GOD IS ABLE

Time with Jesus - Friday, 08 March 2013

Jim & Phyllida Strickland on holiday in Switzerland

Hi all,

From a very young age we are taught that God is able to do anything. This is perfectly true. There is nothing He is unable to do. That’s when people say to me that God cannot lie. So, am I saying God can be a liar? No I’m not. What we need to come to grips with is why He cannot lie. It’s not that He is incapable of doing so. If He could not do something, He could not be God. So why can’t He lie? It’s because of the type of God He has chosen to be. He has decided to be completely and consistently truthful. It’s the very “nature” He has chosen to wear. He cannot lie because He has decided that He never will lie. Indeed, for Him to tell a lie would be contrary His nature. For you and I this means He is the God who cannot lie.

Perhaps the easiest way to get to grips with this is to look for a moment at His forgiveness. First we need to realise that God can do anything. However, because He is God with a 100% perfect memory, it is not possible for Him to forget. In other words, God never forgets anything. But what God also has, is perfect control over His memory. He has the ability to choose not to remember something! Therefore, God does not forget my sins. He chooses not to remember them. For you and I, it amounts to the same thing. Thus, when He looks at us in His Son Jesus, He is not looking at sin, but at the perfection of Jesus. Jesus has paid the price for our sin. It follows that He will not remember our sin. It’s His choice not to do so.! Thank God for this. He is not an absent-minded miserable old codger! He is the God who knows everything, past, present and future with a clarity that would blow us away. But then, He is God!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Friday, 08 March 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	God is Able
Today’s Scriptures focus on God’s ability. We find the word “able” in every one of the Evening Scriptures listed in Daily Light. One of my favourite Scriptures concerning this is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Eph 3:20-21 NLT There are times when we “run out” of superlatives. This Scripture points this out vividly. No matter what we can think or imagine, God is able to achieve infinitely more. We can think of the universe. We know that the universe is not infinite, because only God is infinite. This is a good illustration of the meaning of what is meant here. We can’t comprehend the size of our universe. Even if we could, the reality would be even greater than our imagination. Another example is our concept of the resurrection and resurrection life. At present all we see is the seed; the “bulb” planted in the ground when you and I die. What will the plant look like when it is in full bloom? We can’t think or imagine its splendour. The prophet Isaiah struggled with describing the indescribable! 1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. The bottom of his robe filled the temple. 2 Angels were standing above him. Each had six wings: With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They called to each other and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory." 4 Their voices shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4 GW Ezekiel had a similar problem. Reading Ezekiel Chapter 1, we are quickly aware that the prophet was attempting to describe the indescribable. Artists have tried to portray this on canvas. Their attempts are fascinating and beautiful.  The reality of what Ezekiel saw exceeded anything he could think or imagine. It’s impossible for us to get to grips with this. So when we speak of God’s ability, we are looking at the shallows around the coastline of the ocean which represents God. We cannot think or imagine such an ocean. But even if we could, His reality would be an infinite number of such oceans! What do we do with all this? It’s difficult to comment seriously. Paul has said if we go to the very limits of our imagination, we still will not have grasped the fullness of His promises to those who love Him. Wow! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			11 And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. 12 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 Tim 1:11-12 NLT 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph. 3:20 NLT 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8 ESV 18 He himself suffered when he was tempted. Now he is able to help others who are being tempted. Heb. 2:18 NIrV 25 Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. Heb. 7:25 NLT 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, Jude 1:24 ESV 12 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 Tim 1:12 NLT 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Philip 3:20-21 NASB 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." Mat 9:28-29 ESV	What are the things God is able to do? Able to speak and to make it come true. Able to love through the fullness of time. Able to deal with the wickedest crime! Able to fashion whatever He thinks. Able to live with no water to drink. Able to send us to Heaven or Hell. Able to break any potion or spell. Able to live where His people cannot Able to visit the sun when it’s hot. Able to save and He’s able to guard. Able to do what’s impossibly hard. Able to do things miraculously. Able to go where nobody can see. Able to strengthen and tell us “Be brave”! Able His people to perfectly save. Able to love and is able to free. Able to know what is lacking in me. Able to separate people from sin. Able to triumph and always to win. Able to cause all His grace to abound. Able to find that which cannot be found. Able to save those who are longing to live Able to listen and then to forgive. Able to help when we’re tempted by sin. Able to conquer and always to win. Able to save us from stumbling round Able to hear in the absence of sound. Able to know what tomorrow will bring. Able to hide His folk under His wing. Able to laugh and is able to cry Able to see to it, we’ll never die. Able to heal someone who was born blind. Able to bless and to always be kind. Able to raise people up from the dead. Able to give us the heavenly bread. Able to come here and be crucified. Able to live when we know that He died. Jim Strickland Written 8th March 2012