Vision 2020Sample

Day 12

Finishing Strong

Philippians 1:4-6 (NIV) In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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.

Have you ever started a project that you did not complete?

I am sure that all of us have dedicated ourselves to some task, starting it with great fervor, only to lose interest in it before completion. Starting something is always much easier than finishing it. Even when we begin a task or project with enthusiasm and excitement, other ingredients are required to take that project to the end. That “something else” is called commitment and persistence.

Although we as human beings often fall short in the areas of commitment and persistence, and therefore do not complete everything we begin, there is one who never fails in His commitment and persistence. Even a brief study of the Bible reveals to us the portrait of God, our heavenly father, as one who not only begins good things, He also completes them.

Today’s passage is a reminder of God’s commitment to complete every good work that He begins. As the Apostle Paul writes to the believers in the Macedonian city of Philippi he declares that there is something that he is absolutely confident about concerning them. Not only is he confident, he also wants these believers to be confident as well. The Greek word for “confident” in this passage literally means, “to seek to persuade, to be persuaded, to free from fear or doubt.” The Amplified Bible says, “and I am convinced and sure of this very thing...”

What was Paul convinced and sure of, and what did he want these Christian believers to be convinced and sure of?

He was confident that the one who had begun a good work in their lives wasn’t going to leave the project partially completed. When Christ began a good work in transforming the lives of these individuals from darkness to light, from sin to righteousness, from pain to peace, He also committed himself to persistently work until the job was done! All He asked of them was their obedience and cooperation!

Often we look at our lives and all we see is, what seems to be a big mess. We see walls that need to be rebuilt, foundations that need to be laid, and holes that desperately need to be mended. In our desperation, we wonder if the project will ever be completed. We wonder if God perhaps has forgotten about us or lost interest in us, or grown tired of helping us!

We must remember the words given to us by the Holy Spirit. The Lord desires to deposit within us a deep, abiding confidence that He never gives up on us, no matter how “messy” the project may be. He will persistently work with us because He’s committed to us. He has promised to carry on His good work in us until that work is completed!

How confident are you of the promises of God to your life? Allow the Holy Spirit to deposit within you a deep abiding confidence regarding the Lord’s commitment to you!