We have lived a long time: have seen many things, experienced many things, and learned many things We have had the pleasure of seeing our grown children themselves diligently raising a family. We have had the pleasure of reading the Bible together aloud every day for all our married life, so we know what’s in there We have benefited from the fellowship of many believers and non-believers Both of us have been close to death’s door yet have been granted more engagement with life. Neither of us were afraid at those times since we knew what lay on the other side, and that that place is better than this
So, Corona Virus, Shamona Virus! God’s plans for us on this side the door or the other are excellent plans. And they are the best possible plans Jer_29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end"
Yet the young among us (meaning those less that fifty years old) may have trouble thinking this way. I understand the anxiety of being absent from their friends and family. What will happen to them? It is sometimes hard to really trust that what God may do is for the best. How can hardship be for the best? Some questions and doubts will never be answered until we are walking with Jesus in heaven.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Monday, April 6, 2020
WHERE IS ZERO ON THE TIMELINE
John 17:6
This appears a very "Presbyterian" section because it speaks of some people in the world who are the Father’s, and some who are not. “. . . The men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they are . . .” And yet it does not say for sure there are only certain prescribed ones who will believe. The ones who are "the father's" may as well be the father's because they exercised their will to believe. God predestined the possibility for men to make a choice for him. The ones who did became the “predestined”.
God is the god of all time. He exists in the past, present and future. For him time is just another created thing that is controlled by him. How else can we explain the witness of the Angel in Revelation saying, “. . . there will be time no more . . .”
I can somewhat comprehend the pre knowledge of God in this manner: I am 75 years old. I know that at 75 that I have been in the Navy, have married, have had children, and worked for the US government. If I was like God, and time was something I created, I would exist also at the time I was born as well as the time period we call “Now”. Time is like a dot moving along a line. Creatures subject to time must stay on the dot, but God stands back a distance from the line and can see the dot, the beginning and the end of the line, and eternity before and after. So if I were like God, I could stand back from the line, while the dot was at 75 years, and see clearly the spot on the line at zero years and know that I would be in the future: be in the Navy, get married, have children, and work for the US government. If I were like God, I could proclaim all this to the zero year spot on the line. It would sound to the 0-year-old created me like predestination. It actually would be a recitation from an all-knowing source, who lives outside our boundaries of time, of the things I had done as a result of the choices I made.
This appears a very "Presbyterian" section because it speaks of some people in the world who are the Father’s, and some who are not. “. . . The men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they are . . .” And yet it does not say for sure there are only certain prescribed ones who will believe. The ones who are "the father's" may as well be the father's because they exercised their will to believe. God predestined the possibility for men to make a choice for him. The ones who did became the “predestined”.
God is the god of all time. He exists in the past, present and future. For him time is just another created thing that is controlled by him. How else can we explain the witness of the Angel in Revelation saying, “. . . there will be time no more . . .”
I can somewhat comprehend the pre knowledge of God in this manner: I am 75 years old. I know that at 75 that I have been in the Navy, have married, have had children, and worked for the US government. If I was like God, and time was something I created, I would exist also at the time I was born as well as the time period we call “Now”. Time is like a dot moving along a line. Creatures subject to time must stay on the dot, but God stands back a distance from the line and can see the dot, the beginning and the end of the line, and eternity before and after. So if I were like God, I could stand back from the line, while the dot was at 75 years, and see clearly the spot on the line at zero years and know that I would be in the future: be in the Navy, get married, have children, and work for the US government. If I were like God, I could proclaim all this to the zero year spot on the line. It would sound to the 0-year-old created me like predestination. It actually would be a recitation from an all-knowing source, who lives outside our boundaries of time, of the things I had done as a result of the choices I made.
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