He Knows ALL Their Names!

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” Psalm 147:4, NIV

This is a very beautiful way of telling us about God’s incredible glory, care, precision, and love.  He’s given names to the stars in heaven.  We don’t know the names He’s given them, but for thousands of years we’ve seen these stars, and we’ve given them names.  Each morning I wake up before sunrise and go outside, and I see, each morning for the past many days, a morning star.  It reminds me of God’s incredible power and mights.   

There are currently 506 named stars. All these names were formally approved in recent years, but most of them have been used for centuries. Most traditional star names are Arabic in origin and many of them originated over a millennium ago.

Most of us could not name 10% of the named stars, but God can. But think about this: Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is estimated to contain between 100 to 400 billion stars. That  number is mind-boggling, I can’t impinge 100 billion stars—most with planets!  But remember  that the Milky Way is just one of more than an estimated 2 trillion galaxies, each with 100 billion or more stars!  So there are at least 100 billion stars X 2 trillions galaxies!!!  Not a one of us can imagine a number that big. But here’s an illustration: 2 trillion times 100 billion means that there are more stars than all the grains of beach sand on the Earth…..and God knows the name of each one???  Our God is an awesome God!!!!

It was that morning star that I have been watching that got me to think about the awesomeness of God. That’s what draws me to the forests, and to soak the sunsets at the beach or the incredible peace that only a  mountain stream offers. Nature is often the means whereby young people come to believe in God—-rainbows, clouds, butterflies, indescribable beauty that occurs merely by the hand of God. God reveals Himself two ways——in His natural, majestic, awesome creation, or super-naturally by the inspiration of scripture, the miracles that defy natural law, and most importantly, in the life, death and resurrection of His Son.  And Satan does all he can to keep us from receiving any affirmation of His existence—-let alone His awesome power and majesty.  The devil is always dangling imitations of beauty so that we never encounter God’s revelation.

In my opinion, those “things” that Satan uses, today, to keep us away from God’s revelation, as found in nature or the Word, are thing like iPhones, computers, sport events, politics, work and even charitable events!!!

Most of you probably don’t recall the joy of the Sunday morning paper comics, but years before the internet and 24 hours-a-day TV, we read newspapers, and the Sunday paper was the biggest and most entertaining.  There were pages and pages of color comics, but one of my favorites was Li'l Abner, a satirical American comic strip that appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies living in the impoverished fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and illustrated by Al Capp (1909–1979), the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934, through November 13, 1977.  But one of my favorite characters was Stupefyin’ Jones.

So, Stupefyin Jones was so so gorgeous—so perfectly formed and sexy,  that any man who glimpsed at her froze in his tracks and was rooted to the spot. While was favored by all the men of Dogpatch, she was most dangerous for any confirmed bachelor she encountered on Sadie Hawkins Day.  It’s a funny character, but my point is what the wives of Dog Patch did  to keep their men away from Stupefyin Jones—-they brought her food—-day and night.  Lots of fattening, sweet, delicious food. They got her just as fat as they could to make her as unattractive to their men as possible, and it worked, unless someone forgot to get her food and she slimmed down.

Now this is a silly, and backwards analogy, but Satan does not want us to get to God. He’ll do all he can to drive us away. He wants us to see God not as God is, but as some disinterested eternal despot that is too busy, or too vain, to hear your prayers  or love you.  Satan would disguise God’s Son as being something less that God’s Son—-something created or just a very good man or a very special prophet. The last thing satan wants is for us to be ushered into the presence of God by the Son of God holding our hand. So he tries to cause us to see God in an ugly, uncaring, capricious and and removed way——just like the women of Dogpatch wanted to hide the real beauty to Stupefyin’ Jones.

When you behold God’s power, majesty, authority, ability, mercy, compassion and love—-you’re stupefied!  You become rooted into something that will not let you go—-and this is not what the enemy wants and he will do whatever he can, and whatever it takes, to keep you away from gazing at God or reflecting upon Jesus, His only Son!

Tomorrow is legal holiday—-will you spend it shopping for things you don’t need, gorging on too many hot dogs and sodas, or, worse, sitting in front of a TV or computer?!  Or will you perhaps get out of the house and look at God’s incredible beauty. Creation reflects God’s attributes and reminds us that He exists!  An iPhone and much of what we long to purchase implies to us that maybe He does not exist.

You will see in nature the evidence or laws, rules, and standards that reflect God’s order and purpose.  Your heart will be more moved by what you discover in the forest or at the beach or the lake, than anything you can witness on the internet  or by drugs, food or stimulants.

That’s one thing that makes our little camp so special. It’s a holy haven for those seeking God—-or at least a safe retreat for those that want to be free from the noises and devices that make it impossible to hear Him.

But as incredible as nature is, as awe-inspiring as the heavens and trillions of stars are, we’re no closer to becoming sons and daughters of God by merely admitting that God is awesome.  We need something beyond it. While natural revelation is informative and leads us to a belief in God, it is incomplete without special, or divine,  revelation.  And that’s why we hold the Bible to be so sacred—-and so complete.

So hear these inspired words from David:

“What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit  him?

For You have made him a little lower than  the angels,And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;” Psalm 8:4-8, NIV

This is what delights my soul and gives me hope, when those that I love, do not, or cannot return to me love and hope!  This Divine One we refer to as God Almighty—-the creator or trillions times trillions of stars and galaxies and planets and eternal beings, created me—-and you—-and has placed something within us that is very sacred and special to Him—-“His Image” is within us! And this Supreme Being desires that you I allow Him to bless us!!!  He wants to bless us and call us His own….and give us dominion over ALL creation!

But in all creation, we are unique in this regard: Our free will.  Animals respond by instinct or training, but not be choosing right or wrong, good or evil.  The stars do as they were instructed—as does our sun and the moon and the oceans, rivers, and mountains.  God gave the ostrich one kind of understanding, another kind to an eagle and still another to a penguin.   But they don’t choose to be obedient, neither are they ever disobedient.  Only mankind, the apex of God’s creation, has that option.

So He has placed a hedge around those who will, and those will not, share in His glory and His eternal rule.

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?    Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose walk is blameless,    who does what is righteous,    who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander,    who does no wrong to a neighbor,   and casts no slur on others;

who despises a vile person    but honors those who fear the Lord;who keeps an oath even when it hurts,     and does not change their mind;

who lends money to the poor without interest;  who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things    will never be shaken.” Psalm 15, NIV

But the problem is, my walk is not blameless—-and I don’t do or say things that are righteous!!!!

I break my oaths—-all the time!!! I do bad things, even though I don’t want to!  Wretch that I am!!  What am I do to do?

Consider these words from an old hymn:

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above; praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!

Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

And that is exactly what happened to me! Jesus looked for me—-and found me.  And that’s made all the difference for all eternity.

He’s also found you——but do you want to be found and transformed by Him?