PASSPORT TO PARADISE

Time with Jesus - Friday, 16 November 2012

Hi all,

Diplomats frequently represent their home country in the place where they are living. Here in South Africa we have men and women representing their homeland. The American Embassy in Pretoria employs some local staff. But the ambassador is a recognised diplomat from USA. He is likely to have a USA Diplomatic Passport. It so happens you and I are God’s representatives – ambassadors - from the Kingdom of Heaven. We also have diplomatic passport. You may not have seen them but the smile on the face of every born again believer displays our passport to the world. Our passport is signed by Jesus Christ. The stamp in the passport is “Grace”. Citizenship was granted by our being “washed in the Blood of the Ram”. This encapsulates today’s meditation.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Friday, 16 November 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	PASSPORT TO PARADISE
Have you ever been disappointed? Perhaps you were turned down for going to a particular place for a reason you don’t really understand? Perhaps the man you fell hopelessly in love with, walked off with someone else? Perhaps that beautiful young lady you admired from afar took one look at you and said, “No thanks!” Perhaps you had a driving ambition to go to university and become a doctor. Then, at the end you found your marks at school didn’t get you the place you wanted. One of the greatest tragedies I have come across happened to my Dad’s half-sister. In the early days of World War 2 she met a wonderful young soldier. They married and he had 14 days embarkation leave. Then he was shipped off to somewhere to fight in the army. He never came back. She received a telegram from the home office advising her that her husband had been killed in action. She would never see him again. I don’t know how she coped with this terrible disappointment. I know that she never married again. She lived into her 90’s How do we cope with things of this sort? What do we do when something we have prised so highly doesn’t happen? Hebrews 11:13 in today’s Scripture refers to the patriarchs, their wives and children, They had been told by God that the land they were living in would one day be theirs. In some ways the promise of this portion of land was their inspiration for carrying on trusting in God and having faith in His promises. They only saw it in their mind’s eye. But this enabled them to rejoice in what The Lord had said He would do. Hebrews 11 is often called the “Faith Chapter” because it lists the men and women of faith who achieved great things as a result of their faith in Him. The list is not exhaustive but highlights some of what they achieved because of their faith in God. The chapter ends with an extraordinary statement. 39 All these people were known for their faith, but none of them received what God had promised. 40 God planned to give us something very special so that we would gain eternal life with them. Heb. 11:39-40 GW If we look at these verses we are drawn to the conclusion that all these great men and women of faith are still waiting to receive what God had promised them. But there is a delay. The delay comes about because God has decided that all of us will be rewarded together. Yes indeed, we do derive much courage from the example of those who have gone before us. But these same men and women are watching and waiting. Watching us to see our struggle. Waiting for the time when all of us are together. Only then will The Lord hand out the prizes. They are waiting for us! The Lord has collected their diplomatic passports. They were returned to Him when we die. I feel greatly humbled to think that the likes of Isaiah is waiting for and watching me. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Ephesians 2:19 ESV 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, Hebrews 12:22-23 ESV 13 All these people died having faith. They didn't receive the things that God had promised them, but they saw these things coming in the distant future and rejoiced. They acknowledged that they were living as strangers with no permanent home on earth. Hebrews 11:13 GW 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Saviour. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. Philippians 3:20-21 NLT 13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Colossians 1:13 NLT 11 Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 1 Peter 2:11 NLT	We went to visit Europe in two thousand and ten, It was a special visit. On the occasion when, The passion play was featured in Oberammergau. We knew we had to see it. Back then, the time was now! It only really happens in ten year interludes, And when you’re in your sixties, you know it must be viewed, As soon as it is possible. Who knows, in ten years’ time, We may have left this planet, to live with Christ Divine? The first thing that we needed, when tickets had been booked, Was getting the right passport. We hadn’t overlooked, These documents to get us into France and Germany. There had to be credentials for Phyllida and me! It wasn’t very difficult, for both of us are Brits. A European document, was what exactly fits In with what then was needed. And soon were be away, To pay a special visit to that Special Passion Play. It truly was magnificent. We came away impressed, With what we had seen featured. We knew we had been blessed, With something deeply moving, to captivate the heart. By going off to Europe, we’d both done something smart! Our passports made it easy. They satisfied the guards. It proved we were not strangers for marked upon our cards, Was something which identified and proved we had the right, To go into those countries on any day or night. We have another passport that anyone can see, A means of signifying our Christianity. It is the blood of Jesus that washed us white as snow, And anyone can see it, no matter where we go. My wife and I are bond-slaves. By Jesus we are owned. He gave His life for both of us. His precious blood atoned, For all the sin and evil, that both of us had been. He is the King of Glory and we are both His queen. He took our mortal bodies. He gave us His passport. To enter into heaven, without our being caught, And told we have no business, to come into His place. Engraved into our “passports” is written the word “Grace”! And that is all that’s needed. That mark in Jesus’ name, Says “Welcome to My Kingdom. I am so glad you came!” Jim Strickland  Written 16th November 2012