Time with Jesus - Sunday, 20 January 2013
Hi all,
What do you and I know of real love? Probably it’s very
little! Deuteronomy states, 5 and you
must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your
strength. Deut. 6:5 NLT I’ve no fight
with the statement. But how do I know I’m doing it? Jesus told us how. In John’s
Gospel it states; 10 When you obey My
commandments, you remain in My love, just as
I obey My Father's commandments and remain in His love. John 15:10 NLT
The simple answer is to say we know we love God when we
do what He says! It’s not complicated and it doesn’t require great genius. Today
we meditate on real love!
Blessings,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Sunday,
20 January 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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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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Real Love
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In the Book of Deuteronomy, God indicates that
“Israel” belongs to Him and “Jacob” is His special possession. In the context
in which this is written, Jacob and Israel are the same. It’s a classic piece
of Hebrew writing in which the same thing is stated twice. We can say God is
expressing His love for His people. Special possession is an interesting term.
The best illustration I’ve heard was by Malcolm Smith in 1984. He said that
from God’s perspective, Israel is my “pocket money”. The entire world belongs
to Him. In a sense, if the entire world past, present and future could be expressed
in terms of Rand and cents or dollars and cents; no matter how great the
total might be, it was all His. He is free to dispose of it or keep it, as He
wills. No one can interfere in any way. It’s all His1
We get a better understanding of the term “pocket
money” from a small illustration. You and I earn a wage or a salary; so much
per week or month. Whatever! Now we have certain commitments that must be
paid. These are essential expenses we can’t avoid. For instance, we have to
buy food, clothes, family needs, rentals etc. Although all the money is ours,
we are compelled to spend it in a particular way. But every one of us likes
to have something to spend on whatever he/she wants. We call it our pocket
money. For you and me, it’s special. It’s mine for me to spend as I want. No
strings attached, it’s mine. As children, most of us received something from
our parents to spend somewhere. That was my pocket money. My parents might
have asked me where I spent it, but didn’t interfere unless they thought it
was wasted on something silly.
Now think of it on a Divine Scale. God loves us
all. We are all His people. Every man and woman on this earth is His. We are
all His possession. But, like us, God has a special possession. Special in
the sense that the pleasure we get with our pocket money, is how He sees His
people. His people are His pocket money!
The implications of this are staggering. Suddenly
the Song of Songs starts to make sense. God is the King. In the book, He is
the groom. Then He begins to describe His love for you and me; we are His
bride; His special possession. He shares His passion with and for us. We
respond in the way a bride responds to her groom. It’s breath-taking! You are
His special possession. You are His pocket money. You are His beloved.
How can such a love be described? It’s
supernatural; It’s that unique love of God that gives itself away. The Greek
word somewhat Anglicised is “agape’” What’s it like? Some years, ago I was
listening to one of our better known SA speakers. He asked much the same
question. How much does God love us? By way of answer he spread out his arms
as far as he could. He added that it’s exactly, what Jesus did – then Jesus
died. He can go no further, because there is nothing any further. That’s
agape’! No limits and no end.
Jim &
Phyllida Strickland
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9"For the people of Israel belong to the LORD;
Jacob is His special possession.
Deut. 32:9 NLT
23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1 Cor. 3:23 NLT
10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.
SoS 7:10 TNIV
16 "My
love belongs to me, and I belong to him.
Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies.
SoS 2:16 NIrV
20 I have
been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives
in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:20 ESV
19 Or do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God? You are not your own, 20
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God
in your body.
1 Cor. 6:19-20 ESV
20 But you--GOD took you right out of the iron furnace, out of
Egypt, to become the people of his inheritance--and that's what you are this
very day.
Deut. 4:20 MSG
9 For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field.
You are God's building.
1 Cor. 3:9 NLT
6 But Christ is a faithful son in charge of God's household.
We are his household if we continue to have courage and to be proud of the
confidence we have.
Heb. 3:6 GW
5 You come to
him as living stones, a spiritual house that is
being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that
God accepts through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5 GW
17 "They will be My people," says the LORD of Heaven's
Armies. "On the day when I act in judgment, they will be My own special
treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.
Mal 3:17 NLT
10 All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them
to Me, so they bring Me glory.
John 17:10 NLT
18 having the eyes
of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he
has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints,
Eph. 1:18 ESV
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There’s
little understanding of the love of God Most High,
For
guilt-infested sinners, the like of you and I.
We don’t know
why He bothers. Why should He even look,
At people who
don’t care for Him, or what is in His Book.
It seems
we’ve been inoculated, so we cannot tell,
If we are
bound for heaven, or have been condemned to hell.
We know it’s
done by Satan. We know about his hate.
Any person
that is born – they have to share his fate.
And so he
does his very best, in order to ensure,
That not a
person in the world could any way be pure.
But thank
God, Jesus knows it. He knows of Satan’s trap.
And just
because He loves us, He died to fill the gap,
That Father
had erected the instant of the fall.
And He came
here to close it. He died to save us all.
We mostly
find His love for us is more than we have seen.
It stretches
to eternity, where we have never been.
This world is
full of “eros” which usually is lust.
Do
the things you want to do! There’s no one you can trust.
So
if your “love” is glandular then grab it double quick.
The
value of virginity, That makes me feel so sick.
Mankind
are only animals, so you can copulate
With
anyone or everyone. Who needs a marriage mate?
We find it
all around us. This is normality?
If that is
now your attitude, it’s crass stupidity.
The fact is,
you don’t understand what Christ has really done.
He didn’t die
upon the cross to stop you having fun.
He died
because He loved you. There was no trace of lust.
He didn’t have
to do it for the children of the dust.
He didn’t
love for my sake, but because it had to be.
He didn’t get
emotional and concentrate on me.
He saw a
dying people, who had been led astray.
A lost and
mad humanity who didn’t have a way,
To come and
meet His Father. Compassion then arose,
And filled
Him with a longing to go and rescue those,
Who truly
would receive Him and love Him for His sake.
A love that
gives itself away and cannot bear to take!
A love that
says, “Whoever,
no matter where you’ve been,
I’ll
freely give My life away so that you can be clean.
No
matter what they do to Me, my focus is on you.
My
love for you is limitless. I’ll do what I must do.
If
you will just believe me, I’ll teach you how to love.
Then
you can also give your life for God who reigns above”.
Jim Strickland
Written
20th January 2012.
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