Time with Jesus - 12 Dec 2013
Hi all,
Phyllida and I try our best not to make assumptions.
This is because to Assume is to make an Ass of U and me. For example,
Christians often make a mistake about the meaning of a Scripture because we
don’t bother to check it out by careful exegesis. A classic example comes from
Habakkuk.
The prophet writes, 13 Your eyes
are too pure to look at evil. You can't watch wickedness. Why do you keep watching treacherous people? Why are you
silent when wicked people swallow those who are more righteous than they are?
Habakkuk 1:13 GW
The problem is, Habakkuk is
expressing his opinion. God’s eyes see everything. He sees good and evil. If He
didn’t see evil, He would not be able to see sin. In which case it wouldn’t
matter what anyone did! The danger for you and I is to assume that just because
it’s written in God’s Word, it must be true. In most cases it is. But in this
case, Habakkuk is saying what he thinks about God and not what God has
revealed.
Another example is to assume that because something is
not stated, we are free to believe it. For example, we know that Jesus’ body
contained flesh, bones and blood. We know that he shed His blood on the cross,
although we have not been told that there was no blood remaining in His body
after He “gave up the ghost”. It’s an academic question anyway. Jesus was dead
when He was laid in the tomb.
We know He was raised from the dead on the third day. We
also know He appeared to many people over the following 40 days. The question
we need to answer is the “composition” of His resurrected body. We know it comprised
flesh and bones. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus told His disciples, 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me
and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." Luke 24:39 NIV
What about blood or that which would correspond
with blood in a resurrection body? Scripture doesn’t tell us one way or the
other. It may be logical to assume that there was no blood or its equivalent in
His body, we cannot say for sure.
The fact is, we are not told. In the introduction, we
read of a man who wanted to know if there were golf courses in heaven. We don’t
know one way or the other. We are free to admit we don’t know. What we are not
free to say is that there are or that there are not golf courses in heaven. In
other words and assuming they get there, Tiger Woods and Gary Player will have
to wait and see.
If we make assumptions about things which are not stated
in the Bible, we could talk about Joshua’s “tanks” blowing up Jericho!
Shalom
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Thursday, 12 December 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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JIMMETS; PRESSING ON
– NEVER QUIT
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In 1953, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh made a movie called “Houdini”. It
was the story of one of the world’s first Escapologists, Harry Houdini. He
performed at the turn of the 20th century and was hugely successful.
I recall seeing the film in the early 1950’s in one of the “bioscopes” in
Port Elizabeth. I think it was the “Grand”. He started his career as a
magician and was fairly successful. It was when he focussed on escaping from
bizarre situations, that his popularity reached an all-time high. Of course,
his stunts were all tricks. But he succeeded with his illusions until 31st
October 1926. He died from peritonitis following a body blow in the area of
his appendix.
Houdini could never be the greatest escape artist of all time. That
honour goes to our Lord Jesus Christ. He was raised from death and walked out
of the tomb. But Jesus was not an escape artist. He didn’t resort to tricks
to fool an audience. Jesus’ “escape” was genuine. The Holy Spirit resurrected
Jesus. It was no stunt to draw crowds and make money. No one can say for sure
that there was any noise in Joseph of Arimathaea’s tomb when Jesus was resurrected.
What seems to have happened was that the resurrected body of Jesus passed
through the cocoon-like wrappings of the grave clothes such that they were
undisturbed, but empty! The contents mysteriously were gone. The resurrected
Jesus apparently then folded the napkin – probably His tallit; and exited the
tomb. Whether He or an angel rolled away the stone from the mouth of the tomb
is irrelevant. Of course, in His resurrected body, Jesus could easily have
walked through the stone anyway!
This was a resurrected body. It was not his old “earth suit” resuscitated,
as in all previous cases of those who had been raised from the grave. Jesus
Christ’s resurrected body had extraordinary qualities and abilities. It had
flesh and bone but seems to have been bloodless! In this body Jesus could eat
and drink; appear and vanish at will and pass through walls. (Houdini is not
in this class!)
Incidentally, those who don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus,
have automatically excluded themselves from being Christians. Paul put it
this way, 9 If you declare that Jesus
is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9 GW It follows that if you don’t
believe He was raised from the dead, you aren’t a Christian. Sorry about
that. I don’t make the rules, I only quote them! Nevertheless, in and through
Jesus Christ we are all looking for resurrection bodies. So let’s obediently
press on regardless and never quit believing in Him and His love. He’s all we
need!
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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26
"Please run now to meet her and say to her, 'Is
it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the
child?'" And she answered, "It is
well."
2 Kings 4:26 NASB
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PRESSING ON
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT
We are pressed by trouble on all sides.
Even so, not one of us is crushed.
Baffled? We don’t run away and hide.
Gloom will not compel us to be hushed.
Hunted down? We are not on our own.
Never will the Lord abandon us.
When knocked over, we don’t stand alone.
Threated with destruction? – We don’t fuss!
What they did to Jesus, they’ll repeat.
Trial and torture? None of this is new.
Suffering won’t drive us to defeat.
Let them do the worst that they can do.
Crucified? Embrace those cruel nails.
Let them see, Christ Jesus never fails.
Jim Strickland
Written
12th
December 2012
NEVER QUIT
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
For us, it’s impossible to quit!
Outwardly, our bodies wilt and die.
But that’s only just the half of it.
Inwardly our spirits multiply!
Every day our spirits are renewed.
Trouble for us won’t last very long!
In the very briefest interlude,
We shall find our inner man grow strong!
We’re not interested in what we see.
That is just a mirage for the eyes.
What we can perceive spiritually,
Will continue when creation dies.
All that we can see will soon be gone.
What we cannot see goes on and on!
Jim Strickland
Written
12th
December 2012
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13
Since we have the same spirit of faith
according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke,"
we also believe, and so we also speak,
2 Corinthians 4:13 ESV
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9 We
are known, but people treat us as if we were unknown. We are dying, but we continue to live. We are beaten, but we
are not killed. 10 We are sad, but we
are always full of joy. We are poor, but we make many people rich. We have
nothing, but we own everything.
2 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIrV
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8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are
not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the
death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT
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16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are
dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very
long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will
last forever! 18 So we don't
look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that
cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things
we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
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2 Dear friends, I hope all is well with you and that you
are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
3 John 1:2 NLT
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