Finish what you started Part1
Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon
Original written January 2017.
Important lesson from the Word of God. John the Baptist testimony about Jesus to his disciples: So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was
with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing,
and everyone is going to Him.” 27John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’… John 3:27
For the last few days I have
had a thought going through my mind. Usually it means that the Lord is
trying to tell me that it is worth looking into it, elaborating after
consulting him of its importance, meditating on it and most important double
checking like a Berean in the Word where this concept is found, the context of
when, to whom and why it is addressed and if my own life experience and
application of this biblical principle when guided by the Holy Spirit has
contributed to my own spiritual growth.
Before the Lord saved me 53
years ago, my life was a mess. It was what seemed to be a succession of random, haphazard events and
circumstances over which I didn´t have any control. My emotional and selfish
reactions only made it worse. Whenever I tried to correct the situation ended
up in more failures and one thing that brought me down more than anything else was the
feeling of waste and utter desperation at finding some self-worth because of
the total lack of positive and constructive accomplishments to look at and be
proud of. Everything I touched and every
relationship I had turned into one more proof that my existence on this earth was a curse from an
unjust and vindictive god that hunted me down and punished me for the simple
fact that I was born without asking for it or having anything to say about the
matter.
Needless to say, this kind of
attitude doesn´t contribute to accomplishing much in life and the feeling was
exacerbated when I compared myself with my friends, neighbors and all the great
heroes out there that receive the
adulation and honor for their accomplishments and contribution to society. I
wasn´t sitting on a pile of ashes, I was buried under the ashes of the death
dealing blows of a self-incriminating conscience piled on the top of more
judging and condemning by the society in which I happened to be born.
Now,
this
is not wallowing in self-pity on my part, I just wanted to set the stage
for demonstrate the
extraordinary saving power of Jesus-Christ through love, mercy and grace
He has for
anyone who knows he or she is soul-sick, lost, hopeless and helpless
with no way
out and no one to turn to, but in a last act of desperation turns to the
God that unbeknownst to him/her was faithfully and patiently waiting
for the child to acknowledge his/her lost condition and come
home to his real, loving Heavenly Father.
To summarize the above, I
never finished what I started before I was 23 years old.
Then, my life started changing
because I met the God who never changes, who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the End and everything in between,
accomplishing what He said He would do, as I trust more and more in His
transforming power. As I was reading the Word, I encountered some encouraging
verses such as:
For I
am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will
perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philipians 1:6
The
Lord completed the mission His Father entrusted Him obeying Him even
though He knew what agony and torture He would have to bear on our
behalf. In John 10:17, Jesus declares: The
reason the
Father loves
Me is
that I lay
down My
life in
order to take
it up again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have
authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This
charge I have received from My Father.”…
If
the Lord obeyed His Father in all things, should we not do our best to
obey Him if he commands us to perform a servant´s duty that he has
made us adequate to fulfill, gifting and empowering us to do. After
all, the Word says that we are His disciples if we keep His
teachings. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you
hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John
8:31,32.
A wise advice from a missionary at a home group meeting when I was a young christian in 1966: There is no shortcut in the christian life.
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