Alpha and Omega

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”  Revelation 22:13

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 42-44 & Revelation 22)

Well, that about covers everything!

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

God was there before time began.  Try to get a grip on that thought.

Nothing will happen after Him.  He’s eternal.  More of the hard-to-imagine things about God.

This is also another evidence of God’s greatness.  Mind cannot conceive……..

My complete trust must be in this great God.  There is no lesser being.  Everyone else is “least.”

God created the earth and its inhabitants.  Like the potter and the clay, he knows what my purpose is.  My goal is to be doing His Will.  To be where He wants me to be.

As a believer, I am in God’s family.  I will spend eternity with Him.  Wow!

“Lord, You are amazing!  You are the beginning and the end and everything in between.  Why would I trust/consider counterfeit idols?  There is no reason I can give.  Forgive me, for chasing lesser things.  May everything I do be what You want me doing.  Show me the way O Lord for to You I entrust my life.”

Are you rich?

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  Revelation 3:17

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 4-7 & Revelation 3)

Am I rich in the eyes of the world?  Do I have houses, cars, and other things?

This verse coldly dismisses worldly wealth.

I must be locked into what is valuable to God instead of what is valuable to the godless.  I cannot totally own anything in this world because all of the items of this world are terminal.  They will be no more at some time.  

God has given me everything I have.  There will be an accounting of how I used His donated riches.

When I am letting God take care of me I will be truly rich.  I do not need anything beyond what He gives.  

It is folly to measure my worldly goods against someone else’s.  I have Him.  When I reach beyond Him and try to cling to things of this world I am building counterfeit gods.  

God is a jealous God.  Over and over, in the portion of Ezekiel I read today, God expresses His Wrath regarding man-made idols.  There is no sense of God being mildly disturbed.  It is get-out-of-My-Sight anger!

I must be in tight relationship with God.  I cannot be chasing false gods.  I cannot be accumulating what is terminal.  

“Lord, in You I am rich.  Forgive me for seeking other gods knowingly and unknowingly.  There is no one like You.  I surrender to You.  Saturate me with You.  Having You in control of my life is more than enough for me.  I love You, Father!”

No night (Revelation 22:5)

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 42-44 & Revelation 22)

“There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord will give them light.  And they will reign for ever and ever.”  Revelation 22:5

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?

I am unable to conceive of, with any sense of accuracy, the full scope of the creations of God.  I look around me and marvel at what He has done.  However, I do not have the depth of knowledge or even the ability to sort out His marvelous deeds.

Now in Revelation I am getting glimpses of the after life.  No question I don’t see the future very clearly but I’m not the only one.  Even the “experts” on Revelation disagree with each other!

But when this verse says that there will be “no more night,” I can picture that.  There will be no more sun.  There will be no more time.  And this will go on forever!

I will be where God is and living under His direct direction.  All of the obstacles that impair my relationship with Him here on earth will be no more.

I was created to worship Him.  That I would foolishly worship counterfeit gods from time to time reflects my spiritual condition at the time it happens.

God is a jealous God.  There isn’t one place in the Bible where He encourages alternatives to Him.  My complete loyalty must be to Him.  He is the One I must seek after with my whole heart.

He has given me eternal life.  It was a gift…….I took it.  He sent Jesus to die for my sins which would have separated me from God.  I can never thank God enough for that.  My eternal life has already started – Hallelujah!

God is Great! (Revelation 15:3-4) Rudyard Kipling

(Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading – Revelation 15-18)

“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.  Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”  Revelation 15:3-4

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?

What more is there to say about God?  He is everything.  How can I not be overwhelmed by His greatness?

This verse suggests to me that folks will worship Him now or face His wrath later.  It reminds me of Pharaoh in that the power of God is revealed over and over to him yet he responds with resistance rather than repentance.  An eternal price will be paid for rejecting God.

I must continue to praise Him because He deserves it.  When I’m not praising Him my eyes are off of Him.  That makes it easy to tell how my relationship with Him is going.

“May praise of Him continually dominate my internals and externals.”

Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30th.  God gave him the ability to write stories.

Patient Endurance & Faithfulness (Revelation 13:10) Charles Goodyear

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Revelation 10-14)

“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”  Revelation 13:10

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?

Here is revealed the personal qualities a saint needs.  The saints in Revelation are in the end game.  Choices made then are eternal.

It seems as if life will be in tremendous turmoil.  There will be death and suffering all around.  For the saints, it is the time to hang in there with God.

There will be difficult times but I need to cling to Him and know that we win in the end.  There will be eternal doom for Satan and his cohorts.

Can I trust God in all circumstances?

Am I built up enough in the faith to remain faithful in all scenarios?

I must establish a close relationship with Him.  I cannot be waver.  My ultimate security must be in Him.  I need Him every second.

Charles Goodyear was born on December 29th.  God gave him the ability to invent.

He is Worthy! (Revelations 4:11) Rod Serling

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Revelation 5-9)

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.”  Revelation 4:11

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?

God is deserving of all the praise I can muster.  He has done all things well.

He can be trusted to exert power in the proper way.  His history is blameless.

My praise to Him, for what I know of Him, should be endless.  I can see His beauty all around me.  How ungrateful of me not to take notice and recognize the source of it.

How can I take all He has done for granted?  Where would I be without Him?

The praise of Him must consistently be on my lips.

Rod Serling was born on December 28th.  God gave him the ability to write stories.

Restore Your First Love (Revelation 2:4-5) Louis Pasteur

(Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading – Revelation 1-4)

“You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.”  Revelation 2:4-5

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?

What was my thinking like when I first fell in love with God?  Have I become complacent in my relationship with Him?  Has the excitement of the moment gone away?

The angel in these verses tells that this relationship of the Ephesians with God has wilted.  I can relate to that.

My love must be at the first-love level.  No relationship can ever be more important.  It can never let it lag into a secondary consideration.

An identifying behavior is excitement.  If I am excited, my joy will be overflowing.  There is no possibility of containing it.  I will be excited to learn more about Him whether from others or from His Word.

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27th.  God gave him the ability to make an important scientific discovery.

No More! (Revelation 21:4) – Francis Parkman

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 40-41 & Psalm 128 & Revelation 21)

“There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21:4

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?
There is hope in the midst of suffering.  In the new earth, suffering will be turned to joy.  A tragic death will turn into joy.  There is no way for me to fathom this but my hope is in Him.  Death is not in vain.  Family who have gone before will be restored to full health.  How we will spend our time is beyond my comprehension.  As a believer, my eternal life has already started, After the new earth is set into operation, the joy living there will be indescribable.  What a future…. and it has already started.  I must rejoice in Him for the past, present, and the revealed future.  What a God I have!

Francis Parkman was born on September 16th.  God gave him the ability to write history.

Praise to Him (Revelation 7:10,12) – Terry Bradshaw

hummingbird

(Verses taken from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 17-19 & Revelation 7)

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.  Amen!  Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever.  Amen!”  Revelation 7:10,12

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?
God deserves all the praise I can muster.  He has given me every good gift and every perfect gift.  There is no talent that wasn’t given by Him to me.  How can I not praise Him for the beauty around me?  My life must be a praise offering to Him.  I cannot live a guarded life that sorts out parts for Him and parts for me.  That won’t work.  Everything is His.  How effusive are my praises?  Giving Him credit for what I have should be a very regular occurrence.  I must know Him well by praying, reading His Word, and studying His Word.  What could be more important?

Terry Bradshaw was born on September 2nd.  God gave him the ability to be an NFL quarterback.

Worthy (Revelation 5:12-13) – Alan Jay Lerner

balloon flower

(Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading – Ezekiel 12-14 & Revelation 5)

“Worthy is the lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!  Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the seas and all of them singing: To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever.”  Revelation 5:12-13

What lessons are there for me in this Scripture?
I have every reason to join the band praising God.  He has gracefully given me eternal life.  Nothing I ever did warranted this.  That eternal life with Him is already under way.  That makes the glorifying now made easy – He is with me now and forever.  I cannot understand His ways.  My trust is in Him.  He knows what is best for me.  I will cling to Him so that I don’t go astray.  When I’m astray I know He hasn’t moved.  What an amazing spectacle it will be when all the saints are sounding forth praises from within the heavenly chorus.  Those praises will be pouring out of thankful hearts.  Any time I sing it must be unto Him.

Alan Jay Lerner was born on August 31st.  God gave him the ability to write the words for several great musicals.