When 1 and 1 is not 2

This is a relic isn't it! My first calculator (1971) wasn't much better; it was big and expensive and didn't do much, but it was MINE! I enjoy watching the science channel and recently I saw an episode about string theory. Basically, it says that all things are possible in the apparent infinite number of universes. I don't remember who came up with the idea, but whoever it was, they probably have a lot more braincells than I will ever have!! So, with all things being possible, I set out to think about how math could work in another universe; suppose 1 and 1 weren't 2 there? What would they be? I really don't know the answer, but there is a case in THIS WORLD where it could be. We don't think about it much, but 1 is a digit in our numbering system. If you list the next placeholder you now have a ten... so add the two placeholders together and you have 11. Its just a matter of how you look at things!

Think about the following Bible passage:

2Co 12:1 To boast, really, is not profitable for me, for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I have known a man in Christ, fourteen years ago--whether in the body I have not known, whether out of the body I have not known, God hath known--such an one being caught away unto the third heaven;
2Co 12:3 and I have known such a man--whether in the body, whether out of the body, I have not known, God hath known, --
2Co 12:4 that he was caught away to the paradise, and heard unutterable sayings, that it is not possible for man to speak.
2Co 12:5 Of such an one I will boast, and of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities,
2Co 12:6 for if I may wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for truth I will say; but I forebear, lest any one in regard to me may think anything above what he doth see me, or doth hear anything of me;
2Co 12:7 and that by the exceeding greatness of the revelations I might not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of the Adversary, that he might buffet me, that I might not be exalted overmuch.
2Co 12:8 Concerning this thing thrice the Lord did I call upon, that it might depart from me,
2Co 12:9 and He said to me, `Sufficient for thee is My grace, for My power in infirmity is perfected;' most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of the Christ may rest on me:

I think Paul was probably referring to himself in the passage and if so, what the point? Well, no matter how much we may "know", God knows more. All this leads to a focal point; which is, if you think 1 and 1 are not 2 you may be right, but so what, God has a better calculator. Just open the pages and look.... its called The Holy Bible!

Its snow problem

Living in Florida in the winter has its advantages, but not during August, when its 90+ EVERY DAY! As a child in upstate New York, I thought it was a "big deal" to see 2 or even 3 feet of snow, but the above picture is mind blowing. Can you imagine living there? I guess the trick is to be happy where you are and realize that we all have problems, some just seem overwhelming!

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul:

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6 Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.
Php 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace will be with you.
Php 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatever state I am, with that to be content.
Php 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.

The Webster Bible

No matter how deep the snow of your life may be, things change. Remember, snow melts!

Introspection

Is it possible to measure God? How would one go about it? I was thinking about it tonight after I read the following passage from Luke 18.

Luk 18:9 And he spoke this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Webster Bible

How Big is God how large is He?
Bigger than a pebble, smaller than a tree?

Far, far away or right near by
The search is most difficult, but still I will try.

Do I start with my heart
Or begin with my eye?

When I start with the heavens I can barely see
The immensity of God is eternity.

When I look at others and compare them to me,
I know I can never measure God;
Instead he measures me.

Astronomers have measured huge distances as the above picture of our galaxy's center plainly shows, but, I wonder.... Do we even understand our own hearts?

Lunch!

When I first looked at this I thought they were singing! Then I realized they were waiting for their lunch (or whatever)! Food is necessary and often very enjoyable. My grandfather Raymond lived through the depression and would often say "Its a good day when you get a dish of beans"!!! You would never know it to look at me now, but as a youngster I (and everyone else in the family) never really had enough to eat. I remember my grandmother Gladys would sometimes get a little extra food and then give it to me when nobody was looking. She cared for me a great deal and to this day I still don't know why. I could say the same thing about the God of the heavens too. Why should HE care about me; what have I done? But, I have to admit, I can see how my way has been guided throughout my life. Its like the way the Israelites were guided in the dessert. Think about the following passage from Deuteronomy and see if its something like how God has worked in your life...

Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments, or not.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

The Webster Bible

Just like the chicks in the picture, we need to learn to depend upon God; we NEED HIM! Its not just food, either and not just lunch.... life with God is a banquet!

Fear

I couldn't move in my bed, I tried, but for some reason nothing happened. Finally, I saw a shadow behind me, and it was getting bigger. Two small "arms" appeared in front of my head and then there was a deafening crunch and incredible pain in the back of my head, followed by a terrible burning sensation. I woke up screaming!! This nightmare actually happened to me about fifteen or so times in the early seventies. I remember two episodes with spiders, one as a child and the other at age seventeen, when I fell into a pit in the cellar and came out with about twenty or more large black ones crawling all over me. In my mid-twenties I started reading the Bible seriously for about an hour or more a day and didn't even notice the nightmares had stopped. In retrospect, I think God took them away, but I just didn't think about it at the time because I was so engrossed in my reading. What you fear says a great deal about you!

Jesus said to his disciples:

Mat 10:28 And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

The Webster Bible

I thank God its been over 30 years since I had those nightmares and I still wonder what they meant or what actually caused them. But, fear is not necessarily a bad thing, for it can help you stay alive when faced with danger. Its easy to understand worldly fear, but I wonder how many of us truly comprehend Godly fear? Perhaps we should think it more often; it might just save our lives!

When 1 is 0

I would feel very nervous about using this toilet! I imagine most people would not even have such a thing in their house, let alone even think about training their young with it. I can envision little kids being terrified that it would gobble them up. Why show such a thing? Because there are no real pictures of black holes, that's why. A black hole gobbles everything up, even light, so there aren't any pictures! Its an astronomy object with unbelievable mass and yet we can't see it; sounds like a contradiction in terms to me. Discipleship is like that, consider what Jesus said:

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whoever will save his life, shall lose it: but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Luk 9:25 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? The Webster Bible

You can't really see spiritual life, except for its godly effects in this life; yet it is there. Like the black hole, you have to believe in something you can't see and according to Jesus, your very life depends on losing what you want to keep. The truth is that we can't understand everything; we can try, but to quote Wayne Walden "stop talking, you're making my head hurt". I have tried to truly understand the complexities of the eternal, yet like Job in the Bible, I realize I will never completely do it. To me, its like making a one into a zero; first you realize that you are at the bottom and God is at the top and the only way to approach the infinite is to bend to the will of the Almighty. When you submit to HIS WILL for your life and give up your own, you gain your life by losing it; again, a contradiction to our thinking, but not to HIS. Sometimes its just easier to do something rather than to try to comprehend it. I rejoice in the times I have truly given myself over to the will of God and regret those times I haven't. I don't know about you, but I think its better to be a zero than a 1; safer, too.

Oh, No!

This is going to hurt! Could this accident waiting to happen have been avoided? Possibly, but its more likely he (or she) just took too many chances, didn't pay attention to their own safety or maybe just didn't care. There are a lot of things in life that are dangerous, but knowing how to handle yourself in a spiritually dangerous situation is essential. Look at the example of Jesus!

Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou art the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6 And saith to him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall uphold thee, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up upon an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,
Mat 4:9 And saith to him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus to him, Be gone, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

The Webster Bible

Notice that in each instance of temptation Jesus answers with Scripture. Pretty good example to follow isn't it? If we all did, I think there would be a lot less spiritual "Oh, No's" in this world. Perhaps even a few less accidents too.