There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

2.  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4.  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5.  Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6.  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

7.  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8.  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on  the adder's den.

9.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

10. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Think about this Jesus that has come to reign over a Kingdom like that???  He loves us SO MUCH!!!!

I learned something new about His love at a wedding I attended recently.

I went to India for the first time.  OH, INDIA!!!  Oh, my mercy!!!  God bless those who live in India!  I loved it and hated it, that is for sure.  I have SO MUCH more respect for the cross-cultural workers there--both South Asians and any others.  It was NOT an easy place to travel.

I really, REALLY enjoyed about the first half hour of seeing what God sees everyday--the people He has made.  And, then, my journey became increasingly tumultuous.  There were planes, trains and automobiles involved.  There were tears involved.  There was me yelling at a man, "Go away! Just go away!"  (If you have not had these experiencing overseas, you are a better human than I am...or, you haven't lived there long enough!It was an ADVENTURE.

It turns out, my friends had written a very detailed email to me with all the instructions I was to follow--in order to avoid tears and turmoil.  But, I had never gotten the email.

Worried for me, my friend's Groom drove down to the train station early in the morning and HIS was the first face I saw after plopping down on the platform from many hours on the train.

"CAN I HUG YOU?!" I said.

"Sure. Go ahead." his cool reply.

Handel, the Groom, is a guy everybody loves!!!  He is the kind of guy who GIVES each person in his life more than it feels one is able to give back.  He is generous with his love.  He is thoughtful and wise.  He is faithful and a man of great character.

I was really glad to see him!

We traveled up a hill, which I like to call a MOUNTAIN, to the place where the wedding was to be held.  Some old Indian ladies who were traveling through kept talking about the wedding.

"We hope to catch a glimpse of the bride!!!"

"Where are you all from?"

"Oh, it's so beautiful!"

They were hilarious and appropriately giddy.

During the wedding and the reception following, a very intimate gathering full of love and the presence of God with us, my friend, the Bride, was completely calm.  She is a calm and quiet person anyway.  Unless she's being tickled.  But, on this day, I couldn't help but receive the blessing of seeing something eternal in her.  She KNEW she was beautiful, yet she was not arrogant.  She KNEW she was where she needed to be.  She didn't need to be the center of attention, yet her countenance still demanded it because it was so breath taking.  She KNEW who she was and she knew she was HIS, and there was nothing else on earth to strive for.  She could just be Handel's, and, in that, belong to Jesus....and enjoy the reality of it all.  I was very moved by seeing my friend this way.

The highlight of the wedding for me, though, was God's image reflected to us during a moment when Handel was responding to the speeches that had been made at the reception.  When the party was winding down, he took the microphone and started expressing to us the joy and the gift it is to him to have Ashley as his bride.  Then, he looked around the scene, at each person, with tears in his eyes and said, "I just feel so loved right now.  Thank you.  I just feel so loved by you."

I think God has given me something through his words that will stay with me the rest of my life.

What will it be, to finally arrive?  To be the one to LEAVE?!  To look in His eyes and say, "Thank you for loving me!"  But, to surprisingly, shockingly, gently be gazed upon and told, "I feel so loved by you."

I think that is the new aim of my life--to live in such a way that these words are my reward!  There is nothing I can think of in this moment that would give me greater joy than for Christ to EXPERIENCE my meager and incomplete love towards Him and find some pleasure in it.

Let's now meditate on the picture of His coming again to us that He has given.  As we approach reading this passage, I invite you to ask God to reveal and speak His truth to what has been dwelling in your mind and heart that is FALSE, that is NOT of this new kingdom He has purchased for you with His blood:

What does God want to say to

--shame that you carry
--a lie you've been battling
--pain you are dealing with
--suffering you've witnessed
--pain you have caused

Lord, heal us and put the fear of God alone within us.  Give us the fullness of joy that Jesus spoke about.  Stir our affections and our Hopes towards eternal things, Lord!

Revelation 21
English Standard Version (ESV)

1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  2. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  6. And he said to me, “It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  7. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  8. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

9. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,  11. having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  12. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13. on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.  14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.  16. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width.  And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.  Its length and width and height are equal.  17. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.  18. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.  19. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel.  The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  20. the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.  21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  23. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  24. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,  25. and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  26. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 22
English Standard Version (ESV)

1. 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.

6. 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.”

10. And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.  11. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12. “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.  15. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”  And let the one who hears say, “Come.”  And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

18. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  19. and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

21. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.  Amen.

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