His Preparation of New Jerusalem

In Genesis, God used 6 days to create earth and things above, on and under it. Christ has
gone to prepare a place for us since at least 2006 years ago from now, let me do some
arithmetic:

• 2006 years * 12 months/year * 30 days/month divided by 6 days of this world creation

… hmmm… then would New Jerusalem be at least 120,360 times better than this world?!

New Jerusalem - the promise…

John 14:1-15
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house
are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to
be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am
going."

New Jerusalem - the description, the beauty…

Revelation 21:1-27
…I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from
the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will
wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or
pain, for the old order of things has passed away…
…The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The
foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first
foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the
fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth
topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve
gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was
of pure gold, like transparent glass…

Revelation 22:1-7
… water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of
life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the
tree are for the healing of the nations…

Tattoo of 666 & Highway to Hell

A real life conversation between a young man his office senior...

A young man said: "Would it be cool if I put on a tattoo of 666?"
The senior, who was holding a guitar, kept silence for a moment.
Then his fingers started vibrating the guitar strings, and said: "This song is the highway to hell."

Revelation 13:16-18

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

Revelation 14:10-11

he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

By the way, base on the Bible, I think the number is referring to a substance, not a date.

I am not saying what this beast is in an absolute sense, but some reference to think about...

• Click here to see "Era getting closer to the book of Revelation"
  

Why are we saying grace before meals?

I still remember a question being asked by a pastor during a junior fellowship session at church more than about 10 years ago: why do Christians "need" to say grace for their meals? The Bible didn't say explicitly about saying grace before meals.

At that time my only answer was that we should thank for our food that God has provided us. I couldn't really remember exactly the response of my pastor. He didn't directly comment on my reply; and I guess he wanted us to think. I was not totally satisfied with my own answer then neither, because I found my reply was too "standardized".

Years after years, somehow the question of "saying grace before meals" occasionally floated into my brain and irritated me a bit; however, each time there were no satisfactory answers. In fact, for a period of time I tried not to say grace before meals and wanted to see if there would be any difference. (I am not encouraging anyone not to say grace before meals here, as it won't give any satisfactory reply neither, as I have tried.)

Recently, I have a chance to attend a spiritual course instructed by the wife (Susan) of this pastor. The question appears into my mind again in a more vivid form (may be by seeing them remind me the question). After all these years, I gradually experience a more self-satisfying reply to this "saying grace before meals" question.

Usually under normal circumstances, people have their meals base on a regular time interval. "Saying grace before meals" gives us regular verification of our relationship with God. For example, I eat every 5 hours, so I at least checkup my relationship with God every 5 hours. Being a Christian, I found that there's flow between God and I, and this flow is very precious because it affects our entire being. This flow required to be check for blockage often, and we must remove any obstacles as early as possible; otherwise, it'll be very dangerous to left any obstacles building up, and eventually all its functionalities collapse. When there's any blockage in between, one will automatically/naturally be feeling in prayers.

Therefore, my most recent answer to the question of "saying grace before meals" is for the purpose of periodically verifying/checking our relationship health index with God, besides thank God for our food and physical health that we can enjoy the delicious food.