The Comfort Of The Eternal City

There is no greater comfort than knowing that Heaven is in your future.

Revelation 22:1-5 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. 2 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.

3 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. 4 And they will see His face, and His name will be written on their foreheads. 5 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.

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The book of Revelation is such an encouragement for God's children, that may be a very surprising statement to you, very few people look at the book from that point of view but God's children really should. It is the greatest story ever told that should affect our lives for today and for eternity.

Instead we get too busy analyzing the culture that we live in and the characters that can be found in the news stories from around the world and we attempt to make our times be the end times. We study everything in the book and try to make a literal interpretation of it all that is based on current world events so that we can figure out God's timetable.

We fail to acknowledge that the writer was severely hindered in trying to describe things that are too great to communicate to humans so that they can comprehend and we forget that God didn't allow John to write down everything. (Revelation 10:4)

God didn’t give us the book of Revelation so that we could analyze our culture, so that we could pinpoint social and political analyses of current events. He wrote it so that we might catch the spirit of the coming of Jesus Christ and live in the light of it.

-John MacArthur

How can we think that we are so well informed that we can piece all of this together and figure out the details of Jesus return?

Satan likes us for us to look at the negative aspects of the book of Revelation, he will use anything to get us down, even the best news that God has ever revealed can be used against us.

Reasons to see this book as a source of comfort and encouragement:

✔ Revelation gives us an awesome view of Jesus that you don't get to see very often in scripture. Seeing the glorified Savior as he is today should give me great hope. ✔ Revelation shows me that God is on the throne and Jesus is at his side. The picture of God on the throne throughout the book of Revelation should be reassuring to us as we witness the chaos of this world around us everyday. (Revelation 4:2-10, 5:1-13, 6:16) ✔ I get to witness the final defeat of Satan, God's kingdom comes and the prayers of the saints throughout the ages has been answered. Jesus assures us three times in the last chapter of Revelation that he is coming back to take us to this glorious scene. (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20)

Satan loves for God's children to be deceived into worrying about future events and focusing on bad news. The bad news that you see in today's world will only get worse, don't fret about it, today's bad news is a part of God's timetable.

I need to celebrate the eternal city and my victory in Jesus! I need to be encouraged to live joyfully and let my light shine so that other people will see the incredible hope and comfort that the world cannot explain apart from Jesus.

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Billy Graham's Final Answer (billygraham.org)

Victory In Jesus

Victory is on the way so don't get discouraged.

Revelation 14:1-3 Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. 3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 15:3-4 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations. 4 Who will not fear You, Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous deeds have been revealed."

Revelation 19:1 After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, “Praise the LORD! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

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A lot of people stay away from the book of Revelation because of all of the scary stuff that happens but that certainly wasn't the intention when this book was delivered to the early church. The saints that were being persecuted found these words to be encouraging as they were struggling to do church the right way.

It should be encouraging to know that the reader of this book is promised to be blessed and it should be even more uplifting to see God, Jesus and Heaven in vivid detail that is not seen very often in the rest of the Bible.

If you need to be encouraged today then check out the voices of victory that Revelation tells us about as the final triumph over evil is drawing near in the last half of the tribulation.

The first voice we hear is the combined voices of the 144,000 that lived through the tribulation. Their instruments and voices make up a huge choir that sings a wonderful new song to Jesus from Jerusalem. They don't stay on the earth much longer, their final destination is Heaven and in a little while we will see this same choir in Heaven singing the song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-27) and the song of the Lamb. (Revelation 15:1-4)

The next voices that John heard was of three angels. (Revelation 14:6-20) The first angel goes on the last mission trip that the world will experience as he goes across the sky proclaiming the gospel to everyone. The angels have never been used to share the gospel before but now there are not any believers left to share the gospel.

The next two angels announce that judgement is here and the world system is going down. If you are a child of God then you should find comfort in knowing that the burden of living in this sin filled world will not last forever. (Revelation 14:14-16)

The Son of Man comes with his harvesting tool as two angels announce that the harvest is ready to be gathered and put into the winepress. The judge is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; his tool for judgment is the Word of God. (Revelation 14:14-20, 19:11-16)

Revelation 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, "It is finished!"

"It is finished!" The same words that Jesus spoke from the cross to announce victory over death for God's children are the same words that God spoke to announce victory over Satan and the end to his rule over this world. In both instances the victory was so sure that it was announced even though it hadn't happened yet. (John 19:30)

Praise The Lord
Five reasons for their praise emerge: 1) God’s deliverance of His people from their enemies (Revelation 19:1); 2) God’s meting out of justice (Revelation 19:2); 3) God’s permanent crushing of man’s rebellion (Revelation 19:3); 4) God’s sovereignty (Revelation 19:6); 5) God’s communion with His people (Revelation 19:7). -MacArthur Study Bible

As the end draws near and the final victory is in sight there is an explosion of praise and celebration. (Revelation 19:1-10)  All of the trials and the suffering that God's children have experienced and all of the effects of sin on this world are about to be gone forever. Living without sin sounds awesome but since we have never experienced it we really cannot comprehend or fully appreciate it.

The Bible makes it clear who will be victorious at the end of time. God's children will overcome this evil world but we don't get to take credit for it. As a child of God we need to live joyfully and give the credit where it is due knowing that our victory has been guaranteed by someone far greater than ourselves! (John 16:33)

You Say

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me.

Video: Lauren Daigle - You Say

I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough

Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up

Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?

Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know (ooh oh)

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing

You say I am strong when I think I am weak

You say I am held when I am falling short

When I don’t belong, oh You say that I am Yours

And I believe, oh I believe

What You say of me

I believe

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me

In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity, (ooh oh)

Taking all I have and now I'm laying it at Your feet

You have every failure God, and You'll have every victory, (ooh oh)

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It is so easy to think that all of our failures is what defines us. It seems irrational that someone as good as God is could look beyond that big pile of failures, wrong turns and mistakes to see us as someone of infinite worth.

The gospel changes everything; it took me from a pile of filthy rags and made me into a precious jewel with an incredible future!

Who I Am In Christ

I am Jesus’ friend. John 15:15 – I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. I am victorious. Philippians 4:13 –  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am God’s handiwork and destined to do good works. Ephesians 3:10 NIV – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I am an heir of God and joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17 – and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. I am more than a conqueror. Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. I am adopted as God’s son. Ephesians 1:5 “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

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Who I Am In Christ (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

The Believer's Survival Guide

How to live in this world while you are looking forward to eternity.

1 Peter 2:12  Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when He judges the world.

1 Peter 3:13-18 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good?

14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.

15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

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It is important for God's children to behave differently than the rest of the world, Peter tells us to live "properly" in front of our unbelieving neighbors, they are watching you and you need to be concerned about what they see.

Peter has been telling the recipients of his letter that they will suffer, as an alien in an ungodly culture, there will be attacks. The ungodly will harass and persecute believers and so we need to be ready for it and know how to defend ourselves and we need to know how to cope with not fitting in.

Be Careful How You Live

Survival Guide Tip #1

There is a pretty good chance that if you do the right thing then very few people will try and harm you or give you a difficult time. Being passionate about living with the fruit of the spirit will silence most of your critics.

This isn't always true, your passion for goodness will be more than some people can take, sometimes a righteous person will suffer at the hand of godless men because your virtuous life will irritate them.

Worship God Constantly

Survival Guide Tip #2

Instead of worrying about it we should be worshiping and honoring God. Our concern should be with God and his desire for my life but instead we take our eyes off of him and worry about what man can do and what they may think about us.

Jesus is Lord and we need to remember that is sovereign and he is in control. It takes a total surrender to God to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord in the midst of your pain and suffering. If God's plan and purpose is to work through you in your suffering then you should rejoice that he is working his plan out through you.

Be Ready To Explain

Survival Guide Tip #3

Your godly living will make a stir and people will probably have some questions for you. After you have their attention you should be ready to tell them why you are so strange. We should be able to give a polite, biblical answer to explain the motivation for our lifestyle and the reason that we are a Christian.

You may think, "How will that help me?" The fact is if you don't fully understand what you believe and why then there is the possibility that you will doubt what you believe when the pressure is on.

A Pure Conscience

Survival Guide Tip #4

You have to rely on your conscience when the accusations and insults are flying at you, your conscience is a device that God gave you to keep you out of trouble, it is a source of conviction or affirmation.

If the conscience knows that we are in sin, it will nag at us. If the conscience knows that we are living in obedience, it will affirm us and help us realize that our accusers are wrong.

It is up to us to decide why we are suffering. Are you suffering for doing good? Are you suffering because God is trying to correct you?

Thank you Lord for giving me hope and encouraging me with the wisdom found in your word.

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Famous People Need Friends To

Men of the Bible Series - Onesiphorus was a close friend to the apostle Paul

2 Timothy 1:16-18  May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me.

He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.

May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.

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Even though you may be surrounded by people everywhere that you go, it doesn't mean that you have a good friend, someone that will pick you up and encourage you and be with you no matter what. That kind of person can be difficult to find.

The apostle Paul had people all around him and no doubt many of the people were friendly, after all he brought good news everywhere that he went and people were being changed by the gospel, they had every reason to be friendly. But would they be there when the chips were down? What would happen when the rocks started being thrown and the beating started?

Paul spent several years in Ephesus and there was a great revival there. Paul said that Onesiphorus was helpful to his ministry in Ephesus, maybe that was where their friendship began. Onesiphorus was an encouragement to Paul, he visited him and built Paul up, he was even there for him when Paul was bound in chains. Paul's popularity was probably at it's lowest time then but Onesiphorus was humble and courageous and wasn't afraid to be associated with Paul. 

When the polls are up you can ride high and enjoy the popularity but if you do not take the time to develop real friends then a day will come when the polls will plunge and then you will be left alone. Take some time to look past the shallow acquaintances that fill your Facebook friend list and establish some real friends that will be there for you no matter what.

I need to be a real friend, Lord help me to be a loyal friend that will help when the rest of the world runs away.

You might like to read: Men of the Bible blog series.