Stars

"Tell them to look up. Tell them to remember the stars..."

* * * * * * *

"Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!"

* * * * * * *

you should see the stars tonight
how they shimmer shine so bright
against the black they look so white
comin down from such a height
to reach me now, reach me now

you should see the moon in the flight
cuttin cross the misty night
softly dancin in sunshine
reflections of this light
reach me now, you reach me now

and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful again

and you should feel the sun in the spring
comin out after a rain
suddenly all is green
sunshine on everything
i can feel it now, i feel you now

and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful

and you should hear the angels sing
all gathered round their king
more beautiful than you could dream
i've been quietly listening
you can hear 'em now, i hear em now

and how could such a king
shine His light on me
and make everything beautiful
and i wanna shine
i wanna be light
i wanna tell you it'll be alright
and i wanna shine and i wanna fly
just to tell you now
it'll be alright, it'll be alright
it'll be alright.

cus i got nothing of my own to give to you
but this light that shines on me shines on you
and makes everything beautiful, again.
it'll be alright, it'll be alright.

* * * * * * *

* * * * * * *

"Do we gaze at the stars because we are human? Or, are we human because gaze at the stars?"

* * * * * * *

Hope is written in the stars.

The stars have hung in the sky longer than any of us and will be there long after us. During war, famine, depression, sickness, pain, or heartache--every night the stars have come out. Though clouds may shroud them-we may stand confident they are still there. Though we may not have time to look up, they remain. Stars remind us that beauty can be found even on the darkest night!

Remember the stars...

The Lord said to Abram, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted..."

The Lord took Abram outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

I wonder how many trips to the beach or walks under the stars it took... probably fewer than the reminders God gives me. Jehovah entrusted his dream to a man! He cultivated and cared for that dream in the heart of His son. How could the Creator of all reduce Himself to that degree? It blows my mind! He is faithful where we are faithless. He carries our dream when all we are are broken pieces. He sheds the light of His face into the darkness of our heart. He shares Himself with us!

Father Abraham...

i often wonder about Abraham... i mean, how did he do it? How could he leave EVERYTHING and go off into the unknown. The unknown makes me want to scream and hide under my covers. But he went...

What did he think when God said, "You see all those stars? Your family is going to be bigger than that!" He probably felt the same way i sometimes do about the promises of God. "God, i believe you because - you're God! But... i don't see how that could possibly happen!" To think that he walked through the rest of his life walking in that unknown - walking with a promise unfulfilled, yet intact! I don't think I could do that...

But what will happen when we get to heaven and God says, "Abraham, Abraham... come up here. I want you to see something." Abraham joins his Father, his Creator, his Delight on his throne. And Father says, "Abraham -- look at your family now." Every Jew, every Old-Testament believer, every Christian all gathered in heaven - all the descendants of the one who had a glimpse of the Father-heart of God. A dream fulfilled!

"Not one of these people, even though their lives were exemplary, got their hands on what ws promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours."