Tag: Revelation 21

Posted on

Now Jerusalem and Not-Yet Jerusalem

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 12 Listen: (6:30), Read: Revelation 21 Listen: (4:34)

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.1, 22-27

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Nehemiah 12.43

43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

Reflection: Now Jerusalem and Not-Yet Jerusalem

By John Tillman

Nehemiah describes his Jerusalem rising from the rubble and John describes New Jerusalem descending from Heaven.

At first, Nehemiah’s task seems only to provide a wall for practical protection and safety of the citizens. God’s people were exiled in pagan empires but were given a safe and secure homeland again.

But Nehemiah saw a grander mission, more expansive than his mandate to build a physical wall. For this reason he also rebuilt the infrastructure, staff, and resources for the city’s spiritual health and welfare. The priests, musicians, choirs, and leaders were all part of his restoration plan. The worship of God and the purity and glory of his covenant with his people were at the center of Nehemiah’s true mission. And the joy of their worship poured out through the walls of the city, echoing far away.

The New Jerusalem descends after the destruction of judgment. God’s faithful people were suffering in kingdoms controlled by Satan but are now safe and secure. God makes his home with them. The city is the centerpiece of God’s remaking of the broken world. All kingdoms and people are brought under Christ’s benevolent grace.

The differences in Nehemiah’s and John’s Jerusalems are more striking than the similarities. The New Jerusalem has foundations and walls and nothing unclean will enter, however its gates never close. The city, instead of protecting itself from attack, projects blessings, pouring out living water, light, and glory. All will walk by the light the city provides, be healed by the leaves of the tree of life at its center, and worship God who dwells within it.

The worship of God and the purity and glory of his new covenant with his people is at the center of the New Jerusalem. When we are there the joy of our worship will pour out through the walls of the city, echoing far away.

Nehemiah lived in Now-Jerusalem and pointed to Not-Yet-Jerusalem. So do we. We point to the not-yet by tackling Nehemiah-inspired tasks that hint at the New Jerusalem. As embassies and ambassadors of New Jerusalem, let us bind up the broken, rebuild the destroyed, restore the degraded, and rededicate the defiled. Let those far off learn the songs of the coming city through our actions “far as the curse is found.”

Music: “Joy to the World” lyrics by Issac Watts, video by Reawaken Hymns.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about The Lord Is There

Wherever you go, as a Christian, you take with you the spirit of the city of God. Practice remembering that “the Lord is there.”

The Lord Is There  — Readers’ Choice

Read The Bible With Us

Join our two-year Bible reading plan and immerse in the Bible at a sustainable pace.

https://mailchi.mp/theparkforum/m-f-daily-email-devotional

Posted on

In the Bleak Midwinter — Carols of Advent Hope

Scripture Focus: Hebrews 11:1, 39-40
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Revelation 21:1, 3-4
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Reflection: In the Bleak Midwinter — Carols of Advent Hope
By Jon Polk

Despite the lack of any biblical or historical evidence for the actual date of Jesus’ birth, Christmas has been celebrated on December 25th since the 3rd century. However, the mention of shepherds tending flocks in the Nativity story instead suggests a spring date likely for the birth of Jesus.

Nonetheless, Christmas is tightly identified with the winter season, which may explain why the pensive “In the Bleak Midwinter” is one of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, 
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

While the seasonal details may not be entirely accurate, the poetic implications are clear. The world into which Christ was born is cold, harsh, and dreary, beset by sin and indifference. Into that landscape, our hope, the Messiah, was born.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

The text was written by English poet Christina Rossetti, daughter of Italian parents and member of an artistic family. Her father was a Dante scholar and taught Italian at King’s College. Her brothers were influential in the development of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite art movement.

Originally titled, “A Christmas Carol,” Rossetti’s poem was published in the January 1872 edition of the American journal, Scribner’s Monthly. Music was added to the hymn in 1906, twelve years after her death, by composer Gustav Holst.

Christina encountered her share of suffering in her lifetime. As a pre-teen, her father had a serious health breakdown causing him to retire from work. She lived with an autoimmune disorder that affected her thyroid. In 1893, she was diagnosed with breast cancer which took her life a year later.

Unhindered by her own misfortunes, Rossetti was extremely committed to her faith. She spent her time ministering to former prostitutes and using her gift of writing to bring attention to pressing issues of the day, including slavery and the exploitation of young women. 

It is no surprise, then, that the final verse of her solemn Christmas hymn contemplates not what Christ has done for us, but rather, what we can do for him.

What can I give him, poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

If you are weary from living in a dark and cold world, if you are struggling with adversity or hardship, be reminded to hold on to your faith and hope in the Christ who has broken into our lives in the midst of our bleakest midwinters.

Listen: In the Bleak Midwinter by Kevin Max
Read: Lyrics from Hymnary.org

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. — Psalm 119.10

Today’s Readings
Esther 1 (Listen 4:14)
Hebrews 11 (Listen 6:22)

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Help us provide biblical content for free with no ads and no agendas. Biblical literacy depends heavily on more extensive Bible reading.

Supporting our Work

Read more about This We Proclaim
The ancient church did not fix the celebration of Advent around the winter solstice because of history, but because of pedagogy.

This We Proclaim — Hope of Advent
Posted on

Ache for Renewal

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.5, 6
“I am making everything new!…It is done.”

From John: Little did we know how much we would need renewal from Christ at the end of 2019… This re-edited devotional is a vital reminder that spiritual renewal is powered by Christ and our surrender to him, not our own willpower and work.

Reflection: Ache for Renewal
By John Tillman

We have a constant, longing ache for renewal right down in our souls where we sense Eden’s loss. In Epiphany, we can find the blossoming, the revealing, the renewal that we long for.

This ache is magnified during the days surrounding New Year celebrations. Despite the depth of the ache in our souls, the renewals that we focus on are typically shallow and self-improvement-driven.

We want to change our diets.
We want to change our jobs. (or maybe just our boss…)
We want to lose weight. 
We want to gain knowledge or skills.
We want to stop a bad habit. 
We want to start a good habit.

It is good for us to work better, live better, grow in knowledge, grow in health, take a new career direction, or upgrade the food we eat. Even these surface-level changes typically improve not just ourselves, but the world around us.

We may smile more. We may feel better. We may be better able to live as loving revelations of Christ. But there is also a danger of merely enacting a secular (and selfish) ritual of self-improvement. 

In Christ’s description of exorcism, the ousted demon finds the person he just left clean and empty with plenty of room for even worse spiritual corruption. If we do not deal with the demons at the root of our discontent, then we will only sweep out of our homes last years’ messes, to make room for new and worse in the coming year. The last state of our souls is worse than the first. (Matthew 12.43-45; Luke 11.24-26)

Christ declared to John, “I am making all things new,” then later, “It is done.” It is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12.2). Christ declared his suffering finished on the cross (John 19.30), and he will eventually declare his renewal of the Earth finished. 

The end of the Earth will be, rather than complete destruction, complete reconstruction. The world and everything in it, including us, will be renewed.

So rather than attempt to sweep our own house clean and empty, may we invite Jesus into our mess (Revelation 3.20), and let him do renewing, revealing work within and through us. He has work of renewal for us to join him in now. And he who begins a good work in us will see it through to completion (Philippians 1.6). When he is finished, we will have revealed Him to the world.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me…
Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful. — Psalm 86.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 35 (Listen – 5:25) 
Revelation 21 (Listen – 4:34)

Read more about Supporting our Work
Our readers need your support. A reader from Waco says, “Thank you so much to all of you who support the ministry of the Park Forum…Thank you for blessing the ministry as it blesses people like me.”

Supporting our Work

Read more about We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer
Visit the world again and again with awakenings by your Spirit that will sweep humanity into your Kingdom and bring greater justice and mercy into our homes, communities, and nations.

We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer
Posted on

Ache for Renewal :: Epiphany

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.5, 6
“I am making everything new!…It is done.”

Reflection: Ache for Renewal :: Epiphany
By John Tillman

We have a constant, longing ache for renewal right down in our souls where we sense Eden’s loss. In Epiphany we can find the blossoming, the revealing, the renewal that we long for.

This ache is magnified during the days surrounding New Year celebrations. Despite the depth of the ache in our souls, the renewals that we focus on are typically shallow and self-improvement-driven.

We want to change our diets.
We want to change our jobs. (or maybe just our boss…)
We want to lose weight. 
We want to gain knowledge or skills.
We want to stop a bad habit. 
We want to start a good habit.

It is good for us to work better, live better, grow in knowledge, grow in health, take a new career direction, or upgrade the food we eat. Even these surface-level changes typically improve not just ourselves, but the world around us.

We may smile more. We may feel better. We may be better able to live as loving revelations of Christ. But there is also a danger of merely enacting a secular (and selfish) ritual of self-improvement. 

In Christ’s description of exorcism, the ousted demon finds the person he just left clean and empty with plenty of room for even worse spiritual corruption. If we do not deal with the demons at the root of our discontent, then we will only sweep out of our homes last years’ messes, to make room for new and worse in the coming year.  The last state of our souls is worse than the first.

Christ declared to John, “I am making all things new,” then later, “It is done.” It is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Christ declared his suffering finished on the cross, and he will eventually declare his renewal of the Earth finished. 

The end of the Earth will be, rather than complete destruction, complete reconstruction. The world and everything in it, including us, will be renewed.

So rather than attempt to sweep our own house clean and empty, may we instead invite Jesus into our mess, and let him do the renewing, revealing work within and through us. He has work of renewal for us to join him in now. And he who begins a good work in us, will see it through to completion. When he is finished, we will have revealed Him to the world.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 35 (Listen -5:25) 
Revelation 21 (Listen -4:34)

Thank You, Donors!
We are thankful for our donors’ gifts because they show the work of God in our donors’ hearts and their willingness to contribute to improving the spiritual discipleship of readers around the globe. We could not do this without them! Thanks to our donors, in 2019 we have published approximately 100,000 words of free, and ad-free, devotional content. 

As the end of the year approaches, consider whether the Holy Spirit might be prompting you to help support our 2020 content with an end-of-year gift or by becoming a monthly donor. Follow this link to our giving page.

Spread the Word
If you are not able to support us financially, another simple action that tangibly helps our ministry is to share about The Park Forum. Liking or commenting on our social media posts (but especially sharing them) helps more people to see them. This type of exposure is far better than when we spend money on ads to promote our posts. 

Forwarding our emails or sending links to our website to friends is another way to spread the gospel and to encourage Bible Literacy in your community of believers. Share a post with others to help them subscribe to our emails.

Read more about We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer
Please visit the world again and again with awakenings by your Spirit that will sweep humanity into your Kingdom and bring greater justice and mercy into our homes, communities, and nations.

We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer

Read more about Supporting our Work
Whether or not you choose to donate and support us, please be in prayer for our donors that they will give freely, without compulsion, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Supporting our Work