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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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In Revelation 21:1-22:5, we’re given a vision of “a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1), our home once Christ returns and makes all things right. One striking element of this vision is that the old creation seems to be still recognizable in the new; the new Jerusalem, for example, is still recognizable as Jerusalem (v. 10). Humanity still enjoys fellowship in a city. God has wholly redeemed and transformed His good creation.
Photographer Ronn Murray likes cold weather. “Cold means clear skies,” he explains. “And that can open a window to the wonderful!”
Ronn provides Alaskan photography tours dedicated to tracking Earth’s most spectacular light show—aurora borealis (the northern lights). Murray speaks of the experience as “very spiritual.” If you’ve ever seen this iridescent display dance across the heavens, you’ll understand why.
But the lights aren’t only a northern phenomenon. Aurora australis, nearly identical to borealis, occurs simultaneously in the south—the same kind of lights.
In the disciple John’s telling of the Christmas story, he skips the stable and shepherds and goes directly to the one who “brought light to everyone” (John 1:4 nlt). When John later writes of a heavenly city, he describes the source of its light. This “city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” (Revelation 21:23 nlt). This light source is Jesus—the same source referenced in John 1. And for those who inhabit this future dwelling, “there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them” (22:5 nlt).
As our lives reflect this light of the world—the one who created aurora borealis and australis—we open a window to the truly wonderful.
I’m SURE you have been a good girl, Tippy! patpatpatpat
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Are you SURE??????? :-)
Welllllllll.......
No comment! :D
Ha Ha Ha
The night before Jesus was betrayed, He commanded His followers to “love one another” (John 13:34) as He had loved them. Such sacrificial and unconditional love would be the irrefutable proof that they were truly His disciples (v. 35). The author of 1 John (traditionally believed to be the same John who wrote the fourth gospel), says that Christ’s disciples must “live as Jesus did” (2:6)—living a life of loving God and loving others. John reminds us that “God is love” and we must “rely on the love God has for us” (4:16). Reminiscent of the language of John 3:16, the author reminds us that God loves us in this way: “He sent his one and only Son into the world . . . as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). “He has given us of his Spirit” to help us live and love (v. 13).
As I sat next to my friend Margaret, who was lying in her hospital bed, I took in the bustle and activity of the other patients, medical staff, and visitors. A young woman sitting nearby with her ailing mother asked Margaret, “Who are all the people who keep visiting you?” She responded, “They’re members of my church family!” The young woman remarked that she’d never seen anything like it; she felt as if the many visitors were “like tangible love poured out.” Margaret replied, smiling, “It all comes down to our love of God through His Son Jesus Christ!”
In her response, Margaret echoed the disciple John, who in his final years wrote three letters brimming with love. In his first letter, he said, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). That is, those who acknowledge “that Jesus is the Son of God” (v. 15) have God living in them through “his Spirit” (v. 13). How can we lovingly care for others? “We love because he first loved us” (v. 19).
Because of the gift of God’s love, visiting Margaret hadn’t felt like a hardship to me or others in our church. I received more than I gave, not only from Margaret, but through observing her gentle witness about her Savior, Jesus. How might God love others through you today?
When have you been surprised by someone noticing God’s love in your life? How does His love spur you on to serve others?
Loving God, I love because You first loved me. Please keep increasing my love so Your Spirit will shine through me.
Want to dive deeper? Discover valuable insights on serving like Jesus.
Thank you.
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Merry Christmas!
A video of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra singing “It’s a marshmallow world” from back in the good old days.
https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1871748390847123526
Merry Christmas!
<My husband and I have always enjoyed attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. In the early years of our marriage, we had a special tradition of bundling up in warm clothing after the service to hike up a nearby hill where 350 glowing lights were strung from tall poles in the shape of a star. There—often in the snow—we’d whisper our reflections on Jesus’ miraculous birth while we gazed out over the city. Meanwhile, many people in the town were looking up at the bright, string-light star from the valley below.
That star is a reminder of the birth of our Savior. The Bible tells of magi “from the east” who arrived in Jerusalem seeking “the one who [had] been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:1-2). They’d been watching the skies and had seen the star “when it rose” (v. 2). Their journey took them onward from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the star going “ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was” (v. 9). There, they “bowed down and worshiped him” (v. 11).
Christ is the source of light in our lives both figuratively (as the one who guides us) and literally as the one who created the sun, moon, and stars in the sky (Colossians 1:15-16). Like the magi who “were overjoyed” when they saw His star (Matthew 2:10), our greatest delight is in knowing Him as the Savior who came down from the heavens to dwell among us. “We have seen his glory” (John 1:14)! <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 16" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" data-slot="icon" class="h-4 w-4 text-stone-900">
It felt like we’d been waiting forever for news that our pregnant neighbor had welcomed her first baby. When a sign declaring “It’s a Girl!” finally appeared on their front lawn, we celebrated the birth of their daughter and texted friends who might not have seen the outdoor display.
There’s great excitement awaiting the arrival of a baby. Before Jesus’ birth, the Jewish people hadn’t just been waiting a few months, they’d longed for the birth of the Messiah, Israel’s expected rescuer, for generations. I imagine that over the years faithful Jews wondered if during their lifetime they would see the fulfillment of this promise.
One night the long-anticipated news was displayed in the heavens when an angel appeared to shepherds in Bethlehem announcing that the Messiah had finally been born. He told them, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). After the shepherds saw Jesus, they praised God and “spread the word” (v. 17) about the baby.
God wanted the shepherds to know that the long-awaited baby had arrived so they could tell others about Jesus’ birth. We still celebrate His birth because His life provides rescue from the brokenness of the world to anyone who believes. We no longer have to wait to know peace and experience joy, which is good news worth announcing!
How do you think the shepherds felt hearing the news that Christ was born? How might you share the good news of Jesus’ birth?
Dear Jesus, I want everyone to know that Your birth is good news.
Learn more about how we can share the good news.
Wishing y’all a Peaceful, Joyous Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2025!
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