Be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. Isaiah 65:18.
There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” “Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” “The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” Saith the Lord: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.” …
In the City of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and shall ever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb floods the Holy City with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.
“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” The people of God are privileged to hold open communion with the Father and the Son. “Now we see through a glass, darkly.” We behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His presence and behold the glory of His countenance.
There we shall know even as also we are known. There the loves and sympathies that God has planted in the soul will find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages, the sacred fellowship that binds together “the whole family in heaven and earth”—all are among the experiences of the hereafter.
Maranatha p. 356
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Prayer Requests
—–Eileen has a doctor’s appointment Monday. Please pray that she can get the proper treatment. Rose
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Dear Friends,
Thanksgiving. A time to reflect on the blessings that God has given us. When our Pilgrim fathers fled the old world and its persecution, they came to the new world unprepared for its hardships. About half of them died that first winter. If it had not been for kindness of the Indians, the rest of the Pilgrims would have perished the next year no doubt. In the first Autumn harvest, those Pilgrims saw God’s hand in their lives and they were filled with thankfulness to the Great Giver of all blessings. As they and their Indian benefactors sat down to a feast of thankfulness, their hearts swelled with love and gratefulness.
As the years passed, Thanksgiving became a tradition. It became such a part of life, that eventually it was established as a national holiday. Both Presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt added others dimensions to the day.
Sadly, this day established to remember God and His blessings has become a day filled with too much food, men sitting around the TV watching football, their wives and daughters in the kitchen cleaning up from the meal and complaining that all their husbands and sons want to do is sit around and watch football.
Let us, this Thanksgiving season, remember its real meaning.
Let us “give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.” 1Chr 16:8-12
Rose
At Home in the New Jerusalem