Living Beyond 2000
by Mark Finley
 Our topic tonight is 'Living Beyond 2000,' how to thrive in the tough times ahead. Tonight we take a journey, a marvellous journey beyond the stars, a journey into outer space. It was the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the new world.....1992. America was celebrating its 500th anniversary. But at the same time, another journey of discovery was beginning. This journey of discovery was a journey that was beginning as two radio telescopes were turned on in separate parts of the world. On October 12, 1992, in Puerto Rico a radio telescope was turned on that was a thousand feet across, or 305 meters.
It began sending its signals into outer space. At the same time, in the Mojave Desert, a second telescope was turned on. That telescope as well, at the Goldstone Tracking Station, was a thousand meters across. These two telescopes sending their signals into outer space were part of a project financed by NASA. A multi-million dollar project, a project to send signals into outer space to try to discover, "Is there anyone out there? Is there somebody out there beyond the stars? Is there somebody who has some hopeful message for earth? Is there intelligent life out there somewhere?"
These radio signals were operating on the low end of the frequency. They were microwave signals sent out from these two mammoth telescopes with the specific desire of attracting attention from outer space. Is there some message of hope beyond the stars? Is there intelligent life out there somewhere? Let's take a journey tonight, a journey into outer space. Let's discover indeed if we can find any evidence for intelligent life out there. Are other planets populated? Are these other planets inhabited? Are there footprints on other planets? The Apollo 11 astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, landed on the moon on July 21, 1969. They left their footprints on the moon. But tonight we're going beyond our nearest neighbour at 240,000 miles away, well over 300,000 kilometres. We're going beyond the moon tonight.
We're taking a journey passing by Mars. Have you been keeping up to date with some of the amazing discoveries that have been taking place on the road to the 'red planet' recently? If you've been watching CNN here in the United States or around the world, if you've been reading Time or Newsweek magazine, you're well aware that scientists have been considering the possibility of life on Mars. Recent discoveries have brought to light the fact that there may have been some intelligent life out there at one time. That's at least what one group of scientists says. Another group of scientists is arguing with them, and they are saying, "Well, that's not evidence of life at all on Mars." A 'probe' (that is a spacecraft that separates from its loader) landed on Mars and that probe brought back some Mars samples that the scientists began studying. They also have some meteor samples.....here is a picture on the screen, a Mars meteor. As the scientists were studying this particular meteor sample, they noticed what they thought might be some evidence of life on Mars. They noticed these carbonate globules and thought, "Does this indicate that there was life? Are these preliminary life forms?"
They looked then at microfossils.you can see in the centre of the picture what looks like a worm-like structure. The scientists took a look at that and said, "Could that be life?" There were some that said, "Yes, it does appear to be a life form," but another group of scientists said, "No, it's not a life form." Are we left in confusion? Is there some life beyond a planet called Earth? Is there some intelligent life? Are we left confused with baffling theories from a variety of scientists? Or is there any evidence more concrete than the evidence of Mars?
Let's travel beyond the moon, beyond Mars. Let's travel tonight beyond the sun, 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometres away. Let's journey into outer space, into the very outer limits of the universe. Let's travel tonight past our nearest star. You know, the nearest star is a star called Alpha Centauri. That star is 26.5 trillion miles away, or 41 trillion kilometres. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the nearest star. We are very close to home. We're 26.5 trillion miles away, and we're nearest home! I wonder, "Who created those stars?" I wonder, "Who formed and fashioned the stars?" I wonder, "Could it be that scientists are looking for some life forms on Mars and other planets, but there is an abundant evidence of life all around us that we have overlooked in a secular scientific society?"
The book of Job (chapter 22, verse 12) says, "Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" Truly, the prophet was right when he said the stars are high! Twenty six trillion miles away is quite high, ladies and gentlemen. What do you think? Indeed, the scientists looked out at the heavens, and you know, the early scientists said you can look in the heavens and said you can count the stars. If you read scientific text books centuries ago, they would say, "Look out there.....there are 5119 stars."
Now, if you doubt those early scientists.(If it weren't raining in Florida tonight --- You know, when Lonnie welcomed you across the world from the 'Sunshine State,' some of us in the audience chuckled a little bit because we are in the midst of a downpour and have been for the last week! I think the sun will shine shortly..)
If it weren't cloudy in your area and you could walk out tonight after the meeting and look up at the stars and if you found a quiet spot, you could begin to count them. Let me remind you, if you count 5118, you missed one. Count again. If you count 5120, you got one too many, friend. Count again. Those early scientists said there were 5119 stars. No more, no less. That's exactly it. Then the telescope was invented, and those scientists saw a few more stars. But today you can go over to Mount Palomar in California, and there you have the observatory that has one of the largest telescopes in the world, some 200 inches across the lens of the telescope. And looking through this gigantic telescope in Mount Palomar, California, the scientists tell us what the ancients thought were stars are actually entire galaxies. Listen to what Dr. Yeaks says.that there are a million galaxies in the bowl of the Big Dipper! Jeremiah put it this way (Jeremiah 33:22 NKJV): "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David, My servant, and the Levites who minister to Me."
How did the prophet know, when scientists four or five hundred years ago were saying there are 5119 stars, how did he know the stars could not be numbered? There are scientists today that indicate there are 200 billion stars.the vastness of space, the immenseness of space! Picture it in your mind.galaxies, planets, and stars, travelling through space, some of them like planet Earth travelling at 66,000 miles an hour, a hundred thousand kilometres an hour.passing one another. I wonder, "Who created the stars? Who set the stars in motion?"
If you saw a ball rolling across this platform, you would say, "Who rolled the ball?" It is a scientific law that there cannot be motion without a mover. There cannot be design without a designer. Who is the prime mover in the universe? Who is the great designer of it all? Who keeps the stars in their orbits? One scientist said that when you look at the stars and you see millions of stars and planets and galaxies, it's like a fiery pinwheel. They are like water skiers in the sky passing one another at incredible speeds. Why does Earth not have a collision and destroy all life? Is there One who is holding the stars in His hands? Is there a Guide who is guiding the universe in its destiny? Indeed, there is a God who is holding the universe in His hands. Somebody said that if you could count the stars, the stars would be as many as the grains of sand on the seashores of every country in the world. There are as many stars as there are grains of sand? But yet the Bible makes the amazing statement (Isaiah 40:26): "Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing." Two hundred billion stars, and the Creator of the universe, the prime mover, the personal intelligent God knows every one of those stars by name. And He hasn't forgotten your name, friend. This God of the universe, this infinite intelligent God, this all-wise God, this God who has a design for the planets has a design for your life. If He is big enough to guide the stars, He's big enough to guide you. If He's great enough to guide the stars, He's great enough to guide your life.
Let's suppose that you and I were walking.and we were walking along the beach. When I was giving lectures to a number of scientists in the former Soviet Union, some one thousand scientists, I was talking about space as well as the Bible and archaeology. One of them said, "When our cosmonaut went up in space, he said he didn't see God. Have you ever seen God, Mr. Finley?" I said, "Well, let's suppose we're walking down the beach..and let's assume that we're not walking backwards. (You've always got to make provision for the person who says you saw your footprints because you were walking backward!) Up in front of us there are footprints in the sand. Would you think it's a logical conclusion, if there are footprints in the sand, to say that somebody walked ahead of you? You may have never seen that individual, but if there are footprints in the sand. God has left footprints in the sky, in the universe, in the majesty and might of the universe, in the power of the universe. Indeed, my friend, there are footprints in the sky.
Who holds the universe together? The universe does not reveal randomness, chance.the universe does not reveal accidental, haphazard happenings. The universe reveals intelligence. The universe reveals a creator God who holds the universe together. Colossians 1:16 says, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." It is the intelligent God, the all-wise God, the loving God who has created the universe, and He holds its destiny in His hands. "Wonder Worlds," a book published by a group of scientists, makes this amazing statement: It says, "When you see design, there must be a designer. When you see motion, there must be something that started that motion. When you see intelligent design, there must be an intelligent designer." The scientists said mere matter cannot be endowed with such capacity. This group of scientists said it is the work of an all-powerful, intelligent God.
Let's suppose I'm walking down the street. You say, "Mr. Finley, what time is it?" I take out my watch and say, "Well, it's a few minutes after eight..8:12, in Florida." You say, "That's a very lovely watch. Where did you get it?" I say, "Let me tell you the story: I was walking down the street..and there was an explosion that took place in a watch factory! It put all the springs and gears just right, the glue bottle exploded and the glue came flying through the air and landed on the face of my watch.and at just the right time, the numbers came and --1, 2, 3, 4, 5-- landed in the right place! Just as miraculously I lifted up my arm and a band (because of the electrical fusion and the heat) glued itself to the casing of the watch, and I just lifted up my arm and it fell on there, and well, it is now that time." You say,"What institution did you just leave???" You say, "What state did you just come from? What country were you born in? You think we are that gullible?" But the universe is far more complex than the watch I have on my wrist, friend. The universe is far more detailed. The universe gives evidence for you and me that there is a God in heaven, an all-wise God, a powerful Creator.
Napoleon was the leader of France, a French general in the late 1700s, early 1800s. One night Napoleon was on a boat in the Mediterranean.and as he was travelling, his sceptical atheistic soldiers were arguing the fact: They said, "God doesn't exist, there's no evidence for the existence of God." As Napoleon walked out on the bow of the ship, he simply looked up at the stars and said, "But gentlemen, I have one question: Who made the stars?" And then Napoleon went to bed, leaving them gazing into the heavens.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the heavens indicate to you and to me that there is an all-powerful God. The heavens indicate to you and to me that, behind it all, there is a God who has this world in His hands. The book of Psalms says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night, they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." You can thrive in the tough times ahead. You can thrive in the crises of your life, when your life is falling apart with divorce, when your life is wracked with cancer, when you are gripped with poverty, when you live in a little old apartment in the city. You can thrive in the tough times ahead, because you can look up beyond the stars, you can look up beyond the sky, you can look out of the sorrow and tears of your life and sense that the God who created the universe wants to reach out and touch you and your life. You can give thanks that this God who calls the stars by name has not forgotten yours, that this God who has created the universe with such awesome power has the power to change your life. Job 22:21 says: (read it with me from the screen..) "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace." Would you like to be at peace? Would you like to have a settled confidence in your life? I'm not talking about some silly, sentimental, emotional form that some people call religion. The scripture says to "acquaint yourself with Him." Become acquainted with God! The awesome God, the powerful God, the life-changing God, the God of the universe. The God by whose hands the entire universe exists. Nature reveals not only that God is all-powerful, but that He is supremely intelligent.not only that He's an infinite designer, but nature also reveals that God's works indicate His concern.
Look at nature. For example, the Bible says in Genesis 1:1 (read it with me please..) " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Earth did not evolve! It is not merely an accidental happening, not at all. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. When you look at nature, consider, for example, the tides as they come in and go out on a planet called Earth. As we look at our earth, it gives evidence again of God's care, God's concern. It gives evidence of God's love. The Bible says that God hung the earth on nothing. He's the Creator. He hung the earth on nothing. But look at how God governs the tides: Do they come in any haphazard way? The ides come in and out on time, the tides of the oceans follow a regular pattern. There is design, not randomness or chance or chaos. The tides flow in and out, exactly on schedule. Or consider the sun: Let's suppose the sun were closer to the earth, the earth would be burned up! Let's suppose the sun were further away, the earth would freeze!
You see, my point is simple. Every place you look, whether it is in the heavens, outer space, or whether it is on earth, there is not randomness or chance. But there is design! There is design indeed throughout the universe. Take the ecosystem, for example. The snow falls on the mountains. As that snow falls, the sun melts it. The streams carry the water down to ponds or lakes where that water then evaporates and goes back up into the heavens to fall as rain, to bring joy and gladness to the earth. The ecosystem is perfectly balanced. Nature shouts to us, "There is a God!" Water is continuously recycled. In fact, you may be aware of it or you may not, but as the snows melt and as the water drips from the rocks in beautiful babbling brooks carrying it to clear lakes, and as you go to your faucet and get that water from the reservoir through the pipes to your home, the water that you drink in those water droplets has been recycled.and it is as old as the pyramids! Water is constantly being recycled. It falls, evaporates, comes down as snow or rain, and we drink it. God has built into earth a system to provide for His creatures. God reveals His care, a God who has thought about you and me.
Take the air we breathe. I breathe in my air, and the air is composed of four elements. The air that we breathe is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and carbon dioxide. What if the formula were mixed wrong? Air itself indicates that this all-powerful God, this master designer, this intelligent God has prepared Earth for you and for me, and He Himself has mixed the formula for air. In fact, as the Bible so adequately says it (read it with me from the screen, Job 12:10): "In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?" What a God He is! He guides the stars. He hangs the planets in space. He says to the tides, come no further. He says to the sun, stand there. And it does! What a God He is! He designs a perfect ecosystem and the rain falls and we drink the water. What a God He is! He mixes the chemical formula for air. I can safely trust a God like that. What about you, friend?
Think of this God! All across the earth he causes the harvest to bloom and blossom and food to grow, just so that you and I can eat and enjoy life to the fullest. Every time we sit down to eat a loaf of bread, it is a testimony of a God who has provided for us. He indeed cares for us. And if He gives us physical bread, if He gives us the abundance of the earth, if He gives to us the fruits of the trees, these are gifts --- every apple you eat is a gift from God. All the genius of man cannot cause that seed to grow, cannot put life in the seed. It's a gift from the living God. Every orange you eat is a gift from the living God. He's all powerful. He's concerned about you. He is all-loving.
I am told that the Swiss scientists from time to time take snow flakes and put them under the microscope. And when they do that, Swiss lace makers take new designs and new patterns from the snow flakes. The reason for this, of course, is that no two snow flakes have the exact same design. So the Swiss lace makers will have an infinite opportunity to get new designs for their lace. The God who designed every snow flake has designed every life differently. Your life and the experiences of your life are different from the person sitting next to you. But that God who has named the stars, that God who has provided such abundance for a planet called Earth, that God has a design for your life! That God has a plan for your life because intelligent design in the universe reveals an intelligent designer. More than you know, that God cares for you. More than you can imagine, that God cares for you. In fact, Job 12:7-9 says, "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this?"
When you actually look at the way God guides some of the animal creatures, it's amazing! There are some fish that are born in a certain place, that travel through the ocean a thousand miles, they travel 14-, 15-, 1600 kilometres, and they live hundreds of miles, hundreds of kilometres from the place of their birth. But then when they get ready to die, there's something in their heads that guides them back to the very place they were born, to die. How do those fish know to do that? Who has programmed their brains or has programmed within them that biological urge or drive?
There are butterflies.....look at the design of the butterfly. Do you think that a design that majestic came merely by chance? Not at all, friend. But when you look at it, there are certain types of butterflies that will travel 1500 to 2000 miles to places that they have never been before to die at those places. Who guides the fish, the birds, the butterflies? Who guides them? A loving God.
And that same God loves you. You can thrive in the tough times ahead if you sense the personal concern and infinite power and amazing wisdom of this God. Of all the creatures in the universe the human race is the most important to Him. He has created us in His own image, given us minds to think and to reason. He's given us an intelligence capacity. Yes, this God has shaped us and fashioned us. You know that when we look at outer space, we see evidence of design. When we look at nature, we see evidence of design.
But when we look at the human body, we also see evidence of design. You know, when we look at the human body, we do not see something that merely sometime in the far distant past came out of a test tube. For example, consider your heart. The heart is a living pump. In fact, it pumps some 2,000 gallons, or 7500 liters, of blood every single day. The heartbeat indicates there's design. It indicates life. The very physical bodies that we have indicate a loving, caring God. You take our lungs and the air sacs. Our bodies actually filter air that is coming in and filter the impurities out. Who designed a body ahead of time that would be conscious of the impurities in the air and filter out air pollution? If we didn't have that filtering mechanism, we would be much more susceptible to disease and death. What about the impurities in the food? Take the kidneys, for example. They have the capacity to filter out 1700 litters a day.....amazing capacity. Who designed the heart? Who designed the lungs? Who designed the kidneys? A God that cares. A God that loves. A God to whom you are very, very important. You may have come into this meeting feeling discouraged. You may have cried yourself to sleep last night saying, "Is there anybody that cares for me?" And the universe shouts back, the stars speak to you tonight, the planets speak to you tonight..all of nature speaks to you tonight! In your darkest moments, when your husband has left you for another woman, when you're crying yourself to sleep at two o'clock in the morning, when you've been diagnosed as having cancer and the life force is draining out of you, when in your very soul you feel you're not worth anything to anybody, when you say, "Is there anybody that cares?", your hearts and your lungs and your kidneys give evidence of a God who has designed you.
And look at the human brain......one night I was lecturing on neurophysiology, talking about the brain. I said there are 14 billion brain cells. After the lecture there was a neurophysiologist in the audience, one of these brain specialists, who came up to me and said, "Your figure was wrong. There are not 14 billion brain cells. We know today from modern research that there are 50 billion brain cells!" I said, "My, that's fantastic!" During the next lecture I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the brain has 50 billion brain cells." There was a neurophysiologist in the audience. He came up after the lecture and said, "Mark, I think you quoted a wrong figure there are about a hundred billion brain cells." I said, "Doctor, did you count them?" God has created us as rational, intelligent beings. A hundred billion brain cells! We can think and we can reason, take in thousands of messages into the mind at the same time.
But wait! God has given us emotions. There is joy, and there is sorrow. There is fear, and there is peace. We are emotional beings. Where there is intelligent design, there must be an intelligent designer. Where there is evidence in creation of a God who provides, there must be a prime mover, a personal God who has provided for His creatures. But wait! Our brains indicate, our emotions indicate that there must be a God who can love, must be a God who cares for us. As I have travelled over the world, there is one thing that becomes very obvious to me: that all over the world, men and women are looking for a life in all of its fullness and abundance.
When you think of life, that miraculous gift called life, friend, look at the eyes of a baby, a baby sleeping. What conclusion do you come to? You come to this conclusion: that life in all its fullness reveals a loving, powerful, magnificent God. Can you look in the eyes of a baby? Can you look at that smiling face and not think of a God? Look at this amazing slide, an actual photograph of a baby in its mother's womb still attached to the umbilical cord. Look at those little forming hands, look at those forming feet, look at that head that's forming. Is all this some accident? Will I tell this child some day that his life has no more significance than a can of pop that's been run over by some truck, that his life is just like a leaf blowing in the breeze, that his life is just like some pebble? Shall I tell this little child that he is just skin covering bones and that he is just some cosmic accident? Shall I tell him that?
Not at all! I can say a loving God fashioned you and made you and shaped you. And honey, when you go out tonight, and you look up at the stars, remember, the God who is beyond the stars wants you have a happy, meaningful, productive life. There is no problem too great for Him to solve. There is no perplexity too great for Him to unravel. There is no obstacle in your life that the God of the universe, the powerful awesome intelligent loving God, cannot handle. Deep within every human heart there is the desire to worship. In every culture in the world there is that desire to worship, that desire to be at one with God. As St. Augustine said years ago, "Lord, our hearts will never find rest until they find rest in You." We are made for God. We are made to be at one with our Maker. And the reason so many people are distressed inside, the reason so many people feel anxiety inside, the reason so many people may try money, materialism?.....We live in a sin-centred, thrill-jaded, morally twisted, materialistic, sex-oriented generation.....Men and women are running here and there to find solutions to their problems. But the good news is that a loving God cares, and He says in 1Peter 5, verse 7: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." He does what? He does what? He cares for you. In your sorrow, He cares. In your disappointment, He cares. In your heartache, He cares. For from beyond the stars, God cares for you. From beyond the stars, God is interested in you. For from beyond the stars, what troubles you troubles Him. Your life is in His hands. You can thrive in the tough times ahead if you place your life in His hands. You can thrive in the tough times ahead if you reach out and say to Him, "Lord, I'm yours. Take my sorrow. Take my anxiety. Take my disappointment."
The scripture also says (Psalms 139:17 NKJV): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" Somebody is thinking about you tonight. Somebody cares for you tonight. Somebody loves you tonight. In the heart of the universe, in the cosmic control centre of the universe, there in the centre of it all, there is an all-powerful, intelligent, loving God that has you on His mind. You are in His heart tonight. The scripture says in Psalm 139:17, "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You." Not only are there as many stars as there are grains of sand on the shores, but especially God's thoughts are turned toward you. God is thinking about you.
Looking out of the shattered windows of your life, looking out of the sorrow and the disappointment of your life, God reaches out to you. God cares for you. When we look at the life of Jesus Christ, friend, we see the care, the love, that God manifests, indeed, in His own son. You see, you can thrive in the tough times ahead if you're acquainted with God. You can thrive in the tough times ahead if you sense His personal concern. You can thrive in the tough times ahead if you place your life in His hands. And you can thrive in the tough times ahead if, indeed, you discover God's love in His word. Discover God's care in His word.
Let's look for a moment at the life of Jesus. The greatest manifestation of God's love is indeed in the life of Jesus. Jesus came to earth. He touched those afflicted with illness, and they rose to new life. What was Jesus saying? He was saying that God loves you when you're sick and wants to put His arms around you. Jesus touched the eyes of the blind, and they were opened. What was Jesus saying? He was saying that He wants us to see eternal perspectives and know His love in our own personal lives. Jesus spoke to a man called Zaccheus and said, "Come down from that tree. You're filled with guilt and fear, but tonight I'm going to your house. Your life is changed." The greatest manifestation of God's love is this man called Jesus Christ. Jesus talked to the woman by the well of Samaria. She had seven husbands and was filled with guilt and conflict in her life. Christ reached out to her, and she found new life, freedom from guilt, and peace in this Jesus. Yes, the stars show us He has a design. The stars reveal His love. Yes, indeed, all nature tells us of His love. When we see this Christ, we come face to face with God's love. A woman caught in adultery was cast at his feet. And there she rose forgiven, coming face to face with God's love. Our lives are changed coming face to face with God's love. Our hearts are transformed. Coming face to face with God's love, indeed, we are made new.
Men and women in the Bible came face to face with God's love in Christ. Nicodemus, a changed man.....when you have a personal encounter with God, you can never be the same again. Some time ago, I met a young woman called Shannon. Shannon had a life that was falling apart. In fact, when she was 16 years old, she became pregnant out of wedlock. As she bore her child she felt discouraged and depressed. She was living the party life.....alcohol, drugs.....and as she continued to go through life, she became more depressed. Many a day she wouldn't get out of bed in the morning. She slept all day, stayed up all night on amphetamines. She was up at one, two, three o'clock in the morning, living a life of despair, a life of discouragement. She married, but her marriage didn't go well. She and her husband constantly argued.
Two of her children got involved in demon worship. She also tried suicide twice. Shannon's life was chaos, living from one pill to the next. But then one night, at 2:00 in the morning, she was up on amphetamines, and she took the remote on the TV and kept pushing and pushing, rapidly going through the channels, changing one channel after the next. As she did, she stumbled across our "It Is Written" television program. That evening I was interviewing a young drug addict, a drug addict who began to sense that God had a plan for life, he began to sense that God had a design for his life and that the all-powerful God who guides the stars could guide his life. This drug addict had become converted, had accepted Jesus Christ, and he was living his testimony. He sang a song called, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." Right there in her living room that night, Shannon knelt down and said, "If You're big enough to guide the universe, You can change my life. God, if You can guide the stars, You can change my life. If You're great enough to supply food for all of the world, You can change my life. God, if Jesus reveals Your love, and if Jesus healed the sick, You can heal my soul. If Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, You can forgive me." There that night, high on speed, flipping the dial, she came face to face with this awesome, powerful, loving God of the universe. And she said, "Lord, tonight I'm putting my life in Your hands." She came to discover the truth of Genesis 28:15 (read it with me please): "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go."
The God of the universe is with you tonight. Shannon that night made a commitment that transformed her life. Tonight that God reaches out to you. He's not only the God of the stars. He knows your name. He knows your heartaches. He knows your difficulties. He knows your problems. He knows your sorrows. He has guided the stars, and He can guide you. This God wants to provide for you. He wants your life to be new, to be different, to be changed. He wants to lift you from discouragement. He wants to lift you from disappointment. He wants to lift you from sorrow. This God who sent His son, Jesus Christ, revealed His love, wants to reveal it to you tonight, wants to forgive you and change you and make you a new person. Listen as Wintley sings, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine." This God of the universe, this all powerful God, this awesome God, this God can reach into your life tonight as you bow your head to pray:"Father in heaven, we're thankful that we're not left alone in the universe. We're thankful that we're not merely skin covering bones. We're thankful that the God of the universe loves us and cares for us and that Jesus shows us that He's forgiving and compassionate and merciful. Tonight, in our fears, in our anxieties, in our disappointments, we put our lives in His hands, in Jesus' name, Amen.
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