Living Beyond 2000

by Mark Finley

Discoveries In Prophecy
Lecture #1 presented October 5, 1996.

Our topic tonight is 'Living Beyond 2000,' how to thrive in the tough
times ahead. Tonight we take a journey, a marvelous 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 Alan Shepard,
landed on the moon on July 21, 1969. They left their footprints on the
moon. But tonight we're going beyond our nearest neighbor at 240,000
miles away, well over 300,000 kilometers. 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 center 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 kilometers 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 kilometers. 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, traveling

through space, some of them like planet Earth traveling at 66,000 miles
an hour, a hundred thousand kilometers 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 archeology. 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 traveling, his skeptical 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 kilometers, and they live hundreds of miles, hundreds of
kilometers 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 liters 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 traveled 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-centered,
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 center of the universe, there in the center 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 iving
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.