Day 29
Session 5- Week 5
This week we will be going back to some of the verses we started this journey with a few weeks ago. However, this time we are going to do two things. First, we are going to “personalize” the verse. Then, we are going to “pray” a prayer asking the Lord to help us apply it. We will also write down any thoughts that come to us as we make this personal. It is very easy to generalize Scripture, but if we want the Word to dwell in us richly then we need to see what we are reading as a Word for ourselves. Then we need to take that word and seek God for ways to live it out. This is being both a hearer and doer of the Word. This will produce life and wisdom in us. Let’s keep going only this week and next week left.
Looking forward to hearing what God is showing you. Thanks for your input over these past weeks. Let’s keep sharing.
This week we will be rereading the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:6NIV
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
I, Freda am confident of this, that God, my Saviour began a good work in me , and He will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus.
Thank you Lord that you are my Saviour and my God. Thank you that you are the one who started this work in me and that it is a good work. I did not start it so I am not able to carry the weight of it being completed. I can trust you to finish what you have started. You will not quit, you will not stop, you will not sleep or rest until you complete your work in me. This gives my heart great confidence because I know I can trust you. Even when circumstances appear to say the opposite, I don’t place my trust in them. They change continually, but I place my hope in the Unchanging One. You are Faithful and True. You will fulfill your promise in me.
I am reminded of a few things personally as I have reread this verse at this point in our study. First of all, do I see every moment of God’s work in me as a good work? I have to confess, I have not. The moments I want to erase from my life I have not looked at as good. I have seen them as often offensive to my view of God. Yet, if I really have confidence in Him I can see that He only does good. That even the most painful and frustrating moments of my life have still been a part of His good work in me. He only does good. Secondly, do I really believe he will complete what he is doing? I can give all the right answers but I am not sure my actions have lined up here. Somewhere deep inside I have wondered if he would finish the job. The enemy makes us feel alone at times and when we embrace that we can feel like God has left us on our own. This is not truth, but if we believe it then we will think that the work of getting this thing done is upon us. Thank God He finishes what He starts. This fills my heart with hope.
I need to remember on life’s messy days that He only does good, that He will finish what He has started, and that the other messy people in my life in those moments are also works in progress.
Comments(5)
Jim Holmes says:
February 2, 2014 at 11:07 amReading Phil.1:6…”Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…” is an awesome scripture. It talks about a work that I cannot do personally, and a work that I cannot do in somebody else.
The previous passage highlights the joy of others for me to be a part of the fellowship in the gospel…which means I am not alone when it comes to a work going on in me, but that we all together are undergoing this work, until we arrive at the day of Jesus Christ… The confidence of my brethren is an assurance for me. And who is he that began this good work? Phil 2:13 tells me…”For it is God who works in you (and I) both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” In other words, God is giving me a willing heart like His own”. To have His heart desires…to have the heart desires of the One I love, is to know Him in the deepest part of me. His work in us is “good”…which reminds me that “there is none good, but God” (Matt.19:17) So then, you and I, “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, (and we are like “earthen” jars, or like glass jars, to be filled with the Spirit) are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”(2Cor.3:18) His ongoing work is changing me more and more until that day. His ongoing work in me is also an outgoing work through me…for Phil.1:5 speaks of the “fellowship in the gospel”…that incorporates that we spread the good news…that we reach others for Christ Jesus.(Mark 16:15). 1st John 3:2…” Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.” Becoming… more like Jesus. ☺
My prayer…”Make me more like Jesus…”
Sue says:
February 2, 2014 at 11:24 pmPersonalized:
“Sue, be confident and assured that I began a good work in you and I promise to continue it until the day Jesus returns for you and complete it in you.”
Prayer:
This verse in Philippians actually had new or clearer meaning for me when a verse from a song I heard on the way to church this evening stood out so clearly. “When I contemplate the day of our reunion./ And I anticipate the One who calls my name/ There’s a yearning rising up from deep within me/ to be swept away forever and a day./ Cause I can wait to see the ones who’ve gone before me/ Hear the music, taste the laughter, walk the sea./ But the moment I will live and I will die for/ Is to hear His voice welcoming me.”
We all need something or someone in our lives that we will live AND die for. But I have come to realize that if I think that I am going to accomplish that on my own then I will fall flat on my face. To try to live OR die for anything while just depending on my flesh or carnal nature will result in failure. If anything, I know me.
So, Father, I thank you for beginning something good in me. I may not see what You see yet but I can have faith that You finish what You start. At no point will You decide that I am a useless project and abandon me. I thank You that this means Your continued presence in my life. Even when I don’t feel You there I can trust that You are working and the outcome will be good.
I can trust that Your work in me won’t end until I hear Your voice welcoming me into Your presence before Your throne for eternity. At that point and only then will Your work be complete.
So be it!
This verse is an encouraging statement. There have been many times I have doubted God’s presence in my life because I haven’t had the assurance that what was happening in my life was ‘good’. While I admit that not every detail was good, if I am to believe this scripture I have to grasp that His bigger picture is one of a larger GOOD work in progress.
There is also encouragement in knowing that since He started this good work that He is always going to be here … working …. determined and committed to complete it. That during the dark times when all I can see is a mess He is working out a message.
And there is a challenge to remember that He is doing the same in the lives of those crossing my path and travelling along with me.
Susan Craig says:
February 3, 2014 at 1:51 amRemember when Jesus tugged at your heart,tapped you on the shoulder and started His good work in you? Remember how He has been there for you all these years since? Don’t forget what He has done in your life. He will keep on working in you til the job is finished and you stand in Him complete-not lacking anything-equipped for eternity in His presence.
I do remember Lord-I was only 12 years old when I invited you into my heart to live-How could I forget the day of my new birth?? Sure we have had our ups and downs in this journey we are on together but I am thankful that you have always kept your word-that you have loved me with an everlasting love and that you are always with me no matter what. You have been the only One I can count on to keep all your promises to me. Thank you for what you did,are doing and will continue to do in my life. We are in this journey together and my confidence is in You to get me to the finish line!!
Karen says:
February 6, 2014 at 8:53 amApplication:
H old on to the truth of this scripture…..FAITH.
O pen my eyes to the opportunities to grow.
P erservere through the tough times.
E njoy the process (find joy in the realities of life)
Pat McRae says:
February 7, 2014 at 11:12 amPat you can take this to the bank, the good work I have started in you I will continue to do until you come home to live with Me.
Lord when I get down on me and feel like I am not measuring up will You please remind me Phil 1:6. Help me to remember it is Your work, the project is Yours and not mine. But most of all Lord could You please remind me it is a process that will come with scrapes and bruises, roses and awards.
I am thankful for all the projects You have begun and for the ones in the fine tuning phase. For those still in the planning stages or beginning stages. I look forward to the journey with You through them.
Forgive me Father for the times I get frustrated with the process and want to quit. May I continually be reminded You are working for me and not against me.