Focus: Work in Progress

Text: Phil.1:6

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath BEGUN a GOOD WORK in you will PERFORM it UNTIL the DAY of Jesus Christ."

Paul is sure of something. He's audaciously confident, fully persuaded and absolutely convinced that God will finish the good work He has started in the believer.

God is working for us, working with us, and working by us, but the grandest of it all is God working in us - changing us from the inside out.

*It's a good work.

The good God does a good work. We are works of good quality - excellent work of God. When God is done, He'll look at us and say, 'Very good.' We will be like Him.

*It's an inside job.

Away from sight, God is working. Behind the scenes, God is doing something wonderful and beautiful. A miracle is taking place in us. Spurgeon was right for saying that "the life of a Christian is a series of miracles," for that is what it is - "a series of miracles."

*It's an ongoing work.

We've changed. We're changing, and we'll change. We are work in progress. We are projects in God's hands, and He's not ready to abandon us any time soon. The psalmist says we are going from strength to strength (Ps.84:7). John talks about "grace for grace," and Paul talks about "from faith to faith," and "from glory to glory" (Jh.1:16; Rom.1:17; 2Cor.3:18). The work of grace is ongoing within us. No moment passes that God is not working.

*It's a work with a set date for completion.

The work has commenced and shall be completed at the right time. Creation happened in six days. Our redemption happened in six hours - 9am to 3pm. In each case, God commenced, continued and completed His work. No break time. No postponement. No wasted moment. The works of creation and redemption were accomplished within a set time.

The current work of the Spirit in us will be finished on the DAY of Christ. It means that until Christ returns for us, His work in us continues. He will keep putting finishing touches to the work. We will on the day of Christ stand before our Father as the finished work of grace - without spots and without wrinkles. We shall be perfected. God will reach the goal He has in mind concerning us, even as we keep yielding yourselves to God and letting God be God in our lives. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter