Time with Jesus - Wed. 21 November 2012
Hi all,
Today we have 2 Jimmets to look at. The void looks at
the space in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. Before we come to Him it’s an
empty ache. The second Jimmet is about the Lord’s High Priestly prayer. If it
were possible to summarise His prayer with one word, (it’s not) that word would
be “unity”.
Blessings,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 21 November 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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JIMMETS
- THE VOID & JESUS’ PRAYER
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There
are not many occasions when men have heard the audible voice of God the
Father. One occasion was at the time of Jesus’ baptism. It was an extraordinary
occasion told vividly by Matthew. John didn’t want to do it. He felt that
Jesus should baptise him. But Jesus insisted. He was very aware of Biblical
types and shadows. He was also very aware of what the future held for Him. He
would die on the cross for humanity. 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering
for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.2 Cor. 5:21 NLT
He
would die a sinner’s death. He also knew that through baptism a sinner would
be returned to life, a new person. Baptism in the New Testament was a death
to sin and a resurrection to new life. It follows that for Him to be restored
to life by His Father and the Holy Spirit, He needed to be baptised. He lived
a sinless life and as such had no need to be baptised. But the one who was
made sin for us, needed baptism to be resurrected. So He started His ministry
with baptism. He was fulfilling all righteousness. He now had the “right” to
be raised from the dead! So perhaps we can say His baptism was a preparation
for His death on the cross. Before He died a sinner’s death, He had already
made provision for His cleansing in the waters of baptism and subsequent resurrection!
Brilliant! Planned in advance by His Father, anticipating what would happen
three and a half years later. Satan couldn’t say He had no “right” to be
resurrected. It happened before He began His ministry. The Father rightly
said, “This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased!” The Father could
say this of His Son and the one raised from the dead!
Before
we committed our lives to Jesus Christ, there was something inside us that
was searching for God. It has been described as a “God sized” space only He
can fill. Augustine of Hippo in his famous “Confessions” wrote "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is
restless until it rests in You." The Jimmet, “The Void” speaks of
this.
One
of the few prayers of Jesus we have is written in John 17. This for me is
really “The Lord’s Prayer”. I believe this took place in the Courtyard of the
temple. I say this because it is sometimes called the “High Priestly Prayer”
of Jesus. Within the precincts of the temple would be the “appropriate” place
for our great High Priest to pray for His followers throughout the
generations. His discourse about the vine, (John 15) suggests He was at the
very gates of the temple. From here He would go on the Gethsemane. What
better place for Him to pray? The courtyard of His Father’s house. The temple
in which the High Priest would pray! It makes sense to me that He would step
into the courtyard. His prayer is recorded for us in John 17. Poignant and
unforgettable!
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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13 For
he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves,
Colossians
1:13 TNIV
17 and
behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew
3:17 ESV
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"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My
chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He
will bring forth justice to the nations.
Isaiah
42:1 NASB
18 No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son,
who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has
made him known.
John
1:18 TNIV
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we have
loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins.
1
John 4:9-10 ESV
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God
has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God
abides in him.
1
John 4:16 ESV
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did
this so that they are united in the same way we are. 23 I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely
united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have
loved them in the same way you have loved me.
John
17:22-23 GW
1 What marvellous love the Father has extended to us!
Just look at it--we're called children of God! That's who we really
are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or takes us
seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.
1
John 3:1 MSG
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There was a time
when I was in the dark,
Far away from
God and from His Son.
But deep down
within me was a spark
Planted there
when first I was begun.
What it was, I
really didn’t know.
Something like a
vacuum we can’t fill.
A hole that ever
bigger seemed to grow
An emptiness
which I remember still!
I did my very
best to fill that void,
With the
“trappings” this world could provide.
All this made me
more and more annoyed.
Nothing changed
the emptiness inside.
Then I gave the
Lord my heart and soul.
He has filled
that gap and made me whole.
Jim
Strickland
21 Nov 2012
Jesus’
Prayer
The prayer of
Jesus Christ our Sovereign Lord
Written for us
in John seventeen;
Reading it, we
should be overawed;
By the prospects
Jesus had foreseen.
Kneeling in the
Temple’s outer court,
Our High Priest
was pouring out His love.
In a way it was
the last report,
He would give
His Father High above.
What a prayer!
That all of us would be,
One with Him in
Spirit soul and mind,
One with Him in
perfect unity,
One in purpose;
One with all mankind!
One with Father;
One with Christ His Son;
One in all
intentions; truly one!
Jim
Strickland
21 Nov 2012
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