EN ROUTE TO THE CELESTIAL CITY

How Much He Loves Us

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 18 April 2013

Eternal Love

Hi all,

Today’s meditation is about infinity and the Love of God. We see that He gave us eternal comfort. For you and me eternal is a time concept; infinite is a space concept. Yet they both amount to the same “thing”. Perhaps “limitless” is the word which can apply to both?

He Intercedes For Us

Currently, we read “self-improvement books” and listen to “motivational talks”. They are aimed at making us bigger and more important than we are. Thus we begin to move further and further away from basic Christianity. Paul made it very clear, that we were to see others as better than ourselves. Jesus’ comment was, that the one who would be great in His kingdom, would be the servant of all. Instead, today we see a general trend toward self-aggrandisement. People arguing about the merits of the flavour of the day, in their place of worship, compared with someone else. Where has brotherly love gone? When are we going to begin to behave like members of the body of Christ?

The Celestial City

Today’s Scriptures take us on a tour reflecting on that which Jesus Christ has done for us. The covenant He cut on our behalf. We take a brief look at His love for His people and see Him represented as the Shepherd of His flock. We conclude with a request to hasten the day when we will all be with Him in the Celestial City.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Time with Jesus – Thursday, 18 April 2013
INTRODUCTION	DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	EN ROUTE TO THE CELESTIAL CITY
How big is infinity? I know it’s a silly question. Infinity is not something we can define in terms of time and space. It’s much bigger than anything we can imagine. In fact if you can imagine it, what you’ve imagined, is too small. So where does infinity start and where does it end? About 20 years ago, I recall reading something Dr A W Tozer wrote in the 1950’s. He said that the universe is not infinite. Only God is infinite. At that time, my reaction was one of incredulity. How could that be? On reflection, the truth began to penetrate. Then, the penny dropped! It is inevitable! The Creator is greater than His creation. His creation was and is in God. He contains creation. It follows that He is bigger than His creation. How much bigger I remember thinking. The answer came in a flash. He is infinitely greater than His creation! The concept of infinity began to dawn on me at school. We were learning about mathematics and trigonometry. Remember sine, cosine and tangent? Those strange ratios which made sense back then but are now little more than yesterday’s semantics. We learned if any number was divided by zero, the result was infinity. So there was my answer to what infinity was. Sadly, it wasn’t helpful. I could give a mathematical answer. But the answer still didn’t explain infinity. That’s when I looked up at the sky and concluded the universe was infinite. My logic told me that if it wasn’t, something must be at the end. What that something was, I couldn’t explain. Then some 40 years after leaving school, I came across Dr Tozer’s teaching. Suddenly I knew what was at the end of the universe. God was there. The universe could expand or contract. It didn’t matter. God was there. The implication produced a clearer idea of infinite love. Since God is infinite and God is love, love is bigger than the universe. We can say the same about all the other “qualities” of God. e.g. God doesn’t have power, He is power; infinite power. He is infinite mercy; infinite grace; infinite patience; infinite …. Whatever! What does this have to do with you and me today? Let’s look briefly at the mathematics. Assign any number to God. e.g. assume God is 1. (Unity if you prefer). The next question is how big are you? Only you can answer. The Word tells us to consider ourselves less than others. How much less? Well, when you become nothing and others are everything, we have 1 divided by nothing. (zero if you prefer) The answer is infinity. In other words, the smaller you are in your eyes, the bigger the result. Be a nothing! Jim & Phyllida Strickland	Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, 2 Thess 2:16 NLT All the same, I'll remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I'll make a new covenant with you that will last forever. Ezekiel 16:60 MSG For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14 ESV Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 ESV That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return. 2 Timothy 1:12 NLT God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty--never cancelled, never rescinded. Romans 11:29 MSG Who can separate us from Christ's love? Can trouble or hard times or harm or hunger? Can nakedness or danger or war? Romans 8:35 NIrV The Lamb, who is at the centre of the area around the throne, will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:17 NIrV Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way we will always be with the Lord. So then, comfort each other with these words! 1 Thess 4:17-18 GW Get up, and go away! This is not a place to rest! It will be destroyed, completely destroyed, because it offends me. Micah 2:10 GW For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:14 ESV	Talking with a friend of mine, some twenty years ago. He said that he once had to ask the Lord if He would show, Him how much He loved him. He said, the Lord had sighed, Then held His arms out like a cross; and then the Lord had died! My friend said he felt “gob-smacked”. He couldn’t take it in! That Jesus Christ had such a love for sinners just like him. “Can such a love be possible?” He asked, “How can that be? Are we truly valued for such a massive fee? I’m really nothing special; an average sort of guy. A love so vast, that it would cause, Jesus Christ to die? I’m like a piece of chewing gum that someone had discarded. It seems to me absurd to be approvingly regarded. Surely human beings were worth a dime a dozen!” But that’s not how God sees us. A sister, brother, cousin, A father or a daughter, a closest relative. How can you let a person go, without a chance to live?” The Lord had cut a covenant two thousand years ago. He cut it there, on our behalf, is what we need to know. A covenant’s unbreakable from Jesus Christ’s perspective. For everyone who follows Him, it’s equally effective! He made a single offering; exactly what was needed. Since then, for all His followers, our Lord has interceded. He’s also made a promise on which we can rely. He will always be with us until the day we die. Which means we are protected by the Master’s Holy Love. Nothing has the power to stop the Lord God up above! Trouble, harm and hunger are just a bagatelle. None of this has got the power to cast us into to hell. Christ is at the centre, He’s seated on His throne. Surrounded by His people, the ones who are His own. He is like a shepherd, who will lead His flock of folk; Wipe away the former tears and smash the devil’s yoke. Many will be “caught up” to meet Him in the sky. At that very instant, we’ll watch death as it dies. Lord we’re feeling homesick; there is no rest down here. We’re looking for the city, which You will make appear. Please hasten the moment; we don’t want to remain, Living in this sin-sick world, of hate, of death and pain. Jim Strickland Written 18th April 2013

COME AWAY WITH ME

Nehushtan was the Snake around
the Pole made by Moses

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Hi all,

Before reading the poetry section, please look at 2 Kings 18:4 to find information about “Nehushtan”.

Christians have a nasty habit of taking things which are holy &“desecrating” them. We also take unholy things and “sanctify” them. We've done this with the cross. It was an unholy instrument of agony & murder. Of course, the death and blood of Christ on the cross sanctified it in a way we could never believe. But Jesus seems to delight in sanctifying the ungodly. He’s done it for you and me in Him.

Examples of the other way round abound in Israel. If you’ve had the misfortune, to visit the “holy sites” in and around Jerusalem, you will know what I mean! These places have been desecrated by the tourist industry. It’s a “bun fight” trying to see anything. It’s rather like the “market” that Jesus found in the temple courtyard. Incidentally, I’ve been told that this place, which should have been a place of prayer for all nations, was referred to as “the bazaar of the sons of Annas”. This goes to show that what we see in the “Christian holy sites”, is nothing new. We need Him to come back with a whip!

Today’s meditation compares the Bible with the precious memorabilia the ladies (and men) keep for sentimental reasons. The real difference between them, is that our memorabilia remind us of things that have gone and will never be again. The Bible does the same. It also tells us about things that are still to come! Our history brings tears of regret. The Bible gives us tears of joy.

In the middle of our Bible we find “The Song of Solomon”. For me, it is the greatest love poem ever written. In its own unique way, it goes beyond the vital teachings of Paul in 1 Corinthian 13 and describes the emotions, passion and yearnings of a young couple, deeply in love with each other. Yes, it could be called “risqué”. But it’s not vulgar. It describes, above all else, the passionate love Jesus has for His people; His bride. I can’t speak for others but I know I can hardly wait for the wedding!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 17 April 2013
INTRODUCTION	DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	COME AWAY WITH ME
Love letters: It may be just imagination, or Hollywood’s opinion, that ladies have all their old love letters stored in some secret place in the house. In the movies, the collection is tied up with a pink ribbon. They are brought out on those occasions when, for sentimental reasons, the ladies look at them with fond memories and great affection. Of course men also do this. We prefer not to disclose this, in order to preserve a Macho image. My mother had an unusual handbag, in which she stored all her historical treasures. It’s hard to describe the bag accurately. The material was covered with pieces of oblong plastic. It was rather “cute” and came from a different fashion decade. After her death in 2001, I took time to go through it and found it contained memorabilia for most of her life time. Photographs of her as a teenager. One or two love letters from Dad. I found an envelope with a lock of my hair in it. The covering note said, “Jim’s hair at 6 months”. I also found one of the letters I’d written from boarding school in Grahamstown in 1951. I thought I’d find something deeply personal written to her by my Dad. I didn’t. I wish I had. Going through the content of that old handbag, revealed to me her love for my father and for me. Mom was my father’s first and only girlfriend. They met in Hull before the war and married the day after her 21st birthday in 1940. Presumably, she didn’t want to argue with her parents about the suitability of the man she loved. Thinking back on this reminds me that God also wrote love letters to His people. We call it the Bible. His letters describe all the history of bygone days. One section contains Hebrew poetry. We call it the book of Psalms. Another contains a section we call Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings, recorded by Solomon and other leading figures from some 3000 years ago. The Bible describes in great detail His love for us and describes how His love prompted Him to send us His Son, who gave His life for us. It also contains the most personal love letter that has ever been written. It’s known by various names. The one we use most is Song of Solomon. This letter describes personally, the depths of intimacy God longs to have with His people. The style used is rather like a play for two people. He speaks, she replies! No detail of their courtship and times of passionate intimacy, are left out. Indeed, it has been suggested that this letter should not be included in the canon of Scripture. I’m glad it’s there. It’s not a romp in the hay. But it reminds me of the love a married couple should enjoy. The intimate love we share with our Lord and Master. Jim & Phyllida Strickland	Take me with you. Let's run away. The king has brought me into his private rooms. [The chorus of young women] We will celebrate and rejoice with you. We will praise your expressions of love more than wine. How right it is that the young women love you! Song of Songs 1:4 GW Long ago the LORD said to Israel: "I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself. Jeremiah 31:3 NLT I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. Hosea 11:4 ESV And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32 ESV The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" John 1:35-36 ESV And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14-15 KJV Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25 ESV We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 KJV My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:10-12 ESV	You have to reach for something. Perhaps it is the sky?                                                                                                                                                       Jim asks You must find your purpose before it’s time to die! To go into the after-life, when nothing was achieved, Is surely irresponsible and hard to be believed. What wakes you up each morning and gets you out of bed? Not just your employer and your efforts to be fed. Where’s that certain something, which keeps you going on? It has to be a little more than, going, going, gone! Life is not an auction; the goods which are for sale, Are not a glass of water and a loaf that’s going stale! You get that from a robot, which doesn’t have a mind. So look around about you and see what you can find, To give the motivation, that illuminates the soul; This makes you find the answer, to achieve your final goal! Listen to the Spirit and tell me what you hear. Could it be the voice of God that’s ringing in your ear? Can you hear the Master saying; “Come, let’s get away.                                                                                                                                                     Jesus Says Let’s enjoy our honeymoon, while it is still today. Let us come together. My love I want to share. Tell you that it’s so much more than all you can compare, With anything that’s physical. I’m drawing you to Me! I have got a love for you, more than you thought could be. Come; let Me enfold you, within my loving arms. You will be protected from all of Satan’s harms. He will not acknowledge I am the Lamb of God. He wants to try and twist Me round that ancient brazen rod. But even as “Nehushtan” was lifted up on high;                                                                2 Kings 18:4 And the ones who looked on it, from snake bite didn’t die. You’ll find that as you look to Me, the poisoned curse of sin, Will not have the power to stop you entering in! So arise my lovely. Arise and come away. The winter is behind us. This is a brand new day. The flowers are appearing, their fragrance fills the air. Listen to the turtledove. Yes, put away your care! There’s nothing in the universe desired above you. If you will obey Me, your dreams will all come true. The purpose which you longed for, but thought could never be, You’ll find that it is satisfied, completely, within Me. Jim Strickland Written 17th April 2013