Hi there!  Wasn’t the Devotion great today?!!  Every week I write this “Blog” while thinking of you!  This is part of my commitment to helping you become a more fully-devoted follower of Jesus!

I was in the UPPER ROOM on MONDAY (8/23) when we heard Paul say, “I am really sure of this…that God who began the good work within you will continue it until it is finally finished on that day when Jesus comes back again!” (Philippians 1:6)

[caption id="attachment_189" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pastor Bill"][/caption] Have you ever started something that you never quite got around to finishing?  If you are anything like me…then your answer is “YES!”  The great good news is that God who starts shaping you for service in His purpose always finishes what he starts!

Have you ever contracted with someone to do a much-needed project in your home with an agreed upon finish date…only to have it continue well beyond that date?!  The great good news is that God who starts shaping you for service in His purpose always finishes on time!

Have you ever done something or have it done by someone else only to discover that the finished product is less than perfect?  The great good news is that God who starts shaping you for service in His purpose always provides BETTER than we ask!  Why is God so focused on developing you and me into the likeness of his Son, Jesus?

WWWWWWEEEEEELLLLLLLLL…that’s a really great question!  Thanks for asking!  Tuesday’s author quoted Catherine Booth, the wife of Salvation Army founder General William Booth.  She encouraged and challenged her children often by saying, “Remember, you are not here in this world for yourselves!  You have been sent for God and others!  The world is waiting for you!”

WOW!  Take some time to wrap your head and heart around that thought!  Everything God is doing in your life and mine is because the world desperately needs what God is doing in you and me!

Paul said that “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ago he planned that we should spend these lives helping others!" (Ephesians 2:10)

God is working around the clock to shape us like Jesus so that others will be able to see, hear and know Jesus when they see, hear and know us!  Why?  Because the world needs Jesus and all the things God brings to the world through Jesus!

For God to continue and complete what he started through Jesus he chooses to use you and me to do it!  That’s why he is working day and night to produce the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in you and me in order to reveal to a waiting world the person of His One and Only Son! (Galatians 5:22-23)

God is not sending us into a waiting world to fail at his purpose!  Those family members, friends and folks around us are way too important to Him for us to fail!

SSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO…he continues working until the transforming work of salvation is complete and we are able to do the things that Jesus did and even greater things than that! (John 14:12)  Remember…we are not here for ourselves!  We are here for God and others!  The world is waiting for us!  Let’s not keep them waiting!

Thanks for listening!