Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion" (Philippians 1:6).
When Paul prayed for the Philippian believers, he said that he thanked God every time he remembered them and was filled with joy because of their partnership with him in the gospel. He was also certain that not only had God begun a good work in them but he was moving them forward in their walk of faith and its completion was guaranteed — complete unto the day when Jesus Christ will return to take us all home to be with him.
It is a joy for us to pray for others and something to which God calls all of us. One of the wonderful things that happens as we intercede for others is not only is God moved to accomplish good for them, we have an opportunity to be truly unselfish in our praying. We can pray with confidence knowing that no matter where they may be, God is there with them and is working in them and on them. And, we always know that God is doing a good work in them, whether we know exactly how to pray for them or not.
If you are not already doing so, I want to encourage you to make a list of people that you will pray for each day. And you may want to pray, "Lord, I am confident of this, that you have begun a good work in (insert name) and I know that you will further that work today and bring it to completion in the future. Thank you, Father." And then, follow up with these people just to see what God is doing as a result of his work and your prayers!
A second important thing to recognize is that God is also at work in you and me. His work is always and only a good work. And we need to be confident of the fact that in us too he is working and will bring that work to completion. Thank God that he is at work in us! Does that mean that we don't have to do anything? No, we still do. In fact, later on in this letter, Paul says,
"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:12-13).
There are definitely things that we need to be doing. But, what makes those things that we do have any value is the fact that God is working first and always.
Someone has quipped that the Christian life is not difficult, it is impossible and that God designed it that way! At one point, the disciples were wondering the same thing and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus response was simply, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:25-26). Would it not be insanity to try and live the Christ-ian life without Christ? Many try, but then where is our confidence — in the fact that we have been good enough or worked hard enough? That is a losing battle. There is salvation in no one else than Jesus (Acts 4:12). And it is by grace alone, not by anything that we can do (Ephesians 2:8-9). Without Christ, there is no living the Christian life!
Thank God that we can have confidence that he is working in my life and in yours. That means that we can make it. He is working in us even to the point that he gives us the will and the strength to act so as to accomplish the good things that he purposed. We are only "working out" what God in his grace has "worked in"!
So thank God and pray with joy and confidence today. He is doing an excellent work in all those for whom we pray and he promises to take his work in them all the way to fulfillment. Think the same way about yourself too. God is doing an excellent work in you. Embrace what he is up to. Work in cooperation with him and simply do today what he wants you to do. And then, in utmost confidence, leave the results to him. "Faithful is he who called you, he will also do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
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