Thoughts and Reflection

Today we conclude the journey by reading the whole bible in a year. The book of Revelation, it ends with a new heaven and new earth. God restores everything. We all experience pain and loss, but God is always there alongside us during our suffering. Throughout this year, he has been with us in times of death and loss and he keeps speaking to us.

Remember that we must always keep our eyes on Jesus and continue to look toward him to perfect our faith. Just like Peter was able to walk on water up to the point he wasn’t when he took his eyes off Jesus.

This journey has been incredible and has opened up my eyes to my faith and hope. What has it done for you?

Daily Readings

Revelation 21

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea.

² I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband.

³ Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them.

⁴ He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone.’

⁵ Then the One sitting on the throne spoke. ‘Look, I am making the whole of creation new. Write this, “What I am saying is trustworthy and will come true.”

⁶ Then he said to me, ‘It has already happened. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty;

⁷ anyone who proves victorious will inherit these things; and I will be his God and he will be my son.

⁸ But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur.’

⁹ One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came to speak to me and said, ‘Come here and I willshow you the bride that the Lamb has married.’

¹⁰ In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heavenfrom God.

¹¹ It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.

¹² Its wall was of a great height and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel;

¹³ on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

¹⁴ The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel that was speaking to me was carrying a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and wall.

¹⁶ The plan of the city is perfectly square, its length the same as its breadth. He measured the city with his rod and it was twelve thousand furlongs, equal in length and in breadth, and equal in height.

¹⁷ He measured its wall, and this was a hundred and forty-four cubits high — by human measurements.

¹⁸ The wall was built of diamond, and the city of pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹ The foundations of the city wall were faced with all kinds of precious stone: the first with diamond, the second lapis lazuli, the third turquoise, the fourth crystal,

²⁰ the fifth agate, the sixth ruby, the seventh gold quartz, the eighth malachite, the ninth topaz, the tenth emerald, the eleventh sapphire and the twelfth amethyst.

²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made of a single pearl, and the main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

²² I could not see any temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple,

²³ and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

²⁴ The nations will come to its light and the kings of the earth will bring it their treasures.

²⁵ Its gates will never be closed by day — and there will be no night there-

²⁶ and the nations will come, bringing their treasure and their wealth.

²⁷ Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear.

² Down the middle of the city street, on either bank of the river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the nations.

³ The curse of destruction will be abolished. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city; his servants will worship him,

⁴ they will see him face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.

⁵ And night will be abolished; they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign for ever and ever.

⁶ The angel said to me, ‘All that you have written is sure and will come true: the Lord God who inspires the prophets has sent his angelto reveal to his servants what is soon to take place.

⁷ I am coming soon!’ Blessed are those who keep the prophetic message of this book.

⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them all, I knelt at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me, to worship him;

⁹ but he said, ‘Do no such thing: I am your fellow-servant and the fellow-servant of your brothers the prophets and those who keep the message of this book. God alone you must worship.’

¹⁰ This, too, he said to me, ‘Do not keep the prophecies in this book a secret, because the Time is close.

¹¹ Meanwhile let the sinner continue sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let the upright continue in his uprightness, and those who are holy continue to be holy.

¹² Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as their deeds deserve.

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴ Blessed are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city.

¹⁵ Others must stay outside: dogs, fortune-tellers, and the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life.’

¹⁶ I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the sake of the churches. I am the sprig from the root of David and the bright star of the morning.

¹⁷ The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come!’ Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free.

¹⁸ This is my solemn attestation to all who hear the prophecies in this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book;

¹⁹ if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are described in the book.

²⁰ The one who attests these things says: I am indeed coming soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.

Hebrews 11

¹ Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen.

² It is for their faith that our ancestors are acknowledged.

³ It is by faith that we understand that the ages were created by a word from God, so that from the invisible the visible world came to be.

⁴ It was because of his faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and for that he was acknowledged as upright when Godhimself made acknowledgement of his offerings. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith.

⁵ It was because of his faith that Enoch was taken up and did not experience death: he was no more, because God took him; because before his assumption he was acknowledged to have pleased God.

⁶ Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him.

⁷ It was through his faith that Noah, when he had been warned by God of something that had never been seen before, took care to build an ark to save his family. His faith was a judgement on the world, and he was able to claim the uprightness which comes from faith.

⁸ It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going.

⁹ By faith he sojourned in the Promised Land as though it were not his, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰ He looked forward to the well-founded city, designed and built by God.

¹¹ It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise was faithful to it.

¹² Because of this, there came from one man, and one who already had the mark of death on him, descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore which cannot be counted.

¹³ All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth.

¹⁴ People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of a homeland.

¹⁵ If they had meant the country they came from, they would have had the opportunity to return to it;

¹⁶ but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

¹⁷ It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though he had yet to receive what had been promised,

¹⁸ and he had been told: Isaac is the one through whom your name will be carried on.

¹⁹ He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

²⁰ It was by faith that this same Isaac gave his blessing to Jacob and Esau for the still distant future.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, bowed in reverence, as he leant on his staff.

²² It was by faith that, when he was about to die, Joseph mentioned the Exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his own remains.

²³ It was by faith that Moses, when he was born, was kept hidden by his parents for three months; because they saw that he was a fine child; they were not afraid of the royal edict.

²⁴ It was by faith that, when he was grown up, Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter

²⁵ and chose to be ill-treated in company with God’s people rather than to enjoy the transitory pleasures of sin.

²⁶ He considered that the humiliations offered to the Anointed were something more precious than all the treasures of Egypt, because he had his eyes fixed on the reward.

²⁷ It was by faith that he left Egypt without fear of the king’s anger; he held to his purpose like someone who could see the Invisible.

²⁸ It was by faith that he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood to prevent the Destroyer from touching any of their first-born sons.

²⁹ It was by faith they crossed the Red Sea as easily as dry land, while the Egyptians, trying to do the same, were drowned.

³⁰ It was through faith that the walls of Jericho fell down when the people had marched round them for seven days.

³¹ It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies and so was not killed with the unbelievers.

³² What more shall I say? There is not time for me to give an account of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, or of David, Samuel and the prophets.

³³ These were men who through faith conquered kingdoms, did what was upright and earned the promises. They could keep a lion’s mouth shut,

³⁴ put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle. They were weak people who were given strength to be brave in war and drive back foreign invaders.

³⁵ Some returned to their wives from the dead by resurrection; and others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they would rise again to a better life.

³⁶ Some had to bear being pilloried and flogged, or even chained up in prison.

³⁷ They were stoned, or sawn in half, or killed by the sword; they were homeless, and wore only the skins of sheep and goats; they were in want and hardship, and maltreated.

³⁸ They were too good for the world and they wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and ravines.

³⁹ These all won acknowledgement through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,

⁴⁰ since God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.

Hebrews 12

¹ With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us.

² Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne.

³ Think of the way he persevered against such opposition from sinners and then you will not lose heart and come to grief.

⁴ In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of bloodshed.

⁵ Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, do not scorn correction from the Lord, do not resent his training,

⁶ for the Lord trains those he loves, and chastises every son he accepts.

⁷ Perseverance is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him?

⁸ If you were not getting this training, as all of you are, then you would be not sons but bastards.

⁹ Besides, we have all had our human fathers who punished us, and we respected them for it; all the more readily ought we to submit to the Father of spirits, and so earn life.

¹⁰ Our human fathers were training us for a short life and according to their own lights; but he does it all for our own good, so that we may share his own holiness.

¹¹ Of course, any discipline is at the time a matter for grief, not joy; but later, in those who have undergone it, it bears fruit in peace and uprightness.

¹² So steady all weary hands and trembling knees

¹³ and make your crooked paths straight; then the injured limb will not be maimed, it will get better instead.

¹⁴ Seek peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can ever see the Lord.

¹⁵ Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a large number.

¹⁶ And be careful that there is no immoral person, or anyone worldly minded like Esau, who sold his birthright for one single meal.

¹⁷ As you know, when he wanted to obtain the blessing afterwards, he was rejected and, though he pleaded for it with tears, he could find no way of reversing the decision.

¹⁸ What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or gloom or total darkness, or a storm;

¹⁹ or trumpet-blast or the sound of a voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them.

²⁰ They could not bear the order that was given: If even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned.

²¹ The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said, ‘I am afraid and trembling.’

²² But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,

²³ with the whole Church of first-born sons, enrolled as citizens of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and to the spirits of the upright who have been made perfect;

²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to purifying blood which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

²⁵ Make sure that you never refuse to listen when he speaks. If the people who on earth refused to listen to a warning could not escape their punishment, how shall we possibly escape if we turn away from a voice that warns us from heaven?

²⁶ That time his voice made the earth shake, but now he has given us this promise: I am going to shake the earth once more and not only the earth but heaven as well.

²⁷ The words once more indicate the removal of what is shaken, since these are created things, so that what is not shaken remains.

²⁸ We have been given possession of an unshakeable kingdom. Let us therefore be grateful and use our gratitude to worship God in the way that pleases him, in reverence and fear.

²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 13

¹ Continue to love each other like brothers,

² and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

³ Keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in the body.

⁴ Marriage must be honoured by all, and marriages must be kept undefiled, because the sexually immoral and adulterers will come under God’s judgement.

⁵ Put avarice out of your lives and be content with whatever you have; God himself has said: I shall not fail you or desert you,

⁶ and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord on my side, I fear nothing: what can human beings do to me?

⁷ Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, take their faith as your model.

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever.

⁹ Do not be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on food, which has done no good to those who concentrate on it.

¹⁰ We have our own altar from which those who serve the Tent have no right to eat.

¹¹ The bodies of the animals whose blood is taken into the sanctuary by the high priest for the rite of expiation are burnt outside the camp,

¹² and so Jesus too suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood.

¹³ Let us go to him, then, outside the camp, and bear his humiliation.

¹⁴ There is no permanent city for us here; we are looking for the one which is yet to be.

¹⁵ Through him, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, the fruit of the lips of those who acknowledge his name.

¹⁶ Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are the kinds of sacrifice that please God.

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and give way to them; they watch over your souls because they must give an account of them; make this a joy for them to do, and not a grief — you yourselves would be the losers.

¹⁸ Pray for us; we are sure that our own conscience is clear and we are certainly determined to behave honourably in everything we do.

¹⁹ I ask you very particularly to pray that I may come back to you all the sooner.

²⁰ I pray that the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant,

²¹ may prepare you to do his will in every kind of good action; effecting in us all whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

²² I urge you, brothers, to take these words of encouragement kindly; that is why I have written to you briefly.

²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he arrives in time, he will be with me when I see you.

²⁴ Greetings to all your leaders and to all God’s holy people. God’s holy people in Italy send you greetings.

²⁵ Grace be with you all.

Proverbs 31:30-31

³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty; the woman who fears Yahweh is the one to praise.

³¹ Give her a share in what her hands have worked for, and let her works tell her praises at the city gates.