How God defines the meaning of a true purpose and success in life Revelation 22:1-5 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 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. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Revelation of John 12: 1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

The time of Jacob's trouble Revelation 12:12-17 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

One of the most frequent questions people ask about God is this: “Is God fair?” Why do people ask this question? It’s because the way this world goes around does not seem to be fair. People think that there are so much of unfairness happening every day. Is God fair? Yes, He is. The Bible is very clear about this. Revelation 11:15-18 15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

When the reality of this life tries to get you, turn your eyes upon Jesus. In the moment of life when your faith and joy fade away, come to the word of God. When we truly know that Jesus is the Lord, then life gets much bigger and more spacious for our breathing, both spiritually and emotionally.

Our heart has a serious problem but the good news is that God has prepared a brand-new heart for all of us. Our part is to trust in this God of grace and truth by opening our heart and receiving Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead for our new life. No one can change the nature of our heart but God because He is the Creator who loves us so much. Let's come to Christ and let Him transform our heart as we trust in Him.

Intro to the book of Revelation (Recap Revelation chapter 1-8) The Bible tells us that God is the God of love, mercy, and kindness. At the same time, He is also the God of justice, righteousness, and fairness. One of the best words to describe the character of God is "holiness." Our God is the Holy God. There comes a time when this Holy God will make everything right in His creation, which is the hunger and thirst for the righteous in Christ.

God may allow us temporary suffering so that we may obtain eternal glory. Suffering can help us to know where we came from, what the purpose of our life is, where we are going to, and what message we need to share with others.

Intro to the book of Revelation The Book of Revelation - three literature characteristics for being made known: 1. The flow of the content (plot) has to be logical. 2. The writing or the literature form has to be understandable to the target readers. 3. The method of repetition can be very useful to help the readers to get the point.