Revelation 21:5 - Heaven is for real

"Behold I make all things new."

Revelation 21:5

Have you ever heard the saying that "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is." I have heard this saying many times through the years. I have even said it myself. Doubt comes into play when we hear this saying. We question it and wonder if it could possible be true. But the nice thing about heaven is, is that it sounds good, it is good, and it is actually true! We know this for it is in the Word and we know that the Word of God is true and does not lie. We don't have to question if we should trust it. It is a fact. We have something to look forward to. At the dawn of eternity, Jesus will make all things new. Revelations 21:5 says “Look, I am making all things new!” (NLT). Everything will be made right. There will be a new heaven, a new earth, and a new order of things. The old order will pass away. Revelations 21-22 talks about the new city. It is a literal place. It will have streets of gold and we will be there. We will walk with Him, live with Him, and praise and worship Him along with the heavenly angels. Revelations 21:3 says “Look, the home of God is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will remove all their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.” We will also be with all those that have gone on to be with the Lord. The city will be illuminated by so much light as the glory of the Lord will shine all about. There will be a Crystal River that flows. The tree of life will be there. I believe that God purposely put Revelations 21-22 in the Word because He wants you and I to anticipate and look forward to what is to come. Be encouraged today. Read Revelations 21-22 if you have time. Maybe you are sad for one reason or another. Life isn't always fair, and God didn't promise that it would be. But know that whatever has you down, it will be quickly forgotten once you reach that celestial city. You will cross the finish line and receive your reward. Jesus has gone to heaven and is preparing a place just for you. You are special to Him. He will come and get you when the time is right. Remember heaven may seem too good to be true, but it is not. Look forward to being there. Anticipate it.

Father, Thank You for the hope of heaven. We look forward to being in Your presence and worshiping You forever. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Matthew 11:29 - Lighten your load if need be

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Matthew 11:29

The only load we should be carrying is the load God has called us to bear. Less can be more. It can be what is spiritually best for us. Be sure that what you are doing is what He has called you to do. It is okay to say no to the world and other people's demands for us. It is okay to lighten your load if you are doing too much. God cares about you and He wants your soul to be at rest. He wants your heart to be at peace. He wants your mind to be sound. To be an effective witness for Jesus your soul needs to be at rest to experience His joy in your life so that you can pass that joy on to others. All of us need to be only carrying His yoke to be at our best. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me." Remember that Jesus is gentle. Remember that He is lowly in heart. God is never going to ask too much of you. Examine your life today. If your soul is at a stage of unrest, ask Him to show you what He desires for you to do. Then do just that. He is faithful. He will show you. Why? Because you are His friend. John 15:14 says "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." Carry His yoke and His alone. You will bear fruit for the kingdom and be blessed doing so.

Father, May we take Your yoke upon us and learn from You. We want our souls to be at rest. We want our hearts to be at peace. We want our minds to be sound. We don't want to be stressed out, overworked and overloaded. Give us the joy of walking with You and doing only what You will us to do in our lives. We want to be able to bear fruit for Your kingdom, and we want to be blessed for doing so. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Acts 17:6 - Turn your world upside down

"Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down ..." they shouted.

 

Acts 17:6

 

As soon as Jesus died, He sent His Holy Spirit to the believers. The baptism of the Holy Spirit set their hearts on fire. They carried the torch of the gospel everywhere they went. They weren't afraid to share their faith. Their hearts were not only set on fire, but they also made it their commision to set their world on fire for their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! The gospel had transformed them from the inside out. They were made new in Christ. They were born again. They were not only born of water, but also of the Spirit. Their sins were gone and the only thing that mattered to them was proclaiming the news of Christ. Since they "carried the torch" everywhere, they ignited other hearts for Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit set them ablaze. Jesus was living within them. He walked among them. And He worked mightily through them. They were filled with the Spirit and they shared the Word with boldness, even if it meant persecution. It was said of them that they "turned the rest of the world upside down." It was not intended to be a compliment, but, yet, it was.

 

God still wants us to turn the rest of the world upside down. He doesn't want us to be lukewarm or complacent Christians. He wants us to carry the torch of the gospel everywhere we go. He doesn't want us to be afraid to share our faith.

 

Father, May You set our hearts on fire. May we make it our commission to set our world on fire for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to carry the torch of the gospel everywhere we go. May the Holy Spirit inside of us ignite other hearts for Jesus Christ. May Your Holy Spirit set them ablaze. May Jesus Christ come and live within them. May He walk among them. And may He work mightily through them. Help us to share the Word with boldness. May we not be afraid to share our faith with others. We know that we may be persecuted for doing so, but make us strong and courageous so we can withstand the persecution. Help us to "turn the rest of the world upside down," just like the early believers. Add to your kingdom daily! In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 32:8 - Be a good person, be generous

"But good people will be generous to others and will be blessed for all they do."

 

Isaiah 32:8 (NLT)

 

God is good. He is also very generous. As His children, we should have His characteristics. We should be good. We should also be generous to others. If we are, His Word tells us that we will be blessed for all that we do. The NKJV says that "a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand." Ponder that for a moment. "[A] generous man devises generous things." This means they are generous and they are constantly thinking on the Lord and devising different ways for them to be generous. It goes on to say "and by generosity he shall stand." Their generosity helps them to stand. May we make it a point to be good and generous, just like our heavenly Father is. We will not only be taking after Him, we will also be blessed in all that we do. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." May this be our motto today.

 

Father, You are good. You are generous. You have made us in Your image and we want to take after You. We want to be good men and women of God. We want to be generous. Help us to devise different ways that we can be generous. Whatever we do, may we do it all to the glory of God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Proverbs 3:13-17 - Be wise, not a hothead

“Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences] … Skillful and godly Wisdom is more precious than rubies … Her ways are highways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”

Proverbs 3:13-17

Today’s verses are like manna for my soul today. God wants me and He wants you to find skillful and godly Wisdom. He also wants us to get understanding. And we do this by learning from God’s Word and life’s experiences. If we walk in skillful and godly Wisdom our ways will be “highways of pleasantness.” God wants our ways to be pleasant. He wants our paths to be peace.

When we listen to the Lord, we make decisions that lead to pleasantness, peace. A hothead is not pleasant and lacks understanding. A hothead does not bring peace or care about keeping the peace at all. A hothead brings division, which is just the opposite of what the Lord desires for the body of Christ (as well as for our families). Acting out in the flesh, puts the enemy and his agents at work instead of the Holy Spirit and His plan for all our lives. We are called to submit and surrender to the Lord’s will and leading. We all know His will. It is found in His Word. He doesn’t keep it a secret from us. The hardest part sometimes is doing the Lord’s will instead of what our flesh would like us to do. The flesh wants to rule over us. As Christians we need to be careful that we never operate this way. If we do, then “we” are in the wrong. It is not a sin to have fleshly feelings or emotions. We all have a flesh and we have a spirit. God made us this way. The two are constantly at war with one another. We want to be sure to keep our spirit in check and not let the flesh rule or act out. If you do, you may do or say something that you will later regret. Consequences from acting out are not pleasant. They do not bring peace.

Wisdom is our friend. The Word of God says that it is like a sister. Love her. Trust that God knows best. It helps us not live in regret, and it helps us make choices now that we will be happy with later on. Choices that truly are best for everyone.

Father, Your Word says that “Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom.” May each and every single one of us find skillful and godly Wisdom. Your Word says that happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who gets understanding, drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences. May You bless us with understanding and may it make us happy. Your Word says that “Skillful and godly Wisdom is more precious than rubies.” May we know this to be true in our lives. We ask once again for your “Skillful and godly wisdom.” We want to walk in the highway of pleasantness. We want our paths to be peace. May we never be hotheads. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Luke 16:14 - Don't dearly love your money

“The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, naturally scoffed at all this.”

Luke 16:14

The Word of God has much to say concerning the virtues of wise saving and generous giving, but it’s easy to love money too much. In the New Testament, the Pharisees were the strictest adherents of Judaism, yet they loved money and scoffed at all that Jesus said. What did they scoff at? Jesus had just finished saying “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). This is what they scoffed at. Jesus had insight. He knew the truth. He knew you couldn’t serve both God and money. The sad fact is that that truth sounded like foolishness to the Pharisees. As Christians, we have to be careful that we don’t fall into the same trap as the Pharisees. We need to heed His words, not scoff at them. It can be just as easy for us to love money too much as it was for them. The struggle is real and “No one can serve two masters.” No one can. Not even us Christians. May we not fool ourselves and think that we can serve both. Jesus once told the Pharisees “You like to look good in public, but God knows your evil hearts. What the world honors is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). God’s kingdom is different than the world’s system. Be wise. Love the Lord and serve Him only!

Father, we know that “No one can serve to masters.” Your Word says that we “will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.” We want our hearts to belong to You! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 16:11 - Joy is the presence of God!

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Psalm 16:11

Don’t you want the Lord to show you the path of life so that you can walk in it? I know I do. And He can do just that if we ask Him and are willing to surrender to Him as He leads. Don’t you want to walk in the fullness of joy? I know I do. We do this by walking in the presence of the Lord. The level of joy that we have is a good indication to whether we are drawing near to God or not. If you realize that you are not very joyful, you can always draw near to Him. If you do, He will draw near to you. James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” God tells us that at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. Hallelujah! May you experience the pleasures that He has forevermore! There is a quote from Jonathan Edwards that I like. It says “The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.” Isn’t this the truth!

Father, show us the path of life. Grant to us the joy of Your presence. May we have the pleasures of living with you forever! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.