Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 01
January 2013
Hi all,
Happy New Year
May God’s
Blessing be on you and your family in 2013
So here we are in 2013. It’s too late for last minute
greetings in 2012. We’ll have to wait another 364 days! Our meditation today is
about the Lord of Life and what we can expect in 2013. I’m not seeking to be
prophetic or try and give any form of guidance. What I can say is that 2013 is
going to be a hectic year. I’d like to think that the Lord Jesus Christ will
return this year. But I’m not holding my breath. It would be wonderful if He
comes back. If He doesn’t, there are still lots of things to do. For me it’s
another year for writing these Daily Devotions. Occasionally I’ll dip into previous
meditations. It will take a certain amount of pressure off and give me a short
break. But I’m planning to send out a meditation every day. God willing.
Blessings,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 01 January 2013
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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 Lord of Life
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Today
is a new start on a new day of a new year. Happy 2013. Perhaps a better
phrase is “Compliments of the Season”. The one that ended last night at the
stroke of midnight. Indeed, today is a holiday. One we all need before the
2013 storm begins. It will certainly be a year of storms at our Christian
norms.
By
the time this is read we will know if USA went over the fiscal cliff! Will
there be a big splash at the bottom, or will it fizzle out the way most
things do in politics? It’s difficult to predict. In RSA, Jacob Zuma will
still be president. Barak Obama will remain USA President and David Cameron
will remain as UK Prime Minister. So, for Mr & Mrs average citizen, the
only thing that will change is our respective ages.
But
what about Mr and Mrs Christian? I am deliberately avoiding the word
“average” because Christians are not average. Not in theory anyway. In fact we
must take note of what Moses said to the Children of Israel. 7 Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel
watched, he said to him, "Be strong
and courageous! For you will lead these
people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors He would give
them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land.
8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for
the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you." Deut 31:7-8 NLT
As I
write this introduction, I have urgency in my spirit to ask all Christians to
be expectant this year. More than that, be pregnant with hope for the future
and confident that the Lord is about to do something new in 2013. Let me
state at the outset, I’ve heard this on many occasions in the past 50 odd
years in Christianity. But this is the first time I’ve felt this personally.
Something dramatic is about to take place. Moses spoke these words to Joshua
at the time when the Lord was about to pass the baton from Moses to Joshua. The
“old style” leadership was about to leave. The “new style” was about to
begin. These words were spoken on the final day of Moses’ ministry as the
leader of the Israelites. God would soon open a way through the Jordan in a
way different from the way He did with Moses and the Red Sea. In this respect
it was one of the most exciting times in Biblical history. It was time for
change.
How
are we going to respond to this? Will we rest on past achievements or will we
grasp the nettle of what God is about to do? Will we grab it with both hands
or will we hide behind our shields of, “God has never done this before!”
I
have a distinct feeling that we are standing in front of the burning bush
just as Moses did some 3500 years ago. God said, “Here I am Moses!” Moses’
response was “Who am I!” Moses was overwhelmed with the presence and power of
the Living God. He knew he could do nothing. He was a failure and he knew it.
He couldn’t speak well and was scared spit-less of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
But the Lord said to him, “I will be with you!” (Ex
3:12) Not one of us is able to do what God requires of us. But He says
to His people, “I will be with you!” These words are being written as we pass
from one year to another. The old has gone. The new has come. What will we do
with 2013? Will it be just another year, or will we get rid of past failures
and go into the future confidently holding the hand of the Eternal God? It’s our
choice.
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will
be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you."
Deut 31:8 NLT
15 Then Moses said, "If
You don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place. 16
How will anyone know that You look favourably on me--on me and on Your
people--if You don't go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people
and me apart from all other people on the earth."
Exodus 33:14-16 NLT
23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in
himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 24 Correct me,
O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
Jer 10:23-24 ESV
23 If
the LORD is pleased with the way a man lives, he makes his steps secure. 24
Even if the man trips, he won't fall. The LORD'S hand takes good care of him.
Psalm 37:23-24 NIrV
23 But I
am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. 24 You give me
wise advice to guide me. And when I die, you will take me away into the glory
of heaven.
Psalm 73:23-24 NIrV
38 I am absolutely
sure that not even death or life can separate us from God's love. Not even
angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can do that.
39 Not even the highest places or the
lowest, or anything else in all creation can do that. Nothing at all can ever
separate us from God's love because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.
Romans 8:36-39 NIrV
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As Moses said to Joshua, “Take courage and be strong.
For you will lead these people
as soon as I am gone.
Go take the land God’s given
them, divide and share it out.
The time has come for taking it.
That’s far beyond a doubt.
The Lord will go ahead of you
and grant you great success.
He won’t fail or abandon you,
His purpose is to bless,
The people He has chosen to be
His very own.
Just follow Him consistently and
do what He has shown.”
The words that Moses gave them, all still
apply today,
And Jesus says to all of us, here’s what we
must obey.
It’s not a time for slacking off; It’s not a
time to mope.
It’s not a time for thinking, that there’s no
future hope.
It’s time for looking forward and straining
for the prize.
For focusing on what the Lord has placed
before our eyes!
It’s time to seek the glory; the type the
Father gives.
The sort that is reflected by the way the
Master lives!
It’s taking on the suffering, the way that He
endured;
That when we trust in Jesus, our victory’s
ensured.
It’s having a deep knowledge, of all that He
has said.
It’s putting all our trust in Him, to whom
we’ll soon be wed.
It’s waiting for the day to come, when He’ll
return as judge.
To know this is a certainty from which we cannot
budge.
It’s grasping He will do it; that all will be
fulfilled.
That nothing can prevent it, for that is what
He’s willed.
It’s getting into training, so we can win the
crown.
It’s fully recognising we’ll wear His wedding
gown.
It’s fully understanding, His word will never
fail;
In spite of execution, or being thrown in
jail.
It’s truthfully discerning, the presence of
the saints.
Who’ve died and gone before us the way the
Bible states.
It’s listening to them cheering, as we go
running by,
Aware we will be with them the instant that we
die.
It’s looking unto Jesus; He is the only way!
Assured that He will take us, to be with Him
one day.
And as we move together, into our Promised
Land,
Be certain He will be with us to help us
understand,
That when the battle’s over, He’ll give us a
reward.
For being His disciple and making Him our
Lord.
Jim Strickland
Written
1st January 2013
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