Issue 1428 – Beautiful Place April 22, 2024
On Saturday, Kathy and I took a short day trip south of the border. We were up early, did a little shopping in Bellingham and Mount Vernon and then drove to La Conner, Washington.
La Conner is only about an hour from home (excluding border wait times) and is always worth the drive. It’s a pretty, historic community. It was built on the banks of the Swinomish Channel, which leads to the Salish Sea, is home to about 1,000 people and has plenty of little shops and more to explore. We enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips and a stroll along the pier.
We were blessed to see seals playing and a plethora of bird species. At one spot along the pier, there is a beautiful man-made waterfall and oasis. It’s quite a pretty little place.
Wherever I have travelled, I see gardens and features designed to bring a sense of beauty and peace to their surroundings. They are not always to my taste, but I can appreciate the sentiment.
Our God, the creator of everything, created a beautiful and peaceful place for humanity to dwell in. When it was finished, the perfect judge of all things declared it to be very good. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, and we were cast out.
Ever since then, people have longed for that place. Even non-believers seek that place of peace and beauty. Whether we recognize it or not, we long for that place and our lost relationship with God.
No earthly garden or waterfall can compare to the beauty found in Eden, but they are delightful nonetheless. We can enjoy a momentary respite in such places, and believers can look for the time and place we will be fully restored and redeemed.
There is great beauty even in our fallen, broken world, but it will place compared to the home believers will find at the culmination of all things.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4
To be fully reconciled to God and living in His presence. What a thought.
There is no sin, no possibility of sin, no mourning, and no pain. We will be free to be totally everything the Lord created us to be in the presence of every believer from all times, places, and cultures.
To be honest, I cannot even begin to imagine it fully, but I know it will be more wonderful than any place I have ever seen or heard of.
I can hardly wait. In the interim, it is my joy and delight to be reconciled to Him through faith in Jesus and to grow more like Him through the Spirit and the Word.
Praise His wonderful name.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)