Last night I invited myself to the front row of the “Grand Ole Opry” (see March 31 devo). I decided if you can’t beat them, join them! After all, I was born in Nashville!

As I stood on my deck listening to the “chorus frogs” serenading each other I decided that while I appreciated their efforts to procreate, I will be happy when they are finished!

Before I turned to go inside I looked up into the dark sky. It was beautiful! The clouds had parted and the sky was clear and I was standing under a blanket of twinkling stars. It was one of those exhaling moments when you are reminded that God in heaven is looking down at you and wants you to know just how much He loves you!

Stars are truly amazing. For example; did you know that some stars are 100 times more massive than our Sun? There are approximately 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Despite how often stars are claimed to “twinkle” this is not true. The twinkling effect is merely the light from the star passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, and it is merely deflecting the light before it reaches our eyes. Every single star has almost the exact same

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star.” Revelation 22:16

chemical composition. The nuclear fusion reaction which occurs in each star is identical in each star, which requires hydrogen which turns into helium. As the hydrogen burns it collapses and forms a center mass due to gravitational pull of the heavier helium.

There are many more interesting facts about stars, but the facts are that the most fascinating to me can be found not in a science book or from looking through the James Webb or Thirty Meter telescopes. The most fascinating truths about stars for me can be found in the Bible: Isaiah 40:26 tells us to “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens; Who created these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and call forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Psalm 147:4 reminds us that “He keeps track of the number of stars, assigning names to all of them.”

But Revelation 22:16 is the one that out shines them all; "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star." Jesus, as God incar-nate, the Lord of the universe, is the Bright and Morning Star. Jesus is the most holy and powerful “Light” in all the universe. Jesus is the Light of the World!

There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. And those very hands that made the stars now live in our hearts. He is with us in this pandemic crisis. He alone can truly calm our hearts, take away our anxieties and give us His peace.

Tonight, go outside and look up in the sky. Instead of wishing upon a star, how about a prayer of praise to the One who created the heavens and the earth, the Bright Morning Star who now shines in our hearts!

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers

and clouds and stars.” Martin Luther