Spiritual birth is even better than natural birth, for it contains eternal life. It cannot be undone.

Happiness in and with God comes from trusting that He loves us and that all He has said is true, and it comes from allowing His Love to overflow from us to others.

Trying leads to frustration.
Trusting leads to contentment.
What if you stopped believing your feelings?
What if you decided to trust what God said instead?

James 4 says “You do not have because you do not ask.” and “You ask and do not receive.” So, which is it?

Much like the first, this vision will show him “what must take place after these things.” We are once again about to gain a view into things that must take place in the interim between the coming of Jesus in the flesh and His coming again on the clouds.

Looking into this doorlike opening into the spiritual realm, John heard the same trumpet-like voice he had heard in Revelation 1:10. The voice of the Lord Jesus. He is called to come up to the very throne room of God.

One important thing I have come to understand is that Father is not a genie I can get to act in specific ways if I just ask properly. Additionally, I've found that He is interested in what is best for us and others and that His view of that is far more comprehensive than mine.

We are about to embark on a journey together through the remaining chapters of The Revelation. This is a book that has been the source of a great deal of fear, confusion, and disagreement over the years. Let that not be the case with us. As we travel together through the most perplexing parts of this wonderful and glorious revelation of our lovely Lord Jesus, let’s expect to grow in His grace and in the knowledge of Him. Let’s anticipate knowing more about who He is, His plan for humankind, and how best to understand our current tribulation.

As we have seen in earlier segments, we bear the name of God and of the Lord Jesus. The Revelation also tells us that we will bear the name of the new Jerusalem. This is a curious statement until we read Revelation 21:9–10

From this blessing we are beginning to get a picture of the end of all saints. A glimpse of Life when the Lord has fully consummated the new creation in a new heaven and a new earth populated by new people, who are His spotless bride, clothed in purest white.

What the enemy says, or what Father says.
Which will you believe?

We can feel guilt when we grieve the Holy Spirit, but feeling guilt is not the same as being guilty. Father does not use guilt to motivate good behavior. He uses love.

Observant readers may notice the use of “abolished” with regard to what can only be understood as the Law handed down by Moses. What is abolished ceases to exist. It is destroyed. Yet Jesus in Matthew 5:17–18, said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

There was a wall of hostility between the Hebrew people and all others. It is this wall that the Lord Jesus broke down. Whereas the Hebrew nation had been God’s chosen people, and everyone else was without hope and without God in the world, what Jesus ushered in destroyed that dividing wall and unified the people in both groups, reconciling them all to God.

The Bible is a message from God. As such, it tells a singular story. That story is that God has prepared a plan to make a new creation, both a new heaven and earth, and new people. When we look at scripture at a high level, undistracted by the details, we see something incredible. We see God telling this story over and over in many different ways.

New names confer new status. An example in the Old Testament is Abram being given the name Abraham after he believed God and God made a covenant with Him. Similarly in the New Testament we are told that Simon came to be called Peter when he affirmed that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

White stones were sometimes used judicially to indicate a verdict of acquittal, with a black stone for a guilty verdict. A white stone was also sometimes used as a pass for admission to parties or gatherings on special occasions. The life-giving Manna provided to the Israelites by God was white.

We often equate paradise to heaven, and we equate heaven with the place we go after death. This can be problematic because scripture does not seem to portray heaven in that way. Rather, heaven is portrayed as the abode of God. The Revelation is very clear (as are all the scriptures) that God dwells among His people.

The only question is whether we will choose to remain obstinately unwilling to be reconciled to God or choose to be reconciled and receive the forgiveness and Life He provides for everyone.

Everything in the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament points to this. All of it is designed to communicate about the Lord Jesus Christ. The covenants established in the Hebrew scriptures all required blood. This new covenant is no different. Life is on the line.