Life on Earth

[Madre]

"Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people,and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." Revelations 4:21

As for the passage quoted above with its implications of being in heaven, I am thinking of it differently. Instead of having a great sense of relief that there will be a time in the future when there is no longer any mourning, or crying, or pain, I am applying that passage to the present with a different view. God put me in a fallen world and a fallen body. He permits what he could prevent, and this is my only opportunity to experience mourning, crying, and pain, for those things will be absent in heaven. It is important that I learn from those things while I have the occasion.

How will I learn that He is the God of all comfort if I have never mourned? How will I know the mercy, love, and goodness of God if I cannot, like David, wash my face and move forward? The lame man went walking, and leaping, and praising God because he was in pain and God removed it. I have never seen a perfectly healthy person walking, and leaping, and praising God.

We must stop seeing our lives in these bodies, in this world with its sin and its governments, as a curse. I believe in so doing we are missing out on the human experience that has divine revelations of the One whom we love because He first loved us. To whom would the love of God mean the most, the one who has only experienced love his whole life or the one who has been an untouchable?

“We would see Jesus” is our cry, in everything. He has much more for all of us. You have just a few years to enjoy the experience of being human. You will never again experience the wind on your face, a cup of cold water on a hot day, intimacy with the one you love, a full moon, the heavens above, and more. We are privileged to be on this journey.

~ Michael Wells

[Cheeseburger]

Revelation 21:4, not 4:21, just in case any one else was as confused as i was.

[Madre]

Oops, I just copied it off of the original source. My mistake. (The message is still worth reading, though.)

[rachel]

I thought of this post this morning when I flipped my pillow to the cool side, hehe. Then my mind running to come up with more.

[4HisGlory]

I love this. how often do we (I) want to skip the bad in order to get to the good. but if we skip the bad we won't be able to recognise the good. Also, God uses so many difficult situations to help mold us to look more like him. If I was not struggling with my finances I wouldn't be crying out to God to help me feed,cloth, protect my family. I wouldn't be able to see His mercy when someone gives me a bag of groceries, I wouldn't be thankful when we are not struggling as much and I wouldn't see the needs of others when we have plenty. Although it is hard and I still struggle, I am trying to focus myself and rejoice and be thankful in ALL circumstances no matter if they are difficult or not. great post Madre!