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“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” (Psalm 139:17-18)

When Heather was little, her family would go camping at the beach. They stayed in tents and cooked over an open fire. Every day, Heather and her twin brother Mitch would go swimming in the ocean! They had so much fun playing in the water, walking along the beach, and, of course, playing in the sand. Mitch and Heather built too many sand castles to count, and one time they even built a car made of sand! Sometimes, Heather wondered if it was possible to count all the grains of sand on that beach. She tried once to count just a bucket full of sand, but as you can imagine, she gave that up quickly! Why? Even in a single bucket, there was way too much sand to count!

The Bible says that God’s thoughts about His people are more in number than the sand. Imagine counting all the piles of sand on a beach. It would be hard to count all the piles of sand on just one single beach. Now imagine trying to count all the piles of sand on all the beaches of the world! Even more incredible is the thought of trying to count every single grain of sand in every pile of sand on every beach in the world! In our wildest imaginations, we could not pretend to understand a number that big!

Like Heather, we would probably give up counting before we got through just one small bucket of sand. The numbers are just too much. Those kinds of numbers are exactly how the Bible describes how many thoughts God has toward His people.

Not only are God’s thoughts toward His own countless, but they are also precious thoughts. That means He cherishes His people and that He plans only good things to do for them, and through them. Here on Earth, we may sometimes feel forgotten or left out, but we can always go back to God’s Word and remember that God is thinking precious thoughts about us!

Psalm 139 speaks of how closely God pays attention to those whom He created, and especially how He feels about people who trust Him and obey Him by His grace. There are many other Bible verses that describe how countless and wonderful God’s thoughts are toward His own. Psalm 40:5 says, “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

What a great and good God He is!

God’s thoughts toward His people are countless and precious.

My Response:
» Is it easy to imagine how many grains of sand there are on a beach?
» Is it easy for me to believe that God thinks about those who trust and obey Him?
» How should it help me to remember that God thinks so often and so favorably toward His own?

“And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John 10: 4-5)

Mary had a little lamb, her fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. This nursery rhyme meant quite a bit to Mary, because she really did have a lamb that wanted to follow her everywhere. Her father wasn’t exactly a “shepherd,” but he was in charge of a ranch that raised sheep. Mary loved to go with her father whenever he would check on the flocks. One day, he asked Mary if she would like to help him take care of a special little lamb.

This little lamb’s mother had died, and the lamb had also been born blind. Mary’s job was to feed the lamb with a bottle every day. She also checked his coat too make sure it was not scratched or dirty. Mary named the lamb “Fluffy.” Soon, Fluffy learned to recognize Mary’s voice. Even though Fluffy was blind, as long as he could hear Mary, he would follow her anywhere she went.

Some of the ranch workers would try calling to Fluffy, to see if he would follow them, but he never did. He listened only to Mary, and he really did follow her voice anywhere. Once, Mary and Fluffy even got in trouble with Mary’s mom, because they came walking into the living room where Mary’s mom was having a meeting with some other ladies in the neighborhood!

Why do you think Fluffy would follow Mary, but not the ranch workers? Fluffy knew that Mary had been was the one who fed him and took care of him. Fluffy had learned that Mary would never hurt him in any way. Fluffy could tell Mary’s voice apart from any others, and there was no one else he cared to follow. Fluffy was just a lamb, and he was also blind; but he still knew enough to know he belonged to Mary and could trust her care.

In chapter 10 of John, Jesus refers to Himself as our Shepherd. As we experience God’s daily love and care for us, we learn that we can trust Him wherever He leads. By reading our Bibles and praying daily, we learn more of Him, which helps our trust grow even stronger. We can grow closer to Him every day, and we can learn to tune out the other influences in our lives that might lead us astray. What a wonderful Shepherd we have!

God has daily proven His love and power, and we can rest safely in His care.

My Response:
» Am I willing to submit to and follow a loving God?
» How can I draw nearer to God every day?
» How does God’s trustworthiness compare to the other “voices” and desires that call out for me to follow them?

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do not appear.” (Hebrews 11:3)

Did you ever wonder what holds this world together? Why don’t we fall apart as we walk around? Why don’t the planets spin out of their orbits? What keeps the sun (a huge flaming ball of gases) all together instead of splitting up into thousands of flaming little sun-balls? What holds our insides in and keeps the outsides out? If you think of water in a pitcher, the pitcher holds the water in and keeps everything else out, right? But what is it that holds the pitcher together? As we walk around outside, we do not fall apart. Why? Because our skin holds us together! But what really is it that keeps your skin holding together?

Some say that Newton’s Law of Gravity holds us together, or a bunch of other recognized scientific laws. Isaac Newton did not create gravity, though; he just discovered it. Who invented gravity and designed it to do what it does? Some people say they just don’t know what keeps the universe running.

We are able to learn the true answer to the question of how the world keeps going, because the Bible tells us. It is God Who holds your skin together and keeps the planets in their proper orbits. God created the whole universe by simply speaking, as He tells us in Genesis 1. In the thousands of years since He first made Creation, God has been holding it together. He created our bone structures and skin. He created gravity. He created created solids and gases and powders and globby things and sticky things.

God is a very powerful God, and He is also good. By His providence and power, He keeps everything and everybody going. The next time you step out into your yard, be glad that your lungs and liver don’t fall into the grass! Be thankful that your lips and teeth are there to keep your tongue from sliding out. And take a moment to remember that God created this world in a very specific way so that things would work just right. Everywhere we look, we can see reminders that God is a great God and a good God Who not only created the world, but keeps on taking care of it.

As the sovereign Creator and Sustainer, God gets the credit for keeping everything together.

My Response:
» How can remembering that God is in charge help me respond rightly when things in my life seem out of control?
» Can I point to things in my life that help me see God taking care of even today?

“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I fell from thy presence?” (Psalm 139:7)

Did you ever want to be in two places at once? Well, it is actually possible to say you have been in two places at once. You could travel to Colorado and stop at the Colorado and Wyoming state line. You could put your left foot on the Colorado state side and your right foot on the Wyoming state side. Then you would be standing in two places at once!

OK, so technically that is cheating a little. Truly, it is impossible for us human beings to be in more than two places at once. We have only one body, and only two feet! Being everywhere at once would be even more difficult for us than being only two places at once. What truly is amazing is that God has no problem being two places at once, or five, or thirty, or thirty-five thousand places at once. Why? Because God is God, it is more than possible for Him to be present in every possible place at once. He is everywhere!

The dictionary defines “omnipresent” as “present everywhere simultaneously.” That means God is everywhere, all the time, at the same time. He is with you when you are sleeping, when you are at school, and when you are outside playing. How can that be? Because He is everywhere, all at once. At the same time that He is with you at your house, He is also present in your best friend’s home.

Omnipresence is a hard thing for us as humans to understand, but God is God, and we have to remember that God can do and be what is impossible for humans. When we pray, He hears us; but he also hears the other people that are praying at the same time. Can you listen when two people are talking at the same time? Have you ever tried to hear and understand 10 or 15 people talking all at the same time? That could get confusing for us, but God is never confused. God is right beside you listening to your prayer, and at the same time, He is across the room or across town listening to your best friend’s prayers. When you feel alone, or when you think you are by yourself, remember: God is with you! He is the only One Who can be with us anytime, anywhere. What a great God He is.

The God of the Bible is present everywhere, all the time.

My Response:
» How can remembering that God is omnipresent be a comfort to me?
» How can remembering that God is omnipresent help me say “no” to sin?