Time with Jesus - Friday, 21 September 2012
Hi all,
Nowhere in Scripture are we shown a “test-tube” to
identify the Spirit of God. We cannot put Him under a microscope and say, “Here
is God”. That can never happen. We are told 6 It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must
believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who
seek him. Heb. 11:6 MSG. It’s not “seeing is believing”. It’s “believing
is seeing”. We have to get it right or we won’t get it at all!
Blessings
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Friday, 21 September 2012
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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THE
WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
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Jesus made it clear that 24 For
God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and
in truth." John 4:24 NLT The question
we have to grapple with is, what did Jesus mean in a way we can try to
understand? The point from which we must begin is that God is the creator. He
dwells in a “dimension” with which we are unfamiliar. This is important. God
created our time/space continuum. In other words, we dwell in Him rather than
He dwells in our dimension. We know this is true because 28 “In him we live and move and have our being”. Acts 17:28 ESV A little illustration that has
helped me, is to point out that fish live in water. Water doesn’t live in
fish. If water lived in fish, they would be aware of it. They could see and
feel it. But fish live in water. I suspect they are not aware of the watery
world around them.
We are like those fish. We live in a time/space continuum, all of
which is in God – in Spirit. Occasionally, God has opened men’s eyes to “see”
what is taking place in the Spirit. Normally we are unable to do so. We do
know that the world we live in is not permanent. It is passing away. But the
things of the Spirit are eternal. The day will come when the pyramids of
Egypt will be gone. But those who love God continue.
Occasionally, God sends something from the Spirit into our dimension.
The Holy Spirit descended and alighted on Jesus in the form of a dove. The
Holy Spirit “came upon” the 120 in the outer court of the temple (not the
upper room) in the form of tongues of fire. Most likely, the pillar of fire
came down in much the same way as in the wilderness. Then, tongues of flame
reached out from the pillar and touched the heads of those present. The
Spirit was in contact with God’s people in a way that was similar to the time
of the Wilderness wanderings. No wonder the recipients almost “freaked out”.
Here was a touch from Him which their forefathers had known ±1500 years
previously! Note that it was the Spirit, visible and touching this world. In
a sense, an invasion of our dimension by the Spirit dimension. Those of us
who have read science fiction will have come across the idea of a “portal”; a
gateway between one dimension and another. There is no doubt that this world
and the Spirit are separate “dimensions”. Yet Jesus instructs us to worship
God in Spirit and truth. Is it possible that in some way we don’t understand,
God opens something like a “portal” whereby we are able to take our worship
into His dimension to truly worship Him? There would be one important “key”
into His dimension. The key is truth. Jesus Christ is that “key”; that
“portal” 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 ESV. Thus Jesus is our “portal” to the
Father!
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
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14 The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
advocate to help you and be with you forever 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives
with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17 TNIV
13 When
the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He
has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring Me glory by telling you whatever He receives
from Me.
John 16:13-14 NLT
5 And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it
through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.
Romans 5:5 NIrV
17 But anyone who is joined to the Lord becomes one with
him in spirit. 18 Keep far away from sexual sins. All the
other sins a person commits are outside his body. But sexual sins are sins
against one's own body. 19 Don't you
know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is in you.
You have received him from God. You do not belong to yourselves.
1 Corinthians 6:17-19 NIrV
30 Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit,
moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life,
making you fit for himself. Don't take such a
gift for granted.
Ephesians 4:30 MSG
26 At
the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness,
because we don't know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes
along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words.
Romans 8:26 GW
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God’s Spirit is within me. The Saviour said it’s true.
This should always be enough for folk
like me and you.
But I’m a bit inquisitive. I like to check things out.
Make sure that something’s factual and
far beyond a doubt.
And so I started poking round to find out “where?” inside.
I wanted to locate Him, so He could
never hide;
And ask me what I’m looking for. So I began to hunt.
The liver, spleen and kidneys; the
back and sides; the front.
But I was unsuccessful. I couldn’t find the place,
Where I could worship Jesus and look
into His face.
This sort of had me bothered. The Lord won’t tell a lie.
And so I started over and had a second
try.
Then, after lots of digging, acknowledged my defeat.
I knew that I could never find the
Precious Paraclete!
And then I started thinking. I must have got it wrong.
The Message from the Master was really
very strong.
Finding a location was not what Jesus meant.
He was the Holy Spirit, Whom Father
God had sent.
We cannot see the Spirit realm. We cannot feel or touch;
And recognise His presence. We do not
need that crutch.
Faith is what is needed. To see beyond this realm,
And know the Holy Spirit is surely at
the helm.
God’s Kingdom isn’t physical. Realise that’s true.
You cannot eat or drink it; you cannot
touch, or chew,
What the Lord has given. Believe it and you’ll see,
The evidence that He is there; alive
at work in me!
Its righteousness and peace and joy, within us, animated.
Each of these is abstract and all are
concentrated,
To make our life here liveable; that other men may know,
The action of the Holy Ghost, everywhere
we go.
Always put the emphasis on other men’s perception.
If you’re looking at yourself, it’s
probably deception.
Yet there is a place to look where He is always found.
Deep inside your spirit man you’ll
find the Heavenly Hound.
Your Spirit will bear witness that He indeed is there.
This way you can be Christian and
never have a care.
So never be flustered and ask, “Where can He be”?
Focus on the witness of the Spirit
within Thee!
If there is no “witness”, there’s one thing to be done.
Get the problem “sorted”; Ask Jesus
Christ, God’s Son.
Jim Strickland – Written 21st September
2012
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