June 27, 2023 – Reflections on “Forever More!”

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.

They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:4-5.

How long is eternity? When I read Genesis 5:27, Thus Methuselah lived 969 years, and he died. I gasp in wonder. Each Monday, I visit by phone with my Aunt who has reached the age of 100. She is God’s gift to me, as my days slide into a ‘parade of sameness’. Then I realize what sets apart each new day. For me, the day holds God’s steadfast Love and studying His Word. I remember my grandfather at the breakfast table, reading scripture before my brothers and I left for high school. After reading, he raised his head, his blue eyes sparkling in wonder said, “I never saw that before!”

Now I read this verse. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11. I understand the blessing and joy of the Presence of our Lord God and His Son, Jesus.

The twenty-third Psalm has this blessing. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:5-6.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117:1-2.

These verses give me an understanding of how much God loves us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Ephesians 1:3-6. We have a purpose in life, even before Genesis 1:1-2: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Everything He created, teaches. The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3. Who is the Lord God? He is our Redeemer who invites us to worship Him who created the world and each tiny baby!

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish.” Isaiah 44:24-26.

 Do you wonder about the mysteries of creation and the purpose of our lives on earth? For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9.

Jesus also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” John 14:6-7.

Always has a forever in it when it comes from Jesus with a command. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mathew 28:19-20.

What is eternity? And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. John 17:3-5.

This verse explains how much God loves us! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18.

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40.

God changed the 10 commandments to this. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14.