Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 15 May
2012
Hi all,
Today’s meditation looks at
the practical applications of our robe of righteousness and the comment that
anyone who looks at the face of God will die. I don’t think my idea is new, but
it did feel like a new way to see it.
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Time with Jesus –Tuesday, 15 May 2012
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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JESUS - FOR CERTAIN
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Why do things work the way they do? Mostly we
overlook the obvious due to familiarity. We walk out onto the balcony of a
high-rise apartment block. We keep away from the edge because we don’t want
to fall. That’s normal behaviour. Others are compelled to go to the edge.
It’s as though the adrenalin is pumping and they must look in spite of their
fears. I understand that when someone takes his first parachute jump, his
mind is filled with questions. Is this safe? Will the parachute open? What
sort of man or woman does this? Some say they are very brave. Others say they
are out of their minds. Why not just sit back and relax?
Some folk are more observant than others. It’s said that
when Archimedes climbed into the bath, he saw the level of the water rise. I’m
told he jumped out of the bath and ran naked down the street shouting
“Eureka”. He had discovered what we
now know as Archimedes Principle. The body displaces its own volume in water.
±2000 years later we say, “But that’s obvious!” That’s because we have grown
accustomed to this principle.
Other things are equally obvious. We shiver when we
get cold. We perspire when we get hot. We know it’s harder walking up-hill
than down-hill. If we walk outside in the rain we will get wet. None of these
are unreasonable expectations. We also know that we don’t allow our children
to play hop-scotch on the highway.
Some things
are the automatic outcome of an action. If we drink poison we will die. If we
cut ourselves we will bleed. We don’t get angry about this. If you step off
the roof you will fall to the ground. There is nothing vindictive about this.
It’s the law of gravity. Being a Christian does not make you immune to it.
Perhaps what we can say is that if we had been listening carefully to the
voice of the Lord, we may not have stepped off in the first place!
There is another law; a spiritual law; which says if
you look at the face of God you will die! Some of us say, “What a terrible
law”. But this is not a question of God being spiteful. The truth of this is
that if someone approaches the Father, His purity and holiness will destroy a
sinner. It’s a bit like saying if you get too close to the fire you will get
burned. The two are mutually exclusive. Sin cannot approach God. It will be
destroyed. So if you are a sinner, don’t come too close to God or you will be
destroyed.
But God wants His children to come near. So He has
to provide us with something that will cover our sinfulness. That’s why He
provides the robe of righteousness. We get this through the blood of Jesus.
He takes away our sin and gives us His righteousness. Wearing this robe, we
may come and go as He directs. In reality, the robe is not ours. It belongs
to Jesus. But if we are wearing this robe, God’s purity will not destroy us. What
we are like under the robe is something for theologians to argue about. God’s
purity is satisfied and we are welcomed into His presence. God has not been
cheated. Jesus has paid the price for our sin. So we are welcome in the
throne-room. It doesn’t sound “fair”. It isn‘t. It’s delightfully and gloriously
unfair. But why should I complain? It
was His idea in the first place! Thank You Lord Jesus!
Jim & Phyllida Strickland.
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4 But
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 6 and
raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV
17 When
I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand
on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I
am the First and the Last. 18 I am the
living One. I died, but look--I am alive forever and ever! And I hold
the keys of death and the grave.
Revelation 1:17-18 NLT
24
"Father, I want those you have given to me
to be with me, to be where I am. I want them to see my glory, which
you gave me because you loved me before the world was made.
John 17:24 GW
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of
his bones.
Ephesians 5:30 KJV
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be
pre-eminent.
Colossians 1:18 ESV
10 So you also are complete through your union with
Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Colossians 2:10 NLT
14 Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh
and blood--the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being
could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who
had the power of death. 15 Only
in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the
fear of dying.
Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT
53 This body that decays must be changed into a body that
cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live
forever. 54 When this body that
decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is
changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture
will come true: "Death is turned into victory!
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 GW
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God’s completely different from anyone
we’ve known.
You can’t describe a God Who’s in a
class all of His own.
We cannot see His features; Not if we
want to live.
I wouldn’t take a chance on it. I know
that He would give,
Such overwhelming glory with His
purity Divine,
To crush all that is sinful like
pressing grapes to wine!
He sheds a light more blinding than the sun which
shines by day.
A little tiny glimpse will surely blow
us all away.
We know Lot’s wife saw something when she
turned her face around.
A great big salty pillar is all of her
they found.
We know the atom bomb can boil your
eyes within your head;
So getting just a glimpse of God - the
outcome’s best unsaid!
We wonder why our loving God could
cause such awful things.
But this is what perfection inevitably
brings.
It isn’t done on purpose. To keep us
far away.
In fact, there is a warning, which tells
us not to stay.
Now if you put your fingers in a 500
volt plug;
Then you’ve done something silly; you’ve
acted like a mug.
The outcome could be serious and you
could lose a hand.
Don’t blame the electricity it works
as it was planned.
Our God is like High voltage. You’ve
got to stand well clear.
Get some insulation and some good high
voltage gear.
Then if you touch the “hot wire”,
you’re sheltered from it’s power,
And you can even go and climb up that strange
high voltage tower.
It’s the insulation that keeps you
well protected.
Even when High Voltage is successfully
detected.
That is like what’s needed to visit
God Most High.
And it is made available for folk like
you and I.
It’s called His Robe of Righteousness.
It screens us from the Lord!
So nothing will destroy us with a high
and lofty sword.
There’s just one way to get it. It’s
purchased at a price.
The blood of Christ our Saviour has perfectly
sufficed.
So when we have been cleansed from sin
from head down to the toe,
His righteousness will cover us in
ways we do not know.
The only way to get it is a total
blood transfusion.
I get His; and He gets mine; that
settles the confusion.
Then I am protected and I will not be
slain;
And Jesus Christ’s great sacrifice
will not have been in vain!
This is the way to do it. There is no
substitute.
Every other method, the Master will
refute.
So do not even think about a better kind
of way.
Let Him be your Saviour and serve Him
from today.
Love Him with a passion that is
intimate and strong.
And you will know for certain, that
nothing can go wrong
Jim Strickland – Written 15th
May 2012
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