Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank God every time I remember you. 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."
Do you ever feel like a screw up? That you will never be ready to do what you feel God has called you to do? Or worse, do you ever feel that you have made it? That God has honed you and is ready to release you to the world and you have "made it".
Paul wrote this letter to the Christians at Philippi while he was in prison. His letter was full of joy and encouragement, and also a few warning. These verses tell of the joy Paul feels when he thinks about the church in Philippi, but he also offers some encouragement. He tells them to be confident that God will continue to work in them until it is complete, that he will not quit on them or forget them. That is truly encouraging, God will complete what He began in our lives. He will never leave us and He will continue to transform us.
Some people stop reading there, they are happy about the encouragement, but they miss the warning. When will the work be complete? "...until the day of Christ Jesus." Wait a minute. This letter was written to a group of believers about 60 to 62 AD... that means they died and God was still working. What does that mean to us? It means that God will continue working in us and through us until we die or He returns - His choice. However it also means that if we allow Him to, we will be transformed each day. We will go to bed better than we woke up... that we are constantly under construction and our failures today do not limit our future potential.
Comments