Time with Jesus - Sunday, 23 September 2012
Hi all,
Today’s meditation is about our heritage; the heritage
of those who love God and seek to follow Him. We know very little about the New
Jerusalem. He has revealed some of it in the Book of Revelation. How the end
times fit together until the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven is still the
topic of much discussion. What we can say is that we will be there with all the
saints of God from the fall to the present day. We also know that He will be
there. That’s what is really important.
Blessings
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Sunday, 23 September 2012
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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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
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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OUR
HERITAGE
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My mother told a great
story about me from way back in 1948. We were living in Durban at the time in
the Esau Hotel. It was quite close to the Durban beach. The hotel has
probably gone by now. I was about 6 and was taken to a little school fairly
close to where we were staying. She said that after my third or fourth day at
school, I came home and told her that it was not necessary to go back. I had
learned all I needed to know!
Of course it was a
preposterous thought. But it does have a parallel with today’s Scripture. 9
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him."
10 But it was to us that God revealed
these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit
searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets.1 Cor. 2:9-10 NLT
We can and do laugh at a
child who says he knows everything, when he knows nothing. We know that the
child is speaking in ignorance but is expressing his perception of knowledge.
At the same time, we forget that when it comes to the things of God, we are
all just as ignorant. We have our concepts of what is good and beautiful.
Most of it is. But when it comes to what God has prepared for His children,
it is beyond our limited imagination.
I have great sympathy
for the prophet Ezekiel at the Kebar river. He had been greatly blessed by
God. He experienced a “touch” from God and saw something indescribable. Read
Ezekiel chapter 1 and see what the Prophet tries to depict. How do you
describe the indescribable? How do you write it down? How do you begin to
grasp what you have seen? As I read this chapter, I sense a huge “frustration”
in the man. How can such a vision be explained? What do you write in such
circumstances? It’s reasonable to assume that his personal knowledge of God
was not grossly different from ours. What did he know about God? What do we
know about God? A truthful answer would be, “precious little”. We can’t even
imagine The God Who “contains” the universe and everything inside it! But Ezekiel
sees something. It’s so far beyond his understanding that he can hardly put
it in writing.
We know that the Bible
contains all the information God has chosen to make available to us. How much
is that? We have no idea. For example we know that most of an iceberg is
under water. We also know that a polished diamond has many facets. How many
can we see? We can’t see them all because we can only see the portions facing
us. To know more, we would need to be able to handle it to make a thorough
examination. It’s impossible for us to “pick up God” The little He has
revealed to us tells us something about Him. He is infinite. But what does
infinity look like? We have no idea unless the Spirit of God reveals it to
us. We can’t begin to imagine the future without God’s Spirit. Occasionally,
for example in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we are given a
number of hints. Hints that whet our appetite to know more. Will we be shown
more? I suppose that if it was in His interests He would do so. He does give
us the overall dimensions. Whether it’s a cube or a pyramid, we don’t know. Rev. 21:10-27 gives us an idea of the appearance
of the New Jerusalem. The Spirit revealed it to John. Read it and be
astonished!
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
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7 The one who conquers will have this heritage,
and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Revelation 21:7 ESV
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are
more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
1 Corinthians 15:19 NLT
16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly
homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:16 NLT
4 We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can't be destroyed or corrupted and
can't fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:4 GW
21 So
don't brag about people. Everything belongs to
you. 22 Whether it is Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life or death, present or future things,
everything belongs to you.
1 Corinthians 3:21-22 GW
9 It
is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, no mind has known what God has prepared for those who love him."
(Isaiah 64:4) 10 But God has shown it
to us through his Spirit. The Spirit understands all things. He
understands even the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIrV
4 No one's ears have ever heard of a God like you. No
one's eyes have ever seen a God who is greater than you. No God but
you acts for the good of those who trust in him.
Isaiah 64:4 NIrV
8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have
worked for, but may win a full reward.
2 John 1:8 ESV
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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The
Hebrews and the Gentiles both have a heritage.
One which they all have to share and not get as a wage.
No
one knows exactly what it is they will see.
All they know for sure is that each beneficiary,
Will
be with God Almighty when Jesus Christ comes back.
All those who’re ready, will never suffer lack.
It’s
been like this since Abraham first saw the Promised Land.
A little bit of real estate; that God said He had planned,
To
give to Abraham’s offspring. Exactly where or when,
Was something that they didn’t know, at least not way back then.
We
know that under Joshua, they took the land by force.
But it was not their heritage. Such thoughts are way off course.
For
sure, the land was fruitful. The Bible makes that plain.
But it was not the paradise they thought they should obtain.
They
seemed to be quite satisfied, when it had been inspected.
But it was not the place their holy men had all expected.
It
wasn’t such a bad place and they could settle down;
Until the Lord provided them a city or a town.
The
centuries rolled by them. The people came and went.
They didn’t get the city and settled for a tent.
The
towns they had were beautiful but how do you compare,
The promised Holy City with the tents they had back there?
So
what is it we’re waiting for? This City from on High,
Where all the streets are paved with gold and people do not die?
No
one has ever seen it; at least not in this life.
But many people think they know and man’s opinion’s rife!
The
only thing we know for sure, the architect is God.
We know about the gates and walls but what is very odd.
Is
when we talk about the size. We’re told there’s lots of room;
And looking at its size, it would fit right into the moon!
It
has a tree-lined river flowing from the Father’s throne.
No one ever dies there and no one is alone.
The
tree of life is growing and there is no more night.
The Trinity abides therein and they provide the light.
We
truly can’t imagine it. No human mind has known,
The things Almighty God has made for those who are His own.
And
here is what’s exciting. The saints who’ve gone before,
Are waiting for us all to come; They can’t wait any more.
And
so they stand and clap their hands, they ululate and cheer.
For God has said we’ll all receive, when all of us are here!
So
hang in there and overcome. For they who say and do,
Will all receive their crown of life. I cannot wait, Can you?
Jim Strickland
Written 23rd September 2012 |
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