Alpha and Omega

In the last chapter of Revelation, verse 13, it is repeated again, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

In The first chapter of the gospel of John we read, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.”

Reading on down to verse 14 we read that the Word became human as Jesus, God’s own Son.

The Alpha and the Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet is used to designate the comprehensiveness of God.

Comprehensiveness is defined as “compete and including everything that is necessary.”

In another sense, Jesus is the A to the Z implying that Jesus includes all that has ever been, all that is and all that can be.

Is it any wonder that the Heavenly Beings in the 4th chapter of Revelation, day after day and night after night keep on saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, the One who always was, who is and who is still to come.”

Everything started with Jesus and everything will end with Him.

He is the Alpha and the Omega.

Jesus isn’t simply a great teacher or prophet. He is God.

He is the Creator and Judge of all things.

For that alone, He deserves all glory, honor and praise.

Worthy of Our Calling

As Christians and followers of Jesus, we have been and are being sanctified.

This means we are set apart and declared holy. It is for a purpose that we have been set apart.

The Bible says we are to walk worthy of our calling.

“I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” (Ephesians 4:1)

“So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

But what is our calling and how do we walk worthy of it?

In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 we are commanded to walk worthy. First, we must recognize who we are and what moves us to do whatever it is that we do.

I believe that encompasses understanding the great price God paid to redeem us. Believe it or not, our worth is beyond what we can imagine.

The price of our redemption cost God His greatest treasure, His own Son.

While we have difficulty wrapping our minds around such a sacrifice the message is that God sees us with great value.

The world may not see us as worth much but if you can accept your worth in God’s eyes you will be compelled to walk worthy of that great love and that enormous sacrifice.

What does a worthy walk look like?

Paul gives us a clue in Ephesians 4:2, With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.

“We are not worthy to God because of what we do or don’t do.

He deems us worthy by our faith in Him who gave all for us.

When we sincerely love God and try to please Him, when we try to honor Him by how we live and work, what we say and do then we are walking worthy of our calling.

God Resists the Proud

Pride is defined as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s achievements and a feeling of being better than others.

Its close relative, Arrogance, is defined as having an attitude of superiority manifested in presumptuous claims and assumptions.

Therein lies the problem and the reason why God resists and opposes it.

Proverbs 3:34 says that “God gives grace to the humble.”

James says in the book named after him in chapter 4, verse 6, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Other translations say, “God opposes the proud.”

Isaiah 2:12 nails it. “For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone proud and lofty.”

“For the Lord is exalted, yet He regards the lowly but the haughty He knows from afar.” (Psalm 138:6)

After Daniel emerged from the fire unscathed and unscorched even King Nebuchadnezzar got the message loud and clear as he proclaimed, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just and He can humble those who walk with pride.” (Daniel 4:37)

God considers pride sinful because having a sense of pride elevates us and keeps us from obeying God or even trusting Him. It seems that pride is with us almost from the crib, and humility does not come easily.

We prefer being served to serving others. We want to do our own thing; choose our own path and the last thing we want to do is submit our will to another and humbly obey.

C.S. Lewis put it this way, “Make no mistake about it: pride is the great sin, and it is the devil’s most effective and destructive tool.”

How do we bridge that gap and make that giant leap into spiritual humility?

1 Peter 5:5 exhorts us to “Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.”

God desires us to be humble because He cares for us and wants what is best for us.

We cannot offer Him true worship without humility and obedience and there is a reward for being humble.

It is being exalted by the God of the universe. Exalt means to be held in very high regard and raised to a higher position of power.

The Motley Crew

It could be said I suppose that the twelve men our Lord chose to be his disciples were a Motley Crew.

They were fisherman, an activist, a thief, and a tax collector, common, uneducated, simple men who left their nets, a tax booth, and their lives to follow Jesus, and follow Him they did, at least until the night that they didn’t. (Mark 14:50)

They traveled with Him, walked with Him, slept with Him, ate with Him, and witnessed many miracles. How amazing it must’ve been to spend that much time with our Lord, face to face, and hear his teachings and parables in person.

But let’s be honest, they didn’t really get it. Scripture says, “But they didn’t understand any of this.

The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.” (Luke 18:34)

According to Scripture, they feared, they doubted, they questioned. They even argued about who was the greatest among them.

After the ascension of Jesus and on the day of Pentecost there were miracles to be sure.

Read the first and second chapters of the Book of Acts. Read it again. Did you notice something different?

The Holy Spirit came upon them and from that day on that Motley Crew went forward, preaching with authority and changing the whole world!

So Why Did Jesus Come?

A lot has been said and written about why Jesus gave up His divinity to come to earth and live as a human man.

Scripture teaches that Jesus came to do the will of His Father in heaven. (John 6:38)

To save His people from their sins. (Timothy 1:15)

To bring light to our dark world. (John 12:46)

To bear witness to the truth. (John 18:37)

To give us eternal life. (John 6:51)

To fulfill the law and the prophets. (Matthew 5:17)

To reveal God‘s love for sinners. (John 3:16)

To seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:5–9)

To serve. (Mark 10:45)

To give us the Spirit of adoption. (John 14:16-17)

And to reveal God’s glory. (John 1:14)

There is more.  

It is a long list but you get the idea.

There is yet another reason according to 1 John 3-8 that I just discovered.

The Bible says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”  

So, what are the works of the devil?  

There is probably another long list but these three things occur.

To cause us to sin?

Romans 6:18 says, “Having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness.”

To separate us from God?

Romans 38:39 says, “For I am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God.”

To rule the world?

“In this world you will have trouble but take heart!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

I am so thankful that the Lord came to destroy the works of the devil and He did not leave this earth without fulfilling His divine purpose.  

Leave us be, Satan. You have been defeated and have no power over us who have put on Christ. 

God’s Character

I was wondering what you think about God when you think about God.  

To some He is this powerful entity that is making a list and checking it twice.  

To others He is this benevolent father figure that will give you what you want if you ask the right way and do what He says and if He’s in the right mood.  

If we really want to know and understand the character of God, the Bible is the place to go.

It is chocked full of information and insight into the nature of our Creator and Heavenly Father and these are just a few:

God is Faithful. (1 Corinthians 10;13)

God is patient. (2 Peter 3:9)

God does not change. (James 1:17)

God is not human. (Numbers 23:9)

God is a God of justice. (Psalm 50:6)

God is gracious and righteous. (Psalm 116:5)

God bears our burdens. (Psalm 68:19)

God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. (Deuteronomy 10:17)

God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)

God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6)

God is a sun and shield bestowing favor and honor to those whose walk is blameless. (Psalm 84:11)

God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Above all else, “God is good.” (Psalm 100:3)

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)

The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

The best part about that is that God does not have mood swings.

He is not sometimes good and sometimes not. He is good all the time. His goodness does not come from doing good but because goodness is His character and nature.

One definition of goodness is love in action but according to the Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, the Hebrew word for ‘goodness’ indicates perfection or completeness as well as generosity, grace, honesty, mercy, righteousness, and superiority.

God shows His goodness through His mercy, compassion, and of course, His love.

I cannot think of a single person or entity that lives up to all these qualities but the Lord God, the one who made us, who loves us and who saves us.

“No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18) 

The Not Knowing

I ran across a little gem in Hebrews 11:8. The Bible says that Abraham when called by God, obeyed by going out . . . not knowing where he was going.

Did you catch that? He was called to go. He went. He didn’t know where he was going – but nevertheless, he went!

Can you picture it? He’s about 75 years old, loading up his 65-year-old wife, his nephew, Lot, and bound for . . . somewhere! (Genesis 12:4-5)

I don’t know about you, but I find this astonishing, and I have to wonder how in the world he was able to do this. As usual, the Bible has an answer to that question.

In the next verse, in verse 9 scripture says he did it by faith.

Can you even begin to imagine what that would look like? What it would look like, feel like, to load all your possessions into your car or even your rental U-Haul truck and just start driving down the road?

No destination in sight. More importantly, how did God react to Abraham’s obedient faith?

“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” (Genesis 15:8)

“Indeed, I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” (Genesis 22:17)

“In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:18)

“And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

“The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.” (Deuteronomy 30:5)

In Hebrews 11 the Bible tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen. And of course, that is true.

The Bible says it and that settles it.

Someone once said true faith is belief and trust in God based on evidence but without proof.

May I suggest that faith is also just simply being called and getting up and going – without knowing where you’re going?

Gedaliah

Gedaliah is the most well-known of 5 men mentioned in the Old Testament with that name. This Gedaliah lived during the time of the siege of Babylon and ultimate defeat of Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar looted and destroyed the temple and most of the survivors were taken captive and exiled in Babylon as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah.

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah to serve as the governor over those who remained in Judah to care for the vineyards and fields. (2 Kings 25:22)

Gedaliah swore an oath to those left behind, “Don’t be afraid . . . Live in the land and serve the King of Babylon and it will go well for you.” (2 Kings 25:24)

This was a dark time for Judah inasmuch as the King of Babylon had accomplished his purpose and the capital of Jerusalem, and the Holy Temple was in ruins.

The royal family and upper classes were taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned. (Jeremiah 37:15-16) Many were put to death.

Nebuchadnezzar allowed the poorer classes to remain in Judah to care for the land under the governorship of Gedaliah. During that time, it was common for a conquered people to be given a governor from their own people to serve as liaison between the conquerors and the conquered.

Soldiers were also present to make sure order was kept and Gedaliah’s wise counsel was for everyone to accept the situation as it was and to live in peace as much as possible.

Jeremiah had tried to save Judah and as the people he had warned were being led away God reassured Jeremiah that he would be saved, and that promise was fulfilled when Jeremiah crossed paths with Gedaliah.

There came a time when Nebuchadnezzar instructed the captain of the guard to “find Jeremiah, see that he isn’t hurt and look after him and give him anything he wants.

Jeremiah was taken out of prison and put in the care of Gedaliah who took him home where he stayed in Judah among his own people. (Jeremiah 40:6)

We don’t know a lot about Gedaliah, but we do know from scripture that Jeremiah, when given a choice, decided to remain and support Gedaliah.

I think it is safe to assume Gedaliah was a man chosen by God and placed in a certain place during a certain time for a certain purpose.  

May we also assume that applies to us as well?

When Your Brook Dries Up

It was not a good time in the history of Israel. Wicked Ahab, son of Omri became king over Israel and scripture says that he reigned for 22 years and did more evil in the Lord’s sight than all who were before him, and the land was overrun with the worship of Baal.

“Ahab did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16:33)

Elijah is one of the most interesting characters in the Bible. God used him mightily to oppose a wicked king and bring about revival to the land.

His ministry marked the beginning of the end of Baal worship in Israel.

The Bible says it this way:

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command.” (1 Kings 17:1)

This is interesting because Baal was thought to be the sky god and the god of the weather and Elijah is dramatically showing that Baal cannot hold a candle to the God of Israel when it comes to the weather or anything else.

You know the story. “Elijah was a human being, as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.” (James 5:17)

God told Elijah to leave, go East, and hide in the Brook Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to bring you food.” (1 Kings 17:2)

This is where it gets interesting; the ravens did bring him food and he did drink from the brook.

Suddenly, “after a while the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.” (1 Kings 17:7)

I so love this story and the obedience and trust of Elijah.

God could have chosen so many other ways to feed Elijah, but he chose the ravens.

If you know about birds and the Old Testament you know the Raven was not a clean animal.

Luke 12:24 says it this way, “Consider the ravens. They don’t sow or reap . . . yet God feeds them.”

Every time I see a raven I think of this story and God’s providence.

And then the brook dried up. What’s that about?

Can you imagine what Elijah thought when his source of water dried up?

Sometimes our Heavenly Father uses ordinary means to move us in a new direction.

When the brook no longer supplied water, the door opened for Elijah’s new assignment.

Sisters, when the Lord lets your brook dry up, trust that he has something else planned for you.

Perhaps your brook has dried up or will dry up.

I pray we have the courage, like Elijah to follow God’s leading and trust He knows what’s best. 

Do Not be Afraid or Discouraged

In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua Moses has died and God spoke to Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites.” (Joshua 1:2)

God continues speaking, “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live . . . I will not leave you or abandon you . . . Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I don’t know about you but to me, those are some of the most powerful words in the Bible.

We find similar language in Deuteronomy 31:6 when Moses is speaking to Joshua before he dies, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance.” (Psalm 94:14)

“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5)

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

“God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” (Romans 11:2)

Most of us know the pain of betrayal; the abandonment of a family member or a friend or finding out the person you trusted most was the person you should have trusted least.

And there’s another kind of loss when a loved one dies unexpectedly, and you aren’t ready to let go, and grief moves in and pitches its tent.

Those are hard times. Hopefully, we can find some consolation in knowing there is One who will not abandon us.

Even if we forsake Him, He will not forsake us. If we walk away, He is waiting for our return eagerly.

He won’t kick down the door and return us to Him by force.

But He waits and He whispers to us.

He says I chose you. I died for you. I arose for you and now I wait for you to accept my loving forgiveness so I and all the hosts of heaven and those who have gone before you can welcome you back with rejoicing.

Sisters, that is God’s promise to us and that He will be with us wherever we go. We are never alone in our hard times or our grieving.

That is the God we serve.