Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 19 February 2013
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| Jim & Phyllida Strickland |
Hi all,
In computer technology, as far as I am aware, there are only two types of
memory. These are the RAM and the ROM. i.e. random access memory and read only
memory. What the difference is between them, I don’t know. My guess is that it
has something to do with being able to communicate with the memory. If I that’s
true, then I need to advise you of a third and more significant type of memory.
It’s the CAM – the “can’t access memory”; or better described as a “forgettery”.
Mine is in excellent condition.
On one or two occasions ,I’ve tried to “trawl” back through the years, to
find what I’m seeking to recall; usually without success. Fortunately, computer
“Geeks” have “come up” with a useful gadget for dummies. It’s called “Google”.
Type in a few words and low and behold, there is more information than a RAM
and a ROM can handle together.
To come to the point; this morning, as I was looking for a dim memory,
about money being the root of all evil, I discovered where this particular
expression came from. It was a wartime song by the Andrews sisters. And went:-
Money is the root of all evil. X 2. Won’t contaminate myself with it. Take
it away X 3
Now, we all know that the secular world produces lyrics which look or sound
Biblical. In fact they are not. After
all, what does it matter, as long as it makes money? But for the record,
Scripture states, 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the
true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 1Tim 6:10 NLT
What has this got to do with the year of Jubilee? The common factor is
money. God had a perfect plan for dealing with inflation. Every 50 years, all
debts were cancelled and all properties were returned to the original owner. In
addition, all Hebrew male or female slaves were allowed to go home without
having paid anything further to their former owners. It seems that God’s plan
was that everyone in the world would get a chance to start afresh. On the day
in question, the trumpet would sound introducing the new way of things. It was
Jubilee!
What excites me about this, is that Christians are awaiting the sound of
the trumpet. This will announce that the day has come for the second coming of
Christ. Then we will get a chance to start afresh in a new world and in a new
body. I can hardly wait.
There is also another way to look at things. When you and I were the slaves
of Satan, the only way out was for someone to come and buy our freedom. Jesus
did exactly that. My day of Jubilee had come. I was set free to serve Jesus as
my Lord and Master. For me, that was a huge time of celebration. He made me a
new creature in Him. But I’m still stuck in this old ageing body. The only way
to change it is for the trumpet to sound. His second coming will be with us. That
really will be a time of celebration. A Day of Jubilee!
Shalom,
Jim
& Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 19 February 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 Jubilee
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In the past 30 years, I
think I can count on one hand, the number of times I’ve heard anyone speak
about the year of Jubilee. I confess that I have not spoken about it very
often either. So I’m in good company, or bad company, depending upon the way
you look at it.
Much of the teaching on
the Year of Jubilee can be found in Leviticus 25. This chapter is well worth
reading. It was supposed to take place every 50 years. What was intended, was
that every seventh year, the land was to lie fallow. This would give the land
an opportunity to rest, for one whole year. It was a Sabbath for the land.
After seven Sabbath years for the land, (49 years) the year of Jubilee was to
be declared. I remember Malcolm Smith saying, the year of Jubilee was the
year in which God blew all the bells and whistles. He added, it was time for
everyone to start again. What I particularly liked about this was that
theoretically, every Israelite should experience the year of Jubilee, once in
their lifetime.
It was supposed to be a
very special year; a year in which everyone started again. I rather liked the
illustration from the board game “Monopoly”. The “old game” was over. Everything
was restored to the families. Then a new game would start. What appealed to
me, was the fact that a family may have had a bad time during the previous 50
years. Now, with everything being restored, they were able to begin a new 50
year cycle.
A careful reading of
Leviticus 25, gives a good idea of what was supposed to happen.
Whether or not the
Israelites ever celebrated the year of Jubilee, is something I’m unable to
establish. It seems unlikely. If they didn’t give the land its seven year
Sabbath, there is even less likelihood, they celebrated Jubilee. It’s also
worth noting, Jesus commenced His ministry in the Nazareth synagogue, by
referring to the Year of Jubilee. He was quoting from Isaiah. (Isaiah 61:1,2) –18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed
me to tell the good news to poor people. He has sent me to announce freedom
for prisoners. He has sent me so that the blind will see again. He wants me
to free those who are beaten down. 19 And he has sent me to announce the year when he will
set his people free." Luke 4:18-19
NIrV
The aspect that blessed
me most, is the application of the year of Jubilee for Christians. We were
all slaves of sin, living, bankrupt in prison in a loveless society. Then
Jesus appeared on the scene. His presence declared, the time had come for us
to be restored. Everything the devil had stolen was to be returned. The
prison doors were opened and I could walk free. Few things could be more
exciting.
It follows that He is our
Jubilee. He gave us a chance to start over. Everything anticipated and
referred to in Leviticus 25, has been done by Jesus for you and me. I’m so
glad it happened, just as was promised.
In the current
international financial crisis, wouldn’t it be great if every nation in the
world, was able to scrap former debts and start again? Or would it?
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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4 I planned the day of vengeance. The year for my reclaiming you has come. 5
I looked, but there was no help. I was astounded that there was no outside
support. So with my own power I won a victory. My anger supported me. 6
In my anger I trampled on people. In my wrath I made them drunk and poured
their blood on the ground."
Isaiah 63:4-6 GW
10 Set apart the
fiftieth year as holy, and proclaim liberty to everyone living in the land.
This is your jubilee year. Every slave will be freed in order to return to
his property and to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will
be your jubilee year. Don't plant or harvest what grows by itself or pick
grapes from the vines in the land.
Lev 25:11-12 GW
19 Your dead will
live. Their corpses will rise. Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up
and shout for joy, because your dew is a refreshing dew, and the earth will
revive the spirits of the dead.
Isaiah 26:19 GW
16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven
with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who
have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and
remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thess 4:16-17 NLT
14 "Should I
ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring
on your terrors! O grave, bring on your plagues! For I will not take pity on
them.
Hosea 13:14 NLT
34 But the One who
redeems them is strong. His name is the LORD of Heaven's Armies. He will defend
them and give them rest again in Israel. But for the people of Babylon
there will be no rest!
Jer 50:34 NLT
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God’s answer to inflation was the year of Jubilee.
All the debts were cancelled and all Jewish slaves set free.
The ram’s horn was the trumpet that cancelled every debt.
That was The Lord’s direction. The finest method yet!
If you had sold your property, because you were in need,
It had to be returned to you. You kept the title deed.
If you had sold your daughter as a slave to a Hebrew,
The trumpet blast at Jubilee said “She’s returned to you!”
It took place every fifty years. That’s what the Lord had planned.
And was supposed to happen, throughout the Promised Land.
I’m not sure that they did it. I doubt that it was done.
But Jesus is our Jubilee, God’s One and only Son.
We also have the promise that He’ll come back some day.
We’ll know He took our burdens and cast them far away.
He took our sins and sicknesses. Our health He will restore.
A resurrection body we’ll have for ever-more.
I cannot understand it but He has set me free,
Because He is my Master – my Day of Jubilee!
So many folk will be there. Far more than we can count.
Alongside those who’ve passed away, we’ll all meet at the Mount.
There’ll be so many people, the crowd that gathers there,
Will need their brand new bodies, to float up in the air.
The things that the apostles saw their Lord and Master do,
When He was resurrected, will be done by me and you.
Our former limitations will never more apply.
Perhaps the very finest is that we’ll no longer die.
To vanish and to reappear, for us will be routine;
And do a lot of other things we’ve neither known nor seen.
Is any of this possible or are we self-deceived?
It sounds to be ridiculous and shouldn’t be believed.
But it is in the Bible, so doubt is put away.
And I believe the Master in spite of what men say.
With God, all things are possible and He’s still in control.
No person can resist Him or His power over the soul.
So though it sounds irrational, God cannot be confined,
Within the feeble limits of the greatest human mind.
He is the Lord Almighty who made the Jubilee.
And anything He’s said He’ll do is what I’m sure we’ll see.
Jim Strickland
Written
19th
February 2012
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