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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, December 19, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Alpha and Omega Bible Verse :Revelation 22:12-17 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Message:
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet (almost identical to the English “A”), and Omega is the last letter (the capital “Ω” is most common, but in case you're interested, the small letter is “ω”). Saying that I am the “Alpha and Omega” is a poetic way of restating that God is the very beginning of all things and will be the very end. There was nothing before Him, and there can be nothing after Him, because He is eternal.
Christian Chi Rho with Alpha Omega
A rare use of lower-case
omega (in a Chi Rho symbol)
Mostly we say simply that God is eternal; He always was and will always be. Most Christian theologians consider that God exists outside of time, and in fact created time, something that we can say but can only partially grasp (unless we want a really bad headache). But we, who exist within time and space, can pretty well grasp that God existed at the very first instant and will be until the very last; He was the beginning and will be the end.
The beautiful hymn highlighted in our devotional today, which prominently includes the phrase “He is Alpha and Omega”, is a remarkable work. The tune is recognizable as Gregorian chant and was actually written at least 1,000 years ago: The first written copy of the tune has been dated to the 11th Century. It was titled Divinum Mysterium (divine mystery) and it really does have a beautiful, mysterious, and spiritual effect on the listener. It is sung here exactly as it might have been sung a thousand years ago, by an a capella male choir. There is some modern harmonization towards the end, but much of the performance is sung in ancient monastic style (developed long before the musical revolutions of renaissance and baroque stying): in unison, in unison with a drone note, or in eerie sounding two-part harmonies.
Just as remarkable, the words of the hymn are 1,600 years old! Of course it was originally written in Latin, by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, probably around 390 A.D. The first line in Latin is “Corde natus ex parentis ante mundi exordium”. The superb translation into English which we currently use was done by John Mason Neale in 1854, and improved by Sir Henry Williams Baker in 1859
Alpha and Omega became a common Christian symbol in the early days of the church; like the fish, it was often used by Christians in areas where they were persecuted, and the authorities would immediately recognize a cross and investigate to identify Christians in order to arrest them. The ancient Roman tile (on the left) shows Christ holding a book in His hand, with the Greek letter alpha on one page and omega (a variant, using a large lower-case omega as the capital) on the other.
Meditation : Prayer : Finally, may I go forth filled with the joy and confidence of your Spirit; and may everything I do this day, in word or deed, be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.......Amen |
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