Increasing Faith

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Hi all,

Stories about men and women overcoming overwhelming odds, appeals to all of us. There is something about such stories we “identify” with. I suspect we do it because we somehow imagine ourselves doing exactly what the hero or heroine did.

At school I loved cricket. The best I ever achieved was to play in the 2^nd team. My enthusiasm exceeded my ability. But in my imagination, I was the hero who turned the tide and won the game for South Africa by scoring the runs needed for victory. It couldn’t happen in real life. I know this because a fast bowler – I think it was Pat Trimborn – visited the school in 1958 as part of a Marist Brothers College cricket week. In those days, he was a fast bowler; a very fast bowler. Well, very fast by schoolboy standards. He literally “skittled” us all out for something like 11 runs! Most of the runs came off the bowler from the other end. 

From what I remember I was top scorer with four runs. Facing up to Pat Trimborn, I stuck my bat out in the general direction of where I thought the ball was. The ball nicked of the top of my bat and flew above the outstretched hands of the wicket keeper and slip-fielders and raced to the boundary for 4 runs. It was a pure fluke. That was the sum-total of my achievement against the speed and ability of someone who would be a medium-fast bowler for South Africa.  Thinking back on the incident all those years ago, I’m reminded that my failure in real life in cricket, did nothing to quench my cricketing imagination. Modesty prevents me quoting what happened in my invisible world.

There is a sense in which imagination is similar to faith. Both must focus on something.  It’s impossible to have faith for something you can’t imagine. The writer to the Hebrews states, ¹ Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Heb 11:1 NLT

If you have faith for nothing, that’s exactly what you will receive – nothing. Now I’m not trying to persuade people to get into visualisation. It can be dangerous. But if you cannot visualise it in your own imagination, how will you know you have it? For example, I cannot visualise or imagine myself owning a Jumbo Jet. It follows I will never receive a Jumbo jet. 

Since faith is “the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen”, we can’t imagine it happening. How then can we ever be confident that it will actually occur? It’s not a possibility.

Some years ago, Phyllida and I asked the Lord for a replacement car. We were as specific as possible. Then, I printed out a picture of the car in colour on paper from our computer. We placed it in the bathroom in a place where we could see it. I wrote a poem describing the car. Then we began to thank the Lord for the car. A few months later, the car was ours. The car details matched the poem. Even the colour was correct. We could hardly believe it ourselves! Please don’t think we are bragging about what happened; we did nothing other than believe His Word. 

We can only thank our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ for providing for us the way he did. He can and will do the same for you. Allow your imagination to produce a picture of your need. Don’t ask for what you cannot imagine. Then, allow the Lord to produce what your imagination described. Thank Him for it in advance. Then, wait patiently for His answer.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Faith in God as Small as a Mustard Seed

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 18 June 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	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					©
	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	INCREASING FAITH
At school, I loved playing cricket. I suppose we all go through fantasies in which we play a starring role in a vital position. Like going in to bat for South Africa at number eleven and scoring a century. Just enough to bring victory for the team. Team is a bit of a misnomer. You’ve done it all on your own. But you rose to the big occasion and, in imagination, basked in the glory of your fictitious achievement. This was very much in line with the “Teddy Lester” series of books many of us enjoyed. In the book, Teddy Lester always managed to perform some heroic sporting action that others would look at with envy. I’d be very surprised if I was the only person who liked books of this type. All of us, boys and girls, go through such fantasies. For the boys it was a major sporting achievement. For the girls it seems to be marrying the Prince of Wherever. I daren’t say any more. I might get into trouble with the ladies who read this. Some of us may remember the comics of the day. “Wizard”, Hotspur” etc. The characters were fascinating. Anyone remember Desperate Dan and his “cow pie”? How about Billy Bunter? All fuel for the imagination of growing children. There comes a time when such fantasies leave us. Then we become painfully aware of our limitations. I wasn’t much of a cricketer. I loved the sport. But there was little chance of playing for the school’s first eleven, never mind South Africa. Limited talent often redirects us into something more appropriate. When puberty arrived, along came all the new fantasies and ambitions and, if I dare say so, achievements. Never mind playing cricket. It was not nearly as much fun as imagining spending a couple of hours alone with Marylyn Monroe or one of the other screen “goddesses”. For me, it never happened. Becoming a Christian changed all that. Not immediately. Some of it had to be worked through. Putting down the flesh is not easy for an eighteen year old. It also produced a number of different challenges. Believing that the Bible is the Word of God was the first one. Other issues emerged, each one requiring a different level of understanding. Things like integrity, honesty and holiness. I felt like an onion. Slowly but surely, God progressively stripped away the various layers of junk and bad thinking, in order to get down to the core. At times I wondered if there was anything in the middle of that onion that God could possibly use. Then He began to replace these layers with Christian fundamentals. His purpose was to build something from the debris of what remained. Put simply, he was busy producing in me the fruit of the Spirit. There’s still a long way to go. But He has time on His side and mine gets progressively shorter. I feel a little like the boy playing “chop sticks” on the great piano of life. It sounds rather discordant, but it’s the best I can do. Then the Maestro’s arms surround me and the discord of my music becomes an exquisite harmonic concerto! I’ve found this particularly useful in my understanding of faith. My faith in Him increases as His playing becomes more dominant. My part is to depend on Him. This, I feel, is the very essence of faith. It will never be what I can do. It will always be what His arms around me can achieve. This type of faith takes only a mustard seed in size and anything becomes possible. He casts mountains into the sea. With His arms around me it really becomes possible. The focus is never on me. It’s always on Him! Play on Maestro! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 NIV 8 Barak said to her, (Deborah) "If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go." Judges 4:8 ESV 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. Judges 4:23 ESV 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father's household and the people of the town.36 Then Gideon said to God, "If You are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as You promised, Judges 6:27 & 36 NLT 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew." 40 So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. Judges 6:39-40 NLT 8 I know what you have done. See, I have opened a door in front of you that no one can shut. You only have a little strength, but you have paid attention to my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8 GW 10 Who despised the day when little things began to happen? They will be delighted when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. (These seven eyes of the LORD roam over all the earth.)" Zechariah 4:10 GW 3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 ESV 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Show us how to increase our faith." Luke 17:5 NLT 5 I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. 6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. Hosea 14:5-6 NLT	The maestro sat in silence, ‘til the audience was still; And then he started playing with unquestionable skill. His repertoire enormous, with the ability, To play the grand piano with exquisite mastery. He was a virtuoso. No matter what he played, The music “danced” before him, like soldiers on parade. Scott Joplin and Rachmaninov, he played with equal ease; He’d play on the piano, direct from memory. With beautiful expression and superb dexterity. The audience were spell-bound. He played his very best; And then there came the interval and time for him to rest. The theatre was part empty when a little boy of six, Walked to the piano and played on it “chop sticks”. The theatre started filling up. The boy was unaware, That everyone was watching him still on the maestro’s chair. He wasn’t very talented, but still he did his best. To “tinkle out” his “chop sticks” with a little schoolboy’s zest. And even when the maestro, came back to take his seat, The little boy kept playing his little “chop sticks” beat. The maestro let him carry on, then walked right up behind. It really was quite obvious, the maestro didn’t mind. He smiled at him and suddenly his eyes were filled with joy. He put his arms around the little “chop sticks” playing boy. He whispered. “Keep on playing” then he picked up the tune. He improvised on “chop sticks” until very, very soon The music they were playing, took on a quality, That people who were listening, thought was Divinity. They both continued playing; the maestro and the boy, Until the entire audience were clapping in their joy! The moral of the story? Who was it that had played? The truth is that together, they both were on parade. The Maestro could play anything. The little boy’s “chop sticks” Came into a harmony that hit them all for six. Our faith in God is like that. We fumble for a tune; And then the arms of Jesus come round us so that soon, The faith that He has given us is hardly seen at all; For He has multiplied it and it stands out ten miles tall! So let’s take our ability and all we cannot do, And give it to the Master, just as He’s told us to. Perhaps our faith is wavering, but when we’re in His arms, He whispers “keep on playing; there’s no need for alarm. If you let me harmonise, the tune which we will play. Will multiply your faith in a most supernatural way. It isn’t “Faith” you’re needing, It’s more and more of Me. Then you will cast that mountain into the deep blue sea.” Jim Strickland Written 18th June 2012