A FRESH LOOK AT GOD’S LAW

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Hi all,

Today’s meditation is all about the Law of God. It’s a difficult topic to discuss at the best of times. It’s a serious topic and can leave people fleeing extremely uncomfortable. So I’ve used a certain amount of humour. Part of the “Introduction” is dialogue between a man and God. Please don’t think I’m being irreverent. It’s just that the humorous approach makes a difficult topic easier to follow. Furthermore, I find that God loves humour! He must do to have made me!

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 27 June 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	A FRESH LOOK AT GOD’S LAW
Have you ever tried to do something that’s impossible? I know that I have and I’ve met a number of others who have the same problem. My dilemma is getting into the trousers I wore at my wedding. Since then I’ve gone from a size 36 to a size 42. Even with a shoe horn I can’t squeeze myself into those trousers. I could if I went on a diet. But at my age I don’t have the motivation to do it. I’ve come to the conclusion that my pall-bearers will have to be big strong men! Now ladies, I know your problem getting back in to your wedding dress. After a couple of children and a wee bit of middle-age spread, that dress has shrunk by about four or five sizes. Leaving it hanging on a hanger in a cupboard obviously makes it shrink. But my husband likes me this way. That’s true. So stop looking wistfully at that dress. Put it in a box and pass it on to your daughter! What’s that, she thinks it’s too old fashioned?! Oh well, you can always cut it up and use it for dusters! Hey! Put down that meat cleaver! Of course, when we come to looking at the law of God, we have a major problem. It wasn’t derived democratically. It was put on us by an all wise and loving God. The terms are very clear. “This is how you must behave for your entire life. No mistakes, no slip-ups!” God has a zero tolerance policy. Furthermore, He knows every detail of your life from conception to termination. He knows it better than you. God forgets nothing! He also has different ideas about the seriousness of sin. To dishonour your father or mother is as serious as murder in His eyes. So why did He give us the law. Firstly, it tells us what He is like. He is perfect in every way. He has no difficulty keeping the law. It’s His “style” forever! So we look at it and say, “Wow Lord, that’s wonderful!” Can I have a go? “Sure!” Try it and see.!” We do and quickly find we can’t do it. “Had enough?” He asks. “Can I have another go” we ask. “Be My guest” He replies. Then we fail again. “Have I made My point?” “Err, Yes. I can’t keep it can I” we answer sheepishly. “That’s what I said” He says. “So why did you give it if You know I can’t keep it” we ask even more sheepishly? “I want you to know you can’t do it alone” He replies with all the wisdom only He has. “How does that work” we ask? “As follows” He says I knew when I made man that he would fall. I gave him free will so he can obey or disobey. To disobey is to sin. I also know that if a sinner comes near Me he will be “fried to a frazzle”. But I want him to be able to come near me. So someone had to be “fried to a frazzle”. My Son, My Holy Spirit and I looked at this together. We can do it. Don’t ask Me how! We decided that if My Son was “fried to a frazzle” for you, it would solve the problem. So that’s what we did. My Son came to earth and after living a perfect life, keeping all the law all the time. No easy matter, believe Me. He had to deal with a fallen Archangel to do it. But that’s another story. Then He was arrested, falsely accused, tried and found guilty on a trumped up charge. So they flogged Him to within an inch of His life. Then they crucified Him and He died. It should have happened to you, but you could never have taken it. “Now here’s the clever bit! Because He is God, what He did for you was done for all humanity”! Even so, We want you to live a perfect life here and now. So My Spirit and My Son come and help you when you fail. If you repent and ask for forgiveness, they do what’s necessary and get you going again with a clean sheet. We have everything figured out. So We put the law there so it can get you started on the forgiveness routine! Kind of neat huh? Jim & Phyllida Strickland			2 Do not take me to court for judgment, because there is no one alive who is righteous in your presence. Psalms 143:2 GW 18 "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. Isaiah 1:18 NLT 5 So the enemies of my people had better come to me for safety. They should make peace with me. I will say it again. They should make peace with me." Isaiah 27:5 NIrV 21 "Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Job 22:21 ESV 1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 NLT 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." Galatians 2:16 NLT 20 So it can't be said that anyone will be made right with God by obeying the law. Not at all! The law makes us more aware of our sin. Romans 3:20 NIrV 39 Everyone who believes in Him is declared right with God--something the law of Moses could never do. Acts 13:39 NLT 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 NLT	He knew they couldn’t keep it and no one asked Him, “Why”? Utterly impossible; although He knew they’d try. It’s typical of people. They turn and grit their teeth. “Others cannot do it but they are far beneath, The things which I am doing. I’m going to get it right. I am quite determined; that they will see the sight, Of somebody succeeding where they themselves can’t go. But I am going to do it. Just God and I will know!” Here we see the evil and the wicked hearts of men. They will keep on trying and trying once again. They’d crawl on broken bottles from Jo’burg to the sea, If that would make them righteous. They all fail miserably. Can we ever keep it? We must never fail. Just one violation will cast us into jail. For when the law is broken, it’s as sure as sure can be. They’ll lock you in a “hell-hole” and throw away the key. And yet the law is beautiful when written on the wall. We say it’s right and proper and then from grace we fall. So it becomes a nightmare that will not go away. What will Jesus do with me when He comes back one day? I think it’s time for us to take a fresh look at God’s law. And understand the reasons God put it in there for. It says, “These are the standards of the One Who is ‘I AM!’ If you cannot be like Me, then you are in a jam. I know you’ll try to keep it, to prove you can be good. Keep on trying harder, the way you think you should. But in the end you’ll founder. You’re not Divinity, Although you like to think that you are just as good as me. It’s there to let you see that you will never get it right. And turn to me and tell Me of your never ending plight. It’s then that I can show you the way to come to Me. A method you can count on wherever you may be. Admit you cannot keep it and ask Me what to do. I’ll tell you of the Saviour Whom I have sent to you. He is not a sinner. He is My only Son. He will take the punishment for all that you have done. Trust Him absolutely. Give Him your whole life. He will be your husband and you will be His wife. Then My Holy Spirit will come and show to you, How to live the Christian life in everything you do. You will be empowered by My Spirit and My Son. That’s the only way that Christianity is “done”. He will be your Saviour and you will come to Me. Sin won’t be your master for He will set you free. My law won’t terrify you and you will understand. That everything is working out exactly as I planned.” Jim Strickland  Written 27th June 2012.