<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+1:1-12">Genesis 1:1-12</span></span></p><p>We focus on what without doubt is the most noble and loftiest of themes - the nature and character of God. I have noticed that Christians, generally speaking, seem to be preoccupied with knowing more about themselves rather than knowing more about God. Ask any Christian bookshop manager: "What are the best-selling books?" Not those that unfold for us the nature of God, but those that direct us toward such things as how to get a better self-image, how to manage money, how to find inner healing, how to get more excitement out of life, and so on. Not that these subjects are unimportant, but they are explored in a self-absorbed way that gives the idea that the most important thing in life is knowing ourselves better. It isn't. The most important thing in life is knowing God better. John Lancaster, a minister in Cardiff, South Wales, in an article entitled "Where on earth is God?" asks the question: "Given a choice between attending a seminar, say, on the 'Glory of God in Isaiah' and one on 'The Christian and Sex,' to which would you go?" He makes the point also that though the Church often answers the questions that people are asking, the real problem may be that people are not asking the right questions. In today's Church we are far too man-centered, and not God-centered. It is not by accident, I believe, that the Bible opens with the thunderous acclaim: "In the beginning God " I tell you with all the conviction of which I am capable - if God is not our primary focus, then everything else will soon get out of focus.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, from this day help me determine to make You my primary focus. And give me the grace and strength to maintain it, through all the vicissitudes and uncertainties of the days ahead. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+1:1-5">John 1:1-5</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="col+1:15-20">Colossians 1:15-20</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="heb+12:2">Hebrews 12:2</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="re+1:8">Revelation 1:8</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did the Lord declare to John the revelator?</li><li>What did the apostle John declare?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"In the beginning God " (v. 1)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+40:1-11">Isaiah 40:1-11</span></span></p><p>What do we mean when we say that the Bible is "inspired"? There are various views. One is natural inspiration - that the Bible is inspired in the same way that any work of genius is, like Pilgrim's Progress for example. Another view is of partial inspiration, which claims that the Bible is not a scientific textbook and therefore cannot be trusted in scientific matters, such as the origin of the species. It is, however, to be trusted in matters that relate to salvation. The third view can be described as dictational inspiration - that God dictated the Bible to its writers verbatim, as a businessman would dictate a letter to a secretary. The fourth view is of verbal inspiration, which holds that every word in the Bible came from the mouth of God. The fifth and final view is of supervisal inspiration - that nothing is included in the Bible which God did not want there and nothing is omitted which was meant to have a place in the sacred book. I hold to the last view - supervisal inspiration. I rule out natural inspiration and partial inspiration, but not necessarily dictational inspiration, at least in part. Large sections of the Bible were personally dictated to men by God, the Ten Commandments being just one example. The writers of the Bible were, I believe, divinely indemnified against errors of observation, lapses of memory, and unintentional misrepresentation of facts. Their writings were honest, accurate, and supervised by the Holy Spirit before being compiled into this wonderful book we call the Bible. No wonder it is often referred to as the "book of books." </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O God, I know Your Word is inspired, for it inspires me. Help me to have Your Word hidden in my heart so deeply that it becomes the hidden spring of action, determining my conduct and my character. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="jer+36:1-7">Jeremiah 36:1-7</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="re+1:1-20">Revelation 1:1-20</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="re+2:1">Revelation 2:1</span></li><li>12,18</li><li>7,14, 22</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Jeremiah's experience?</li><li>What was John's experience?</li></ul></div></div>

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." (v. 8) 

<p>I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” § Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? “I, the Lord, am the first; and with the last I am He.”<br><br>Sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.<br><br>The God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. § He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. § Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?§ The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.<br><br>It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Evening Daily Light

 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. 

<p>Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?<br><br>[He is] the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person. § The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. § “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”<br><br>Lord, I believe! § I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.<br><br>“Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious.</p>

 Do you believe in the Son of God? 

<p>Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!<br><br>I and My Father are one … The Father is in Me, and I in Him. § If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. § Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” § Here am I and the children whom God has given Me. § He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. § “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” § Before Abraham was, I AM. § God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”<br><br>To the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” § He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. § In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.</p>

 Everlasting Father. 

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">8 </sup>“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”   says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,   the Almighty.”   </span></p>

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”<cr>1</cr>  says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,<cr>2</cr>  the Almighty.”<cr>3</cr> 

Revelation 1:8

 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”   says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,   the Almighty.”  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

<p><span class="bible-text ">“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”   says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,   the Almighty.”   </span></p>

 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”   says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,   the Almighty.”  

Bible Verse of the Day

January 20, 2019

Revelation 1:8 NIV

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