You will find devotional videos here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/308727586956090/
Something that will help us all stay connected is to keep up the discussion on the Live Stream. Don’t forget to like, follow, and Share these devotions. And comment today where you’ve seen God lately, look for God sightings.
Revelation 21:5 (NIV)
I love to watch fixer-upper shows, from house remodels, the flea market flips, or the shows where someone discovers that they have a priceless heirloom hiding in their attic. We love to see something ugly made new. I believe that within us there is a part of us craving the restoration that God brings to our lives.
But we have a much more certain promise than the hope of transformation through a remodel or the reveal of an antique, we have the sure or certain promise of humanity’s curse reversal of the curse from Genesis 3. And I believe it comes to us from the confident declaration f Revelation 21: “I am making all things new!”
Revelation 21:5 (NIV) He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
I know that often times, when we are grieving or suffering, or there are other tragedies in our lives, we can often get our eyes fixed on the issue or circumstance rather than where they should be, which is focused on Jesus.
Think about it for just a moment. In Matthew chapter 14 we have the account when Jesus walks out on the water. And who but Peter jumps out to join Him. And in this we see Peter jumping out in full faith, and he is walking on water too. But then – what happens - Peter is distracted. He takes His eyes off Jesus and he begins to doubt, he becomes afraid, and starts to sink in the water.
Can I say that I love Peter! I’m probably more like Peter than I realize or want to admit. But here in this moment, we can learn something from Peter. We can learn to fix our eyes on Christ Jesus, not on the circumstances around us. Simply put our eyes on Christ Jesus.
While we grieve or suffer this side of heaven, we can find many difficulties in keeping up our relationship with God. It can be hard sometimes to even pray, in those moment even more than others may we fix our eyes on Christ. We can do it – with the help of His Holy Spirit. Why, because Jesus went through death for us and beat death, He beat hell and the grave. They no longer hold power over Him and because He lives in and through us, we have that same power.
Because of the death and resurrection, we can place our trust in God. We can place our trust in God because He has already made His promise of salvation true. It’s already accomplished, simply put, God delivered already! And in those times when you find yourself unable to pray, remember the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit groans within us, praying on our behalf. And sometimes we just have to sit with God and let the Holy Spirit do His work for us – in us – through us to God the Father.
Here’s a final thought, when you are in such times grieving or suffering for whatever reason, and you have difficulty praying, try praying the Scripture we just read - “Behold I am making all things new” - ask God to make all things in you new. Even right now God is making all things new, even in the midst of the pain of this world.