Time with Jesus - Saturday, 21 July
2012
Hi all,
Our meditation focuses upon
the veil; the heavy curtain in the Temple which separated the Ark of the
Covenant with its Mercy Seat and the presence of God from the people. At the
same instant Jesus died, this veil; this curtain; was ripped open from top to
bottom. Many think it was done by God because the death of our Saviour gave us
access to the Most Holy Place. Thank you Lord
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Saturday, 21 July 2012
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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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COMPLETE
ACCESS
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Trying
to get in from the outside can be very difficult, particularly in a country
intensively protected by armed guards etc. We all have to make arrangements
to get in and out of premises and past various deterrents, deliberately
installed to keep others out. In spite of this, people occasionally manage to
slip past the cordon and achieve their nefarious intentions. A friend of mine
mentioned to me that someone was managing to get into his house and steal a
beer from his fridge. He had a good idea who the person was but couldn’t
prove it. Now my friend was a qualified biochemist. He decided to lay a trap for the thief.
What he did was carefully remove the cap from one of his beers. He then added
to it a small quantity of the active ingredient of Brooklax. (A preparation
designed to get your bowels moving quickly) With his trap duly set he sat
back and watched. After a couple of days the beer was gone. Suddenly the
suspect started to get a severe dose of the runs. It was the end of my
friend’s theft problem!
There
is a world of difference between the antics of my friend and the action of
our thrice Holy God. We have great difficulty understanding God’s attitude to
sin. It has become such a “normal” part of our daily life that it doesn’t
seem to bother us at all. But God is not like that. He is righteous and has a
hatred for sin that we find almost incomprehensible. Each and every sin ever
committed will be dealt with so severely that it is terrifying. We get an
inkling of this when we see Peter’s reaction to the remarkable catch of fish
in Luke 5. 8 When Simon Peter realized
what had happened; he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me--I'm too much of a sinner to
be around You." Luke 5:8 NLT
For
any ordinary man to approach our Holy God would result in instant death. He
is not approachable by ordinary people. To us, His problem seems
insurmountable. On the one hand He wants to stretch out His hand and love us.
That is His very nature. But His infinite Holiness knows what would happen if
we ventured near. For us this is an insurmountable problem. But not for our
infinitely wise God. All of humanity combined would not be able to stand up
His Holiness and judgement. But someone had to be punished for our sin. God’s
justice demands it. So He decided to take our punishment Himself in and
through Jesus. His crucifixion and death on that barbaric Roman cross paid
for the sins of the world. This means that our punishment is complete. No
longer must we stand outside the veil. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ has paid
our debt to God in full. So now the veil is no longer an obstacle. We may
come and go as we please. All because of Jesus sacrifice! Come on, let’s go
in!
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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51 At that moment the curtain of the temple
was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks
split.
Matthew 27:51 NIV
23 I passed on to you what I received from the Lord. On the night the Lord Jesus was handed over to his
enemies, he took bread. 24 When
he had given thanks, he broke it. He said, "This is my body. It is given
for you. Every time you eat it, do it in memory of me." 25
In the same way, after supper he took the cup. He said, "This cup is the
new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do it in memory of
me."
1 Corinthians
11:23-25 NIrV
51 I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. Everyone who eats some of this bread will live forever. The bread is
my body. I will give it for the life of the world." 52
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves. They said, "How
can this man give us his body to eat?" 53 Jesus said to them,
"What I'm about to tell you is true. You
must eat the Son of Man's body and drink his blood. If you don't, you have no
life in you. 54 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood
has eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "My
body is real food. My blood is real drink. 56 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood remains in
me. And I remain in him. 57 "The
living Father sent me, and I live because of him. In the same way, those who
feed on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread
that came down from heaven. Long ago your people ate manna and died. But
those who feed on this bread will live forever." 59 He said
this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Jesus'
disciples heard this. Many of them said, "This is a hard teaching. Who
can accept it?" 61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were
complaining about his teaching. So he said to them, "Does
this upset you? 62 What if you
see the Son of Man go up to where he was before? 63 The Holy Spirit gives life. The body means nothing at
all. The words I have spoken to you are from the Spirit. They give
life.
John 6:51-63 NIrV
20 By His death, Jesus opened a new and
life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21
And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, 22
let us go right into the presence of God with
sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have
been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been
washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:20-22 NLT
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There was no way to enter, except once every year.
The High Priest then could enter; that’s when he could near,
That portion of the tabernacle, hidden from man’s view.
A brightly coloured curtain of purple, red and blue,
With interwoven cherubim; a beautiful design,
To hide away the Mercy Seat reserved for the Divine.
No man was given access to God’s Great and Holy Place.
Anyone who did so would fall dead upon his face!
They said it was Most Holy; too much for sinful men,
To even think of going in and coming out again.
The pattern had been given to Moses by the Lord.
It was the place a Holy God by man could be adored.
And later, when the temple was erected by the king,
He knew that God required that he didn’t change a thing.
And so on Mt Moriah, he built the Holy Place.
And once again the Mercy Seat was hidden from man’s face.
The “wall of separation” was a curtain that was strong.
It took two teams of horses to pull the veil along.
The entrance of the people, was likewise still denied.
And it was far too heavy for man to draw aside.
Then one day something happened; they nailed Christ on the
tree.
He hung as a sin offering for you as well as me.
And then the greatest miracle. He breathed His last and died.
That was the very moment the veil was torn aside.
Ripped from top to bottom, by God’s Almighty hand;
The Mercy seat was visible. They didn’t understand,
That anyone could enter. The Christ had made the way,
For ordinary people to come to God that day.
The rule was very simple. God’s wrath they’d have to face.
To pass beyond the curtain into God’s Most Holy Place.
And that is just what happened. The Saviour passed away.
And so the veil was torn aside for anyone today.
His Mission was completed, with nothing more to do.
The way to God is open wide for folk like me and you.
The blood He sprinkled for us upon God’s Mercy Seat,
Was that which ran down from His hands, His head and side and
feet.
The offering was perfect. This wasn’t once per year.
Our Great High Priest’s blood sacrifice has ended all our fear.
Come boldly to the Throne of Grace; the veil’s been rent aside.
And there is total access for Jesus and His bride.
Jim Strickland
Written 21st July 2012 |
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