Story Time

We love to read to the kids out of The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones.  It's certainly not a replacement for the Scriptures, but it is written so very well that I love to read it...and the kids love it too!

Here was tonight's story:

A Dream of Heaven
John sees into the future, from Revelation 1, 5, 21, 22


     John was one of Jesus' helpers.  He was old now and living on an island, which might sound nice except it was a prison. (The Leaders put him there to stop him from talking about Jesus, but I'm sure you don't think a little thing like being in a cell, in a prison, on an island, in the middle of an ocean, could stop God's Plan, do you?)
     One morning, Jesus appeared - right there, in John's cell.  Jesus' eyes were bright, shining like the sun. "I am going to show you a secret, John," Jesus said, "about when I come back."  His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. "write down what you see so God's children can read it, and wait with happy excitement."
     Then Jesus gave John a beautiful dream - except John was wide awake and what he saw was real and one day it would call come true...
     I see a throne. And on the throne is a king.  And the King is Jesus.  All around the throne people are bowing down.  They are giving him their treasures.
     There are loud cheers and clapping, clapping and bright laugher like a thousand waterfalls and everyone bursts out singing a new song...
     "This is our King! The Lamb who died, so we don't have to - our Rescuer.  All Honor and Glory! Forever and ever."  And every creature everywhere, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea joins in.


And then
From all around
A wide
Immense
Beautiful
S i l e n c e


And I see Satan - God's horrible enemy - thrown down, defeated.
     I see a sparkling city shimmering in the sky: glittering, glowing - coming down!  From heaven. And  from the sky.  Heaven is coming down to earth!
     God's city is beautiful.  Walls of topaz, jasper, sapphire.  Wide streets paved with gold.  Gleaming pearl gates that are never locked shut.
     Where is the sun?  Where is the moon? They aren't needed anymore.  God is all the Light people need.  No more darkness!  No more night!  And the King says, "Look!  God and his children are together again.  No more running away.  Or hiding. No more crying or being lonely or afraid.  No more being sick or dying.  Because all those things are gone.  Yes, they're gone forever.  Everything sad has come untrue.  And see - I have wiped away every tear from every eye!"
     And then a deep, beautiful voice that sounded like thunder in the sky says, "Look, I am making everything new!"
     It was hard to squeeze all John saw into words.  And fit it onto a page.  And cram it into a book.  All the words on all the pages of all the books in all the world would never be enough.
     "I am the Beginning," Jesus said, "and the Ending!"
     One day, John knew, Heaven would come down and mend God's broken world and make it our true, perfect home once again.
     And he knew, in some mysterious way that would be hard to explain, that everything was going to be more wonderful for once having been so sad.
     And he knew then that the ending of The Story was going to be so great, it would make all the sadness and tears and everything seem like just a shadow that is chased away by the morning sun.
     "I'm on my way," said Jesus.  "I'll be there soon!"
     John came to the end of his book.  But he didn't write 'The End." Because, of course, that's how stories finish.
     So instead, he wrote: "Come quickly, Jesus!"    
     Which, perhaps, is really just another way of saying...
     To be continued...