June 23, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so your descendants and your name will endure.

[And] From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all humankind will come to worship before Me,’ says the LORD.”

(Isaiah 66.22-23)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

This “eternal life.” What God desires most of all is not our praise, though He is most deserving of it and will receive it from those whose gratefulness and thankfulness at being delivered out of the hands of the enemy. What God most desires is that those whom He loves and “who enter into His presence with that same thanksgiving and His courts with praise” (Psalm 100.4) “will dwell forever in the House of the Lord.” (Psalm 23.6) We do well to consider that image of the New Heaven and the New Earth from God’s true perspective. What brings Him great joy is not what He receives but what He is able to provide. That provision is our fulfillment of life and purpose. We are meant to be a people of praise, peace and provision. We are meant to enjoy the fullness of our salvation which is to be with God forever and never separated. This is the vision given to Isaiah and to John. It is the vision of Daniel and Ezekiel. It is the vision which Christ Himself gave to those who chose to follow Him all the days of their lives.

It is an “everlasting” life. It is that which the believers will enjoy “from generation to generation.” It is an ongoing worship of God together with all believers with whom every ideological difference has been resolved in the light of God’s mercy and love. Walls of the heart and mind will have melted away. The “earthen” vessels will have been transformed into purity of the heart, mind, soul and body. We will recognize each other as God has made us. “We are his craftsmanship created in the image of Christ Jesus to do good works; the works which God has made.” (Ephesians 2.10) What works were they? They were not for self-edification but for the uplifting of one another in spirit and in truth. There in the time and attitude, the people will live and worship not “on this or that mountain,” as we learned from the story of the Woman at the Well. Rather, we will worship “in spirit and in truth” with eyes wide open. (Numbers 24.4; Colossians 4.4-6) We will be ready to receive all that God has desired to give. Our cups of life will be overflowing and ever-filled with the water of life which springs up to eternal life. And in that condition, we will see the truth in its purity and in its impurity. We will forever be reminded of life as it was which passes away and life as it was meant to be that endures forever. This will inspire and perpetuate our lives of praise in the joy of our salvation.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works leading others to call Jesus Lord in faith, hope and love. AMEN.