Monday, February 20, 2012

February 21, 2012

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Psalm 8:3-4

Why did God create some 350 BILLION galaxies!

Because He can!

Here are just a few facts about ONE galaxy:



Our Milky Way galaxy is a spiral galaxy. A spiral galaxy is shaped like a flat disk with a thicker bulge in the center. Bright spiral arms start from the center and then coil outward like a pinwheel. All spirals rotate very slowly. The Milky Way completes a single revolution once every 250 million years.


Most galaxies are billions of years old. The youngest known galaxy is 1 Zwicky 18. At an estimated age of a mere 500 million years, it is a babe in diapers compared to the Milky Way at 10-14 billion years, which is the average age of the known galaxies (Some dispute these ages but even if they are correct only a matter of a few years in God’s timing).


The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is the closest galaxy to ours. It is actually contained within the Milky Way and only 42,000 light years form the galactic core.

A light year is the distance light travels in a year at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. That factors to about 6 trillion miles in a year! Now think about 42,000 x 6 trillion!

Now consider that is a relatively SHORT distance in space between galaxies – all 350 BILLION of them!



Uh………wow!

Why did God make everything SO Big?

Because He can!

Now think about the intelligence that knows just how much space that is needed to maintain the gravitational balance to keep everything synchronized and moving together at thousand of miles per hour without crashing into one another and without running out of space!

 
Who can do that?


God can!


There must be someone (or Someone) bigger than all that vastness and maintains control over it all! Whoever that is would necessarily be larger and more powerful than all of this! Who could be that infinite?

God is!



Whoever is that HUGE and that powerful had better be kind and holy or we would have a frightening threat hanging our heads!

God IS kind and holy and loving and has done everything He possibly can to reveal Himself to you as the powerful, personal and loving God He is!

Why would you not receive that love and embrace it and treasure it and surrender to it and grow in it and share it?

You can!


















February 20, 2012

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”  Psalm 8:3-4



This was a common conversation between young boys back in my day, “My dad is bigger than your dad!”

“Huh! My dad is way stronger than your dad!”

“No way!”

“Way!”

In the highly competitive world of boyhood strength and size won you some respect among your peers. When you had the respect of your peers it raised your level of self-respect.

That is the tone of the Psalmist as he boasts, “My God is bigger than your gods!”

He was impressed with his God as he sat out under the stars in the high meadows where his sheep grazed. Night after night he stared into the sky and became familiar with the constellations and the various phases of the moon. Some nights he would see meteors and shooting stars. Etched in his memory were scores of spectacular sunsets and glorious sunrises. Over time he became aware of the predictable precision of the universe further impressing him with the intelligence of the Divine.

It is hard to know if the Psalmist loved God before He became so impressed by His greatness or if he grew to love Him through his awe of creation. But it is obvious that he is thrilled by the prospect that a God this great and powerful has chosen to love him.

When you think about it, it IS pretty amazing! So think about it!

Where better to begin a study on the love of God than with the greatness of God?

How can you understand how huge His love is until you understand how huge and powerful He is? First He CREATED this amazing, expanding, never-ending universe with just a few words and then He FILLED it with His presence and His love!

Surely, who are you that He should take notice of you? Who are you that He should create ALL of this in order to sustain and enrich your existence? Who are you that He should give of Himself – His only Son – to die on a cross to redeem you from your sins? Who are you? You are His! And what sort of love is this? Crazy love!

Will you make some time today to meditate on His greatness?

Will you take the time to notice all the wonders of creation? Gaze on the fresh blanket of snow. Listen to the sounds of the birds. Feel the breeze in your face. Hear the laughter of a child.

And as you take notice of all these wonders think, “He loves me this much!” And then worship Him!