The Bright and Morning Star

I apologize right up front for another sky-view blog. I can’t seem to help myself. I think I've officially become an earth-moon-sun- star-gazer! I blame it on God Who keeps awing me every morning. I’m grateful I have His attention, because it would be misery to face blogging every day and wondering “What is there to blog about today?" Today, is my 2,334th blog and my "unlimited" God sure hasn’t let me run out of content.

Yesterday at 6:01 am, I captured this photo of the moon still high in the sky. What drew me in, was the bright star that was slightly above it. When I got home, I googled what that star was all about. I found that it wasn't a star at all. It is Venus, the planet. It can appear larger and closer to the sun than any other planet because it reflects 60% of the sun's light. From the Google site, I saw these words: "Venus, the Morning Star and Evening Star", but if Venus isn’t a star, why the nicknames? When Venus is on the other side of the Sun, it leads the Sun as it travels across the sky and will rise in the morning a few hours before the Sun. As the Sun rises, the sky brightens and Venus fades away in the day-sky. This is Venus the Morning Star. In the evening, when the sun sets, Venus is brightest when the sun goes down.

My analogy: in Revelations 22:16, Jesus referred to Himself as “the Bright Morning Star.” The Morning Star in Biblical times was the brightest star anyone saw in the sky, just before daylight. The famous Bethlehem star led the Wise Men to Jesus. That star "led", and Jesus as our Bright Morning Star is leading us, too -- right here at this time and place, and in the midst of all this chaos and confusion, Jesus, our Bright and Morning Star is wanting us to understand that He is with us and guiding us too. And, like Venus really isn’t a star, but a planet, Jesus isn’t just a star among many stars; He the ONE and ONLY Star. He IS the Way - the Truth - the Life. (John 14:6)

Venus, as the bright morning star, represents the promise of a new day! But let’s stop with this “Venus” talk. Let’s finish this blog by pointing us all to the promise of new days ahead for us. Many people around us are in darkness. They are hopeless, lost, confused and wonder “Could there ever be a better day?” Oh, yes, there is. It is this new day!

I know Jesus, the Bright Morning Star, personally. We talk and walk together daily. I once was lost in darkness, but now I'm found. I used to be hopeless and confused and wondered if I could make it another day, but since I met Jesus, it’s a new day every day. I used to have low self-esteem, but since I met Jesus, it’s a new day now. I used to feel sorry for myself, but it’s a new day now. I used to be afraid, but it’s a new day now. I wake up to each new day with great expectation that something good is going to happen to me today.

Oh, my precious friends, on the horizon is our Bright Morning Star Who tells us that not only will we rise and shine as a reflection of Him on this earth, but best-news-ever: we will forever be with Him "in the city that has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light."
(Revelations 21:23)

When We Allow God to Fill in the Blanks

One of my friends recently posted that she was well underway with filling in the blanks on her 2019 calendar. She must accomplish this feat because she has three children and with getting them to school and to their music and voice lessons, sports practices and games, as well as her own responsibilities as a wife, businesswoman, and mother, it is essential. I recall those times with my children and though I'm distant from those schedules now, I know them when I’m caring for my grandsons in Austin. Their mother is so on-point for me. She provides me with their full-of-activities calendars and she includes phone numbers of teachers, coaches, and friends that I can call if something’s just not right.

I'm thankful for my iPhone calendar that I've learned to make an entry for important dates and appointments. Then there are blanks to be filled in on forms. Who really enjoys going to a medical appointment and having to fill in all those questions? We like it when we've completed forms, outlines, and calendars. It feels so good once all those blanks are filled in. All the gaps closed. All the details disclosed. And all the why questions answered to our satisfaction.

But that’s not the way life is. Some questions should be blank. They just don't have a right or wrong answer. That’s the way God wants it. Our all-knowing God not only allows us to NOT know all the answers but He actually designed life to be that way.

Without blanks in our lives, we would have no room for Him to enter in and write His answers. For Him to become the WAY when there is no way. For Him to be the TRUTH when lies are consuming our thoughts. For Him to be the LIFE He’s designed for us to have on the other side of our insistence to control our stories and be the author of them. Our God is not forgetful. He doesn't make mistakes. He allows spaces and blank places. He leaves room for providential circumstances and surprises and His perfect plan to be working in our lives. If we had all the blanks filled in, we would explain away God’s part in our story. God doesn’t want to be explained away. He wants to be invited in. He wants us to make room for His additions to our story.

Remember just a few days ago when we heard the “No room” part of the Christmas Story? God was told, “There is no room,” and He turned an ordinary stable into an extraordinary place of worship. "No room” became a message for us to take to heart daily. When there is “No room” for God’s intervention, then we fill our rooms and spaces with stuff. But when we allow Him to step in, He creates “moments of amazing grace”, divine interventions and makes circumstances be certain God-winks.

Are the blanks and unanswered questions of your life providing space for God, the way-maker, the chain-breaker, pain-taker, the soul-saver, sin-forgiver, hope-giver Who provide the answers?

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps (will fill in the blanks).”