I was given a telescope recently. Arizona, where I live, even amidst city lights and pollution, has some of the clearest night skies anywhere. I've spent considerable time gazing at the night sky through my telescope, focusing on the little dots of lights that are reminders of a promise made to a great man of faith.
"And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:5-6)
It is a tender scene: the Father standing beside His faithful child and helping him to visualize the promise by considering the innumerable stars of the sky. Nothing could be more difficult for an elderly childless man to believe, but "he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." In a simple, child-like act, this man of faith acquired the full blessings of His Creator.
The same is expected of each of us. The Lord God calls us to open our eyes, look up, and believe His vast promises, for without that simple faith "it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Few things are as difficult for this writer to comprehend than to believe that an unlikely and obscure group of misfits in the world will one day rule it with Christ. I, for one, have no government leadership experience and, as such, feel woefully inadequate for the task. And yet somehow He will use the likes of you and me to carry out the great purpose of His Father. ALMOST unbelievable!
Simple belief is more attainable by simply taking a moment to look in the mirror. You, as a person of faith in Jesus the Christ, are one of Abraham's descendants. And you are just one of a vast throng of his descendants down through the ages; those "who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16).
Whether you peer into the night sky with a telescope or the naked eye, the reminder of the promise of God to Abraham is readily evident. And if faith is a struggle at this time in your life, perhaps the best exercise is to read God's promises to you from His word, and then ponder them tonight as you look at the stars of the night sky.
Steve
"And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:5-6)
It is a tender scene: the Father standing beside His faithful child and helping him to visualize the promise by considering the innumerable stars of the sky. Nothing could be more difficult for an elderly childless man to believe, but "he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." In a simple, child-like act, this man of faith acquired the full blessings of His Creator.
The same is expected of each of us. The Lord God calls us to open our eyes, look up, and believe His vast promises, for without that simple faith "it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Few things are as difficult for this writer to comprehend than to believe that an unlikely and obscure group of misfits in the world will one day rule it with Christ. I, for one, have no government leadership experience and, as such, feel woefully inadequate for the task. And yet somehow He will use the likes of you and me to carry out the great purpose of His Father. ALMOST unbelievable!
Simple belief is more attainable by simply taking a moment to look in the mirror. You, as a person of faith in Jesus the Christ, are one of Abraham's descendants. And you are just one of a vast throng of his descendants down through the ages; those "who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16).
Whether you peer into the night sky with a telescope or the naked eye, the reminder of the promise of God to Abraham is readily evident. And if faith is a struggle at this time in your life, perhaps the best exercise is to read God's promises to you from His word, and then ponder them tonight as you look at the stars of the night sky.
Steve
posted by steve @ 7:52 AM
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