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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, May 26, 2017
Today's Passage : Subject:The City of God Bible Verse:Revelation 21:22-22:5 (ESV) "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." Message:
Both the passage from Revelation and the Psalm are tremendously comforting. The Psalm teaches us that we live in the shadow of a powerful and protective God, and that we do not need to fear anything in our lives. The passage from Revelation illustrates, as well as our human minds can grasp, the utter beauty of a world without sin or falsehood that we will inherit.
Revelation is often a hard book to read, filled as it is with fantastic and florid imagery, and long weird accounts of happenings that seem impossible to decipher. The reason for these difficulties is a combination of primarily two problems.
First, Revelation depicts something that cannot be comprehended by the human mind. Like God Himself, the experiences of the Apocalypse have no analogueAnalogue: A person or thing seen as comparable to another. in human experience. John the Divine's revelation is further limited by the inherent limitations of human sensory abilities. He must, for instance, describe events as if they are seen by the human eye; but most of reality cannot be seen. We only perceive radio and television waves, for example, by building machines that can translate them into a form that our ears can hear or our eyes can see.
We cannot see the spiritual world. So, describing what something looks like that the human eye might not be able to see, and then trying to narrate event in a sequence that can be grasped by a human mind, creates difficulties.
The second difficulty in reading Revelation is that it was written 2,000 years ago. The truth is timeless, but the imagery and metaphor John uses was intended for a very different society.
Luckily, the imagery in today's passage is almost entirely meaningful to a modern reader, without explanation. We still see slight examples of datedness, however; for example, “the throne of God” is something we can comprehend, but it still doesn't have quite as much meaning to us as it would to someone living in a time of absolute monarchy. We see thrones in museums or even in traditional political rituals, such as the crowning of a British monarch. But in our daily lives, a person holding supreme political power does not exist, much less sit in a throne.
But by and large, this is one passage of Revelation we can read with full appreciation — no study or interpretation required. The images are so lovely. What could be more inviting than a crystal-clear river flowing through our city, lined by trees? These are trees of life, with twelve kinds of fruit, one for each month. (Maybe Harry and David were inspired by this passage!)
Meditation : Prayer : Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen. |
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