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 2nd 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
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| Faith in God as Small as a Mustard Seed |
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 18 June 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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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
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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INCREASING
FAITH
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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
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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
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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
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