My dear ones, if you have not read the Word of the Day today, please take the time to do so. It is one of the most uplifting readings we’ve had in quite a while. There are so many commonly quoted and memorized verses in this section that I came very close to typing them all out for you, but then realized that if I did, I might as well type out the entire reading and that would just be silly. So I am suggesting that if you’re having a rough day today, make sure you click on the link above, and take the 20-30 minutes to read it in its entirety. It’s worth it.
With that being said, I do want to draw out something that the Holy Spirit revealed to me when I came back to the reading. Our God is so awesome and such a fantastic teacher. If I can grow up to be half the teacher He is I’ll be the best teacher the world has ever seen.
One of the many many passages that I underlined this morning was Isaiah 40:26,
“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might, and because He is strong in power not one is missing.”
It’s such a strong and powerful image isn’t it? God the Father sitting there on His throne night after night calling out the names of the stars as they appear in our night sky. But the thing I find interesting is that at ANY given point during our day, on the other side of the world those stars are starting to come out. Therefore, calling out the stars isn’t a once daily thing for Him, it’s a constant. He is constantly calling out their names.
What’s even more intriguing to me is when we consider the vision of “The Stars” I told you about back in “Jesus Loves YOU: Book 4“. I think that it is safe to say that the stars to which God is calling out to by name are the stars that have been placed within YOU. That each and every morning as you wake it is because He has called out your name beaconing you to come out into the darkness of the world once again and shine the glorious light that He has placed inside of YOU.
In Acts 17:26-28 we read, “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’:”
I am so blessed to be studying Greek right now so I was able to go through and do a little of my homework with this verse today. I translated the phrase: “having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place”, and while it is a completely accurate translation, it leaves a little to be desired. When you read these phrases in the Greek you can feel an authority behind the words that the English just can’t hold up. There are specific times and specific places that God has determined for you from the beginning of the world. With the intent that in those times and those places you will feel your way toward God and find Him. But that’s the beauty of this blessed relationship that we have with our creator. We don’t have to go searching through the darkness to find Him, because He’s not far off at all! He’s INSIDE us, He’s around us, He’s through us and for us and to us and any other preposition you want to throw in there, He’s that too!
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46)
In the New International Version verse 5 is translated a little differently, “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” And the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates it, “God is within her; she will not be toppled”.
There’s something here I want you to see, but more than that I want for you to feel it. God is in YOU. And because He is in you, the world around you may crumble, but you will not be moved. The earth may shake, but you will not fall. Those around you may cave but you will stand firm in your beliefs, because you have the cornerstone in you. You have the creator of the heavens in you. And morning by morning He calls you out BY NAME.
Beloved, He not only knows your name, He gave you your name. It means something to Him. You’re not a number; you’re not another face in the crowd, YOU ARE HIS BELOVED. You have the stars in your bosom and nothing in all of creation can compare to the beauty that is within you.
Tamar Knochel 