Philippians 1:6, ‘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’.
1 Thessalonians 5:24, ‘Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass’.
When we are really helpless, only then we turn to God, wholeheartedly!
It is God who began this work in us, and is working in us, towards a purpose and He will complete it. As long as we leave it to God and let God work, He will fulfill His work, as much as we let Him work. When the Holy Spirit is prompting in us, to humble ourselves and die to our ‘self’ – to carry the cross; as promptly as we do it, we are participating in God’s work, which He is doing in us. He will complete His work in us, as we continue to obey the Holy Spirit promptings, by that day when the Lord Jesus will come back.
Philippians 2:12, ‘So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure’.
The first part is about us – to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling; allow God to do His work in us. As long as we trust Him and depend on Him, the responsibility is on God, He will do His work in us. We do not have to worry what is happening to us. God is in control of everything. We do have to go through hard times, extreme discouragements – at times, we do not even find courage to share our burdens with anyone. We need to always remember that it is God who is at work in us. He will not let us down. This is a great comfort to us. It is God who is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. He is arranging everything through the body of Christ and He will give us encouragements through them, in the right time!
Life is hard, we have to go through struggles. It is also true in our spiritual life. We need to have faith. Faith is – ‘when we are in desperate need of help, from God and we are sure that God will help us’. When we go through situations, where it is difficult to spend time with God; still, how much are we desiring, to find time to spend with God? Do not settle to get used to the way things are, thinking it is hard to spend time with God. It might happen once in a while, but do not start believing this as something acceptable or a normal thing! Approach God in faith, in desperate need!
Ephesians 3:10, ‘so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.’
It is through the Church, through our brothers and sisters, we get our help in need. The manifold wisdom of God – ‘even though we do not understand why we go through so many situations, struggles and discouragements, the manifold wisdom of God is made known through the Church, it is made known to us and also to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. We do not totally understand His wisdom; His wisdom is much higher and He is in control of everything.
Romans 11:33, ‘Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!’
V36, ‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.’
His wisdom and knowledge are too deep and rich, His judgements are unsearchable. We trust in our God. He is the one who called us and leading us to fulfill in our lives what He has planned.
1 Corinthians 1:22-24, ‘For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.’
When Jesus Christ, who was crucified and is risen – is taught to Jews, it is a stumbling block for them and is foolishness to the gentiles. But to us who are called, those who trust in Him, whether, it’s a Jew or a Greek – Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. The more we come to God in desperate need by faith, we will receive what we really need. The more we seek to come to God, God will reveal His nature to us and this will meet our needs!
The manifold wisdom of God; ‘manifold’ is multi-side or multi-colored. It has several faces to it. Every time we look at God’s wisdom, we begin to see more of the beauty in it. If we look at a diamond, we notice that its cut, shows us multi-faced; when the light falls on one side of its cut, we can see multiple lights – the rainbow lights, coming out through it. When we look at the other side, there are other sets of light coming out through it! It is similar to what we experience in the Church – One person as such cannot understand the whole wisdom of God, but being the body of Christ, we together can share our experiences and see the beauty of the manifold wisdom of God. We begin to understand God as being a part of the Church.
It is like a story of six blind men who are trying to understand what an elephant looks like – one person touches its leg and says its like a pillar, the other touches its stomach and says, its like a wall, the other touches its trunk and says its like a snake and the other touches its tusks and says its like a big spear!
The more we walk with God, we begin to see, individually, more of how our God is, and when we begin to have fellowship with each other, we begin to taste God like this through each other.
God is at work in us, to prepare us for His purpose on that day.
Romans 8:28-29, ‘And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;’
God is conforming us to the image of His Son. Look at Jesus and walk like Him. Jesus is the humblest man, always trusted the Father and was always doing His will and pleasing Him. When Jesus was on Earth, He always trusted God, waking up early morning, spending time with God, asking for wisdom, to understand, to seek His Word, He was so desperately asking God for help. May God help us also, little by little, to move closer to Him, where we can also, desperately depend on Him, with a desperate Faith in God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, ‘Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.’
Always remember that we are not our own, we are bought with a price, we belong to God. Let us live for God. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He gave up His life for us so that we can live for Him. Amen
May God bless us.
