Future Realities Should Impact How We Live Today

Jul 19, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The East Gate Vision: God’s Glory Returns

Ezekiel sees the glory of God reentering the temple through the East Gate—a vision of restoration after exile. This image electrified captive Israelites who’d witnessed God’s departure. The same God who left in judgment promises to return in fullness, not just to a building but ultimately in Christ. For exiles rebuilding Jerusalem, this hope fueled their work. Today, believers live between the already of Christ’s first coming and the not-yet of His eternal reign. The river of life starts as a trickle but swells to transform deserts. [42:09]

Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. (Ezekiel 43:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What “east gate” moment in your life—a place of past failure or loss—could God’s returning glory transform? How does this vision reframe your current struggles?

Day 2: Ankle-Deep to Torrent: The River of Life’s Surprising Flow

The trickle from God’s throne becomes a life-giving river, turning death into fruitfulness. Ezekiel’s tour guide measures deepening waters, mirroring how God’s promises often start small but swell beyond imagination. This river flows through Revelation’s New Jerusalem and Jesus’ declaration at the Feast of Tabernacles. Like the Dead Sea revived, no heart is too hardened for renewal. The vision reshaped Jewish rituals, just as Christ’s living water reshapes our priorities. [53:42]

Then he led me through water reaching the ankles. He measured off another thousand…water up to the knees…waist…it was deep enough to swim in. He said, “This water flows…making everything live.” (Ezekiel 47:3-5,9, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life does faith feel “ankle-deep”? What would it look like to wade deeper into trust despite unclear outcomes?

Day 3: No More Dilemmas: The New Jerusalem’s Radical Clarity

John’s vision of a sea-less New Jerusalem answers Ezekiel’s: no more contradictions between life and death, justice and chaos. The old creation’s tensions—water as both sustainer and destroyer—dissolve where God dwells unmediated. Like exiles rebuilding walls, believers labor toward this clarity. Every tear wiped away isn’t just comfort—it’s the end of impossible choices between broken goods. [01:03:26]

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City…prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What recurring “dilemma” exhausts you? How might eternity’s certainty steady you in today’s uncertainties?

Day 4: Tattooed with His Name: The Forever Mark of Belonging

Ezekiel ends with the city named “The Lord Is There”—no temple needed because God’s presence permeates everything. John adds: servants bear God’s name on their foreheads, a permanent mark of allegiance. Like Babylonian exiles branded by captivity, believers are sealed for redemption. This isn’t hidden piety but visible identity, reshaping how we work, play, and endure. [01:16:48]

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night…for the Lord God will give them light. (Revelation 22:4-5, ESV)

Reflection: What parts of your life still feel “unmarked” by God’s claim? How would living as “tattooed” change your next 24 hours?

Day 5: Closer Every Day: The Arithmetic of Hope

The sermon contrasts two mourners: one counting days further from loss, the other counting days closer to reunion. Ezekiel’s hearers rebuilt altars for a glory they’d never see, trusting future generations. Like Philly fans betting on a championship, believers lean into hope’s math: each sunset brings us nearer to the throne where death dies. [01:10:18]

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who…will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21, ESV)

Reflection: Are you measuring time as distance from pain or proximity to promise? What step today would mirror the exiles’ altar-building faith?

Sermon Summary

Ezekiel ends with hope, not because Israel had earned an easy ending, but because God had not given up on his own glory. Ezekiel had watched the glory leave the temple, leave the city, move to the East Gate, and depart. Ichabod was the lowest moment, the glory of God had departed. But Ezekiel is given one last vision, and the glory of God comes back through the East Gate.

God shows Ezekiel a future city, a future temple, a future throne, and a future return. The same God who came in judgment is the same God who comes back in glory. The vision is not just a metaphor floating around in the air. Ezekiel’s earlier words came true literally, and this future word will come true too. Christ will reign. The glory of God is returning with the God of glory.

Future realities can and should impact present living. Hope has power. Even the hope of a championship can change a city, move betting lines, and make people act different. How much more should the hope of Christ’s return change those who belong to him? Israel heard the promise that God’s glory would return, and that promise moved Ezra to build an altar, Zerubbabel to build a temple, and Nehemiah to rebuild the walls. The future got into their present.

Ezekiel then sees water trickling from the throne. The trickle becomes ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, then too deep to cross. The river flows toward the Dead Sea, and the lowest, deadest place on earth becomes fresh and alive. Wherever the river flows, everything lives. John sees the same thing in Revelation, the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, with the tree of life bearing fruit every month and leaves for the healing of the nations.

God’s future is a place where death becomes everlasting life, where no curse remains, where no sea remains, meaning no more dilemmas, no more broken contradictions, no more choosing between food and rent, work and family, loss and survival. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and God dwells with his people. He wipes away every tear. Mourning, crying, pain, and death pass away.

Ezekiel’s final word is the best word. The name of the city is, “The Lord is there.” Heaven is not mainly gold streets, reunions, or relief from pain. Heaven is him. If all the other things were there and he was not, it would not be heaven. If he is there, that is enough.

Key Takeaways

1. Future hope changes present living Future realities are not meant to sit untouched in the distance. Ezekiel’s vision moved real people to build an altar, a temple, and city walls, even though they did not yet see the fullness of the promise. A thin view of heaven produces thin obedience, but a deep confidence in what God has promised can make present faithfulness solid, costly, and alive. [49:59]
2. The glory of God returns Ezekiel saw the glory leave, and that was the heartbreak of Israel’s story. Then Ezekiel saw the glory return through the East Gate, and that promise means God’s departure is not the final word over his people. Judgment is real, but so is restoration, and the same God who exposes sin also comes back to dwell with his people forever. [43:16]
3. Where the river flows, life comes The water from the throne reaches the Dead Sea, the lowest and deadest place on earth. That image says no depth of death is beyond the reach of the life of God. The river that starts as a trickle becomes a torrent, and wherever Christ’s life flows, dead things do not get the last word. [55:48]
4. Heaven is where the Lord is The final name of the city is not built around gold, relief, or reunion, but around presence: “The Lord is there.” Every other gift of heaven only matters because God himself is there. The deepest Christian hope is not escape from pain, but life in the unveiled presence of the Lamb. [76:19]
5. Death becomes a valley, not home Psalm 23 calls death a valley and a shadow for those who are in Christ. That means death is passed through, not settled into, because Jesus comes to take his people to himself. The difference between grief with hope and grief without hope is not sentimentality, it is the living promise that Christ has prepared a place.

## [79:58]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:26] - Ezekiel’s Place In Exile
[31:05] - Ichabod, The Glory Departed
[32:54] - Future Promises For Present Circumstances
[34:13] - Hope Has Power
[40:07] - The Glory Returns Through The East Gate
[44:12] - A Future Throne And Temple
[48:19] - Israel Responds To The Promise
[52:34] - The River From The Throne
[55:04] - Dead Sea Made Fresh
[59:19] - Ezekiel And Revelation Connected
[61:52] - New Heaven And New Earth
[69:23] - Grief With Hope
[73:05] - Perfect People, Perfect God, Perfect World
[76:19] - The Lord Is There

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Ezekiel 43:1-5
Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. [43:16]

Ezekiel 47:1-12
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” [55:48]

Revelation 22:1-5
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 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. [59:19]

Ezekiel 48:35
And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There. [01:16:28]

Observation questions

In Ezekiel 43, what details show that the glory of the Lord is returning in a visible and powerful way, and through which gate does he enter? [43:16]
In Ezekiel 47, how does the water change as Ezekiel is led farther out, and what happens when it reaches the Dead Sea?
What repeated signs of life show up along the river in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22?
What is the final name of the city in Ezekiel 48:35, and what does that name emphasize about the city above everything else? [01:16:28]

Interpretation questions

The same God who came in judgment is the one who returns in glory. What does that reveal about God’s character? How does that keep judgment and restoration together instead of pulling them apart? [43:16]
Israel was moved by future promises to rebuild an altar, a temple, and city walls. What does that suggest about the way biblical hope is supposed to work in the present? [49:59]
The river from the throne reaches the lowest and deadest place and makes it fresh. What does that picture help a group understand about the reach of Christ’s life into places that seem beyond repair? [55:48]
“The Lord Is There” is the final name of the city. Why is that a better description of heaven than gold, comfort, reunion, or relief alone? [01:16:19]

Application questions

Future realities should shape present living. Where has hope grown thin lately in daily life—work, marriage, parenting, singleness, grief, obedience, or prayer? What might it look like for the future God has promised to press into that part of life this week? [40:07]
Israel responded to God’s promise by building. What is one concrete way life could be built around God’s future right now—not by waiting passively, but by active obedience? Is there an altar of worship, a habit of prayer, a step of service, or a broken place that needs rebuilding? [49:59]
Wherever the river flows, everything lives. What feels most like a “Dead Sea” right now—something tired, bitter, dry, or hopeless? What would it mean to bring that place honestly before Christ instead of assuming it is beyond renewal? [56:05]
The new creation is a world with no curse, no death, and no more crushing dilemmas. Which present burden or contradiction is hardest to carry right now? How does the promise that this broken order will not last forever help a person endure without giving up? [01:09:23]
Grief with hope is different from grief without hope. If loss has touched the group recently, how does the promise of Christ’s presence and the resurrection change the way sorrow is carried? What difference is there between being one day further from someone and one day closer? [01:09:53]
Heaven is not mainly gifts; heaven is God himself. When the heart imagines eternity, what tends to take center stage first—relief, reunion, answers, rest, or the Lord himself? What might that reveal about what is most desired even now? [01:16:28]
Death is a valley and a shadow for those who are in Christ, not a final home. How does that truth change the way fear is faced today? Is there any place where courage, repentance, or deeper trust is needed because Christ has already secured the end? [01:19:58]

Sermon Clips

55s

#LordIsThere

“``What's the best part of heaven though? It's none of that. Ezekiel tells you in the final verse of his book, do wanna know what that the name of that city is? And the Lord is there. The final verse of his book is the final thing that John says. The glory of God will be there. The lamb of God will be there. And John Ezekiel's like, listen, the name of that city from that time on, the Lord is there. And I didn't capitalize that. That's for emphatic emphasis. Like, all those other things, if they weren't there and he is, will be just fine. If all those other things are there and he ain't, it ain't heaven. I don't know what it is, but it's not heaven.”

43s

#LifeReachesTheLowest

“And what's so amazing about the Dead Sea is it's a Dead Sea because nothing can live in it. I mean, it doesn't take much. It's the lowest point on the surface of the earth. And the reason it's dead is because water only flows in. There's no outpouring of water. It can't get rid of any of the contaminants, and so it's incapable of supporting and producing life. Therefore, it is literally the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the face of the earth. And in this, we see this beautiful image of no matter how low you might go in this life, you're not beyond the reach of the life giving water of Jesus Christ.”

35s

#HeavenBeyondGold

“The Bible doesn't tell us a lot about heaven because no eye has seen, no ear has certain, no mind can know what God has in store, but it tells us some things. Right? I mean, you contemplate heaven, what's the best part about it? No more crying, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death. Whoo. Gold streets. Right? Now, some people think, wow, I can't wait to walk on gold. I don't think you understand that image. It's what God's saying is one day you're gonna walk all over what you spent your whole life chasing. gold becomes asphalt.”

33s

#GetInChrist

“Well, you know how Noah ended up in heaven? The same way you did. Noah was inside the ark. You're inside Christ. How do you avoid the wrath of God? Get in Christ. Get in Christ. Get in Christ. Get in Christ. Like, in Christ is Paul's favorite phrase. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. Why? Is it like happenstance? No. Because he realized you gotta be in the ark to be saved. You gotta be in the ark in Christ to be saved. Like, think about these things. It's like mind blowing. Mind blowing.”

47s

#RiversOfEverlastingLife

“That can you imagine can you imagine living on an earth, a redeemed earth for a thousand years where death is not a possibility? That nothing dies. I'm not just talking about heaven and new heaven and a new earth. We'll get there in a second. That the moment's going to come, that their death will be an impossibility on the surface of the earth. There will be large numbers of fish because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows, everything will live. And that's why in John seven, Jesus said, that river's me. And that which flows for me and will flow in you are rivers of everlasting life.”

43s

#BuildTheKingdomNow

“Is the future reality of that which awaits you not penetrating your present circumstances and motivating you and me to be different, to do different, to help build the kingdom? And you know what? We're we're not being called to build a city. We're being called to build a kingdom. So when's the last time you thought about heaven and some of the things you're about to see? Future realities can and should impact present living because the glory of God is returning, woo hoo, with the God of glory. Okay? Titus tells us that we wait the glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ.”

29s

#LifeFromLowPlaces

“Future realities can impact, must impact present living because there's a place where death becomes everlasting life. That can you and I imagine? Imagine a place where death doesn't happen anymore, where the Dead Sea is the source and the place of great life. And if he can do it at the lowest point, can you only imagine what he could do upstream?”

66s

#OneDayCloser

“who know Jesus Christ as Lord. And the bible is very clear. Now we mourn, but we don't mourn as those who have no hope. I told a family, I guess it was yesterday or Friday, who lost a dear, dear, dear, dear loved one you gotta live your life such that you realize each and every day you're not one day further from them, you're one day closer to them. That you live knowing that when today passes, I'm one day closer to our loved one. We're one day closer to our loved one. We're one day closer to our loved one. Take their memory with you, certainly. But you realize when this day ends, you're one day closer to your loved ones? That's a whole different perspective because if you have no hope, you're one day further from them. They're in the ground. I gotta walk away. I gotta live my life and I just gotta, you know, cherish the memories. That's all true. But what gives you the power to live in the memory of their existence is that you're moving towards their presence.”

88s

#HopeTransformsGrief

“There's no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. Guess where you're headed? Right in that direction. Guess where they are? Right there waiting. And I could tell you the difference. Seriously. Immediately, I can tell you the difference between those who know the Lord and don't. You know, I'm I'm champion for Lord County Sheriff's Office. I've knocked on a lot of doors, a lot of doors to give them the worst news they're ever gonna hear, and they didn't know I was on my way. Followers are shocked, devastated, emotional, hopeful. Non followers, it's immediate despair. It's an intangible thing to describe and define until you see it. And then once you've seen the difference between losing a loved one and having no hope, dramatic. It's dramatic. One day further. One day further. You know, we as followers, sometimes we're asked to give our loved one back to the Lord without saying goodbye. That's hard. But you know what gets us through it? We know one day we'll say hello.”

54s

#UltimateHopeMotivates

“Part of the reason is the wait is so long, we get that. Part of the frustration that Israel certainly experienced was partial fulfillment became complete confusion because they when it was partially fulfilled like in the coming of Christ, and it wasn't as they thought, they were waiting for the ultimate, but they got the immediate and the immediate didn't satisfy them, then they were really just disenfranchised. They were disillusioned with God. And there we are different though. We get to live in the reality of the resurrection, and there's going to be partial fulfillments all along the way. But the ultimate is coming, and just because it's coming should be enough to motivate us to think differently, to be different, and to act different. Today's big idea is very simple, and future realities can, and I would say should impact present living.”

55s

#HopeIgnitesAction

“This is what hope does, believe it or not. I mean, we're not seeing it in any real tangible spiritual significant way, but I think it'd be impossible for anybody to deny that hope has power. Just the hope of a championship has ignited an entire city, has changed Vegas betting. I mean, think about that. The impact of one guy going to a city, which has got a great team now with Jayson Tatum and all that other stuff, but that's the power of hope. It causes people to believe to behave differently. It causes people to change their perspective and, like, why can't that happen for us as followers? Because the truth of the matter is Jesus has already bought our championship. He really is the greatest of all time.”

32s

#FromTrickleToTorrent

“So he at first, it's nothing, then he stands in it's like ankle deep. And as he goes a little further, the the spirit of God takes him, it's now knee deep. And he says, come on, follow me and he follows him a little further and the river's getting waist deep. And he goes a little further and now it's chest deep. And the spirit of God's come on, he's like, I can't go any further. And what you're seeing is an image of this beautiful onslaught of God's grace. That it may seem like it's gonna start as a trickle, but it's gonna end in a torrent.”

56s

#NoPlaceForDeath

“That this river that will one day flow from the throne of God is going to produce everlasting life. And that if it flows into it, you're not you're just there's not gonna be salty water. It becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures, which don't live in it now, will live wherever that river flows. So wherever the River Of Christ flows, it's going to produce life. And this entire the lowest point on the face of the earth is going to be completely changed. In other words, in the future, there'll be no place on this earth that you can find death. Death won't even be at the lowest points, won't be at the deepest, sorrowful, sinful, wretched expressions of sin. That what God's going to do in the future should so profoundly impact the way we live presently.”

48s

#JesusStartedAsATrickle

“And what Ezekiel is seeing is not just a river, certainly a river and a reality, is that we awaited for the the life giving flow from the throne of God. And did it not start as a trickle? mean, we had the sinless son of God born of the Virgin Mary. He's born in a literally a small town as you could possibly imagine. And nobody from nowhere, to be quite honest with you, penniless, broke, uneducated, homeless Jewish carpenter, and he changed the entire world. It couldn't been more of a trickle the day that they executed him on a cross and all the disappointment and all the hopelessness returning to everybody who thought he was the guy. It was a trickle. But today, we're getting closer and closer to the torrent.”

86s

#BookendsRiverToRiver

“The future realities can impact present living because it is where his perfected people are going to live. It's just like the beginning. You know, all throughout scripture, have you ever noticed that the story begins with a river and ends with a river? Did you ever notice it starts with perfect people and ends with perfect people? Did you ever notice that it ends in the perfect presence of God who daily walks among his people and it ends with a perfect God walking daily amongst his people. Did you realize that the bookends are what hold this entire glorious revelation of God throughout human history together? Did you see that? And that the beauty is that when God created Adam, he was perfect person living in a perfect world, in a perfect relationship with a perfect God. And then he made Eve from Adam, and he had two perfect people living in a perfect relationship with one another, a perfect relationship with a perfect God, living in a perfect world, and everything was perfect until sin entered. Once that happened, this world became a broken, wretched, uncontrollable, unpredictable, dilemma ridden, undefinable place to live in until there's perfect people living in a perfect relationship with a perfect God in the midst of a perfect world. That's where we're going.”

60s

#LiveMinutesWithPurpose

“Can you imagine the day when you don't have to face any dilemmas? Where you don't have to think about this, a family who is struggling financially has to make the decision between food and rent? Can you imagine that dilemma being gone? Between new shoes or school supplies? What do you buy? Well, that's why we do everything we can to make sure they don't have to make that decision. I mean, your life, if and please don't focus on it, you'll drive yourself crazy. It's full of the daily dilemma because we have limited resources. We have limited access to resources. Every day you make decisions and you have to decide, what am I going to do with the moments and the minutes that God has given me? And the way you spend that minute matters because you never get that minute back. Do I give it to work or do I give it to my family? That's a great question.”

60s

#VisionMotivatedRebuild

“But even missing him, this still deeply impacted them. You're like, well, how do you know that? Well, because this promise alone was enough to motivate them to return from Babylon when given permission to do so. And Ezra, the high priest, the first thing he did when he went back based upon these prophetic visions was to build the very altar for the sacrifices to be reinstituted. Then Zerubbabel comes to town a few years later and he rebuilds the temple, the very temple that they thought this was going to happen in. Okay? Then a few years later, because the walls haven't been built, God inspires Nehemiah. Nehemiah goes back and rebuilds all the walls that Babylon had destroyed. What motivated them to build an altar temple in the walls? This prophetic reality that the Lord was going to come in the fullness of his glory reside once again amongst his people and in that temple.”

72s

#FaithShapesAction

“So how's the future impacting you? Is it affecting your faith? They're given unbelievable instructions to build that temple. They they build a nice one, but not identical to what God said. But why? Well, because they were flat broke. They had to beg, borrow, and steal all of the supplies. They didn't have anything. It was given to them by King Cyrus, a Persian, the Persian king who let them go. So it's so easy to be hard on the Jews. Way too easy to be hard on the Jews. Let me tell you something about the Pharisees. They're far more faithful than most Christians. Now, did they mistake religiosity for relationship? Absolutely. But what we do is sometimes I think we mistake laziness because of grace. Oh, Jesus did it all. I don't have to do nothing. Well, I really? Is the future reality of that which awaits you not penetrating your present circumstances and motivating you and me to be different, to do different, to help build the kingdom? And you know what? We're we're not being called to build a city.”

64s

#RiverTurnsDeadSeaAlive

“Because of this image he was given and it is the water, the everlasting water of life flowing from the throne of God. It was so impactful an image, it changed what they did. the the spirit of God is asking Ezekiel, did you see this? In other words, do you get what's going on? Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region, which would be the desert, and goes down into the Erebah, which is the wilderness, which then enters the Dead Sea, which is all geographic speak for saying it goes to the Jordan River. Okay? It's flowing out of the East side of the city towards the Jordan River, and it ends up this beautiful water, the river of life, it ends up, comes from the Sea Of Galilee, ends up in the Dead Sea, and this water goes right there. It goes to Erebah where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water becomes fresh.”

81s

#BrokenWorldNeedsRenewal

“Well, for throughout human history, the sea has been symbolic of the blatant inconsistencies that you and I have to face as we live this life. That water is that substance that if you have too little of it, you die. And if you have too much of it, you die. That you can't live without it, but you can't live in it. And that all through life because of sin that the world that you and I live in, we will constantly daily face dilemmas where we're gonna have to make decisions through blatant inconsistent things that don't make sense on our earth. Like, can one substance be the source of life and the source of death? Exactly. Right? How can you do the right thing and be punished for it? How can you lie and be rewarded? You face these dilemmas where you you just you're like Solomon, you know, and the two women and the baby and he's like, you know, alright, let's let's cut this baby in half, we'll give each of you half. And they're like, no, the one real mom said, don't cut them in half, give it to the other woman. What a dilemma to have to face. This is your life, this is my life. We're gonna constantly live until we're in the new heaven and the new earth in a world that's full of blatant inconsistencies and dilemmas that don't seem to make any sense, and why do the wicked prosper, and why are the innocent punished? It's a broken world. That's why we need a new heaven and a new earth.”

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What should future promises change about present living

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Future Realities Should Impact How We Live Today

Devotional

Day 1: The East Gate Vision: God’s Glory Returns

Day 2: Ankle-Deep to Torrent: The River of Life’s Surprising Flow

Day 3: No More Dilemmas: The New Jerusalem’s Radical Clarity

Day 4: Tattooed with His Name: The Forever Mark of Belonging

Day 5: Closer Every Day: The Arithmetic of Hope

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Future Realities Should Impact How We Live Today

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