According to Revelation 21,
Heaven will be heaven because of WHAT’S not there
Heaven will be heaven because of WHO’S not there
Heaven will be heaven because WHO is there!
Good and Getting Better
You’re a masterpiece! That’s what the Bible says about you. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His workmanship.” That word in the original Greek language means masterpiece. God made you just right. You are perfectly fit together as an accurate representation of God’s image. And yet it gets better.
Philippians 1:6 tells us God is still working on us. He is completing us. This perfecting process of the Lord continues all throughout our lives.
My wife is a painter. She does landscape scenes on her easel. I am impressed with what she does and I am proud of her. But I notice that after she finishes a painting she often goes back for minor touch ups, a little here and a little there. She is completing her art work.
In the same way God made us, but despite the fact that He did a marvelous job, He is still working on us. Thus, we are “good and getting better!”
You Could Have Had Much More!
Nathan explained to David, God gave him position, protection, possessions, pleasures, and power; but, he would have had even more!
“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!” (2 Sa 12:7–8).
What blessings am I forfeiting? What riches am I not requesting? How much is my sin diminishing my life? How profound would my remorse be if I fully understood my unreached potential?
Wise Words from the Aged
When we celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday, I asked her, “In 85 years what’s the most important lesson you have learned?”
She said, “Don’t wait until the last minute to go to the bathroom!”
After a good laugh, my wife asked, “What’s the second most important lesson you have learned?”
She said, “Be a good listener and be careful what you listen to.”
The Importance of Agile Planning
Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Don't Like Your Body?
Beauty queens were interviewed and everyone of them found something about their appearance they wished they could change. How about you? Are you pleased with your hair, teeth, height and weight? Before allowing the world to squeeze us into their mold, let’s reaffirm that God is our Creator and He doesn’t make any mistakes!
Hear the word of the Lord. “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Paul said, “For we are His workmanship,” literally masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). God even takes credit for making the so-called handicapped (Exodus 4:11).
So don’t let the world body shame you, instead accept the size and shape of your body as a divine gift perfectly created by a loving Heavenly Father.
Jesus in the Book of Ruth
It is so fun to see pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament. One such picture is found in the love story between Ruth and Boaz. Boaz foreshadows Jesus. Notice what Boaz (Jesus) did for her (us):
Provides for her
Protects her
Purchases her
The Rich Young Ruler
The Rich Young Ruler:
He asked the right question
He asked the right person
He made the wrong decision
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mk 10:17–22).
Clarity in Life
MARK 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37 When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38 But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” 39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.
JESUS WAS A MAN OF PRAYER
JESUS WAS A MAN OF PURPOSE
JESUS WAS A MAN OF PREACHING
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Last Words
On April 9, 1945, Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged at Flossenburg, only days before the American liberation of the POW camp. The last words of the brilliant and courageous 39-year-old opponent of Nazism were “This is the end—for me, the beginning of life.”