"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. 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.' 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.'"                                                                                                                             Revelation 21:3-5, NKJV

As each year ends and another new one begins, we need to stop and consider the One who has promised us that ultimately, He is going to make everything new. God's promise is that when He makes everything new, it is never going to wear out, break down, or fall apart again. This is great news to me, because as each year passes and another one begins again, I feel the sting of time taking its toll. The best part of God's promise is that when He makes everything new, He is going to make us with new bodies that will never wear out, break down, or fall apart, ever again!

First Peter 3:10-13 says: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." The Apostle Peter asks us, in light of the fact that the current heavens and earth, and all the works in which we are involved here will be burned, what manner of persons ought we to be? He answers that question in the last part of verse 13.

He tells us that we are to be persons whose lives are spent with a forward outlook. We are to be persons who have a vision of a new earth, that is filled with righteousness. We are to be looking forward to a place where no starving children show up on television; no hospitals display them looking for cures to deadly diseases; no addictions plague families and no governments are engaged in wars (cold or otherwise). We ought to be expecting to live in a world like that, because our God has promised we will be living in a world like that!

Until that day comes, we are to be hastening His coming, because we know that Jesus will be the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace upon whom the only righteous government this world will ever know will finally come to rest! Before all of that happens, the Bible says that seated upon David's throne, Jesus will be ruling the world from His international capital in Jerusalem! I don't know about you, but I get excited just thinking about these things! Furthermore, I get even more excited realizing from the word of God that all of God's people will be part of that wonderful administration, one day! What about you? Are you ready for a new year? Even more, are you ready for coming of the new heaven and earth!

Blessings & Peace, Brother Dan