Time with Jesus - 23 Dec 2013
Hi all,
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We're
busy doin' nothin'
Workin'
the whole day through
Tryin'
to find lots of things not to do
We're
busy goin' nowhere
Isn't
it just a crime
We'd
like to be unhappy, but
We
never do have the time
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I have to watch the river
To see that it doesn't stop
And stick around the rosebuds
So they'll know when to pop
And keep the crickets cheerful
They're really a solemn bunch
Hustle, bustle
And only an hour for lunch
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We're
busy doin' nothin'
As above.
We
never do have the time
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I have to wake the Sun up
He's liable to sleep all day
And then inspect the rainbows
So they'll be bright and gay
I must rehearse the songbirds
To see that they sing in key
Hustle, bustle
And never a moment free
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We're
busy doin' nothin'
As above.
We
never do have the time
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I have to meet a turtle
I'm teachin' him how to swim
Then I have to shine the dewdrops
You know they're looking rather
dim
I told my friend, the robin
I'd buy him a brand new vest
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Hustle, bustle
We never do have
We never do have
We never do, never do
Never do, never do,
Never do have the time
Never do have the time
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In March, I will celebrate my 72
birthday. Assuming I’m still here. Frankly, we are both expecting to be here,
unless the Lord has other plans for us.
Although it’s a definite possibility,
in all likelihood we will have a pleasant day fielding one or two phone calls
and be very busy doing nothing. Well, sort of. We’ll be doing what Bing Crosby,
Sir Cedrick Hardwicke, and William Bendix in the absence of the lovely Rhonda
Fleming
were doing in that wonderful 1948 movie, “A Connecticut Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court”.
Phyllida and I have the remastered DVD version. One of my
all-time favourite songs comes from the soundtrack. It’s called, believe it or
not, “Busy Doing Nothing!”
The movie was showing in one of the
PE “bioscopes” in town; probably the “Grand”. 
What I do remember is the advert
for the movie on one of the big boards between Humewood Road and the sea. It
was next to the narrow gauge railway line that carried fruit to PE for export. 
This
narrow gauge (2 foot or 610mm) line ran to the Langkloof Valley (Avontuur) was
called the Apple Express.
If my memory serves me well, in the early 1950’s the
journey from PE to Humewood was by tram. Those old tram lines remained in place
for several years before they were finally removed.
The story behind the Connecticut
Yankee is, in some respects, the very opposite to of the return of Jesus Christ
and is closer to Science Fiction than the Bible. In 1895, HG Wells published
his book, “The Time Machine”. This machine could move backward and forward
through time and Wells’ rich imagination produced some fascinating scenarios.
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| Artists impression of a Time Machine |
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| Flying the Time Machine |
Wells and the Yankee both got
things muddled. They were referring to time travel. The Christian is not
waiting for the ability to travel in time. We are waiting for the God who is
not constrained by time. He dwells in the ever present “now”.
It’s a realm in
which time does not exist. It’s a realm beyond our comprehension. As I’ve
pointed out before, God created space and time. This means that time and space
are in God. God is only “in time” in as much as time is in him. There is a big
difference. One we don’t understand.
One way to approach the problem is
to look at a photograph. In a sense, it is a picture in time. It’s how things
were at that instant. We have several photographs in albums here at home. One
or two of them were taken before we were born. There we see many folk from
yesteryear. I’ve got one taken of my grandfather. Sitting on his knee is my
father as a baby.
The photograph must have been taken in 1917/8, shortly after
my father was born. There are also photographs taken before my parents were born.
We see grandparents as they were when they were young. Today, they are in their
graves.
A few weeks ago there was a
photograph taken of the British Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and baby
Prince George. It was being compared with a photograph of Queen Victoria, King
Edward 7th, King George 5th and King Edward 8th
as a baby. Both photographs showed 4 generations of British royals. Those with
Victoria all became Kings. The ones with Elizabeth are those likely to become
kings. These are pictures of people “frozen in time”. They appear to be
changeless. Indeed, the photographs remain changeless.
In a similar way, looking at the Connecticut
Yankee movie, we see and hear moving pictures, courtesy technology in the
motion picture industry. Those actors and actresses have all passed away. But
we can see and hear them as they were while they were acting 65 years ago.
In a way, God sits outside time and
space and is able to see us. We are constantly in motion, much like the actors
in that movie. Furthermore, He doesn’t need a movie projector to watch our
antics. He knows our story; our movie; inside out and backwards. Exactly the
same is true for each and every instant that has ever taken place, is taking
place or ever will take place. 
He doesn’t need a huge databank to store every
detail of from the point of creation to the end of time. It is already His! In
a way, we are mere phantoms that float across the screen of life and then
vanish as though we never existed. He knows and will always know us. We are as
real to Him as we are to each other.
There is no such thing as eternity
past and future. For God there is only “now”. This means, asking “How long is
eternity” is to have missed the point. There is no start and no finish. People
will not be in hell for millions of years because there are no years in
eternity, millions or otherwise.
There is only “now”. It is a never ending,
timeless instant in the presence of Almighty God. Nothing changes other than
that which God decrees. God says He is “I Am”. There is no such thing as “time”
in I am!
Shalom,
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 23 Dec 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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ETERNAL
LIFE IN JESUS
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According
to the Bible, Methuselah lived for 969 years. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he
died. Genesis 5:27 ESV Dates like
this are meaningless to us in any real sense. I’m not sure how I would greet
someone who could remember the days of William the Conqueror; (1066 AD) who
could talk about Henry VIII and his various wives and have had a chat with
Martin Luther and Sir Isaac Newton. Talking with people who are centenarians
or thereabouts can be difficult. But how about someone who was 969 years of
age?
A
couple of weeks ago we looked at the fact that man wasn’t made to die. We
should live forever. Sadly, sin entered all of us and death is the wages each
of us will receive. Thus, unless Jesus returns, we are all going to die. So
what do we do with 1 John 5:11? If God has given us eternal life in His Son,
why is death inevitable?
We
have a serious problem with our thinking. We see death as the end of life.
Since none of us have seen anything beyond the grave, we see death as the end
point. A bit like the old pinball table. Remember the sign which read “game
over”. Well if we put a few more coins in the slot, we could have another go.
But if we had a few more coins in our pocket, we could keep going until they
were gone. That was that.
Unfortunately,
many Christians must be included in this category. We all know that in Jesus
Christ, we will never die. Our “earth suit” will wear out and be discarded.
But we will be with Jesus. According to Paul, this is much better. It is a
question of getting this reality down into the very depths of our spirit and
soul. The question is how do we go about it? In the early days of Christianity,
the resurrection was welcomed and celebrated. Men and women had no problem
with giving their lives for Jesus because He was alive and well and living in
them. Down through the Dark ages and until fairly recently, men and women
“believed” to the point of dying for Him. Where has all this gone? Today,
people are so “lukewarm”. They settle for 90 to 120 minutes in a comfortable “lecture
room” (church building) These places are now entertainment centres. Our
preachers are skilled orators who can hold an audience in the palm of their
hands. They want to build bigger auditoriums so that they can attract more
people to come and support them financially. They are successful when they
drive big expensive cars, live luxuriously in mansions and are in demand all
over the globe. We’re told “He became poor, so
that by His poverty, He could make you rich”. (2 Cor. 8:9) In truth our “riches” are in the abundance of the
Spiritual blessings in His robe of Righteousness which we’ve been given to
wear. Instead, He took the poverty of our sin-sick lives.
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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11 This
is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal
life; the life is in his Son.
1 John 5:11 MSG
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God gave us eternal life; this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:11
Can you find it elsewhere? I’m sorry there is none
Other name in heaven, on earth or in the sea.
Life is in the Son of God; in Him exclusively!
It came from God the Father. There is no life elsewhere. John 5:26
He gave His Son this self-same life, so it is His to share. John 5:21
We have to understand this. There’s nowhere else to go.
There is no other deity. No other god to know.
No man can assist you, to find another way.
Jesus is the only one available today.
He’s the resurrection and life is His to give. John 11:25-26
None else in creation can empower you to live.
All believers in Him will live and not pass on.
All living believers; their “life” is never gone.
Death can never hold them. They’ll merely fall asleep;
And in His loving presence, them evermore He’ll keep.
He is the Good Shepherd. His life He’ll lay aside, John 10:11
To give His sheep protection and be their faithful guide.
He said His Father loves Him. And here’s a reason why.
Because He’d go to Calvary; quite willingly, He’d die.
Nobody could kill Him; so of His own accord, John 10:17-18
He yielded up His Spirit to His Father and His Lord.
This was not a suicide. Let’s make it very clear.
Death came in to claim Him and drew in very near.
But it could never hold Him. He still was in control.
His Spirit wasn’t conquered and neither was His soul!
His body was inanimate. That portion had to die.
But Jesus Christ, the Son of God was quietly standing by.
He still had authority to take up life again. John 10:17-18
And on the Sunday morning, the place where He had lain,
Witnessed resurrection; His body was transformed.
He has the keys of death and hell. Satan’s empire stormed. Rev 1:17
Nothing stopped King Jesus. The battle had been won.
Satan’s mighty empire is defeated by God’s Son.
But there’s another miracle each one of us must see.
Because He gave His life away and died for you and me,
Death has been defeated; sin has lost its force;
And Satan’s reign of terror, at last has run its course.
Jim Strickland
Written
23rd December 2012
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26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has
granted the Son also to have life in himself.
John 5:26 ESV
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21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
John 5:21 ESV
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25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection
and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even if he dies. 26
And those who live and believe in me will never
die. Do you believe this?"
John 11:25-26 NIrV
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11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep.
John 10:11 ESV
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17 For
this reason the Father loves me, because I lay
down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
This charge I have received from my Father."
John 10:17-18 ESV
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6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 TNIV
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12 So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the
Son, rejects life.
1 John 5:12 MSG
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2 Set
your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ
in God. 4 When Christ who is
your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On
account of these the wrath of God is coming.
Colossians 3:2-6 ESV
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