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Decimal
by Vance Agee
“A place value system” developed about 3,000 B.C. by
the Chinese, Arabs, or Sumerians! The use of decimals to express this
numerical concept was much easier than using Roman numerals or using a long
list of Chinese characters. We all understand .1, a decimal.
Until checking on-line I did not fully realize the
extensive history and importance of using that little dot! I did realize,
however, the exactness created by a decimal – the exactness!
And one semester in 2000 I realized God’s exactness in
His promises to us.
My daughter, then still in a tough local college, had
expressed some concern about her grades and her semester GPA, Grade Point
Average, which is calculated to the first decimal, such as 3.5. Add .5 and
we have a GPA of 4.0, for some reason the top grade.
But enough of dots for now!
In 2000 I had sought God to develop a very close prayer
relationship with me, one which I will seek again to strengthen. I realized
that coming to God away from worry into prayer with thanksgiving was very
powerful. (If I ask you a favor for later and thank you now when asking, I
am showing you full confidence that you will, indeed, help me! That both
shows faith and eliminates the current worry or anxiety.) I also decided
that if God, my Abba Heavenly Father by Jesus Christ, could ask: “Come, let
us reason together …”, then I could do likewise, and I did.
I am not psychic or hear “voices”, but the feeling of
assurance came to me that I could, indeed, “reason” with Him. Well aware of
the power of belief and thanks in real prayer, as explained in Philippians
Chapter 4, I decided to ask God what I might request from Him as a GPA. He
“told” me the GPA to the first decimal point. (Out of respect for my
daughter, I will share that it was over 3.0 but prefer not to write whether
it was a 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, etc.) I then prayed for this GPA and thanked Him. At
the instant of thanks, I knew. No, I did not just believe or hope; I knew.
I shared my information with my wife and daughter. The
reader can imagine our normal reaction to hearing something like this!
Until it came in the mail.
(I have shared this story with many Christians, and
they seem surprised. Why?)
Lessons: pray and talk with God, believe, thank Him,
then thank Him for assurances, and ask exactly as you believe –even to the
decimal!
P.S. I did let everyone down a little, by a decimal.
God later had “told” me that if I requested a decimal higher, He would grant
it. I forgot to do so! Until this moment of writing, I have not realized how
my mistake compares human error to our perfect God.
Beyond the decimal. VA
INRI – IXTHUS - YHWH |
