Walking With A Limp - T10

Testimony 10 - Walking Without A Limp

Today, 27th February 2019, I gave this testimony at "Perth Prayer", a lovely city-wide-church meeting which happens Wednesday lunchtimes at Wesley Church (which could not be nearer to the centre of Perth City, capital of Western Australia). I was asked to testify because the previous week I received a beautiful miracle at that meeting. Jesus is alive and blessing the world .. They gave me 20 minutes to share so this post is quite long ..

The last part of this post is all new, and to me, very exciting. Other parts are also new and there are parts which have been previously published in earlier posts. We had a rich and sweet meeting, and I trust that you will be blessed by reading this, bless you, John.

Early Years

When I was little we didn't go to church much. Then when I was 10 my dad took me along to Sea Scouts which were part of our local Anglican church. Scouts was great, and I learned about nationhood, honour and loyalty, and to sail and row boats, to build boats and fabricate their rigging, and to camp and cook and trek in the mountains.

Twice a month we scouts attended "church parades" where we would help old people to their seats and carry the flags and sing really loud when the songs had some zing; I remember "Onward Christian Soldiers" very well. I did not become a believer.

By the time I finished high school I was offended by the Church, I did not see Jesus or godliness there, instead I saw disinterest and hypocrisy. So I stopped having anything to do with church people. I had learned some Christian doctrine and many songs. Church was very much a part of society in those days, so avoiding it was a big step.

Years later, Jesus had to soften me up before I would be open to His approach.

So He gave Trish and me to each other.

I love to tell how Trish and I met in New York when I was there as a tourist. I saved Greenwich Village until Saturday night and was in my first bar enjoying live jazz music when this really beautiful young lady came through the door; my heart leapt! She was with this handsome young man who made a bee line for the loo. She came and stood near me and we began to talk. I was delighted to learn that the young man was her brother! That is how I met my bride to be; I fell in love across a room!

How impossibly unlikely that meeting was, and how un-alike we are, we are like chalk and cheese, yet we have six gorgeous grown children, daughters-in-law and grandkids; there are now sixteen of us in our immediate family! In July we'll have been married 39 years. What a very long and lovely conversation Trish and I are enjoying. Why should I be given such a glorious gift? Why such favour towards me? It is the mighty outpouring of God's grace like this which shows us how minutely He cares for us and how much He loves us.

First Light

Trish was a church-goer and went to Mass in Hoboken every Sunday evening. An amazing priest would give the sermons; he was on loan from the local diocese to the office of the Governor of New Jersey. As he spoke he would reflect Jesus' light on all the events and happenings in New Jersey and even the USA and the world. I saw Jesus in a new way - in today's world. I believe this was a very important step in my coming to Jesus.

In 1980 Trish and I were married, also in New Jersey. Looking back we see the grace of God. The church we were married in is in the classic movie, "On The Waterfront" with Marlon Brando. It is an Episcopalian (Anglican) congregation and our priest had been Catholic but fell in love and married so had to leave his priesthood. We were married by a Christian who had been Catholic and was now Anglican, and who loved Jesus and loved marriage! Neither Trish nor I were Christian but Jesus showed His love for us. We look back and are in awe of what Jesus does for His people!

Soon after we came to Western Australia where I had an apartment by the sea.

The beginning of our marriage was rocky for Trish and, after some time, a group of ladies from church took her to a prayer meeting .. it was there that she met Jesus and her life was changed. She "knew" that she had "come home". I became interested and went to many meetings with Trish and these other, very excited, Christians.

Salvation

It was some time later when we were expecting our third baby, we attended an Anglican charismatic conference in Manjimup, in the southwest of Western Australia, that I finally gave in to Jesus. 

The keynote speaker was Father Terry Fulham, then the parish pastor at St Paul's, Darien, Connecticut, USA, and previously a university professor. Terry talked about John Baptist, announcing that Jesus would come and baptise His people with the Holy Spirit, and what this means in the light of the Book of Acts, the Gospels, the New Covenant and the whole Word of God. He was talking about the charismatic element in Christian life and in the life of the Church.

By now Trish had been an enthusiastic Christian for three years, but I was not. In truth I was "sitting on the fence", with one foot either side. We, and the people we fellowshipped with, were familiar with "life in the Spirit" that was why we were at this conference.

Pastor Terry's teaching was very compelling, it had a certain academic and scriptural rigor, I saw things more clearly than I had previously. On the Saturday night, as we drove to our friend's house where we were staying, I told Trish that for my birthday I wanted one of the new NIV Bibles. She immediately asked "so you are ready to give your heart to Jesus then?" "No" I replied, "not yet", I knew that I would have to bow my knee to Jesus when I became Christian, and I didn't think I was able to do that. "Maybe next year".

Next morning we did Sunday Church at the conference. At one point Pastor Terry asked if there were any present who wanted to give their heart to Jesus that day, who wanted to become Christian right then and there.

I had thought this through the previous night so stood quietly, a bystander, with my hands clasped behind me.

Soon, very clearly, I felt strong fingers encircle my right wrist and tug me backwards. "Very funny", I thought. Trish had gone out to check that our kids were OK; no doubt this was her having fun with me as she returned to her seat.

Imagine my surprise when I turned and nobody was there. No Trish. No-one was near enough to have reached out to touch me.

Who held my wrist? Who tugged my arm? In my innermost self I knew that it was Jesus. "Come now", He seemed to be saying, "don't wait till next year, I want you now".

Straight away I went to the front, I did whatever was asked of me, probably I prayed the "sinner's prayer", it was all just "extra"; I already had said "yes", I already knew that I belonged to Jesus, I was in a cloud of love. I was almost forty-three years old.

I have never for a minute doubted that Jesus actually came and took hold of my arm, and drew me to Himself. No matter how tough things have gotten over the years: how my life seemed to be inconsequential, how I was unemployed for long periods, how spiritually I was stuck for years and years, how I seemed not to be growing in Christ, not going anywhere .. Never for a moment have I doubted!

Three Strands

Trish and I had serious trouble with our marriage for a time. My memory is that neither of us moved out from home  because we both wanted to keep the children. Truth be told, I was more scared of God, who had given me Trish, than I was of Trish herself. Then after much prayer we decided to link up with Jesus into a three strand cord. He has kept us together, bonding us ever stronger and closer.

(Ecclesiastes 4:12) "Though one person may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. But a cord of three strands is not easily broken".

Now, more than thirty years later, I see Jesus' plans for me, for Trish, our marriage, our family, and His Kingdom, all working out. There was never no progress. But it was always His progress. It is His plan, He equips and makes ready in His own time. Patience and perseverance are fruits of Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We do not grow and become patient by living only in gratification. "God is love"(1 John 4:16), "Jesus is Lord"(Romans 10:9).

Jesus has been going before Trish and me, all these years, pouring out His grace upon us and our marriage and our family. He has our backs. He is at our shoulder.

Paul again: (2 Corinthians 12:9) ".. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness ..".

I think I understand something of how there is so much trouble and pain in the world: many people do not want to acknowledge that the spiritual world is real, that God is, and that He is in charge, Lord of all. They prefer to think of themselves as ruling their own destiny and providing their own wealth and wellbeing and that their ideas are the best for everybody. But their ideas come from the world ..

(Ephesians 2:1-2)  ".. you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air".

www.PsalmsOfJohn.com

Some years ago Jesus began to ask me to "write this down" when I was pondering something from the Scriptures or from the world. So I did. As a kid I had wanted to be a writer and this desire never left me; a few failed attempts made it clear that I was unlikely ever to be a published author!

I thought that Jesus and I were preparing for us to write a book together and became very excited. Well, you can imagine!

But soon enough Jesus told me to start www.PsalmsOfJohn.com and publish the pieces that we had written together. I knew that no-one would want to read me .. but the idea of having Jesus as my ideas man, my mentor, my editor, and my only reader was explosive, it gave my life new meaning. I was very excited.

Now, 9 years later, Jesus and I have published 113 articles, and His thoughts are being read all over the world, in my WWW statistics Russia comes up, and the USA, and France, China, Australia, Britain, The Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, and countries I don't recognise.

If Jesus and I had written a best-selling book I'm sure I would have been ruined with pride, but with PsalmOfJohn I am anonymous, most people I know only say something briefly then let it drop. What a blessing. Thank you Jesus for the work and the great satisfaction, it’s the most satisfying work I’ve ever done, and thank you for the anonymity.

Charismatic

Trish and I found Christian life and faith in the Charismatic Renewal, our early experiences were mostly at prayer meetings and healing meetings. We knew to expect to pray and that prayer introduces God's power on the Earth. I have seen and experienced wonderful things which have helped people and that science cannot explain.

Miracles

A miracle is something which occurs outside of what science can explain, in other words, it's a supernatural event, a spiritual event. This is God's realm. I have experienced many miracles and witnessed hundreds, possibly thousands more. 

Trish and I were once at a city wide Christian meeting where a man had a heart attack. A doctor was there and immediately did what he could; after a time he announced that the man's heart had stopped and he was now dead. This was shocking to us who were gathered to worship Jesus. We all prayed, together as one; the heart began to beat again. Soon the person was able to be taken to hospital by the ambulance which had arrived. The doctor said the man had a good prognosis, (a good chance of full recovery). Praise Jesus who tells us: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8); this was that teaching realised, in our city, in our time and witnessed by hundreds. 

Praise Jesus.

My Healings

All my serious health problems have been healed. Sure, I can't do everything that I could when I was 40, I am slowed down and a bit limited. But I am not unwell .. 

My skin is damaged, and I have a tummy! I cannot run. Neither my balance nor my memory are what they were .. but I can remember the people I love and can still do hugs and kisses. 

I love to cook. And I can still share Jesus.

And

•  I no longer have a heart problem, (Atrial Fibrillation), I've been healed after 25 years.

•  I am healed of four melanoma cancers. When Doctors read my history for the first time, they pause, look at me, and laugh, "Four melanomas" they say, they laugh again and continue to read. Melanomas are very dangerous cancers because parts of the tumour can flake off and travel through your blood-stream to your heart or brain or kidney or breast or eye, or anywhere and everywhere. I am a miracle and believe that I'll never have a 5th melanoma!

Treatment for my last melanoma was tough. The surgeons took out all the cancerous tissue from my temple and then 34 lymph nodes from my upper body. There are scars under my chin which look like zips and I now have a lop-sided smile. Also, my thermostat and sweat system are very damaged.

•  My cancer oncologist put me on Interferon (which is like chemo-therapy); I injected myself every day for almost a year; it was a painful treatment and I became very run down; this tipped me over from being pre-diabetic into full-on type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a filthy disease; your body rots out from the inside .. your eyes begin to fail, and your circulation deteriorates, feeling goes from your legs and feet, from all your extremities, and ultimately you may need amputations! Many doctors say that diabetes is incurable, effectively a life sentence. To be diagnosed is very scary!

But I no longer have diabetes, I have been healed.

•  Jesus healed me from smoking after I tried to quit many, many times, a miracle healing! I have COPD in my lungs from years of heavy smoking, but my respiratory doctor no longer needs to see me, I'm in steady-state and not at risk.

•  My eyes are old but my ophthalmologist also kicked me out of his clinic, he said my eyes had improved (I was about 70 then), and I no longer needed his skills!

I am now 76 years old, nearly 77. Most people my age are deteriorating noticeably, but I can report that I am healthier today than I was at 66, 10 years ago. Thank you Jesus.

Feet and Knees  - Walking With A Limp

I was born with unusual feet, my family said I had "Grandma's feet". Grandma was my Dad's mother. By the time I was 45 I could no longer fit into footwear from the shops. For about 30 years I have seen orthopedic surgeons who have done wonders with what would have been rapidly declining mobility. The first surgeon said "It's a good thing you're here, otherwise you could be in a wheelchair by age 60". I wear custom made orthotic boots, shoes, and sandals and can still be a house-husband and family handyman, I can walk, climb ladders and hike in the bush. Praise Jesus for the lovely, caring medical people He has given me.

Along the way my "basketball knees" became troublesome; x-rays showed them to be arthritic with torn cartilages "like an old worn blanket". At one time I believed that Jesus healed the left knee (which was much worse than the right); my symptoms went away and my walk was easier. More recent x-rays show that the damage was still there; I now believe that Jesus simply made everything work better so that I could get around.

Recently

Last Christmas Trish and I went camping down South for 2 weeks. Most days we would go on a bush walk, which we just love to do, and my left knee suffered, there was constant swelling and pain in the knee, and my limp, which I had had for years, was more pronounced.

A New Miracle - The Reason I Was There Today

Last Wednesday Jesus gave me a new miracle .. It happened here at Wesley Church, in the very centre of Perth city ..

A fellow named Fred gave his exciting Christian testimony. I felt strongly to ask him to pray for my mobility. I was in shorts and able to show him my swollen knee.

Fred asked me to sit, he picked up my feet so that my legs were parallel to the floor; he noticed that my left leg was shorter than the right, by about a centimetre, I think. While continuing to hold my legs he prayed. After a short time I saw looks of amazement on people's faces and Fred announced, with great excitement, that my two legs were now of equal length.

He asked me, "Do you still have pain? How will we know if you are healed?" I replied that there was still mild pain in my knee and added "I walk with a limp". I then stood and walked, not limping, towards the font at the entry to the sanctuary .. and walked back .. I am told that I was grinning from ear to ear .. There was much laughter. We all gave a spontaneous clap offering to our lovely Jesus. It was a miracle. My mobility is assured for another season!

Later, walking to my train I noticed that muscles were working differently, they were having to get used to the new configuration of my leg!

The disciple John wrote: "This is the Bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate, and yet died; he who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever" (John 6:58 AMP).

Grace and Kindness

There are countless testimonies of God's love and grace and kindness today.

Our testimonies and our stories are the evidence of God's promises being worked out.

We can say "this is that of which the Bible promises", or, "this is that which Joe talked about at the house meeting last week". 

It's everywhere amongst God's people and it never stops .. 

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

Praise Jesus

Amen

Permalink

https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2019/02/walking-with-limp-t11.html

Bless our lovely Lord Jesus.

Passion Gifting and Power

One Day I Will Ask You

A few months ago I had a clear word from Jesus as my first conscious thought of the day, (this kind of thing happens to Christians, it's good to be ready for it and take note or it can just dissolve away like smoke, as a dream does).

Jesus said, very softly: "one day I will ask you, what did you do with all the passion, gifting and power that I gave you?"

Since then this future requirement from Jesus has been weighing on me and I've been looking for "passion", "gifts" and "power", in my Bible and in my life. These qualities are everywhere in the New Testament, under the New Covenant. I realise that most of my time is spent on the things of the world rather than the things of Heaven, so my balance is not yet fully right. 

There is a lovely song: ".. and the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace" (Philippians 3:8; Hebrews 12:2) (Helen Lemmel 1863-1961) . 

The parable of the sower includes the warning "but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).

So in the time I have left on this Earth I am trying to lift my game. This kind of desire is a place where Jesus and Holy Spirit together are always ready to help. I've heard so many testimonies where the person earnestly sought after Jesus, and He invariably made Himself available by His Spirit (Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 5:6).

Where am I now? I am praying more and have been this whole year. Even as the world seems to be going downhill, Jesus' call to prayer is increasing, not just in me, but in many others I see in meetings and in day-to-day life. This is a common theme amongst God's people; whoever I read, and from whatever century or season in history, there are those who feel to pray more. Even in His own day, Jesus said ".. This is an evil generation .." (Luke 11:29, Ephesians 6:12), these days seem to be no different. Today there are many who are calling evil good and calling good evil (Isaiah 5:21). This is so contrary to God who made everything "very good" (Genesis 1:31), and who loves truth (John 14:6) and light (John 1:4).

Some years ago I bought E. M. Bounds' "Complete Works on Prayer", for my wife, Trish, and now feel called to read it again, (see Note 1). It's a big book, (eight books in one volume), and I'm cherry-picking subjects and chapters. It is a delight. Bounds places great importance on Jesus' words to me: "passion", "gifts", and "power", and many more strong words besides: faith, trust, desire, fervency, character, obedience, humility, devotion, trouble, mission, promises, miracles, providence, sacredness, purpose, unction (anointing), deliberation (pondering) .. and includes a great many stories of prayer heroes from both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible. Very encouraging. 

Time and again Bounds reminds us that prayer is God's idea. It is an essential inclusion in His design for humankind and for each of our unique relationships with our Abba Father; our Saviour and Lord, Jesus; and our Counsellor and Comforter, Holy Spirit. Essential!

As I spend time in my Bibles, (Trish and I are blessed to have many different Bible translations, see Note 2), I am every day reminded that part of Jesus plan in rescuing us from the world is that He will ultimately sanctify us: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). 

This means that He will lead and guide and help us to leave our sin behind .. He will clean us up and develop our ministry in the world "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature person-hood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:13-14). 

This is very good news; it means that, more and more, we are able to live lighter, yet with great purpose (2 Timothy 1:9), and live free (Galatians 5:1). Over the past months I have grown in my determination to participate more in Jesus' work, to be more aware, to try harder!

Prayer works. Trish and I both got to know Jesus and who He is through prayer meetings and getting to know born-again Christians on a personal level. God makes prayer possible by equipping us, then He asks us to pray. Trish and I set aside time to pray together and I love to take part in prayer groups. Another application of passion, gifts and power.

Surveys of hospital patients show that those who pray, or are prayed for, show fewer deaths and markedly better and faster recoveries from operations, procedures and treatments than do those who receive no prayer; this was in the same hospitals with the same doctors and nurses and the same operations, procedures and treatments performed for the same symptoms. The only things different were the prayers. Prayer works.

It is no wonder then that 82% of all the people in the world believe that the spiritual world is real and influential, even powerful. That is more than four out of every five people. This number comes from a Pew study, Pew are a very well established and trusted survey company.

Trish and I recently heard a report of a testimony about prayer, (so it was not first hand, nonetheless we found it to be entirely believable). A man was saying that he used to be a Satanist and had lots of fun praying to Satan that people's troubles would increase; he found that these prayers were effective and the people he prayed for got into all sorts of difficulties. 

Later he found that when he made these prayers towards people who were being prayed for by Christians, nothing happened; his prayers fell to the ground. The man said that this took all the fun out of his "game" so he stopped trusting in Satan and became a Christian, and is now very happy with that decision! Prayer works!

Prayer is global in scope and it is also intimate. Our prayers effectively help God to do His will in the world! Testimonies abound, from the smallest things to lives being saved or radically changed. As a computer programmer and data-base expert I was trained to see patterns; with prayer I find it hard to see any. For every rule or guide-line I could offer, I could also list exceptions. The important thing is to follow Jesus, let Holy Spirit be our guide, our prayer leader, and to listen to His heart and our conscience.

Although I am a house husband for Trish and a helper for all our family, I now see my main work as writing PsalmsOfJohn.com. I love this work because I work so closely with Jesus. He is my Ideas Man, all the concepts and ideas come from Him, He is also my Mentor and helps in a hundred ways as I work, and He is my Editor-in-Chief, nothing is considered to be complete until Jesus has given His approval. This is extraordinarily satisfying and I am ever so thankful. I plan to continue working hard at this as it needs all the passion, gifting and power Jesus gives me.

John the Baptist announced Jesus with the words: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11).

Baptise means "immerse in", Scripture also tells us that we are filled with Holy Spirit. It's not surprising that Jesus expects us to have, and to show, fire. After all, as born-again Christian, we are filled with Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 4:13, 9:17, 13:52). Holy Spirit is the power who raised Jesus from the dead. "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11). 

Paul is famous for comparing himself to an athlete; he was ready to press on to win the race and receive the prize (1 Corinthians 9:25, Philippians 3:13-14). This is a great way to look at Christian life. There is a prize and it is very precious; the prize is eternal life with Jesus! It is so very good to press on .. "perseverance" is one of my favourite Bible words ..

"My beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise, my love, my fair one, come away. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me" (Song of Solomon 2:10-13).

And, as we live our Christian life each of us can rejoice that it will not run dry; there is no end to it: "Now there are also many other things which Jesus did. If they should be all recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain (have room for) the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus.

Note 1: Bounds, E. M. 2004. "The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer". Baker Books. Paperback Edition.

Note 2: Bibles - Reading, spending time immersed in, and pondering the content of the Bible is a vital part of Christian life. At Bible college we were taught to ask: "What does the text say?" We were told to consider how the reader at the time would have understood the passage in question. What was the writer of the passage trying to pass on to the people of his time?

I read English translations, they all have differences from one another. We can read a passage in more than one translation and work out what God is saying. Also, at Bible College I learned Greek (from Bible times), which is the original language of the New Testament, I still use my Nestlé Greek/English New Testament. There were no sentences or paragraphs in the original languages so the structures in our translations vary. Ultimately how we read the Bible reflects how we know Jesus, on our own personal relationship with Him and our Father, and what Jesus reveals to us. Jesus is the Word of God and the Bible is simply Jesus written down (John 1:1-4). God is the God who reveals Himself (Amos 4:13, Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 5:6).

"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). 

Jesus wants us to hear from Him and be able to share what He says.

King James was King, his word was law. He instructed his translators to tone down the "everyone" (Colossians 3:11) language of the New Testament so that people would continue to respect and honour the authority structures in the land and in the church.

There is much talk of "men" in the King James Version even though, since Jesus' ministry on Earth, God includes everyone; men, women, slaves, free people, citizens, visitors, Jews and others. Many newer translation have continued this masculine focus. (It is also widespread in the church in recent times; E. M. Bounds' book, written in the early 20th Century), is full of "men" and hardly mentions women). 

The idea that "church" is an institution and a social and authority structure is strongly reinforced in the KJV, and in many later English language translations; but the word for "church" is the Greek word, "ecclesia", which means "the gathering of God's people"! Nothing about leadership, or hierarchy structures or buildings. King James supported this distorted view and, sadly, we often still tend to be presented with this error. "Church" is often a "service"; in the Bible the early Christians "met", they had meetings where everyone contributed.

In the King James Version Holy Spirit is referred to as the "Holy Ghost"; I believe this to be a terrible piece of translation because our beloved Holy Spirit is definitely not a ghost, He is not a spirit of a dead person, Jesus is assuredly alive! Yet today, pastors and others seem to love using this misleading word.

God never changes (Hebrews 13:8), so we can expect to find the same awesome, loving, powerful, creative and good God everywhere we look. For years my life was tough and I came to think that God had a closed hand towards me, that I wasn't good enough. I let these thoughts affect me in very negative ways. At the time I knew that my thoughts were wrong but still allowed them to affect me. Thankfully I am now past this piece of foolishness. It took a long time for me to correct my own wrong translation, (my strongholds), and find Bible verses which would help me. A long time to learn, in my heart, "what the text says"! Now I know, Jesus loves me, unconditionally!!

Amen.

Permalink

https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2018/12/passion-gifting-and-power.html

Praise our lovely Lord Jesus.

Perfectly

Nurture And Protect

"It is I who made the earth and created humankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts" (Isaiah 45:12). 

Over the past few months I've encountered some great science commentary. There are always new things being written and discovered which point ever more clearly to their being an intelligent and benign Designer and Creator of everything from the tiniest sub-atomic particle through every cell and life form, to our Solar System and Milky Way Galaxy and the entire Universe. I did only high school science so have to work hard to be clear on some of the more complex subjects, and trust that I can express these clearly here ..

Science is so very good at explaining many things the Bible mentions only briefly. It seems that planet Earth was created just as it is and just where it is expressly because it was to be home for us humans, all of us, who are made in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). The way we are made requires that we have light, air, fire and water, and an abundance of food, and weather and seasons to grow the food. God Himself is a family, and, so that we can truly be in His image, he gave us to be marriageable and able to have babies "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them, and God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Genesis 1:27-28).

These verses are seen by some as a license for humankind to dominate and exploit our planet, and take anything we want from it. I do not agree with this. As God created over the six days He stated that everything He made was "good" (Genesis 1:10). As we serve God and love Him we will also honour the "good" of our environment and nurture and protect it. In Genesis 2:15 God put Adam into a magnificent garden "to work it and take care of it". Adam was given Eve as "a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18). We, like Adam and Eve, are to participate with God in His sustaining work of the "good" creation. We are to be stewards and serve our planet as we serve our God.

Seasons

Our lovely blue planet doesn't just sit still, but rotates on its axis to give us days and nights, for work and living and for rest and sleep. It also rotates around the Sun and this gives us seasons and years; the seasons mainly come from the tilt of Earth on its axis and the varying distance of Earth from our Sun. I find all this really exciting, awesome. It perfectly fits what we find beautiful in our environment and in life.

Our Sun

It turns out that our Sun has great characteristics all its own, it is not any ordinary star. All stars emit flares, huge bursts of very hot fire rising from their surface; the Sun emits only moderate flares so we are never all burned up with all our water evaporated into the clouds. If the Sun were one of the hot stars it would emit too much ultraviolet radiation, that is the kind that gives us sunburn, but not just us, the cows and lions and other animals would also not be able to survive greater ultraviolet. Cooler stars emit more infrared heat and wouldn't work for us either.

The Sun is the perfect star for planet Earth in another way. As we humans go about our lives the Sun's ultraviolet light causes our skin to generate vitamin D (which is really more of a hormone than a vitamin), this can also come from our diet but for most people 90% to 95% of our vitamin D comes from the Sun. It used to be thought that vitamin D was just for our bones but research over the past 50 years or so shows that it also plays very big rôle in our whole musculoskeletal system, our heart health, our fertility, our brain health and emotional balance and wellbeing, our immune system, our ability to prevent or fight infectious diseases, cancers and type 2 diabetes, and fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, and much else besides. So we need that perfect Sun for life and health. Thank you Jesus!

The estimates that our Sun is billions of years old are again in doubt. What we see of the Sun is the result of nuclear fission, if this process was billions of years old the Sun would have been substantially cooler billions of years ago, perhaps 30%, so would not have supported life, even the primitive forms that those who believe in evolution of the species talk about. Our Sun is just right, perfect for us and for life.

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place" (Psalm 8:3)

"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names" (Psalm 147:4).

"Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!" (Psalm 148:4).

The location of our Solar System is also perfect for us. We are located in the nicely stable Milky Way Galaxy, not near its core where intense radiation would prohibit life, and not near its edge where half our night sky would be empty of stars and other objects thus making it hard to navigate and investigate the Universe.

It's fun watching movie heroes jump into Saturn rockets and zoom off into space to intercept and blow up asteroids which would soon collide with Earth causing great destruction. But you needn't worry that these guys are all getting old now; it's most unlikely that they'll ever be needed. Four of the Solar system planets are many times the size of Earth and, as they sweep through the Heavens on their own orbits, their greater gravities also sweep up the bigger bits of space junk which may have been a risk to us. Earth's geography shows that we probably have had some massive crashes in the distant past but it is likely that Jesus will return before the next big one ..

Dark Mysteries

While figuring out gravity and the Universe, scientists found questions without answers and have proposed that Dark Matter and Dark Energy offer hypothetical (theoretical) answers. 

Dark Matter, (if it indeed exists), doesn't interact with light so cannot be seen, but it seems to exert a gravitational pull on everything else and may make up 22% of the Universe's mass/energy total.

Dark Energy may be the unexplained force which appears to be driving galaxies away from each other against the pull of gravity, and is estimated to represent a huge 74% of the mass/energy total. This leaves only 4% of the total mass/energy that can be seen, as galaxies, nebulae, stars and planets! Great mysteries here.

Perhaps we'll discover that Dark Matter and Dark Energy are manifestations of God's presence and continuing authority over the Universe. God is omnipresent, everywhere, all the time (1 Kings 8:27). We know that He created "all things", and He sustains "all things" .. His loving interest and influence continues:

"This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: 'I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense'" (Isaiah 44:24).

"'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24).

"For in [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:16).

Thermodynamics

Because we know that God created everything, it is clear that He also created the laws of science and engineering; of physics, chemistry, biology and thermodynamics, or "heat power", and many others. The First Law of Thermodynamics, known as the Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system, for example, the Universe. The Second Law states that the entropy, (or the percentage of un-usable energy within an isolated system), always increases. And the Third Law states that the entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero, which it is bound to do, (at absolute zero, or 0° Kelvin, atoms would stop moving, nothing would work, indeed, everything would collapse, every atom).

The inference of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is big. The Universe is constantly losing usable energy and never gaining it back. We therefore can logically conclude that the Universe has to have had a beginning. Like a wind-up clock, the Universe is winding down. The obvious question: who built and wound up the clock?

NASA Astronomer Robert Jastrow addressed this question, "Theologians generally are delighted with the proof that the Universe had a beginning, but astronomers are curiously upset. It turns out that the scientist behaves the way the rest of us do when our beliefs are in conflict with the evidence", (see Note 4).

Quantum Physics

Quantum physicists are discovering more and more about the very nature of matter and energy, and seem now to agree that everything in the Universe is a part of one great undivided Whole which is in a continuous state of dynamic flux; the whole Universe can be viewed as a gigantic field of energy where matter is simply a "slowed down" and compacted form of energy.

Scientists also have confidence in a theory called "The Observer Effect" which says that the existence of an observer is fundamental to the existence of the Universe. This means that the Universe is a product of consciousness; and we can see that this consciousness is God as we know Him (Genesis 1 and 2, and John 1) through both Scripture and life!

These understandings help clarify my thinking about the six days of Creation. The Sun and Moon and the stars were spoken into being on the fourth day; before that Jesus was all the light the Universe needed (John 1:1-4, Genesis 1:3). And in the new Heaven and the new Earth, Jesus will again be the light (Revelation 21:23-24). The Psalmist says that God reached out His hand and put each star into place, and that He knows all their names (Psalm 8:3, 104:19, 147:4).

Did God simply convert some of His energy into the forms of energy and matter necessary to make the space objects and the World? On the third and later days whole ecosystems were created, clearly they were in full working form; there would have to be soil containing all the bacteria and bugs that soil needs to even be soil, and humus from rotted vegetation, and trace elements, moisture and warmth. Some of the plants would need to be dead and being eaten by termites and grubs so that the termites and grubs had a home. When we accept that it was created on the Word of God, this all makes sense ..

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3).

Symbiosis

Our global ecosystem is fully symbiotic, if any major element is not present and working, then the whole thing will quickly grind to a halt. We need climate, geology, geography, enzymes, bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, birds, sea creatures and animals, males and females and on and on .. Every part is needed. The Creation account in Scripture gives a clear, though very brief, description of that time, and it seems to be supported by what science is telling us; our Creator God spoke and whatever form of matter was called for in His design was created, and then He gave life to all the organisms, all the creatures. Scientists have no believable explanation for the existence of life and consciousness, and no proofs at all. Every single cell which has ever existed has its own life and was able to reproduce itself!

Non-locality is a quantum physics term and is defined as the phenomenon where objects are able to instantaneously know about each other’s state, even when separated by enormous distances. Albert Einstein called non-locality "spooky actions at a distance".

To me, as I live in the reality of the spiritual world, and see and have experienced supernatural, miraculous events, non-locality sounds like a God thing; everything physical has been "designed in" to His spiritual foundation, ("God is Spirit" (John 4:24)), so can be subject to it. The supernatural is simply God's beginning place, the spiritual, from where He arranged all things outside and beyond the physical laws, according to His will.

Our spiritual self can "know" to pray for someone or for an event on the other side of the world, then subsequently learn that a tragedy was narrowly averted at the very time of our prayer .. prayers have no boundaries of distance or time (Matthew 8:13), but do have great power, this is an expression of the supernatural power of God, ".. God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will" (Hebrews 2:4). Many people have spiritual experiences, not just Christians: déjà vu, whirring dervishes and fire-walking for example; those people too will understand the nature of non-locality.

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God" (Romans 8:27).

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will" (Ephesians 1:3-4).

Thank You Science

It is lovely to learn, once again, how perfectly God has provided for all us people! Not only does everything hold together, but it is beautiful and delights our senses. Sure, there is much trouble in the world, and some people are greedy and wasteful and squander resources, causing ecological degradation. But science and Christian faith still belong together just as Galileo Galilei, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Kelvin (William Thomson), Albert Einstein and countless other giants of science always knew and still do today.

Praise Jesus. Bless all the scientists, and bless us too ..

NOTES:

Note 1.

heic1509a-NASA-ESA-Hubble-Westerlund-2.jpg - The Cluster Westerlund 2 and its Surroundings - https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1509a/ Apr 23, 2015 - This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the cluster Westerlund 2 and its surroundings has been released to celebrate Hubble's 25th year in orbit and a quarter of a century of new discoveries, stunning images and outstanding science. The image’s central region, containing the star cluster, blends visible-light data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys and near-infrared exposures taken by the Wide Field Camera 3. The surrounding region is composed of visible-light observations taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team.

Note 2.

Our Milky Way Galaxy NASA photo - https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html

Note 3.

Earth: Blue Marble Eastern Hemisphere: NASA photo - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2015/R1/v/Blue_Marble_Eastern_Hemisphere.jpg From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository 29 Nov 2018

Note 4.

(Robert Jastrow, 'God and the Astronomers', 1978, page 16. Quoted in https://www.allaboutscience.org/second-law-of-thermodynamics.htm)

Note 5.

Galileo Galilei, astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, saw only a healthy marriage between science and religion: "God is known by nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word"

(https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/galileo-galilei.html)  8 Dec 2018

Sir Isaac Newton has been called "the greatest scientific genius the world has known". Yet he spent less time on science than on theology, often spending whole days studying the Bible.

Lord Kelvin, born William Thomson, is a giant of 19th Century science. In addition to the Kelvin Scale of absolute temperature, his pioneering research in the fields of mechanical energy and mathematics proved vital in the task of laying the first transatlantic communication cable which connects Europe to America. Kelvin believed science must be treated with reverence, as he explained:

"I have long felt that there was a general impression that the scientific world believes science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless. The more thoroughly I conduct scientific research, the more I believe science excludes atheism. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion". Kelvin attended Chapel daily.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24535331) 28 Nov 2018).

Albert Einstein: In January of 1936, a school girl named Phyllis wrote to Einstein to ask whether you could believe in science and religion. His reply concluded with these words:

" .. everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.

With cordial greetings,

your A. Einstein"

(https://bigthink.com/did-einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-thought-about-god)  8 Dec 2018)

Amen.

Permalink

https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2018/12/perfectly.html

Praise Jesus.

Fearfully And Wonderfully

What Great Design!

Over the past few weeks I've seen five medical specialists. This is just part of getting older, and some might say, also from having lived life a little faster than would have been wise. Happily all the doctors were very positive about my wellbeing and immediate future; the bones guy even said that I was "going great"! This helps me to continue to do the things that I am doing right, like eating well and not too too much, exercising and keeping my head busy.

As I received each of these good reports I would wonder at my old worn body and think about Jesus: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are marvelous, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).

What great design! What fabulous engineering! And it's (largely) self-maintaining, (largely) self-repairing. Our bodies can convert countless kinds of delicious foods into fuel, and we can even (help) make the next generation of our families!

In my many years I have worn out bikes and cars, cassette and CD players, and skill-saws, and so very many pairs of boots and pants but most of me is still working fine. Sure, I'm not as strong or as fast or as nimble as I once was, but here are some things I still delight to do:

Hang Out

Sedentary things are easy; reading is a joy, studying is a vital part of life, and I enjoy music and movies and TV and hanging out with people.

Get About

I can get about: I walk a lot for housework and getting-on-with-life. The last time I ran for a bus was my last run, thank you. But riding a bike is fun and I can drive cars, busses, trucks and tractors, without prescription glasses!

Sport

Most sport is past tense for me: overnight hikes, sailing, basketball and tennis. But I can still row a machine at the gym and hike in the bush for an hour or two, and I love to walk in our local community pool or along the sea shore.

Work:

Now that I'm a househusband work is quieter, thankfully I'm still a handyman. But no more battling through committee meetings, preparing complex designs or reports or managing staff. No more operating huge mining machines or laying kilometres of farm fencing. In my twenties I spent time in a factory manufacturing farm fencing; one afternoon I put my back out, my boss noticed that my machine was not making its hard-at-work sound so investigated. There I was on the ground curled into a tight ball, completely unable to move. One of my workmates backed his station wagon into the factory and four guys picked me up, just as I was, slid me into the back of the wagon and took me to the hospital. The doctors said they couldn't do much, I had to rest and progress through my physio, but after a few weeks I was back at work (almost) as good as new. Talk about great design and engineering - our bodies truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! Another time I was in a car crash, they did a good (and expensive) job fixing the car but it was never the same again and I was happy to sell it. But my amazing body, I'm so very glad and grateful to still live in it.

"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church" (Ephesians 5:29).

Love:

"God is love" (1 John 4:8, 4:16), and because we are made in the "image" and "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26), who is Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are made for love and family and for relationship. Praise Jesus that I still have the strength and energy to be family with my family, and to share in so many relationships .. this adds a great beauty to life. "Love" is a "doing word", a verb. It takes effort and often sacrifice to love. Scripture tells us: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25), so I do ..

Love comes in many forms and it is good to know how to be in different relationships. Trish and I agree that marriage is hard work but extremely rewarding, after 38 years our love, and our relationship are still growing. I believe that this is as close as we humans can get to the uniquely intimate and caring relationship between our Abba Father God, our Saviour Jesus, His Son, and our Comforter and Counsellor, Holy Spirit; these are three persons yet one God.

Many times the Bible tells us that it is what is in our heart that is important. So true. Our relationships are fueled from our heart so I remind myself to dwell on positive things, and not on the negative; a friend said that I am getting sweeter as I grow older; I was greatly touched by that remark! Me? Sweet? How lovely! What a great work our lovely Lord is doing in me. "How precious is your unfailing love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36:7). Ultimately love is what equips each of us to be fully human.

Spiritual Life:

Now that I'm convinced that my spirit is the most important part of me, I worry less about my body and try to balance my living towards Jesus rather than towards my own self. I'm coming into line with how Paul felt as he wrote to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:21).

Part of a Christian life is constant learning and I've always seen that Christians never stop studying; we are like those amazing redwood trees Trish and I saw in California, (that is her, by the tree), they start so tiny and grow and grow!

Our salvation happens in an instant, then the rest of our life we are being sanctified; this is where learning and growth are so important. Jesus always has more to teach us and learning becomes part of the "renewing of our minds" (Romans 12:2).

Because I'm now more sedentary I have more time to read and pray and praise Jesus. This makes it easy to be positive and to be very grateful for how I'm made and how He has kept and preserved me ..

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. [And]: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

Amen!

Permalink

https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2018/11/fearfully-and-wonderfully.html

Praise Jesus.