The New Heaven 3

Galatians 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Evangelist Wil Rice wisely compared this old world with our glorious future. Being on our way to Heaven can give us a peaceful heart here and now.This devotional was written by Evangelist Wil Rice. You too may receive his free devotionals from firstlight@billriceranch.org.

Isaiah 11:10: . . . and his rest shall be glorious.

Let me interrupt your everyday real life for just a moment and ask you to imagine a perfect world, a world in which there is no conflict, where there is overriding peace, and where, in fact, God reigns in an obvious, visible way. Isaiah 11 tells us that such a day is coming. There is coming a day when opposition will be cut down like an axe to a forest, and *there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.* The Bible is talking here about the Messiah. The Messiah did come, will come again, and Jesus Christ will reign. Verse 10 tells us, *…his rest shall be glorious.*

When I think about that, I think about just how true that is. His rest will be overriding. His rest will overflow the earth like a flood. It will be glorious, abundant, and worthy of praise. Verses 3-5 tell us that He will judge. He will judge with understanding and with righteousness. Verses 6-9 tell us of the peace of predator with prey at that time. Verses 11 and following tell us about the recovering of the remnant of Israel. They will be assembled and gathered.

I think most interesting to me is verse 13 which says, *The envy also of Ephraim shall depart.* If you look at Judges 8, Judges 12, and Psalm 78, there is something about this tribe of Ephraim that sometimes represents the entire half of the divided kingdom of Israel. There is coming a day when those who were once divided by envy or tribalism shall again be joined together. It will be different. We have here a glimpse of a perfect world ruled by God*s Messiah. Now God*s rest governs wherever God reigns. If you are waiting for a perfect world before you allow God*s rest to reign in your heart, I think you are missing something. You are missing something you can have in measure right now. Colossians 3:15 says, *And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.* Colossians 3:1 says, *If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.* Verse 4 says, *When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.* *His rest shall be glorious.* There is coming a time when Christ will come again. But until such time, do we need to wait before we have peace in our hearts?

In Romans it says, *As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.* Colossians tells us to *let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.* It also says to *put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.* The truth is that this is something we can enjoy right now.

Today, don*t just imagine a world filled with peace. Ask God to give you a heart filled with peace. He can give you a heart that is not dictated by what you see at work, school, or even at church, but is dictated by a God and His Messiah Who understand and are righteous. He can give you peace in your heart today!

You may contact Ron with questions, comments or prayer requests via email at ronsbibletopics@yahoo.com.

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