Alpha and Omega
by Christel Baxter
As I was reading this scripture in Revelation 1:8 at the beginning of this year, I was so encouraged by the truth this scripture held for me for the year ahead. The Lord spoke to my heart and reassured me that He has me completely covered from beginning to end in 2019. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, fully acquainted with the past, the present and the future. He is the One ‘who is and who was and who is to come’.
Psalm 139:5 says, ‘You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me’. I love this picture of being hemmed in by God, safely surrounded on all sides by God’s presence, and secure in the fact that He has me covered from both the past and the future perspective! I am also reminded that 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT) says, ‘By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One Who called us to Himself by means of His marvellous glory and excellence’. Everything we will need to live a godly life in 2019 has already been stored up in the vaults of heaven for us by Jesus. When we’re in relationship with Him, and get to know Him more and more, we learn how to lean on Him and how to trust Him to direct our paths.
When we are in Jesus, wrapped in His presence and walking in step with the Holy Spirit, we don’t need to be stuck in the mistakes and failures of our past, or even of 2018. We also don’t need to be apprehensive about the new year and be fearful of what may be ahead. We can lay the year that has passed at His feet, and grab a hold of His hand to keep us upright and walking with confidence into the future, because He already knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).
‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’. (Romans 15:13).
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that nothing I’m going to face in 2019 will catch You off guard, because You already know its end from its beginning. I choose to trust You and to make sure I remain in step with Your Holy Spirit to keep me covered and hemmed in from behind and before, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Christel Baxter joined the Associate prayer ministry team at Shere House, S.Africa in 2008 after attending the 20 day school. Besides serving together on the associate team at Shere House, Christel & her husband, Gary, pastor New Life Ministries, a congregation in Boksburg, Gauteng. Their children, Liezl and Wesley, are both married, and they adore their son-in-law and daughter-in-law and their little granddaughter, Hannah! Christel is passionate about seeing broken lives restored and especially loves ministering God`s love and healing to women of all ages.
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