Star Light, Star Bright

When nights are cold and clear and the moon is waning, stars appear against the blackness like dots on my Light Bright when my baby brother got hold of it. One glance away from the brightest star are numberless smaller points of light. The longer you look, the more you see. I’ve never studied the stars but I know that many have been charted and named by astronomers and astrologers through the ages. Even the most powerful telescopes can only see a portion of the vastness of the heavens, but before the first man and woman walked the earth, God spoke the stars into existence and he called each one by name.

“The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created.

He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

Psalms 33:6 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.33.6.NLT

Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.

Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?

O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

Have you never heard? Have you never understood?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.

He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

Isaiah 40:25-28 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.40.25-28.NLT

Israel may have felt forgotten on that first Christmas with four hundred years of silence between the last word from the Lord and the arrival of Messiah. Those watching and waiting were fewer, but to those faithful few, God would show Himself faithful. The scattered pieces of a cosmic jigsaw puzzle were about to fall into place so that it should have been obvious to everyone but after the shepherds and Simeon and Anna, the only recorded search for Messiah was made by foreigners.

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.

About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.2.1-2.NLT

The first to discover a new star gets the privilege of naming it in modern days, but those in antiquity who searched the heavens recognized that the stars already have names. The Christ Star pointed to the birth of a king and aligned with several prophecies of old. These wise men, magi or astrologers, announced their purpose in the palace of the puppet king of Judea. Herod the Great had no claim to the throne. He was placed in power by Rome. The One born King of the Jews could ruin him. He feigned worship when his heart was set on murder, but the star seekers were warned by the Creator of the stars to return home another way.

The Roman occupation that existed in the middle east at Jesus’s birth had long meant trouble for the nation of Israel. They looked forward to a militant king who would banish their enemies and restore their birthright, the Promised Land. Jesus was not their idea of a Savior, yet wise men from a foreign land brought extravagant gifts and knelt in worship before a little child.

“But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

Romans 10:16-17 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.10.16-17.NLT

Look up at the stars and recall the faithfulness of God!

“Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.”

Joshua 21:45 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.21.45.NLT

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.”

Hebrews 1:1-2 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.1.1-2.NLT

“What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.”

Psalms 116:12-13 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.116.12-13.NLT

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

John 1:12 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.12.NLT

Thank You, Jesus, that You took on flesh so that all of the promises of God can be “yes” and “amen.”

Thank You that You reveal Yourself to whomever You choose in whichever way You choose.

Thank You for giving us Your Word and Your Spirit.

I praise You as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, perfect Lamb without spot or blemish, crucified before the foundation of the world.

You have no equal in this world or the next. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)