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Revelation 21:10, 11 - Glorious Creation!

Revelation 21:10, 11 (NLT) So he took me in 
the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he 
showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out 
of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of 
God and sparkled like a precious stone - like 
jasper as clear as crystal. 

COMMENTARY PEARL

   One of the places I would like to visit 
(again) is Holland. I've visited twice, and each 
time I missed the spring tulip season with the 
stripes of color filling vast acres of land. The 
Ottoman Turks were the first to discover wild 
tulips. Tulip in Turkish means "turban," and these 
particular turbans were gorgeous. In the 1550s, an 
Austrian Hapsburg ambassador to the court of 
Sleyman the Magnificent in Constantinople stole a 
few bulbs and sent them west. The Dutch, who had 
limited land space, filled their window planters 
with the colorful flowers. "Tulip mania" spread 
like wildfire. Prices climbed until people were 
spending a fortune on a single bulb. But what goes up 
eventually comes down (like a housing market!), and the 
tulip market crashed. 
   The beautiful, brilliantly colored tulips 
we see today aren't the same as those 
Ambassador de Busbecq sent west. Tulips have been 
hybridized and have lost their original splashes 
("breaks") of color. While some wild tulips still 
exist, the tulips of Sleyman's day can mainly be 
seen only in Middle Eastern paintings and 
ceramics. 
   As beautiful as today's tulips are, God's 
original design was far more magnificent. Such is 
man's inability to improve on God's work. He is 
the master Designer and ultimate Creator, and He 
specializes in breathtaking color, eye-opening variety, 
and awe-inspiring beauty. If that's what He 
created on earth, which is our temporal home, 
imagine what He has created in heaven, our eternal 
home and His. We have the promise that heaven is 
far more amazingly beautiful than anything we 
can even imagine - and hopefully the one place 
in the universe where we will see God's 
gloriously created tulips growing in His garden. 
   God reveals Himself to us through His 
creation. The beauty we see around us now is a 
reminder of His majesty and beauty, and it's a 
promise of even more majesty and beauty to come. 
Someday well not only view the fullness of His 
creation, but we'll be able to see Him face-to-face. 
That will be beautiful beyond all imagining. 
   What might change in your life if you 
thought about heaven each day? What does God's 
creation tell us about God Himself and His love for 
us?  
   Heavenly Father, I praise You because You 
are the master Designer! I know that the heaven 
You have created will be beautiful beyond my 
wildest imagination. I don't know how to thank You 
for saving me and welcoming me to this beautiful 
place. Help me to live each day with heaven in 
mind. May I remember that the greatest moment of 
heaven will be viewing You face-to-face. [Earth 
Psalms by Francine Rivers] 

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS SUBJECT


http://www.abible.com/devotions/2013/20130808-1659.html 

EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON 28 REVELATIONS OF 
JESUS 

1st of 28: Divine Dining: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_7j1QIKqmY 
2nd of 28: Pictures of the Divine: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lNI-OQ7-eQ 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs