Wednesday, June 25,
2014, 5:42 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song in mind, “He Lifted Our Burdens.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read Revelation
22 (ESV).
Their Light
Then
the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the
city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds
of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, 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 night will
be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be
their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
And
he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of
the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must
soon take place.”
Can we even begin to imagine what heaven will be like? “No
longer will there be anything accursed.” Awesome! Can we possibly fathom a
world without sin, pain, suffering, heartache, grief, evil, etc.? Oh, how I
long for that day! Nothing will be rotten or will rot. Everything will be
perfect, whole, and will be filled with the presence of Almighty God. There
will be no more death, but only life; no more darkness, but only light; no more
sadness, but only joy; no more defeat, but only victory. We will see his face.
That is a wonderful thought! I want to see Jesus face to face and to literally
sit at his feet and listen to him audibly speak his words to my heart. I want
to be in perfect union and fellowship with the body of Christ, too, where we
are all united in our praise and adoration of our Lord, and there is no more
division. Yay! There will be no more lying, cheating, stealing, murder, abuse, unkind
words, gossip, etc., but there will be only honesty, kindness, faithfulness, and
true love for one another. All the things which sadden our hearts on this earth
will be gone. Hallelujah!
His Tender Mercies
/ An Original Work / January 26, 2014
Fear not! I’m with
you.
Be not dismayed!
God watches o’er you.
Trust Him today.
He’ll lead and guide
you;
Give you His aid.
He’ll love and keep
you
With Him always.
Walk in His footsteps.
He’ll lead the way.
Trust in His love;
Believe that He cares.
He will not leave you.
Faithful He’ll be.
His tender mercies
Now you will see.
Fellowship with Him
Throughout the day.
Tell Him your
heartaches.
He’ll heal always.
Rest in His comfort.
He is your friend.
Your faith He’ll
strengthen,
True to the end.
Coming Soon
“And
behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the
prophecy of this book.”
…And
he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the
time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy,
and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
“Behold,
I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he
has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning
and the end.”
Blessed
are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of
life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and
sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone
who loves and practices falsehood.
One day Jesus is coming back to receive us to himself, and
forever we will be with our Lord. Amen! We are blessed (happy, peaceful) when
we keep (obey, observe, hold firmly to) the word of God; to the teachings and
instructions of Christ, and to those of the apostles. If we want to be happy
and at peace in this life, we must trust in our Lord Jesus and obey God.
As wonderful as that description was of heaven in the first
part of this chapter, that is not where we are right now, but it is something
we have to look forward to. Praise Jesus! Right now, though, evil still reigns,
and it is only going to get much worse, as we have learned in reading the book
of Revelation and other prophecies of scripture with regard to the last days
before Christ’s return. We must understand, from reading this passage of scripture
and others like it in the New Testament, that those who live (walk) in sin
(darkness), and according to their fleshly desires, will NOT inherit the
kingdom of heaven. Even many good people, by human standards, will not be in
heaven, because they did not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior of their lives, having been cleansed of their sins and made whole in
the blood of the Lamb. If we make a practice of doing what is evil, i.e. if we
continue in sinful lifestyles, we have no part of God and he has no part of us
(See 1 John).
Nonetheless, happy and peaceful are those of us who have
been cleansed of our sins, who walk in the Spirit and in Christ’s righteousness,
free from the control of sin over our lives, and in the power and working of
the Spirit within us. We have chosen the way of holiness, i.e. of separation
from the world of sin, and are set apart to God and to his service. We have
repented of (turned away from) our way of living for sin and self, we have been
transformed (reborn) of the Spirit of God, and we have been given new lives in
Christ to be lived out in his power at work within us, being conformed to the
image of God and no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful and evil world
(See Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 12:1-2).
Come
“I,
Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the
churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The
Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And
let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life
without price.
…He
who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus!
The
grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
There appears here to be two separate calls to “Come.” One
is a call of the Spirit and the Bride for Jesus to come; to return for his Bride,
the true church of the living God; the Body of Christ. Oh, how we long for his
appearing! We watch and we wait for him by how we live our lives in each day in
guarding our hearts against evil and by listening to our Lord’s voice, walking
in fellowship with him, and in following him wherever he leads us in obedience.
The other call to “come” is to those outside of faith in
Jesus Christ, who are in need of the drink of the living water, the Spirit who
gives life. Jesus Christ died on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the
entire world. Our sins were crucified with him on that cross so that, by God’s
grace through faith, we might be set free from slavery to sin, and so we might
walk in his righteousness and holiness. If he is calling you to “come,” I pray
you will heed his call today while you still have today, because time is short,
and he is coming soon.
He Lifted Our Burdens
/ An Original Work / February 15, 2014
Based off Isaiah 9:2-7
People walk in
darkness.
They abide in their
sin.
It has power o’er
them.
True belief escapes
them.
Jesus Christ came to
save them.
He gave His life up
for them;
Crucified; died for
our sin,
So we might be
forgiven,
And have life up in
heaven.
Many come to know Him.
God’s love now
o’erflows them.
They rejoice in vict’ry.
Their sin is but
hist’ry.
We were once bound in
slav’ry.
Jesus lifted our
burdens;
Set us now free from
Satan,
So we now walk in
freedom.
Sin has no more
dominion.
Praise be to our
Savior!
He showed us His
favor.
He took all our
burdens;
Cast them all upon
Him.
He is our mediator;
The Light which shines
in darkness.
Counselor in our
troubles;
He gives peace now in
our hearts;
Joy which is
everlasting.
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