At Work!

At Work!

And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. Philippians 1:6 AMPC

The Inspiration:

Paul, together with one of his proteges called Timothy, again writes here to the church in Phiippi. The audience for the letter as stated in the letter would be the saints in Christ Jesus, together with the bishops and deacons of the church. This would mean that as far as Paul was concerned, the message is this verse is for all who are part of the body of Christ. Positions and roles are a part of the process of building up, but they must not be more important than the work God is doing in His church. All who are a part of the church must be conscious of this fact: God is always at work. His church is the platform as well as the tools He uses to bring about His perfect will on earth. If indeed I am part of His church on earth, I have to know what He expects of and from me, so that my life can indeed be the visible and audible example it is created to be. 

The Contention:

God is the One who calls, and when He does, it will do well to listen and heed what He is saying. God does not make long-term use of a man He has nor prepared for the work that is ahead. One thing today's verse makes clear is that God always wants to work in and through me. He needs me to be a vessel He can trust and deploy where and when He pleases. His work is ALWAYS good, because He is a good God. That work is first and mainly IN me, before it can ever be about what flows OUT of me. Too many times, we can be concerned about how to impress other people, but if I can only let God do what He alone can do, I cannot fail to make impact God's way. It must have been personal conviction and experience that made Paul speak with so much confidence in what God can do with a life that is submitted totally in Him. Can I speak with the same level of confidence?

The Conclusion:

It won't just be a good start, but even more important, a great end. Between birth and death, a lot of things will happen to a person, but as I live on a daily basis, I must remind myself that all of earthly life is but a phase that will soon pass away. God does not do abandoned vessels; He will not pick up a man, use and then dump him. He is able and capable to bring a man to the discovery and fulfilment of His purpose for that life. A day is coming when there will be a reward for all I have done on earth. We serve a God who cannot be deceived by outer labour. The day of the Lord is coming, and it is a day in which all of us must give an account to God for how we lived our lives. As God works, I must let Him. He does not force Himself on anyone, but He will start, develop, perfect and complete that which is His perfect plan for me. He is God; He is the Almighty. There is nothing He cannot do. God's time of favour is here.