Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Today's reading is related to the reading from Revelation in Wednesday's devotional. There, John the Divine gave us a picture of what it would be like when Christ comes again. We will wear snowy white, to symbolize the perfection and sinlessness in our souls, because we have washed our clothes in the “miracle detergent” of Christ's forgiveness. We will “hunger no more, and thirst no more; . . . and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes”. (Revelation 7:15-17) Today's lesson was probably written by the same John (although some scholars think otherwise). Here he tells us why the world can be so hard on us, and gives us comfort in this life. Once we have repented our sin and truly accepted Christ, with all our heart, we become the children of God. It is the best thing possible, for we are assured that our existence will become one free of pain, an existence of perfect happiness and joy. But we cannot expect all the world to understand this; it was the world, after all, which rejected Christ and killed him. Evil and stupidity have been powerful in the world ever since God gave us free will. And if the world did not recognize Christ for who he was, how can we expect that it will recognize us for who we are? Is the world a mess? Yes, of course it is. But knowing that judgment will come, and that we will stand before Christ in perfect knowledge, as his children, is the hope that sustains us through all the tribulations and foolishness of the world. And in the meantime, we must follow the advice of Peter, in the great sermon he gave at Pentecost: “Save yourselves from this crooked [or perverse] generation.” (Acts 2:40) Christians have neither instructions nor authority to change the secular world. We have the Great Commission, to preach the Gospel so that those who might be saved, will be. But Christ himself told his apostles, if nobody wanted to listen to them, to “shake the dust from your sandals”.Today's reading is related to the reading from Revelation in Wednesday's devotional. There, John the Divine gave us a picture of what it would be like when Christ comes again. We will wear snowy white, to symbolize the perfection and sinlessness in our souls, because we have washed our clothes in the “miracle detergent” of Christ's forgiveness. We will “hunger no more, and thirst no more; . . . and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes”. (Revelation 7:15-17) Today's lesson was probably written by the same John (although some scholars think otherwise). Here he tells us why the world can be so hard on us, and gives us comfort in this life. Once we have repented our sin and truly accepted Christ, with all our heart, we become the children of God. It is the best thing possible, for we are assured that our existence will become one free of pain, an existence of perfect happiness and joy. But we cannot expect all the world to understand this; it was the world, after all, which rejected Christ and killed him. Evil and stupidity have been powerful in the world ever since God gave us free will. And if the world did not recognize Christ for who he was, how can we expect that it will recognize us for who we are? Is the world a mess? Yes, of course it is. But knowing that judgment will come, and that we will stand before Christ in perfect knowledge, as his children, is the hope that sustains us through all the tribulations and foolishness of the world. And in the meantime, we must follow the advice of Peter, in the great sermon he gave at Pentecost: “Save yourselves from this crooked [or perverse] generation.” (Acts 2:40) Christians have neither instructions nor authority to change the secular world. We have the Great Commission, to preach the Gospel so that those who might be saved, will be. But Christ himself told his apostles, if nobody wanted to listen to them, to “shake the dust from your sandals”.Today's reading is related to the reading from Revelation in Wednesday's devotional. There, John the Divine gave us a picture of what it would be like when Christ comes again. We will wear snowy white, to symbolize the perfection and sinlessness in our souls, because we have washed our clothes in the “miracle detergent” of Christ's forgiveness. We will “hunger no more, and thirst no more; . . . and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes”. (Revelation 7:15-17) Today's lesson was probably written by the same John (although some scholars think otherwise). Here he tells us why the world can be so hard on us, and gives us comfort in this life. Once we have repented our sin and truly accepted Christ, with all our heart, we become the children of God. It is the best thing possible, for we are assured that our existence will become one free of pain, an existence of perfect happiness and joy. But we cannot expect all the world to understand this; it was the world, after all, which rejected Christ and killed him. Evil and stupidity have been powerful in the world ever since God gave us free will. And if the world did not recognize Christ for who he was, how can we expect that it will recognize us for who we are? Is the world a mess? Yes, of course it is. But knowing that judgment will come, and that we will stand before Christ in perfect knowledge, as his children, is the hope that sustains us through all the tribulations and foolishness of the world. And in the meantime, we must follow the advice of Peter, in the great sermon he gave at Pentecost: “Save yourselves from this crooked [or perverse] generation.” (Acts 2:40) Christians have neither instructions nor authority to change the secular world. We have the Great Commission, to preach the Gospel so that those who might be saved, will be. But Christ himself told his apostles, if nobody wanted to listen to them, to “shake the dust from your sandals”.Today's reading is related to the reading from Revelation in Wednesday's devotional. There, John the Divine gave us a picture of what it would be like when Christ comes again. We will wear snowy white, to symbolize the perfection and sinlessness in our souls, because we have washed our clothes in the “miracle detergent” of Christ's forgiveness. We will “hunger no more, and thirst no more; . . . and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes”. (Revelation 7:15-17) Today's lesson was probably written by the same John (although some scholars think otherwise). Here he tells us why the world can be so hard on us, and gives us comfort in this life. Once we have repented our sin and truly accepted Christ, with all our heart, we become the children of God. It is the best thing possible, for we are assured that our existence will become one free of pain, an existence of perfect happiness and joy. But we cannot expect all the world to understand this; it was the world, after all, which rejected Christ and killed him. Evil and stupidity have been powerful in the world ever since God gave us free will. And if the world did not recognize Christ for who he was, how can we expect that it will recognize us for who we are? Is the world a mess? Yes, of course it is. But knowing that judgment will come, and that we will stand before Christ in perfect knowledge, as his children, is the hope that sustains us through all the tribulations and foolishness of the world. And in the meantime, we must follow the advice of Peter, in the great sermon he gave at Pentecost: “Save yourselves from this crooked [or perverse] generation.” (Acts 2:40) Christians have neither instructions nor authority to change the secular world. We have the Great Commission, to preach the Gospel so that those who might be saved, will be. But Christ himself told his apostles, if nobody wanted to listen to them, to “shake the dust from your sandals”.