Revelation 21:1-4  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Change -  "it is a-comin!"

Today  let us lift up the eyes of our hearts and gaze upon what is coming!

Jesus is coming again.

And when all that surrounds the second coming comes to a close, we will end up in our text for today.

You have to do today what you have to do.

But as you do, be encouraged, be uplifted, be excited.

Not only about what we now have in Christ, but what we will have for eternity!

“Even so come Lord Jesus!” Rev. 22:20

Revelation 14:4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.

One of the sweetest descriptions of the Christian life is found in our verse today.

"They follow the Lamb (Christ) wherever He leads."

This should be the goal of every believer at every turn in our lives.

Planned or not.  Desired or not.  

To live with a singular focus to follow our Redeemer where ever He leads. 

Today, let us  keep the eyes of our heart fixed on Him and the ears our mind attentive to His word.

Let's respond as the song writer, "where He leads me I will follow".

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

Why were the followers of Christ “troubled”?

Their life was about to change in ways they could not understand and did not appreciate. Jesus was going to the cross!

The first truth that is used to comfort their hearts is the deity of Christ. Jesus is God!

Jesus is not only the God of the universe He is the God of our individual lives.

In Hebrews 1:1-3 the Bible teaches that Jesus, as God, is our Creator, Sustainer and Savior!

Whenever we are facing changes we wish were not happening, or that we cannot understand, let us run to our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Today, let us rest in His wisdom as Creator, His power as Sustainer, and His grace as our Savior!

Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”

Everything Jesus says we can trust. He is the “faithful witness”.

This means every word Jesus has given us is worthy of our complete acceptance and submission.

Remember, the words of Jesus are not just the words in red in our Bible.

They are, in fact, the whole of the bible.

If any of us are facing a complex or uncertain situation in our lives today let’s be encouraged to seek God’s guidance through His word.

While it is true you will not find a Bible verse on every specific challenge you might face, you can, and should, allow the bible to be the ultimate foundation of all your thought processes.

This requires time, effort and a disciplined heart.

May the Lord find us faithful in our daily and disciplined relationship with His word.

I John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Have you ever sinned?

There is great news for you (and the rest of us) in our two verses for today.

God the Father sent His son, Jesus, to be both our “Advocate” &“Propitiation”.

Christ as our propitiation removes all our personal guilt before a holy God. This happens
when we first recognize our personal guilt before a Holy God and our inability to
remove that guilt on our own. This realization drives us to the blood of Christ which is
the only and complete sacrifice for sin. Then we call upon Christ to save us, by faith.
(Romans 3:25). “Faith” means to transfer our trust. We transfer our complete
dependence upon Christ’s blood to provide the removal of our guilt for sin and to bring
us into a right and eternal relationship with God. (John 1:12)

Christ as our advocate relates to His ministry in our lives after our salvation when, from
time to time, we do sin. Our sin after salvation does not negate our position as God’s
children but it does interfere with our fellowship with God. Christ comes “along side”
(advocate) to help us see our sin and deal with it.

Today these verses should let all of us to ask two clear questions.
Have I ever trusted Christ as my Savior? If not, today would you call upon Christ? He loves you and desires to remove the guilt of your sin through faith in His death on the cross.
As a believer, are there any sins in your life today that need to be confessed (I John 1:9 - identified, acknowledged, and forsaken)?  Do so today so that your walk with God can be a free and joyous as He desires and you (and I) desperately need.