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A great work and a flourishing finish :
Grace takes you from where you are to where God wants you to be in life. His desire is always to lift you up and make you stand upright in your circumstance, and may it become your experience, that you may rejoice and give thanks unto Him. King David saw it come to pass in his life, to gratefully pray, Both riches and honor come from you, and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might. In your hand it is to make great and give strength to all. [1 Chronicles 29:12]
It becomes possible in your life today, in the glory of the new covenant, all by His grace. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty may became rich. [2 Corinthians 8:9] And having understood the grace of Christ, it needs to be applied in your life. It is then that you will experience the gracious goodness of God in your life. There is a procedure to it; one that the apostle Peter sets forth in his epistle. He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11]
God has good days ahead for you; and receiving it begins by speaking what is good; what is in line with the word of God, in whatever circumstance that you may find yourself in. It then needs to be reflected in your conduct, in doing what is good; not ‘good’ in a general sense, but doing the will of God. For, it is only that, which constitutes doing what is good, in the kingdom of God.
How does it become possible ?
When you trust God, and all that He has accomplished for you on Calvary, you will indeed see that there is no other option to it, but to do what is good. And you do not have to fret or fume in doing it. You can do it all from a position of rest, feeding on His faithfulness. He is a faithful God, who never gives up on His plans and purposes for all of mankind. And, studying how He approaches and accomplishes it all, will see you also being able to operate in a similar manner, to accomplish what is good and pleasing in God’s sight.
A flourishing finish ! :
It is the nature of the wonderful God whom you lovingly worship and serve. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel, from the first day until now. Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. [Philippians 1:3-6] And a translation of it expresses it thus, He who began a great work in you will bring it to a flourishing finish …!
Trusting God and doing what is good is the path to seeing good days in your life. And the God, whom you trust, is one who will bring to a flourishing finish what He begins. Therefore, when you know that you have such a God, it is possible for you, to approach with the confidence that you can complete the endeavor that you are involved in, that is according to His good and perfect will. And, it is the knowledge of God’s faithfulness that leads the apostle Paul, to bring in a new dimension to the nature of prayer.
Praying with joy :
God never does an incomplete job and therefore, you need not too; for, it is He who is working in you, according to His will and good pleasure. And, it is why you can also, like Paul, pray with joy. ‘Always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy…’he says, in Philippians 1:4. It is a truth that is refreshingly new, for prayer most often is a very private lament! It is a time when you are able to pour out to the Lord, your pain and deep wounds and hurts that no one else would truly understand. And there is nothing wrong in you doing it. For, you have a Father who cares for you, and knows you better than you know yourself !
But, your prayer can also be joyful, says the word of God. And, it is because of the faithfulness of the God to whom you are praying. He is faithful to carry on to completion, to bring to a flourishing finish, every good work that He begins. And, when faithfulness comes into play, there is always another element that is involved in it, which is focus.
Faithfulness involves focus :
God’s faithfulness towards you implies that His focus is always upon you, even while you are asleep. His eye is upon you, to counsel you and lead you in the path that you should go. It is how He brings to completion, a flourishing finish, the good work that He has begun in you. And therefore, your desire to see good days, as you trust God and do what is the good and perfect will of God, also involves focus – the need to be faithful at it, without being distracted or giving up in discouragement or doubt. It is then, that you will experience a peace that is perfect.
Faith, focus, and perfect peace :
Perfect peace is a wholeness and completeness, with nothing lacking or left unfinished. How does it become possible, though?. Perfect peace comes to you, as you trust God, and even as His thoughts are fixed on you, your thoughts are also fixed on Him in mutual reciprocation. And it is then, that seeing good days becomes a reality in your life. God’s word says it all very well, through the prophet Isaiah. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. [Isaiah 26:3]
For, when God’s focus is upon you continually, it is when your focus is also upon Him, that the transaction is complete. It is then that communication happens, one that will bring a change in your circumstance. And, spiritual maturity comes in you, as more and more communication takes place between God and you. It has nothing to do with your seniority, your age, or the number of years that you have been in church! Being in church on a Sunday, worshiping God as a community is a basic necessity, but maturity and growth, involves your continual focus. And, at this very moment, amidst the billions that make up humanity, you can make eye contact, one on one, with the One True Living God, the Maker and Creator of all !
How is your focus, on the One, whose focus is always upon you ?
When enemies were coming against him on all sides, King Jehoshaphat did not deny the reality of it; but his focus was upon God, as he prayed. We do not know what to do; but our eyes are fixed upon Thee. [2 Chronicles 20:12] You may be surrounded by problems on all sides this day, but in the midst of it all, you need to do one thing, in order to put an end to your bewilderment and fear. It is, to fix your eyes on Christ, and focus on the Lord who has done it all on the Cross.
Indeed, when you are looking at Christ, you are going in the right direction ! And, faith that involves a hearing and confession of the word of God, also involves faithfulness and focus. It is then, that you can run the race of faith with endurance, without giving up when hindrances and barriers arise to deter you. The writer to the Hebrews captures the picture aptly, as he describes the reason why your focus needs to be fixed upon Christ.
Sin entangles you :
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us. [Hebrews 12:1] It is the burden and weight of sin that slows you down in your race set before you. And, it is never a solitary entity. It is always interconnected, with one thing leading to another, which is why it entangles you. There is nothing that the evil one likes better, than to prevent you from completing your God given purpose.
And, unraveling the cords of sin one by one will be fruitless and exhausting, entangled as they are, and therefore, interlinked. The presence and effect of sin, also disfigures you, and will ultimately destroy you. It is where the Saviour’s finished work on the Cross comes into play.
The CROSS sets you free :
When you attempt to do it in your human limitedness, you will find laying aside the burden of sin to be impossible. But, the commandments of God are not burdensome, for they are always for your good, and He also gives you the empowering.
And therefore, by fixing your eyes on Christ, you will see and know that your sin, sorrow and pain has already been carried away, removed as far as the east is from the west, all through the finished work of the Lord on the Cross. As the old song so wonderfully expresses it , It is when you turn your eyes upon Jesus, and look full on His wonderful face, that the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His beauty and grace!
Every problem that you undergo is ultimately the ravaging effect of sin. And, on the Cross, the Savior became sin, and overcame the penalty of sin, that you and I may now be the righteousness of God in Christ.
‘Call unto Me…’ :
And, God invites you in His word to focus upon Him, and reach out to Him – ‘Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things that you do not know’. [Jeremiah 33:3] He does so, for a very simple, but powerful reason. God is faithful, and finishes what He starts. And, your desire to do the same comes to pass, as you fix your eyes on Christ, in whom you stand complete in your circumstance. What needs to be your attitude and approach, in the light of this valuable truth, can be seen displayed in the lives of a king, a governor, and ultimately, in the life of the Savior.
1. With a spirit of prayerful worship :
Hezekiah was a king, who enjoyed remarkable success, in all that he set out to do for the Lord. The word of God sums it all up very crisply saying , And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered [2 Chronicles 31:21] in every work that he began, he did it with all his heart, in a spirit of prayerful worship, and he enjoyed great success, is how one translation of the above verse puts it.
Prayerful worship is when you are continually in contact with God, in conversation with Him in your spirit within you. And, suddenly when a problem erupts that catches you unawares, there is someone, God Himself, who becomes your Helper. He will answer you, to give you insight that will see you overcome the problem. For, He is great in counsel, and mighty in deed. He is also the God of provision, who has already made the provision for you to handle the road blocks that may arise in your path, and successfully deal with it to bring your task to a flourishing finish.
With an undivided heart :
The human tendency is to think of God only when worshiping in a church atmosphere, but it then becomes a drastic narrowing down of what worship truly is. When you do whatever you have been called to do wholeheartedly, as unto the Lord, you are doing it in a spirit of prayerful worship. Also, He becomes your co worker. And, God is always successful. In every work that King Hezekiah undertook, he succeeded because he did it wholeheartedly, with an attitude of prayerful worship. And, even this day, His Hand, His focus is upon you continually. On your side, it is the reciprocation, the fixing of your eyes upon Him, that is the key to overcome challenges and carry forward your work to completion successfully.
It is why the psalmist prays for an undivided heart. For, a divided heart will lead to your work getting diluted, and ultimately destroyed. And, it is in prayer that you receive strength from God that will keep you from distractions. The life of Nehemiah, his call and destiny saw many distractions being hurled at him. He persevered in God’s strength though, teaching you and I, the truth of where our whole focus needs to be.
2. ‘I am doing a great work’ :
He was not building the temple, nor the ark, or the tabernacle. It was relatively speaking, maybe in the eyes of the world, not as important or magnificent. But, it was great to Nehemiah, for he was doing a work from God! And, it was his focus on the Almighty God that saw him not bowing down to people who came repeatedly to distract him. He had a glorious reply , ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you ?’ [Nehemiah 6:3] Your work, in your eyes, must be significant, or it will appear cheap in the eyes of others. And whatever work that you do wholeheartedly as unto God, and not unto men, is a great work. When you do it unto God, it is worship and cash follows you. When you do it for cash, you get complications along with it !
This was not the only time though, that someone was asked to come down. It happened on another immeasurably momentous occasion, when history would be split into two. The emphasis was hugely different, but the jargon was the same.
3. The KING on the Cross :
He was taunted, ridiculed and mocked, by the very people for whom He was laying down His life. ‘If you are the Savior of the world, why cannot you save yourself by coming down’ they derided Him. But, the Lord Jesus stayed on the Cross, to accomplish the great work of redemption, and majestically cry out, ‘It is finished’. And, He is now seated at His Father’s right hand, in victory. It is why, even today, you and I, as children of God, are seated together with Him in the heavenly realms. And, receiving the abundance of grace and gift of righteousness, you can reign in life through Him.
Grace teaches you :
Distractions in your life will come as attractions, to allure and woo you away from your God given work. But, grace teaches you to say ‘no’ to what is not from God. In wisdom and discernment therefore, learn to say ‘no’to distractions, for you are doing a great work for a great God. Let your first connection always be with God, before accepting or turning down a commitment or opportunity, so that you may be a person of integrity, who keeps his word. Talk to Him first; and you will grow from strength to strength, from grace to grace. to accomplish great things for the glory of God. You will also then know, what your primary responsibility is
Family – It is given to you by God; and it needs to be your primary responsibility. An absentee parent in the growing up years of the children, or one who is physically present, but selfishly engrossed in his or her own activities, will pay a heavy price later on. For, the vacuum left in the lives of the children will end up being filled with what is dangerous and ungodly.
The gathering of saints – Not neglecting the gathering of children of God, as a community of worshipers on a Sunday morning, is again of primary importance to your well being. What comes as a distraction to it therefore, needs to be politely declined.
Redeeming the time – It happens, as you bring back your focus that has strayed away, to what is truly important. Do not let time that is precious, pass by. For, God’s focus is always on you. If only you reciprocate, by fixing your eyes upon Him and His enriching word, you will indeed see the promise of good days in your life. For you have a faithful God, who always accomplishes His purpose.
‘For this purpose I have come’ :
Lord Jesus walked on earth with purposeful clarity, for His focus was continually upon His Father. He knew therefore, when it was His time to go forward and fulfill His purpose, for the glory of the Father. Thus it was that, in the midst of turmoil, He was able to say, even as He acknowledged His deep distress, ‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour ?’. But for this purpose I have come to this hour’. [John 12:27]
He was not unaware of what lay ahead of Him, the extreme agony and the pain. But, He was able to march forward with strength and courage, because He knew He was fulfilling His Father’s purpose, the purpose for which He was born into this world. It is a question that you and I need to ask ourselves whether the task that we are occupied in, is God’s specific purpose for us, here on earth. The Lord knew His purpose, and it was the confidence in knowing that He was doing His Father’s will, that He was able to declare prophetically with a sure confidence , ‘For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed’. [Isaiah 50:7] And, ‘I am He’ He then declared boldly, unflinchingly to those who came to arrest Him.
He endured the Cross :
The Lord knew the weight and burden of sin, the sins of the whole world that was going to come upon Him. He knew, and yet did not shrink back. He went through it all and in the process, defeated the devil. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [Hebrews 12:2]
Distractions came vicious insults that mocked His claim to be the Messiah. The Son of God stayed on the Cross, to accomplish His Father’s purpose. And through it, a sinner is now a saint, made righteous by His precious Blood, and a pauper is now a king and a priest in the kingdom of God. It is, when you put your trust in the One who chose to stay on the Cross, that you may be made complete. He completed, proclaimed, ‘It is finished’. And now, when you partake of the Lord’s Table, He says, ‘Do this in remembrance of Me’. His Body broken for you, and His Blood shed for you.
You will complete :
‘Think of Me’ He says to you, for you will complete your task, your purpose, as you put your trust in the God who has completed it all on Calvary. As you fix your eyes on Jesus, on the finished work of the Cross, He will give you the strength and the courage to carry forward His glorious purpose for you to completion. You will stand, and you will stand upright. May your focus be upon Christ, who is able to accomplish all things concerning you and may the grace of God teach and empower you to say ‘no’ to that which is ungodly, so that you may have all that God has planned for you. You stand complete in Christ for He has done a completed work on the Cross of Calvary.
May God the Father bless you with an undivided heart, so that your eyes may be fixed on the author and champion of your faith, Lord Jesus, who makes it all possible. For at the Cross, His love ran red, and your sin washed white and it is through Him that you have risen to stand upright !
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
