1-20-14. Revelation 22:1-9. PARADISE REGAINED – my devotional

Revelation 22:1-9                                                                                                                              Monday, Jan 20, 2014

Key verse 22:3                                                                                                                                   Kevin E. Jesmer

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” (ESV)

    Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for providing for our every need. Thank you for providing for the missionaries in the mission to the North. We can trust you. You word says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33) Lord, we know that when we commit our lives and our future endeavors to you, seeking your glory, you are with us. You will provide so that we may fulfill the task that you have set before us. Free our hearts from the fear that we will not have enough to do what you have called us to do. Help us to step out in faith and trusting in you each step of the way. Help us to embrace your vision and your hope. May we experience the power of faith and your active provision. Please help me to accept your word in my heart today. I pray all of this in the name of the One who provides abundantly, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Part 1: The Tree Of Life (1-5).

Verses 1-5, “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 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”  (ESV)

The tree of life was in the Garden of Eden in Genesis. Life is a pilgrimage back to the tree of life; it is a journey from the lost Garden to the new City. The tree of life has its roots in the river of life and its crops never fail. The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of nations. Our hope in God’s kingdom is glorious! We all want to return to that perfect paradise that we read about in Genesis. Our hearts long to not just be in a wonderful environment, but mostly to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever. We all long for healing. We want healing for our bodies. We engage in cleansing diets. We want our land to be healed of pollution. We want our relations to be healed, especially our marriages and our relationships with our kids. It is wonderful to know that God is concerned about healing too. It is refreshing to know that there will be complete healing in the kingdom of God. There will be healing crops, yielding their fruit, month after month. This healing is not just for individuals, but also for the nations.

Our nation needs healing. Every week we hear of a new shooting in a crowded venue. Last year it was all about domestic suicides. We mourn when we see pollution poured out on our land and when the people, especially the kids, are suffering so much.  God is concerned about these things too. There will be a day when he will bring healing to the nations, even to our nation.

We need to think, not just about ourselves and our own families, these are very important, but we need to think also about the nations. This is seeing all things from God’s point of view. We need to elevate our minds and our hearts to think globally and to think about the generations and even think about eternity. It is the difference between flying 1,000 feet off the ground and flying at 30,000 feet off the ground. Lord, please increase my vision, help me to shepherd the hearts of those close to me and have vision to even see the nations as you see them.

There are some more wonderful things about the kingdom of God. Look at verses 3-5 again, “3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”  No longer will there be any curse of sin, for the throne of God will reign there. The Lamb will be there and his servants will serve him. They will see God face to face and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night, for God will be the light. His servants will reign with him forever and ever!

Many people think that heaven is like wandering around a beach in the Caribbean, healthy and happy and with your family and with no one to bother you. Their concept of heaven is “me” centered. They do not realize that the main focus of heaven is Jesus Christ. “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more.”  This is the main highlight of heaven. I am excited about this. I want to be with Jesus and the people of God and worship the Lord for all of eternity. This is part of my idea of heaven. That is why it is vitally important to enter into the right relationship with Jesus as we live out our lives in this world. People who don’t know Jesus may not like heaven. We need to get out hearts right with God. And that is where the Gospel comes in.

Part 2: Jesus Promises That He Will Come Soon! (6-9).

Verse 6-9, “And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” 7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (ESV)

Who are the blessed ones?  Look at verse 7, “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Blessed are those who keep the words of the words of the prophecy of this book. He is speaking about the words in the Book of Revelation. There was no Bible, as we know it, at that time. There were separate books and other writings. Those who keep the words in the Book of Revelation are blessed to share in Paradise in Jesus’ glory and grace. All said, we can see the importance of keeping a vision of our true reward in our hearts, believe that God’s word is true, and trust Jesus, that he will shepherd our hearts and enable us to navigate this world all the way to the kingdom of God.

We learn here that we must worship God alone. When John saw Paradise, he fell awestruck at the angel’s feet, but the angel cautioned him to worship God only. This goes to show you, once again, that it is not right to worship angels. They exist, but they are simply fellow servants of God. We are all part of a team. But we must not worship angels. Worship God alone. Lord, in this country there are so many people getting caught up in angel worship. I pray that they may worship the God whom the angels worship and serve, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: “Lord, wash me in the blood of the Lamb and help me to believe the promise of your kingdom where I will reign with you forever. Strengthen me to trust in your words and keep them and follow you.”

One Word: We will reign with God forever in Paradise