He was a professor of bio-chemistry. In the course of his experiments, he came across a substance that dissolved in water astonishingly quickly. It occurred to him that if it was any more soluble, it would dissolve before the water was added. Since he was busy writing a doctoral thesis at the time, he decided to write a “scientific report” about this mythical substance. He said he needed practice writing in the typical “turgid” style demanded of science reports. So he wrote the “report”, complete with graphs and experimental results. He included references to other equally mythical reports found in science journals. It was great fun to read and was popular in the biochemical world! As we all know, Prof Asimov’s report about this mythical substance is strongly representative of Christian behaviour and the Lord. We live in a delusional society. Men and women all around us believe they are Christians when it is not true. You know what I mean. They go to church. The same one their family has attended for more years than anyone can remember. They live a perfectly normal life and think they are Christians by default. After all if you live in USA or UK and you are not Jewish or Muslim, you must be a Christian! As long as they aren’t involved with any of the sects, they are on God’s side. In the end He’ll receive them to His great reward. After all, that’s what God does! What makes this thinking so dangerous is the fact that there is a passing grade for everything in life. In my day you required 40% to pass into the next grade. In any case, nobody got 100% in the exams. That was unreasonable. Sadly, the thinking is that God works like that too! I mean, after all, if the University only needs 50%, surely God won’t require much more. That’s what I thought. I knew I was a sinner. On my own, I still have those tendencies. But to find out that one false move resulted in complete rejection wasn’t even on my radar. Then Jesus found me! That’s when I saw I was a “Monster of Iniquity”! I deserved hell. But Jesus loved and saved me. I still don’t know why? Jim & Phyllida Strickland				25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25 TNIV	He saves us from the “gutter-most”, wherever we have been. He saves us to the “uttermost”; He’s washed and made us clean! Who can understand this? I’ve tried to work it out. But it’s incomprehensible. Of that there is no doubt. I thought I was a good guy. That’s what I perceived. A sort of “average sinner” and that I hadn’t grieved, God’s precious Holy Spirit. “I can’t be all that bad!” When I looked at others! If I’d done what they had, Then I’d deserve His judgement. But fifty one per cent, Was all I thought I needed and what God really meant. Perhaps I wasn’t perfect. This fact I would concede. But surely fifty one per cent was all a man would need! I hadn’t murdered anyone. I hadn’t been a thief. Apart from pens and pencils; which much to my relief, I thought was not important. The bosses didn’t mind, Because they also did it. So wasn’t in a bind. I know I was a liar; but they were little tales. Not enough to tell me that my percentage fails. I wasn’t very envious about the things I saw. Except the Aston Martin the people owned next door. I hadn’t been adulterous. I hadn’t had the chance. But I have looked at ladies with a most erotic glance! I hadn’t worshiped other gods. It’s really not my way. But I followed my football team on each and every day. I didn’t go with sinners. With them I didn’t mix. So, on a scale of one to ten, I must deserve a six. This meant I’m so much better than the average man around. It follows that to heaven I certainly was bound. And then I came to Jesus. What was it that He saw? Someone who depended on a more than average score. He said that He demanded, from all the sons of men, Absolute perfection. A score, ten out of ten! Its then I came to realise that I had been a fool. Life is not a game you play like kids in Sunday School. In fact it is impossible to ever get it right. But absolute perfection was demanded in God’s sight. So I fell before Him. O Lord what can I do? “Let me take away your sin and wash you through and through. Man can never do it. It’s done in Me alone. For your myriad of sins, I only can atone. Come and be My servant. Repent and let Me be, The one who has the power to live a holy life in thee! Then you’ll have My righteousness. Your sins I’ll take away. We will be together, with Me you’ll always stay.” Jim Strickland Written 26th December 2012
				6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 TNIV
				12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 ESV
				27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, John 10:27-28 NLT
				6 I'm convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 GW
				14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." Genesis 18:14 NLT
				24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 ESV