“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:6-8 ESV)

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ”‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’“ (Matthew 4:1-4 ESV)

Jesus responds to the devils first temptation with the importance of scripture. That man is to live and trust his life on the word of God. Then Jesus answers the devils next two temptations with scripture. This is the perfect picture for how we are to guard ourselves up to keep ourselves from the devils evil by being in the bible the word of God daily. If scripture was so crucial to keeping Jesus from temptation oh how much more must we rely on it.

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5 ESV)

The word is a shield and this is why we must take seriously the notion to read the bible daily; to find our refuge in the powerful word of God. Life is quite a journey and God gave us a road map in His word to live the journey to our upmost potential.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:27-32)

Let us take the challenge to obey God rather than men, rather than what the world tells us we should be doing and let our obedience bare witness to the power of our Jesus in the Holy Spirit.

I did cover of fellow ginger Ed Sheeran’s Lego House.

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.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8 ESV)

It is easy to forget the big picture sometimes but this beautiful revelation given to John is a great encouragement to us all running this race for the name of Jesus Christ. No more death, no more pain, just the presence of God all day everyday. Praise the Lord for what He has given to us in eternity through His son.