Time with Jesus - Saturday, 05 May
2012
Hi all,
Here we all are in the middle
of an international economic crisis. Today’s Scriptures are mainly about the
pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. So I started to wonder what that
would cost if we wanted to do something similar. As a result, today we have a
tongue in cheek estimate of costs! I’m glad God can afford it!
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Time with Jesus – Saturday, 05 May 2012
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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WILDERNESS
WANDERINGS
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The Children of Israel refused to go into the
promised land. They had sent out 12 men to spy out the land. They came back
with a wonderful report along with a negative one. It was a wonderful land,
“flowing with milk and honey”. But the inhabitants were like giants. Only two
of these spies believed they should go in and take the land. Their names were
Joshua and Caleb.
A careful examination of Scripture reveals that the
idea of sending men to “spy out the land” was not from God. It was their own
idea. Moses went along with the idea, so the venture was undertaken. Moses
describes the tragic details in Deuteronomy. He stated, 2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, going by
way of Mount Seir. Deuteronomy 1:2 NLT
It’s astonishing how often a good idea is not a God
idea. We like to take matters into our own hands and “do it my way”. It
doesn’t work. God had told them to go in and take the land. They sent in
spies instead. Then, when they listened to the spies’ report, they were terrified
and wouldn’t go in. Moses’ tale in Deuteronomy would read like a comic opera
if it wasn’t both real and tragic. In the end God told them that because they
hadn’t believed and obeyed Him, not one of that generation would go in and
take the land. Only Joshua and Caleb went in some forty years later. The ones
who did were the children of that lost generation. Unbelief kept them out.
They spent forty years wandering round in the
wilderness. Now one of the greatest
miracles of the old Testament took place. God preserved the nation for those
forty years. That amazes me! They had been “written off” by God. But although
He punished them and did not let them enter the Promised Land, He took care
of them for all those years of wandering. Would you do that? Not me!
Today’s meditation looks at the fact that God did
this for His people. It then goes on to speculate about the cost of these
wanderings. I’ve estimated that the cost in today’s money would be in the
region of one trillion Rand over those forty years. Fortunately, God does not
have money problems. We do. Where could we raise a trillion Rand to support a
group of about two million people wandering round the desert? Try asking your
bank for that amount of money. The bank would ask us for collateral. What
would we provide?
I’m reminded of the story of the man who went to see
his bank manager and told him that Jesus Christ had paid all his debts on Mt
Calvary. So he didn’t have to repay the loan. The bank manager told him that
Jesus may have paid his debt to humanity. But there was still the matter of
his outstanding debt with the bank!
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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39 The LORD spread a cloud above them as a covering and
gave them a great fire to light the darkness.
Psalms
105:39 NLT
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD
shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Psalms
103:13-14 ESV
4 Indeed, He
who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 5 The LORD Himself watches over you! The LORD stands
beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at
night. 7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over
your life. 8 The LORD keeps watch over
you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Psalms
121:4-8 NLT
4 The Lord
will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its
bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. 5 Then the LORD
will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide
a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night,
covering the glorious land. 6 It will
be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.
Isaiah
4:4-6 NLT
21 GOD went ahead of them in a Pillar of Cloud during the
day to guide them on the way, and at night in a Pillar of Fire to give them
light; thus they could travel both day and night. 22 The Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by
night never left the people.
Exodus
13:21-22 MSG
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and
forever.
Hebrews
13:8 NIrV
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The day-times in the desert are very,
very hot.
Then, shortly after sunset, the heat they’ve
quite forgot!
They started to feel icy. They
shivered from the cold.
And just a little tiny flame was worth
its weight in gold.
The Lord knew all about it. To Him it
wasn’t strange,
So He provided something that kept the
warmth in range.
He covered all His people with cloud
during the day
And used a fiery pillar to keep the
cold away.
We see that air-conditioning was Jesus
Christ’s design
If everyone stayed close to it, they’d
all be feeling fine.
Of course it was a miracle which
lasted forty years,
Without an interruption for Moses and
his peers.
Now stop and think about it. About two
million folk,
Enjoyed this air conditioning and
didn’t once go broke!
I’m glad it was the Lord Most High Who
had to pay the bill.
But who could now afford it? The
answer’s plainly, “nil!”
I’m living in a pleasant house which I
must heat and cool.
Three Thousand Rand paid monthly we
pay out as a rule.
That’s only for ten people. Two
hundred thousand more!
Six hundred million rand per month!
Can you afford this score?
The Lord God charged them nothing. He
did it all for free.
They didn’t have the money. The same
as you and me.
But God can well afford it; For Him,
it’s just small change.
To us it’s astronomical. But well
within His range.
About three hundred Billion Rand or
thereabout it seems.
It’s bigger than the National debt and
far beyond our dreams.
For God it’s still just chicken feed.
He doesn’t bat an eye.
If you add on the water bill, I will
not even try,
To give some sort of estimate. And
then there’s cattle food.
The sheep and goats they sacrificed.
The finest of the brood.
The rams and bulls they offered up; the
tabernacle’s price!
Where did the Jewish people get their
financial advice?
About a Thousand Billion Rand. Does
that sound out of place?
No wonder Jewish people control the
human race!
I wonder what on Wall Street the
bankers all would say?
The cost of wandering around. “We
don’t invest that way!”
But God thought it was worth it. He
thought it a good deal,
A step toward bringing His Son to make
salvation real.
Jim Strickland – Written 5th
May 2012
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