OUR DAILY BREAD : MIXED EMOTIONS

[cimi]

December 30
Monday


MIXED
EMOTIONS

READ:
Revelation 21:1-7
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Even in laughter the
heart may sorrow, and
the end of mirth
may be grief.
__Proverbs 14:13
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For Marlene and me, "mixed emotions" precisely describes our wedding. Don't take that the wrong way. It was a wonderful event that we continue to celebrate more than 35 years later. The wedding celebration, however, was dampened because Marlene's mom died of cancer just weeks before. Marlene's aunt was a wonderful stand-in as the "mother of the bride," but, in the midst of our happiness, something clearly wasn't right. Mom was missing, and that affected everything.

That experience typifies life in a broken world. Our experiences here are a mixed bag of good and bad, joy and pain__a reality that Solomon expressed when he wrote, "Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief" (Prov. 14:13). The merry heart often does grieve, for that is what this life sometimes demands.

Thankfully, however, this life is not all there is. And in the life that is to come, those who know Christ have a promise: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4). In that great day, there will be no mixed emotions__ only hearts filled with the presence of God! __Bill Crowder
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``````````````````````````Peace! Peace! wonderful peace,`````````````````````````
```````````````````````Coming down from the Father above,````````````````````````
````````````````````````Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,````````````````````````
``````````````````````In fathomless billows of love. __Cornell```````````````````````
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for the Christian, the dark sorrows of earth will one
day be changed into the bright songs of heaven.

*************************************Today's Bible reading __ Revelation 21:1-7 ***********************************

1 Now I saw a new heaven
and a new earth, for the first
heaven and first earth
had passed away. Also there
was no more sea. 2 Then I,
John, 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 heaven saying,
"Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men and He
will dwell with them, and
they shall be His people.
God Himself will be with
them and be their God.

4 And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor
crying. There shall be no
more pain, for the former
things have passed away."

5 Then He who sat on the
throne said, "Behold, I
make all things new." And
He said to me, "Write, for
these words are true and
faithful."

6 And He said to me, "It is
done! I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the Beginning
and the End. I will give of
the fountain of the water of
life freely to him who
thirsts. 7 He who overcomes
shall inherit all things, and I
will be his God and he shall
be My son."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This passage gives us a glimpse of the new heaven and new earth, a
physical place (vv.1-2). Jesus' promise that He was going to prepare
a place for us (John 14:2-3) is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, the
holy city (Rev. 21:2). While it is a great comfort that there will be
"no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying...(nor) pain" (v-4), the
most important thing is that God will be there (v.3). In that place,
God will dwell with us!