THE THINGS HE DOES

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 03 July 2013

Hi all,

Attached herewith, please find a copy of my latest Daily Light Meditation in rhyme and metre.

The book of the Prophet Isaiah has sometimes been called, “The Gospel According to Isaiah”. This is mainly because it speaks to us about the life and times of Jesus, in a way that corresponds well with the Four Gospels in the New Testament. Indeed, some have stated that Isaiah 40 to 66, contains the entire New Testament in a nutshell. I can’t comment on this meaningfully. I don’t know the details sufficiently. But we have probably all noticed portions of the New Testament “flashing” through in Isaiah’s prophecy. However, a cursory glance through Isaiah 66 and the book of Revelation gives you the feeling that both refer to the same thing.

Isaiah's Vision of
the Birth of Jesus

How can this be? Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But from the point of view of divinity, it’s routine. This is because God knows everything. Furthermore, He has always known everything. He knew it before He commenced with creation. It’s a bit scary to think about. God already knows the names and dates of birth and death of generations yet to come. How He does this, we will never know. But we do have an inkling of what is at the very root of this ability. It is the difference between time and the “everlasting now”.

To get a better grip on this we need to know that God does not live in time. In fact, time lives in God. In His dimension time does not exist. He dwells in the eternal “now”. He doesn’t get older. He is as He has always been and always will be. No yesterdays and no tomorrows. For Him it is always “now”. It follows that asking Him, “How long is eternity?” is meaningless. In His dimension there is no time. There is only timelessness. Furthermore, since time is in Him, He is unchanged and present at each and every moment in time, past, present and future.

Now you and I can follow this logic. But to say we understand it is another matter. Such thoughts are quite beyond us. We think in terms of days, weeks, months and years. His thoughts are “now”. The difference between these ways of thinking is astronomical. They are as far “as the heavens are higher than the earth”.

"I Don't Think Like You

Isaiah expressed this as follows: ⁸ "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. ⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isa 55:8-9 NLT

As we dwell on this, we begin to realise, we are what we are, because of the guiding hand of an all wise and all-knowing God. How He thinks and acts, is utterly foreign to us. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

If this scares you a little, I’ve achieved my objective. We need to feel a little scared of such a Divine Being. Yes, He is our father. But He is also Almighty God. We should never forget this “astronomical difference”.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 03 July 2013				Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES		THE THINGS HE DOES
God has told us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. I’ve scratched my head when I’ve read this and asked how this can be? The first answer was associated with thinking. We have no idea what this means. The purpose of our thoughts is usually to reach a conclusion or make a decision. We assemble all the known related facts. Then we go over them, putting them in some sort of order, so that we can make a decision concerning our priorities. At times, our thoughts are just for “fun”. We recall memories, so that we can “relive” them. We think of things that happened in our past and try to learn from them. However, we are told that God does not work like that. The reason for this is that He has all knowledge. He knows! Not in the way we do. I don’t have to think if someone asks me, “What’s one plus one”? My answer is instinctive. It’s not necessary to ponder before answering. I know the answer. I learned it from a very early age. Probably before I went to school. In a way, that’s what God is like with everything. He doesn’t have to think. He already knows. In fact He has always known. It follows that He can never be taken by surprise. He doesn’t need Sky News, CNN or SABC to keep up to date. He knew it before it happened. But this relates to His infinite knowledge. His mind, unlike a computer, doesn’t have to go through millions of iterations to come up with an answer. The answer is already there. Many years ago I read a book of short science fiction stories by Dr Isaac Asimov. He was studying for his PhD at the time. I can’t remember his field. But while he was experimenting in his laboratory he came across a compound that instantly dissolved in water. It happened so fast he could hardly believe it. Suddenly, his Si-Fi mind thought, if this could dissolve any quicker; it would dissolve before water was added. For us, such a thought is ridiculous. It’s impossible. But if there is an answer, God would know it. God is not into Si-Fi. But He does have the answer to impossible questions. How He does it and what these thoughts are, are unknown. It’s a different paradigm. I doubt if anyone knows. What little we can see is demonstrated in the words and behaviour of Jesus. His thinking is “outside the box”! “I am the vine, you are the branches”, illustrates this. How does God inform men of the importance of their different “functions”, that so aptly describes them? These words describe it perfectly. Without the vine, the branches are dead. How did He know whom to choose? Through His Father’s eyes? Jim & Phyllida Strickland			28 God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. He chose what is not considered to be important to do away with what is considered to be important. 1 Corinthians 1:28 NIrV	1	He chose that which was common and “clever” men despised. He planned to show, That all might know,        1 What’s wisdom in His eyes. For that which is exalted by men can never be, Considered right, In Father’s sight, It’s only junk to Thee. The people were astonished and asked how can this be? There is no way, The things they say,           2 Were learned in Galilee! They were not educated and are just fishermen. They are so “filled”, With Him we killed! Has He come back again? Simon and his brother were busy on their boat, Upon the Sea, Of Galilee.                           3 Two fishermen of note. Then, as the Lord was walking, He called to both of them. “Come follow me, And you will see, The way to fish for men!” John and Simon Peter looked confident and sure. They were not trained, But they had gained,      4 A knowledge that was pure. They were not educated, but understood God’s Word. They understood, What’s right and good. It’s Jesus they had heard!		My message and my teaching were always very plain. It had to be, Simplicity.                            5 Or all would be in vain. It wouldn’t take great genius, for you to understand! What God desired, Was God inspired. As He had always planned! You didn’t do the choosing. It was all done by Me. If you’re astute, You’ll bear the fruit,                  6 My Father wants to see. That’s why you’ve been appointed. So ask Him in My name. He’ll surely do, What’s asked by you, For His eternal fame. My friends, you are the branches and truly I’m the vine. So dwell in Me, Then you will be,                  7 The special friends of mine. But if you cease to follow and do the things I say, You won’t prevail. The crop will fail; And perish far away. This light is shining brightly. It’s coming from our heart. We’re jars of clay. And there’s no way,                  8 These vessels can impart, A treasure to our listeners. The Lord God gives the power. To set us free, Eternally, He is our strong high tower!
			7 They were completely amazed. "How can this be?" they exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee, Acts 2:7 NLT	2
			18 As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen. 19 Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me! I will teach you how to catch people instead of fish." Matthew 4:18-19 GW	3
			13 They couldn't take their eyes off them--Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, Acts 4:13 MSG	4
			4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:4 NLT	5
			16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16 ESV	6
			5 "I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can't produce anything without me. John 15:5 GW	7
			7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT	8