“Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
“Lord don’t give up on me” that was my prayer this morning. I thought about David who wrote most of the book of Psalms and how so many times he cried out the very same thing to God, “Don’t pass me by”, “Don’t forget me”, “Don’t turn me over to my enemies”, etc, etc.. I understand him now. He knew that God His Father would never turn His back on him and only wanted the best for him. But David saw himself for what he really was, a mere man, with a heart to do good, but fell really short of ever being perfect. That’s what I like about David, he was transparent and what I call a REAL person. I think that’s maybe why God called him a man “after My Own heart”. David knew that he was nothing without God’s mercy and because of that he knew that he could come to God anytime he wanted, shortcomings and all.
In today’s “church” world, you don’t see much of that kind of humility. There are teachings of how we are royalty and how we somehow deserve to receive what we think are the “blessings” of God. While I believe that we are, according to the Word, heirs of Christ and that God does blesses us monetarily (every good and perfect gift comes from above); He does not owe us anything. I believe that God is more interested in our character and integrity. David and Solomon were royalty according to the world’s standard and had anything this world had to offer, but their real blessing came only when God’s approval was on them. When they failed they were miserable and desperately sought to get back to Him. They were works in progress and God never gave up on them.
I’m so glad that the Lord will never give up on me, I’m so thankful that when I have failed Him, He doesn’t put me aside to go work on something else. I have a co-worker that really has a hard time finishing projects. This person will start in their office and then will go to the conference room and have papers all spread out there too. At that point when another project pops up this person will go to someone’s desk that may be out for the day and proceed to spread out more papers. Three areas cluttered with unfinished projects! Nothing complete, just a whole lot of mess!
I am so thankful that God does not do us like that, what He begins, He finishes. That’s why I think we go through some of the same scenarios over and over again, because He’s trying to get us to “see” and learn so that He can move us to the next level of our lives. I am convinced that God is interested in us as individuals and yes He desires to bless us and wants us to have our needs and some of our wants met. But most of all He wants us to be whole, to be the individual that He desires us to be. So no, He won’t give up on me and neither will He give up on you. As we trust and submit to Him, He will complete us, He will perform the good work until that day of Jesus Christ.
Knowing that He is faithful I now pray, “Lord help me not to give up on myself”…Amen!
“Lord don’t give up on me” that was my prayer this morning. I thought about David who wrote most of the book of Psalms and how so many times he cried out the very same thing to God, “Don’t pass me by”, “Don’t forget me”, “Don’t turn me over to my enemies”, etc, etc.. I understand him now. He knew that God His Father would never turn His back on him and only wanted the best for him. But David saw himself for what he really was, a mere man, with a heart to do good, but fell really short of ever being perfect. That’s what I like about David, he was transparent and what I call a REAL person. I think that’s maybe why God called him a man “after My Own heart”. David knew that he was nothing without God’s mercy and because of that he knew that he could come to God anytime he wanted, shortcomings and all.
In today’s “church” world, you don’t see much of that kind of humility. There are teachings of how we are royalty and how we somehow deserve to receive what we think are the “blessings” of God. While I believe that we are, according to the Word, heirs of Christ and that God does blesses us monetarily (every good and perfect gift comes from above); He does not owe us anything. I believe that God is more interested in our character and integrity. David and Solomon were royalty according to the world’s standard and had anything this world had to offer, but their real blessing came only when God’s approval was on them. When they failed they were miserable and desperately sought to get back to Him. They were works in progress and God never gave up on them.
I’m so glad that the Lord will never give up on me, I’m so thankful that when I have failed Him, He doesn’t put me aside to go work on something else. I have a co-worker that really has a hard time finishing projects. This person will start in their office and then will go to the conference room and have papers all spread out there too. At that point when another project pops up this person will go to someone’s desk that may be out for the day and proceed to spread out more papers. Three areas cluttered with unfinished projects! Nothing complete, just a whole lot of mess!
I am so thankful that God does not do us like that, what He begins, He finishes. That’s why I think we go through some of the same scenarios over and over again, because He’s trying to get us to “see” and learn so that He can move us to the next level of our lives. I am convinced that God is interested in us as individuals and yes He desires to bless us and wants us to have our needs and some of our wants met. But most of all He wants us to be whole, to be the individual that He desires us to be. So no, He won’t give up on me and neither will He give up on you. As we trust and submit to Him, He will complete us, He will perform the good work until that day of Jesus Christ.
Knowing that He is faithful I now pray, “Lord help me not to give up on myself”…Amen!
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