EQUIPPED FOR BATTLE

Time with Jesus - 27 July 2013

Hi all,

For all of us, going to school introduced us to new things every day. Very often, what we learned on one day was the foundation for the next. 

The Alphabet

How many of us remember learning the alphabet? It wasn’t too difficult. Usually the teacher had something to illustrate what he/she was saying. e.g. A is for apple. This was shown; with it was a picture of a big rosy apple. So it would go on through the alphabet. In one school I attended, we learned an alphabet song using each successive letter. Back then the biggest problem we found was that the last letter in the song “Z” was pronounced “zee” and not “zed”. At first we thought it was just an Americanism. Thus it came as no surprise to find that for the song to “work”, the last letter of each line had to rhyme. “G, P, T Z”.

Mathematics was one of my favourite subjects. I loved its precision. There was nothing “hitty-missy” about it. Or so I thought until we began trigonometry. Sines and cosines were fairly easy to come to grips with. Then we were introduced to tangents and co-tangents. That’s when we came across “infinity”. That really rattled my cage. What was the number? Well, it wasn’t really a number. It was infinity. You couldn’t add to it or take away from it. Not if it was infinite. 

The Symbol for Infinity

I recall wondering how big it was. The answer of course is infinite. My cage was rattled a bit more when I learned that although the universe appears to have no boundaries, it isn’t infinite. If it can get bigger, it can’t be infinite. Even now I find it difficult to imagine the universe having limits. It’s so big!

Many years later, I came across the writings of Dr A W Tozer. He lived in the first half of the 20^th century and died in 1963. He is one of the most brilliant Christian authors I’ve come across. He’s what I would call a Mathematical Theologian if you follow me. He had an ability to accurately describe Christianity and the “Character” of God with exquisite beauty and exactness, that even today leaves me breathless. 

For me, his Opus Magnum is “The Knowledge of the Holy” Read it and see what I mean about Mathematical Theology. He wrote, in one of his many books, “The universe is not infinite, only God is infinite”. When I read it I was “gobsmacked”. It showed an understanding of infinity that I hadn’t seen before.

What has this to do with today’s Scriptures? To get a feel for this let’s take a look at Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus is on record of telling His disciples, ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Jesus Love and Power
are Infinite

Look at the words carefully. In 28:18 Jesus has all authority. Not because of His Godhood. He already had that. He was referring to His humanity. His humanity had been given all power. 28:19 make disciples of all nations. Then He tells us 28:20, I am with you always. That’s 3 “all’s in 3 verses. A brief paraphrase is, “He has been given Infinite power. Make disciples of all (Infinite) nations. He is with us (to infinity) always. Expressed in “Jim-speak”, “Jesus’ infinite power is delegated to us to make an infinite number of disciples from an infinite number of nations. He will be with us infinitely!”

It seems to me; hardly any of us take Jesus seriously. I wonder why?

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Worlds May Come or Go Away
Jesus Christ is Here to Stay

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 27 July 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	EQUIPPED FOR BATTLE
When I use the word, “all”, what is it I mean? Usually it means a definite amount. If I pick up the salt shaker and nothing comes out, I’m inclined to say’ “It’s all gone”. What I mean is the salt shaker is empty. There’s still plenty of salt somewhere. It just isn’t where I need it. Sure it’s all gone, but there is still lots more out there. Perhaps I should have said, “the salt shaker’s empty”. It would have been a lot more accurate! There is however, a huge difference between what I say and what Jesus says. My “all” is not inclusive. His “all” includes everything. So when He says “all power” or “all authority” He, means the lot. To use an Americanism, “There aint no more nowhere!” This means exactly what it says. Now if He has all the power, how much do you think is left over for others? The correct answer is, “None!” Matthew’s gospel put it as follows: 18 When Jesus came near, he spoke to them. He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Matthew 28:18 GW Now I’m not a Greek scholar. But I do have access to “Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary” along with his famous numbering system. So I am in a position to “cheat” a little and impress you with the knowledge available. Now according to him, the word translated “power” in the KJV and ‘”authority” in all the other translations, is the Greek word “exousia”.  It means privilege, which is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength. In plain “Jim-speak” it means that there is no authority or power that He (Jesus Christ) hasn’t got. Now we are His ambassadors; His representatives. Which means His power or authority has been delegated to us! The enemy doesn’t really have anything other than what we allow! Notice also that your strength or my strength is not the issue. But we don’t have to let Satan and Co, bully us. When I was little, I used to tell the other boys that if they touched me, they would have to settle with my big brother. It seemed to work, no matter the size of the bully. But in this case, we really do have a big brother. He is unbeatable! No matter how weak you and I are, He is more than merely useful protection. Many years ago I remember attending a Charismatic service. The speaker was talking about Jesus and His delegated authority. Talking from the first Epistle of Peter he quoted: 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8 NLT His comment was that the devil looked like a lion but it’s all show. He’s a “mouse with a megaphone”. The speaker’s theology may not be entirely correct. But I do like the idea. He can yell, shout and try and intimidate as much as he wants. If he can deceive us into thinking he is in charge, he will do so. He can’t. His only real weapon now is deception. Subsequently I heard someone say that Satan was trying to intimidate him while he was asleep. He awoke and took one look and said, “Oh, it’s you!” Then he turned over and went back to sleep. Satan’s had His day. Jesus thrashed him on Mt Calvary. So relax and let Jesus win again! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. Psalms 18:39 ESV 10 Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size--abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 2 Corinthians 12:10 MSG 11 Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but You can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You alone. It is in Your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, You are our God; do not let mere men prevail against You!" 2 Chronicles 14:11 NLT 31 The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, "That's the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. And the LORD helped him. God drew the commanders away from him. 2 Chronicles 18:31 NIrV 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. Psalms 118:8-9 NIV 16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Psalms 33:16-17 ESV 12 This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. 13 For this reason, take up all the armour that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground. Ephesians 6:12-13 GW	Some things are surely upside down from all we’ve seen and known. The strongest man in all the world, is reaping what was sown. He spent his days in training, with exercise and weights; And now, his bulging biceps, are adequate to state, That here is the ability to pick up sacks of lead. And pile them all together like loaves of fresh baked bread. His strength is in his muscles. That’s where he stores his power. But if he quits his exercise his muscles will turn sour. Slowly they’ll degenerate and will all turn to fat. He’ll wonder if he really knows who he is looking at. The moral of this story is, “All things in moderation” If you truly want to be a muscular sensation, Understand that for all time you’ll have to be committed, Until there comes a day when in a pine box you’ll be fitted! But there is a much better way. A way I recommend. There’s someone so much better, on Whom Christians can depend. It is the power of Jesus, the one who made it all. The great and mighty cosmos, to electrons very small. We’re told He has all power, which means omnipotent! So when He uses power, it means He isn’t spent. It still is all available, for it is infinite. It truly would be foolish to face Him in a fight! You’ll never beat the Master. It’s safer not to try. ‘And if you ever do it, you’ll quickly wonder why? So how can people ever get the Master on their side? Let Him be your husband and you can be His bride. Even if your gender suggests that it is wrong, Don’t give it a second thought, if to Him you belong. Here’s the very reason why I’ve told this all to you If He is your husband, then you can see Him do, Things which were impossible for you to do alone. But if He is your Husband, you are not on your own! He’s always there beside you, to take on every foe. If you wear His armour, the enemy will know, That though you look so puny, so fragile and so weak, That if they come against you, you only have to speak, And they will be confronted by the strongest One of all. And when you’re at your weakest, you only have to call! Then He will join the battle. It isn’t worth their while. So when you’re at your weakest, just look at them and smile. Call out “Hallelujah!” They’ll know just what you mean, And they will quickly turn around and gallop from the scene. Jehoshaphat and Asa both proved it long ago. And now it’s time for you and me to understand and know, That even if a war horse has Satan on its back. He’ll think it’s not the season, to launch a new attack. The battle’s done and over. Once more the Lord has won! And He will turn and look at you, then smile and say, “Well done!” Jim Strickland Written 27th July 2012