Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11.
The glory of the eternal world has been opened before me. I want to tell you that Heaven is worth winning. It should be the aim of your life to fit yourself for association with the redeemed, with holy angels, and with Jesus, the world’s Redeemer. If we could have but one view of the celestial city, we would never wish to dwell on earth again. There are beautiful landscapes on earth, and I enjoy all these prospects of loveliness in nature. I associate them with the Creator. But I know that if I love God, and keep His commandments, there is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory reserved in Heaven for me.
This earth,… purified with fire, then … will be much more beautiful. The grass will be living green, and will never wither. There will be roses and lilies, and all kinds of flowers there. They will never blight or fade, or lose their beauty and fragrance.
The lion, we should much dread and fear here, will then lie down with the lamb, and everything in the New Earth will be peace and harmony. The trees of the New Earth will be straight and lofty, without deformity.
The saints will have crowns of glory upon their heads, and harps of gold in their hands. They will play upon the golden harp, and sing redeeming love, and make melody unto God. Their former trials and suffering in this world will be forgotten and lost amid the glories of the New Earth.
Let all that is beautiful in our earthly home remind us of the crystal river and green fields, the waving trees and the living fountains, the shining city and the white-robed singers, of our heavenly home—that world of beauty which no artist can picture and no mortal tongue describe. Let your imagination picture the home of the saved, and remember that it will be more glorious than your brightest imagination can portray.
Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it.
Maranatha p. 355
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Prayer Requests
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Dear Friends,
Whenever I see falling stars, I think of what Jesus told His disciples so long ago, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt 24:29,30 These great signs were also revealed to John, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” Rev 6:12 -17
Last night was the Leonid meteor shower which I slept right through. I don’t know if it was as spectacular as they were saying it would be, but not one thing I know. It was not anything like the meteor shower that happened during the night of the 12th and early morning of November 13, 1833, when the most spectacular meteoric shower ever seen took place. It was not just a relatively few stars like last night, but hundreds of thousands of stars, brightening the sky to the point that a person could read a newspaper by their light. No one slept through that event. In the book “A Popular History of Astronomy” by A M Clerke <1885 ed.> is written, “From the Gulf of Mexico to Halifax, until daylight with some difficulty put an end to the display, the sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston , the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm.” pp.369,370 Many looked upon that great sign in the heavens as a wonderful and joyful occasion. Others looked upon it with fear and dread. Another eyewitness account sums up what was in the mind of many who watched prophecy being fulfilled. “I witnessed this gorgeous spectacle, and was awe-struck. The air seemed filled with bright descending messengers from the sky…..I was not without the suggestion at the moment that it might be the harbinger of ‘the coming of the Son of Man’ and in my then state of mind I was prepared to hail Him as my friend and deliverer. I had read that ‘the stars shall fall from heaven,’ and they were now falling.” Life and Times of Frederick Douglass <1941 ed> p 117
Think of it! The great earthquake, the dark day, and the stars falling have all been fulfilled! We are standing in the time between the stars falling and the heavens’ departing as a scroll. Soon the troubles and trials of this sinful, old planet will be over! Soon Jesus will come to put an end to the suffering, pain, and sadness that the evil one has brought into our lives! While the coming of Jesus is looked forward to by millions as their deliverance from all the trials and heartaches of this sinful old world, many more millions look upon it with foreboding. We must ask ourselves the question, “How do I look forward to that great event?” If we have any reaction other than pure joy and anticipation, we must search our heart diligently.
May we daily give our heart to our Dear Saviour that we may meet Him with joy at His coming. May we “give diligence to make [our] calling and election sure” while there is still time to do so. 2 Peter 1:10 May we, someday soon, look up with joy and say, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa 25:9
Rose