Column by Sumter Pastor Joey Durham: As long as you have life, you can bring glory to God's name
Today's devotion is, "God is Not Finished with You," and my text is Philippians 1:4-6, where we see, "Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 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." (KJV)
Dear believer, God is not finished with you. As long as you have life, then you have the opportunity to fulfill our Lord's purpose for you to bring glory to His precious name. Here in our text, Paul gave thanks to God on behalf of the church family in Philippi and made his request with joy because of their close fellowship together in the gospel. Paul also conveyed his confidence that the "good work" which God had begun in the hearts and lives of the Philippian church family would be carried through until it was fully completed. Paul was fully persuaded that the grace of God would carry these believers through to the finish.
Please understand, it is the grace of God that saves a person and makes a believer out of them. It is also the grace of God that keeps that born-again believer from the beginning of their relationship with God to the time when their life on this earth comes to an end. The apostle Paul was convinced that the Philippian church would be faithful to God in doing what God desired of them because the Lord's grace was the power that sustained them in their Christian life. You can be sure that we, too, will make it safe onto Heaven's bright shore, no matter the discouragements, the disappointments, the troubles and trials that will inevitably come our way. The grace of God will be the sustaining power that will hold us up through the times when we will ask, "Is God finished with me? Am I going to make it?" May we keep our eyes on Jesus and enjoy the confidence that David enjoyed in Psalm 138:8, "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." (KJV)
Regardless of how we may feel at any given moment, God is not finished with us because as 1 Thessalonians 5:24 states, "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." (KJV)
Joey Durham is pastor at Open Bible Baptist Church at 180 Old Manning Road in Sumter. You can contact Pastor Durham at durham.joey@yahoo.com or call the church office at (803) 481-9315.