All Things New!!

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." - Rev 21:1-5 NLT

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there--no need for lamps or sun--for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. - Rev 22:1-5 NLT

What a glorious future we have in Christ!!  As I sit in mourning for the arrival of His beautiful city, I trust in His love and power to make all things new.  All the wickedness, all the evil is to be done away with.  Can you imagine it?  Oh how He loves us, patiently waiting for all to come to the knowledge of His son.  What is your hope in? 

Pursue Love

Today my heart is stirred.  The commandment of God to love one another has been resonating in my spirit for some time now.  It seems so very hard to carry this out.  Not always because I do not possess the desire but I seem to lack opportunity.  How do we begin to truly love one another?  I was reading today in 1 Cor and was struck by verse 14:1 where it says to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.  To pursue is to literally run after while desire is to burn passionately for and can entail a pursuit.  I got the sense that we must really go after love with all we have but never stop desiring the spiritual gifts, but only as they can aid us in loving.  Basically I think we should focus all our energy upon the love part but at the same time keep our eye open and ready for the gift part.  If we look back to chapter 13 we see plainly that Paul instructed that gifts without love are totally and utterly worthless.  Yet we clamor around for opportunity to exercise gifts instead of exercising love.  We spend hours in devotion and prayer to God many times with the sole intent of seeing His power manifested; healing, deliverance, resurrection, overcoming etc.  The power of God is good, but the love of God is better.  We could say that power will always follow love but love never follows power.  Think about this in the natural, someone who loves will always exert more power than someone who does not.  This is why you do more for your own children than for the children of other people, because you love your own children more.  We must learn how to pursue love!!  Jesus said it is by our love for one another that the world will know we are His disciples.  Let us begin to go out of our way for one another, to seek out and pursue opportunities to love.

Hophni, Phenehas, and the Ark of God

In the time of the Judges in Israel, Eli was the high priest at Shiloh, where the Ark of God was.  He had two sons; Hophni and Phinehas.  They served as priests before God, but they did so wickedly, having neither regard for the law of God nor any love for the people.  They took food from the offerings by force that was not meant for the priests and also had their way with the women.  Eli did not rebuke his sons, nor did they respect their father and God pronounced a severe judgment on the house of Eli.  Now Israel was at war with the Philistines at this time, and the Philistines were winning.  The men of Israel had the idea to bring the ark of God into the battle, so they sent to Hophni and Phinehas to bring it, and they did.  Both sons of Eli were killed during the battle and the Ark of God was captured, and Eli fell and died when he heard the news.  It was at this time that it was said that the glory of God had departed from Israel. 

Well the Philistines did not have a good experience with the Ark of God and sent it back to Israel and it ended up in the city of Kirjath Jearim for twenty years.  It was actually not until the reign of David that the Ark of God was brought up.

The reason I mention this story is I want to look at the way God was being treated.  You see God is alive, and is a being who desires friendship and companionship.  Yet the priests were not treating Him that way.  They did not take God’s presence seriously.  They used their position as a means for personal gain.  Their attitude must have spread through Israel because the men of Israel saw the Ark of God as a good luck charm.  As if God was a puppet or tool to be used by man to gain an advantage.  But God has His own agenda and it cannot be set for Him.  God was present at the battle but it wasn’t to help Israel but to harm them.  Why?  They did not rightly present Him to the nations. 

How is God being treated at your church?  Or by you?  Is he a good luck charm you pull out in times of danger to get you out of trouble?  You see, if the glory of God is not present it is because we don’t fear or revere God.  Like the children of Eli were more interested in what they could get away with because of their position as priests, we use our so-called freedom in Christ to continue in sin asking forgiveness as it seems necessary.  Jesus has become more like a lucky rabbits foot than the risen King of the universe.

I do not know how much time this nation has left, but we have been playing games with God for far too long.  He is real and He is alive and He is holy.  It is time to turn our hearts in reverence to Him.  I encourage you all to search your hearts and really turn to God.  I love you all.

Giving Is Living

As I look out upon the horizon of life, I see that things come and go.  There is no point in holding on tightly to much of anything because it could easily be gone in an instant.  Life is so very precious and yet so very fragile.  When we are holding on we are hoarding and fearing loss, but loss cannot ever be avoided.  We must live in a state of constant letting go to have peace.  It is in letting go that we find true joy and freedom.  By not holding on to people or things we relinquish control and it allows room for both us and them to reach our potential.  When we hold back others or ourselves we are like standing water, we become stagnant and full of disease, but moving water gives life.  We must live to give to others.  Not just the tangible things but the immeasurable things as well.  It is good to give possessions but it is better to give love and possessions.  Jesus gave His life upon the cross for men who hated Him.  He did not count His life as something that needed to be held on to.  What are you holding on to?  It’s time we let go of our attachment to this world and set our eyes on eternity where there is no lack of any good thing.  Bless you all.  Learn to love. 

Psalm 22:22-31

I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard. My praise [shall be] of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever! All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. For the kingdom [is] the LORD's, And He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the [next] generation, They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done [this]. - Psa 22:22-31 NKJV