FUTURE PERFECT

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 15 September 2012

Hi all,

The Lord has made it very clear that His people must not get into trying to foretell the future. ¹⁰ For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, Deut. 18:10 NLT Today’s meditation looks at this in a bit more detail.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 15 September 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	FUTURE PERFECT
They say that hindsight is always 20/20 vision. I’ve no fight with that. You can always be sure today about what you did a couple of weeks ago. The challenge is knowing today what is right for next week! Stories of what this is like abound. People dream of being able to cash in by backing a horse that we know in advance is going to win. If I knew today which horse was going to win the 2013 Durban July, it would be worth a fortune. That’s why most people want to know what’s going to happen tomorrow. People are greedy for money! We don’t know. God knows, but He isn’t telling! Omniscience is an “attribute” of God. He knows everything. There is nothing concealed that He doesn’t know. He has known the date of my birth and the date of my death since before He laid the foundation of the Earth. I know the date of my birth. I’m not sure I’d like to know the date of my death. We celebrate birthdays. Would we celebrate our death day? It’s a bit macabre isn’t it? Even if the date is fifty years in the future. Would any of us enjoy ticking off the years, months, days and hours? How would you like to send out an invitation card to attend your own funeral? No thanks. What about exam results? Could there be examinations? If you know the questions beforehand, it couldn’t be an examination! God has to “live” with this every day. He could tell me the name of my great, great, grandson if He chooses. He doesn’t. He knows how impossible it would make life for us. Can you imagine what it would be like during the middle ages if people knew all about the Wright brothers and Boeing 747’s? The concept scares me! Nevertheless men and women are incurably curious; the fact that it would take all the fun out of life, doesn’t seem to matter. Most of us struggle with knowing the correct thing to do today; so that we won’t foul up tomorrow! Our poetic section describes one way men and women determine what they are about to do; flip a coin! It has one thing in its favour. You have a 50% chance of being right. A pessimist would say there’s a 50% chance of being wrong! There is a better way to “handle” tomorrow. Ask the only One Who can tell you. Ask the Lord Jesus. He is able to tell you. But if we ask Him, do we believe what He says? We probably would if we knew it was Him answering. We don’t know, because we seldom ask Him about anything else. So in the final analysis, the only way to be sure of tomorrow is by being confident that we are hearing His voice! Are we sure? One or two of us can answer “Yes”. They can answer this way because they are constantly in fellowship with Him. They know what His voice sounds like, by deciding to be one of His sheep. They hear His voice because they are constantly listening. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 ESV It takes time to hear and recognise the voice of the shepherd. It doesn’t happen overnight. We have to learn to filter out the other sounds which demand our attention. With patience and practice we can all get to the place where we know His voice. In the process, we will make mistakes. But that’s OK. Perseverance will be rewarded. In the end you will be able to dialog with Him much as you do with other people. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			6 But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; 8 a double minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8 ASV 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62 ESV 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 ESV 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray. 15 Instead, as we lovingly speak the truth, we will grow up completely in our relationship to Christ, who is the head. Ephesians 4:14-15 GW 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. John 15:4 ESV 58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. 1 Corinthians 15:58 MSG	Standing at a crossroad he wondered where to go. “I see there’s two directions. Which one, I do not know? The left one or the right one? But which one is correct? Father, is there any way, by which I can detect, The way I should be going? And which way I should choose? I can’t afford an error; that way I’m sure to lose, The object of my calling. I know that I could wait. But Father, it is getting dark and it is rather late”. But nothing seemed to happen. He took a look around; Perhaps the right direction to take would thus be found. But not a thing had altered, It all looked just the same; And he was getting tired of this little waiting game. He reached into his pocket. He’d had a” good idea”. A little game of heads or tails will draw the answer near. Then with his supple fingers, he flipped into the air, The coin he thought would show him the way of getting there. “Head’s I’ll take the left hand. Tails I’ll take the right”. The coin lay there face upward and “tails” was in his sight. But that was far too easy. “I’ll choose the best of three. That way I am quite certain it isn’t “picked” by me”. He put it into practice. Two heads and just one tail. “I have to take the right hand path or I am sure to fail. I hope the Father influenced the way that the coin fell, One route goes to heaven. The other goes to hell” But still he vacillated. “Perhaps I’ve got it wrong”. He couldn’t make his mind up. It wasn’t very long, Before he had decided that he would pitch his tent. For he was undecided which way he had been sent. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit was watching him perform. The man was double minded. Such actions were his norm. He thought that He should show him. But would he hesitate. Perhaps tomorrow morning he would select his fate. But Jesus wouldn’t tell him the way he ought to go. The man was “double minded” and Jesus wouldn’t show The route he should be following. He first, must make a choice, Before he’d know for certain and heed the Master’s voice. The moral of this story is something unconcealed. You make the decision, before the way’s revealed, That what you have been doing, is either wrong or right; And Jesus Christ has plenty time to sit and wait all night. It’s you who’s in a hurry. It’s you who must decide, To trust the Lord Almighty and let Him be your guide. Jim Strickland – Written 15th September 2012