Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, we’ll close by reverencing the Lord God, who declared Himself the beginning and the end.

Today’s scripture is Revelation 1:8 (NLT), which says…
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Consider…
Reading today’s scripture made me ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand why Jesus didn’t say He was there in the beginning and the end, versus declaring Himself THE Beginning and THE End? The answer I received is, everything begins and ends with Christ! He gave Colossians 1:15‭-‬17 (NLT)
as His supporting scripture. It reads…
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

I thought to myself, no duh, of course creation began and will end with Christ!

Just then, the Holy Spirit corrected me, and reiterated the fact that He said everything. Everything means the beginning, end, and anything between. Christ is comprehensively Lord over everything and everyone.

That made me wonder, if Christ is Lord over everything and everyone, why do we need to confess Him as Lord? The Holy Spirit patiently explained, there’s a difference with Christ being Lord over my life, versus being Lord of my life. Lord over, means He’s in charge of everything that happens in my life. However, Lord of, means I humbly submit to everything He wants to do in and through my life.

Jesus being Lord is not predicated on my submission, but His Lordship in my life totally is. Amazingly, Jesus Christ the Lord, asks us to invite Him in to be Lord of our lives. (Revelation 3:20)

This brings me to an aha moment that came from me comprehending Christ is the beginning and the end. That moment is found in Hebrews 12:2a (KJV), which says…
looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

Jesus is the beginning and end of our faith.

Jesus is the beginning and end of what Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)
explains…
Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].

I like how the Amplified version translated this verse, because it says Jesus is the title deed, confirmation of the eternal life that is divinely guaranteed. If that sounds to deep, Jesus simplifies it in John 3:16 (KJV)…
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Neverending life is divinely guaranteed by God the Father, to all who believe in Jesus, who is title and deed to His Father’s House.

Let’s recall what Jesus told His disciples in John 14:1‭-‬3 (KJV)…
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Notice, Jesus didn’t say He would ask His daddy if we could have a sleepover, He said, I am preparing one of my Father’s many mansions for you to live with Him forever. Only a person with ownership rights, whose name is on the deed, can make that promise. This is just one example of Jesus confirming God’s John 3:16 promise.

However, remember the promise is contingent on our faith in Christ.

Speaking of faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit gave me some additional insights about faith in Christ…

• Romans 3:22 NLT says…We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
• And in Luke 18:35-43 we witness a blind man receiving his sight because of His faith in Jesus.
• Of course we remember the woman with the issue of blood who was healed because of faith in Jesus (Mark 5:25-34)

In all of these scriptures, someone’s faith in Christ is the beginning of being made right, and Christ Himself, fulfills their faith.

There are countless examples of miracles experienced because of faith in Jesus, but the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize the emphasis is that miracles, deliverance, eternal life, and everything else, begins and ends with faith in Jesus.

So as we consider what is, or contemplate what will be, Christ is saying make sure everything begins and ends with complete faith in Him. That’s because faith in the limitless Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, will remove sin, and this world’s limits on us.

You’ll never have to worry about how things will begin and end in your life, when you believe in and trust the Lord God, who is the beginning and the end.

So I encourage you to make Christ the pillar of everything that begins and ends in your life, because He’s a firm foundation that will never fail you.

Today’s song is….
Firm Foundation

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)