#118a Alpha and Omega(25dec06)

‘Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to Him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.’
2 Chronicles 24:19

‘Jingle Bells’ was probably composed by an inspired cashier manning the till, as the sweet music of the cash register from the thronging crowd of shoppers filled his heart with joy. ‘Silent Night’ probably came right after that as he sat down in the contemplative quietness of the night, savoring the days’ takings.

It is probably the consequences of a couple of nights of binges, though prayerfully not to the point of alcoholic poisoning, that has given me the license to concoct my own little tales about the origins of these well loved X’mas songs.

‘You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their heart back to You again’
1 Kings 18:37

Like many Christians, Christmas is a time of joy, for it is the day that the Lord our God gave us all the undeserved gift of salvation, the right to break free of Satan’s deathly grip upon our souls, the right to be with the Lord our God.

We live in a sinful and painful world, but the Lord watches over us, till the day He brings us to His Kingdom.

‘Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, who is God. The Lord, who is God.’
1 Kings 18:39

The birth of Christ is a miracle witnessed by the privileged few. The death and resurrection of Christ is again a miracle witnessed and attested to by many of days gone by.
Yet, today and in the past, we can still ‘see and talk to’ God. But you must first believe, repent and obey.

Yet, many who disbelieved continue to choose to believe only if they witness a miracle.
The grace of God often comes to us in the midst of our great pain and distress. Do you truly desire to go literally through hell, before we choose to believe in our Divine God.??

Life for me and I am sure for all who profess to believe and follow the Lord, has not been without its storms. Yet, the basis for our passionate faith, steadied belief, and joyful disposition rests on the very real presence of the Lord in our lives, every moment of our lives.



‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal(ie idols) is god, follow him’
1 Kings 18:21

There are many things to be thankful to the Lord our God.

‘Surely, the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God.’
Isaiah 59:1

On Christmas Day morning, as I was driving to church with my brood :
- the on screen computer in the car in all ravishing red letters, alerted me to the fact that there was a tire puncture. Thank God for modern technology, for the stiff type like myself would probably have carried on driving at full speed without noticing the uneven vibrations of the steering wheels
- expressways are nice for we can speed along, but thank God, we were on a normal traffic bound road, near a petrol station and also very near home. It allows us to pump up the deflated tire, albeit temporarily, to allow us to trundle the car slowly home.
- Water literally signifies wealth and in Singapore, we did have an overabundance of it lately.
In the desert of a drought, the Israelites set up an altar to Baal, but nothing gives, except the fury of God for their disobedience.
Thank God that it was a rare dry Christmas morning, compared to the very wet weather the day after(on Boxing day). In feudal times, Boxing day was the day after Christmas when serfs gathered in the Manor of their Lord to collect boxes of gifts. It will be quite a knock-out to have a punctured tire on a very wet day like today.

- And all thanks be to the Lord our God that on Christmas day, the mechanic was available fairly quickly and not the usual norm of being deluged by many emergency calls
- And that we found one tire workshop that was opened for business on Christmas day.

This short litany of ‘thanks’ might seem pretty inconsequential to some, but truly, our thanks can never compare to the love of God our Lord for all of us, believers or not.
A grateful heart do help to lift the blindness in our hearts to the many blessings that God bestows upon us all. It allows us to move from fraught human understanding and all its doubtful emotions, to one of unfettered joy and faithful trusts in the grace and awesomeness of the Lord our God.

‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.’
Isaiah 60:1



Like many drivers anywhere in the world, we take for granted the proficiency and efficacy of our cars. We hardly pay attention to the many service providers that we need to avail of, till the need arises. Even then, short of a holiday, they are easily available.

‘The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, to the ends of the earth.’
Isaiah 61:1-3


For us who are blessed to have the blindness in our hearts lifted up a little bit earlier, we are commanded by the Lord our God, to love Him, to love others and to share the gospel of peace and love. We are the service providers to the disbelieving world, a world who takes the love of God for granted, till the day, a breakdown occurs in their lives.

Yet, like my own little experience on Christmas day, the Lord will return and on that day, all the faithful followers of Jesus Christ would have gone up to Heaven to be with Him.
It will be impossible for a desperate person to find a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ to commiserate with.

‘For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command….
….we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever….’
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Yet, for the disbelieving and the disobedient, who are left behind, you will still have a final opportunity to know the Lord. But while there will be a dearth of God fearing soulmates, you will not be alone, for evil will rule the world till the Lord brings an end to it.

‘…..God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.........’
1 Timothy 2:5

Why not look to Him now for

God says:

‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending…..
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty’
Revelations 1:8

God Blesses