We Say Come! Lord!

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,"Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be among them."
You know, the whole deal with heaven, how it looks, what it sounds like has been in the forefront of my thoughts this week. Thinking back, I don't know if I have heard any teaching or preaching concerning heaven recently. It's almost as if the idea of heaven has been shoved to the back burner by preachers and teachers.
I love this verse from Revelation 21. God is going to be the tabernacle, or place of worship, as He takes his place "among"...."in the middle of".....His people. I think maybe God gave the example in Exodus and Numbers of how Israel was to set up camp each day when the journey was halted. They were arranged in specific order around the Tabernacle of Moses. The Tabernacle was always the center of the camp, just as Jesus is supposed to be the center of our very lives. Everything radiates out from Jesus and affects every area of our life.

Revelation 21:4
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall no longer be any death. There shall no longer be any mourning or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away.
What an incredible place. Why is it incredible? Because God will be there. Every emotion that came about because of the introduction of sin back in the garden, will be eliminated. God has the power to cast out these emotions. How cool is that. So if there will be no more death...then there, in His presence, will be life that is totally off the scale. Think of the very best moment of your life so far..............now multiply that by a ZaZillion and you've got just an inkling of what life with Jesus is going to be like. In the verse, there is reference to the "first things" as having passed away. This would be the things that came in to us through the sin of Adam. Jesus will completely undo the curse that came in through sin. When this happens, the devil will no longer have any weapons with which to fight with. Imagine that! A toothless devil that has no power to call upon the destruction caused by sin. Jesus wins!  Jesus wins again!

Revelation 21:7
He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son (and daughter).
The official announcement of adoption. By overcoming............by believing.........by faith..........those who do not grow weary and give up...........those who overcome shall (no questions asked) inherit everything God, the Father, has in store for His children. But probably the most overwhelming statement to me is "I will be his God, and he will be my son." Wow! To hear God declare this out loud. To hear these words spoken that He declares us to be His children. How cool will that be? Cool X 10, that's how cool. For all the struggles here on this side of heaven, there is a reward and inheritance waiting for me if I don't grow weary of following Jesus. I want to be an over comer. I want to see this life through to the very end. I am so grateful for my salvation and for this relationship that comes from it. To be able to converse with God and to receive instruction from Him is beyond my comprehension. Today...I am grateful.

I pray that you find God this day.
God on you.....
mb