All Things New

A new day is coming. There is no night to invade the light again. God is doing something new.

There is redemption and transformation in the new day and new world where we will be new people.

Sharing the Glory

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” – Revelation 21:10

Someone once said that no experience in his life was complete until he had shared it with His beloved.

As children, we rushed home to our moms and dads with every piece of good news from the day at school. As teens, we called our best friends as soon as possible. When God brought that special someone into our lives, if we have been so blessed, we desired nothing more than to disclose every wonderful event to him or her. Throughout our lives there have been people attached to us who were so precious that we wanted to share ourselves, our hopes, our dreams, our victories, and our sorrows with them.

In such a spirit, Jesus took some of his dearest friends to the mountain. Up until this point, they had seen him as a man – an extraordinary man. But now, he wanted to show a little more of himself to them – and what they would see would startle and amaze them.

When was the last time the Holy Spirit took you to a high mountain to see what He was bringing to pass in God’s purposes? Whatever God prepares, He does so according to His will in Heaven so that the sincerest and purest prayer of the believer may be, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Our God is at work and He is meeting with us in worship to give us a glimpse of His glory. He does this that we might join Him and be willingly led by His Spirit wherever His Spirit leads.

It is all about love – God’s love for us and our response in love toward Him.

Have you shared the most important part of yourself – Christ in you the hope of glory – with those you love most? How about now?

What Day Is It?

“… on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”– Revelation 22:2

August 22 is both National Tooth Fairy Day and National Be an Angel Day.

You thought there were no holidays in August. Not so. Among them are International Lefthanders Day, National Raspberry Cream Pie Day, National Underwear Day, National Mustard Day, and World Honeybee Day.

Did you know that May 3 was Lumpy Rug Day?

There is also a National Candied Orange Peel Day and a Clean Up Your Room Day. Special days are as predictable as the flow of a mighty river.

Solomon was right when he said that for everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.

John saw a vision of a day when God’s blessings would be consistent, day after day, month after month.  May, June, January, and even August are all the same in God’s city. The river of life supplies refreshment to the tree of life, and life grows from her.

What John saw in Heaven is a future promise and a present spiritual reality. That which flows from God is ever new and always refreshing. The river that nourishes the tree of life nourishes us and produces healing fruit in our lives.

Remember, every time you see a flower, that it is seasonal and dependent upon the right weather, food, and water. Remember every time you see spiritual fruit that it is also dependent on the right spiritual conditions, but especially, an eternal and consistent source who does not depend on special days, months, or seasons to bring life.

What day is it?

This is God’s day of great hope and opportunity.

This is the day He has made, and it foreshadows His eternal day!

River Power

“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.“- Revelation 22:1

Many years ago, human beings discovered the power of moving water to move objects and, eventually, even to generate electricity. Since then, we have sought to use rivers, streams, and even oceans to our ends, building elaborate structures and models in the attempt. It is no wonder that the Bible often refers to the power of rivers, even in its final chapter. Sometimes our attempts to use water’s power is misguided. Sometimes it is very right.

Hold the river. That is what we sometimes try to do. We build dams and levies and engineer their construction for best and worst case scenarios. Most of the time, it works, but as if to show us that we do not ultimately control everything, sometimes, it doesn’t work and God’s rivers rise up to show us how powerful they really are. So it is with the power of God in our lives. We can appropriate His power, but we cannot control it.

Harness the river. It is another attempt at control. Rather than hold it, we use it to propel our engines and create new sources of energy. Again, God controls the sources and the rivers can rise above their banks or dry up for lack of rain and snow. We depend upon God. He is the source of our strength in the physical and spiritual realms. We are at our best when we remember that.

Hear the river. – Sometimes we just sit by the river’s banks and listen or we listen to the waters pouring over a wheel or passing over rocks. They can trouble us or bring us peace, but they always impress us with their beauty and magnitude. Listen to the voice of God like the voice of many waters. Listen and be transformed.

Hop in the river.- Ezekiel beheld a river that brought life wherever it went. Swimming in the river of life is the ultimate experience of its efficacy. God has not called us to be mere observers of His grace and power, but participants. He invites us to hop in and live.

Just Like God

“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” – Revelation 22:2

Lately there has been a growing interest in the therapeutic value of fruits. The chemical properties of certain fruits seem to promote general health and even healing is some instances. Most of these have grown naturally in the wild for millennia. God planted them, watered them, and nourished them.

Someday, believers will taste of a different fruit and experience a different sort of healing. Along the river of God, the tree of life will produce a complete crop of fruit that will heal all the ills of mankind. This is God’s doing and He does it well.

Just as man never planted the trees in the rainforest that produce antioxidants and healthy reactions in the human body, no man or woman plants or cultivates the tree of life. God provides it and it will be prominent in the Holy City, New Jerusalem.

The scripture says that there will be no more death, sorrow, or crying there. There will be no pain. All the former things will be passed. Only what is new will remain.

So this fruit does so much more than bolster our immune systems or supply our bodies with nutrients. It makes us immune to the power of death and nourishes our eternal souls. This fruit refreshes and renews and is pleasant to the taste and to the eye.

Here at the close of history and the beginning of a new age, there is a great reversal. It was another tree, with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil that was also pleasant to the eye and the taste. It sent mankind into a spiraling tailspin of destruction at the start of human history and closed off all access to the tree of life.

Now, in the New Jerusalem, the tree of life is available to all and provides the real thing to all who hunger.

That is just like God.

Then, there is the best part of all!

But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

In that city, God is present and worshipped ; God is visible; the light of God is overwhelming; the reign of God is eternal

In that city, there is no more night.