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Thursday,
August
20,
2020
Children
on a horse-drawn cart in Lebanon County.
"A
Thousand Years"
Message
summary: There are many perspectives in which
we evaluate time, but the bottom line is that God
has numbered our years, days, even our minutes here
on earth and our lives are in His hands.
Listen
to this message on your audio player."For
a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday
when it passes by, or as a watch in the night"
(Psalm 90:4). “But
do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with
the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising Sun.
Yesterday
I was with a middle-aged friend and he commented how
fast the summer has gone by. I told him time just
seems to go faster the older you get (just like my
parents always said). Then I considered time from
God's perspective, what a limited sense we have of
that.
Our daily texts certainly give us something to ponder. The second text from Peter is used to illustrate God's patience and forbearance desiring mankind to come to repentance.
A banker who read this passage was quite amazed and talked to God about it.
Our daily texts certainly give us something to ponder. The second text from Peter is used to illustrate God's patience and forbearance desiring mankind to come to repentance.
A banker who read this passage was quite amazed and talked to God about it.
“Lord, is it true that a thousand years
for us is like one minute to you?”
The Lord said "yes".
The banker said, “Then a million dollars to us must be like one penny to you.”
The Lord said, “Well, yes.”
The banker said, “Will you give me one of those pennies?”
The Lord said, “All right, I will. But wait here just a minute.”
The Lord said "yes".
The banker said, “Then a million dollars to us must be like one penny to you.”
The Lord said, “Well, yes.”
The banker said, “Will you give me one of those pennies?”
The Lord said, “All right, I will. But wait here just a minute.”
“But
do not ignore this one fact, beloved."
This is an interesting introduction to a truth
(fact) which should grab our attention. It must not
be neglected or ignored. Man sees time against time,
but God sees time against eternity. God is above
time, for His "time line" has no beginning or end,
compared to man's which now lasts some 80 years plus
or minus. God is not bound by or limited by time as
is man. Time is determined by the relation of the
sun to the earth, and God is not limited by this
relationship.
"With
the Lord one day is like a thousand years."
A day is 1/365000th of a thousand years
(notwithstanding leap years) or as a percentage is
0.00027397260273973%.
The
Precept Austin online study observes:
"Peter uses thousand years to picture any
long period of time as contrasted to a very short
period and therefore does not convey a precise
mathematical significance. God is not limited to our
time schedules to fulfill His purposes. Peter is not
saying that the Lord is timeless (which of course He
is) but that His relation to time must never be
confused with our relation to time. For example, a
24 hour day seems relatively short to us (depending
on what kind of "day" you are having!) while a
thousand years is a very long time. With the Lord a
24 hour day is no different than 1000 years and vice
versa. Whether it is a day or a thousand years as we
count time, both are really the same with the Lord.
Neither hampers nor helps Him."
"And
a thousand years are like a day." F.B.
Meyer observes, "Periods that seem so long to our
finite minds are not so to God. A thousand years in
our reckoning is but a day in His. You say it is
nearly two thousand years ago since Jesus died, or
at least that we are in the evening of the second
thousand. But in God’s reckoning, the Cross, the
Grave, the Resurrection, took place in the morning
of yesterday. Take wider views of God’s horizon;
believe in His mighty march throughout the
centuries; He takes up the isles as a very little
thing, and the centuries are the beats of the
minute-hand."
There are many perspectives in which we evaluate time, but the bottom line is that God has numbered our years, days, even our minutes here on earth and our lives are in His hands. Have you come to repentance?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we've often heard the phrase, "Redeem the
time" because our time here on earth is but a brief
moment in light of eternity. But as a believer I
will not leave this earth one hour before Your
appointed time, nor will I be detained beyond Your
time allotted to me. May I joyously and victoriously
live each day honoring You by that which I live for,
work for, and stand for. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
There are many perspectives in which we evaluate time, but the bottom line is that God has numbered our years, days, even our minutes here on earth and our lives are in His hands. Have you come to repentance?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we've often heard the phrase, "Redeem the
time" because our time here on earth is but a brief
moment in light of eternity. But as a believer I
will not leave this earth one hour before Your
appointed time, nor will I be detained beyond Your
time allotted to me. May I joyously and victoriously
live each day honoring You by that which I live for,
work for, and stand for. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.Personal
note: It seems like many observe that time
seems to go faster when you get older. I attribute
this to each time period being a smaller and smaller
percentage of your life. When I was 10 a year was
10% of my life, actually even more since you really
don't remember the first several years of your life.
Then at 50 each year is 2% and of course it
continues to be a smaller percentage as you age.
However
I muse about two other time perspectives:
1) I
have had dreams when many years in the dream take
place in a very short amount of sleep time.
2)
Recovering from surgery it seems like time goes by
brutally slow!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"My
Life is in Your Hands" Video Brooklyn
Tabernacle Choir
"Our
Lives Are In Your Hands" Video Chuck Girard
"Psalm
90" Video Shane and Shane
Some
more scenes from our drive through Lebanon
County on Tuesday.
We
liked this setting; the old farmhouse with the
extended front porch, the windmill and silos along
with the vegetable garden reminds us of a country
setting where our grandparents would welcome our
visit. This is likely an old-order Mennonite farm.
Click
to enlarge
Another
Lebanon County farmhouse. Notice the winding
stairway to the front porch.
Click
to enlarge
A
Lebanon County one room schoolhouse.
Click
to enlarge
Another
view. Note the basketball goal and imagine dribbling
the ball on the grass!
Click
to enlarge.
For
those who enjoy exploring geography on Google maps
these scenes are here.
Finally
today:
Ultimate
repurposing!
License
plate roof for
bird house in a work boot in Nickel Mines, Lancaster
County.
Send a message to
Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA