5/6/10

one thing is uncertain.....












If you don't understand this little beauty, take heart, there are a lot of us out there who don't either. This is the equation for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, used in quantum mechanics (Physics). I was curious, so I looked it up; basically, it says that the more you think you know something, the less you really do (I hope I got this right). One more paradox in this life to deal with. However, we see this sort of thing all the time. Remember: butter is bad for you, so try margarine or how about sugar is bad for you, so use Splenda. It seems that almost every week there is something like this on the web or in the news. You think you know something for sure and then the next day what you know is "wrong" followed by the next day in which you discover you were "right" all along. Naturally, I thought of Job: A man utterly convinced that he was righteous and pure before God, until he is asked a few questions by the Almighty himself. I know this is a LONG series of verses, but it really is worth reading.....

Job 38:1-41 (WEB)
1) Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2) “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3) Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
4) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5) Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
6) Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7) when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8) “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,
9) when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10) marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
11) and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
12) “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;
13) that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
14) It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment.
15) From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
16) “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
17) Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18) Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
19) “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
20) that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
21) Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22) Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23) which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24) By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
25) Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;
26) To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
27) to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
28) Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
29) Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
30) The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
31) “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
32) Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33) Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
34) “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
35) Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
36) Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37) Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
38) when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
39) “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40) when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
41) Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?

Job 39:1-30 (WEB)
1) “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2) Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3) They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, they end their labor pains.
4) Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and don’t return again.
5) “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6) Whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?
7) He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
8) The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
9) “Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10) Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
11) Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
12) Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13) “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
14) For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
15) and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.
16) She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
17) because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18) When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
19) “Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20) Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21) He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
22) He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.
23) The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
24) He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25) As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26) “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
27) Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?
28) On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
29) From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
30) His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”

Job 40:1-5 (WEB)
1) Moreover Yahweh answered Job,
2) “Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
3) Then Job answered Yahweh,
4) “Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
5) I have spoken once, and I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

We are human beings, we don't know everything and never will. Remember the concept of humility? We all need to remember this one. There is one true constant in the universe and that is its maker, God. For us, one thing is certain, and that is, one thing is uncertain when it comes to human knowledge. So, the next time you feel really, really smart or clever, remember Heisenberg. I just wish someone could explain that equation to me... OH, WELL!

No words can express the beauty

The rainbow is a promise of God. Specifically, that he would not destroy the Earth by means of a floor. It is a beautiful thing, showing the color within the light that we see every day. Most of the time when I see a rainbow it is on the horizon, but once in awhile it is close by and the closer it gets the more beautiful it becomes. How could a rainbow be any better? Why, if you are in it of course. So the concept of "better" came to mind and of course this passage from the book of Hebrews.

Heb 8:1-13 (WEB)
1) Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2) a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
3) For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.
4) For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
5) who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”
6) But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law.
7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8) For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come,” says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9) not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord.
10) “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11) They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from their least to their greatest.
12) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”
13) In that he says, “A new covenant,” he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

The relationship God had with Israel was a very special one; He gave them laws, watched over them and guided them for literally hundreds of years. So, what could be better? The answer is to go beyond the concept of LAW entirely; to create a new way of knowing God... from the heart. the LAW was superseded by Grace, just as the rules of childhood are replaced by the understanding of an adult. After all, isn't it better to know what to do rather than be told what to do. Grace is like being IN A RAINBOW; the promises of God and you become one. When the human heart is colored by the promises of the living God, no words can express the beauty of it.